Spring into action
Think of it as that moment in the “The Wizard of Oz,” when everything snaps from black and white into vivid Technicolor.
All winter long, we suffer through pekid produce, often shipped to supermarkets from hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away.
And then – pow! – spring arrives and with it comes the opening of farmers’ markets across the Inland Northwest, and the promise of crisp, bright vegetables, fruits and other goods grown virtually in our own backyards.
A few smaller markets have already set up shop for the season, but this weekend marks the beginning of the area’s biggies – the Spokane Farmers’ Market and the Kootenai County Farmers’ Market. Many more will open in coming weeks.
“It’s just a whole other world from produce shipped far away,” says Timothy Pellow, a farmer at Tolstoy Farms, the collective farming community in Davenport, and a board member of the Spokane Farmers’ Market.
Pellow anticipates a few new vendors at the market this year, including one organic grower who will be selling nuts.
Early in the season, the market will offer plenty of greens, plants, meat, eggs, flowers and breads, among other things, he says.
Merna Olsen of Olsen Farms in Colville looks forward to the market’s opening all year, she says.
“It’s always exciting,” she says.
The Olsens specialize in rainbow-hued potatoes, which show up on restaurant menus around the region. They’re out of potatoes to July, but they’ll be at the Spokane Farmers’ market Saturday with plants, peppers, morel mushrooms and grass-fed beef, Olsen says.
The Spokane Farmers’ Market begins Saturday behind the First Covenant Church on Second Avenue and Division Street. The market runs from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Starting June 6, the market will be open on Wednesdays, too. Log on o www.spokanefarmersmarket.org for more information.
The Kootenai County Farmers’ Market also kicks off at 8 a.m. Saturday at the corner of Highway 95 and Prairie Avenue in Hayden. There will be live music performances.
Wednesday night markets in Coeur d’Alene begin May 16 and run from 4 to 7 p.m. on Fifth Street, between Sherman Avenue and Front Street.
The Humble Earth Farmers’ Market has moved north to a new location on Newport Highway in the Aslin-Finch Feed Co. parking lot. The market will run on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., starting the first Sunday in June to the last Sunday in October. About 35 vendors are expected, organizer Anna Ethington says.
Ethington also organizes the South Perry Farmers’ Market, which starts the first Thursday in June from 3 to 7 p.m. The market takes place at Christ Community Church, 1317 E. 12th Ave., in Spokane, and will feature live music.
The Liberty Lake Farmers’ Market opens for the season May 19. It runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays in the Liberty Square Building Parking lot on sMeadowwood Lane.
Millwood will get a farmers’ market this year. The Millwood Farmers’ Market starts up May 23 and runs Wednesday afternoons from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Millwood Community Presbyterian Church, 3223 N. Marguerite Road.
Across the border, there’s a new farmers’ market in Idaho this year. The Spirit Lake Farmers’ Market opened Friday. The market, which has space for 50 vendors, will run each Friday from 2 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“The intention here is to provide an opportunity for people who do grow things in small local gardens, especially organic products, to bring it to town and sell that,” says Russ Spriggs, president of the Spirit Lake Chamber of Commerce and market organizer. “There’s a lot of very talented and artistic people in our mountain community, and we want them to bring their products out here.”
The Moscow Farmers’ Market kicked off its 30th season Saturday. The market is located in the Jackson Street parking lot off Friendship Square in downtown Moscow. The market runs each Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon and will feature about 55 vendors selling plants, flowers, baked goods, produce and many other things.
Also in Moscow is the Tuesday Grower’s Market at the Moscow Food Co-Op. The market began Tuesday and runs from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. each week in the Co-Op parking lot, 121 E. Fifth St. in Moscow. The market will include produce from the organic farm at Washington State University.
The Sandpoint Farmers’ Market began Saturday. It runs each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Wednesday from 3 to 5:30 p.m. at Farmin Park.
The Boundary County Farmers’ Market in Bonners Ferry has begun. It’s held each Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the city parking lot, Highway 95 and Kootenai Avenue.
The Colville Farmers Market will be open every Wednesday this year from June 6 through Oct. 17 on the corner of Oak and Third streets, one block east of Highway 395.
The Columbia Basin Farmers’ Market and Bazaar is open Saturdays, 8 a.m.-noon, through Oct. 27 at Moses Lake Civic Park, Fifth at Balsam, Moses Lake.
The Spokane Park ‘n Swap has over 100 vendors with farmers’ market, arts and crafts and antiques and collectibles. Open Saturday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., beginning May 19, continuing through October, at Northpointe Plaza on Highway 2, just northeast of the Division Street ‘Y’. Admission is $1.