Farmer Market Blooms

We are nearing summer (even though the weather may not always feel like it) and that means that most farmers markets are up and running! This is a great time of year to get outside, enjoy time communing with others, try new foods, and even buy plants for starting a garden.

I wanted to share a resource with you this week: The Seattle Farmer’s Market Website. Specifically, I have linked you to a portion of the website that introduces new food and products each week. Scrolling through the page can be slightly daunting, especially if you are new to it, so I wanted to explain a few things:

1)      At the top of the page you will see “New This Week”

This section introduces food and products new to the markets this week.

2)      The next section is the “The full list”

This part of the site offers an extensive list of what is available at the market besides the new items above. The subsections are divided by food types: vegetables, fruits, fresh eggs, cheese/dairy,  meats and poultry, grains and flours, wines, seafood, dried items, breads, pastries etc. The headings at the bottom of the page start to blend together because there is just a smorgasbord of great items available. Categorizing them looks like a task of its own!

3)      Under the section above you will see: “available at UD” or “at WS” or “UD, WS, BW”. These abbreviations stand for the various farmers’ markets available in the Seattle Area. The abbreviations stand for the following markets:

BW	Broadway (Sundays, 11am - 3pm, May 8 through Dec 18, 2011) Broadway & Pine at Seattle Central Comm. College on Capitol Hill, 98102
CC	Columbia City (Wednesdays, 3pm - 7pm, April 27 through Oct 19, 2011) 37th Ave S & S Edmunds St, South Seattle, 98118
LC	Lake City (Thursdays, 3pm - 7pm, June 2 through Oct 6, 2011) NE 125th & 28th NE, next to the Library off Lake City Way, 98125
M	Magnolia (Saturdays, 10am - 2pm, June 18 through Oct 8, 2011) 33rd Ave W & W Smith Str in the Magnolia Village
Not open yet	Phinney (Fridays, 3pm - 7pm, June 3 through October 7, 2011) 67th & Phinney Ave N, in lower lot of the Phinney Neighborhood Ctr, 98103
UD	University District (Saturdays, 9am - 2pm, Year-round) Corner of 50th and University Way NE, in the University Heights lot, 98105
WS	West Seattle (Sundays, 10am - 2pm, Year-round) California Ave SW & SW Alaska, in the heart of the West Seattle Junction, 98116

I hope you are able to visit and enjoy a farmers’ market sometime in the next few weekends! Whether you try something new, find something interesting, buy plant starts, or just do some “window shopping”, we would love to hear about your experience. Please share your comments with us.