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Fresh Picked by Cara Mico
A month into the Seaside Farmers Market, visitors to the weekly event at the Broadway Middle School parking lot are finding more options than ever.
About half of the market visitors are locals coming for fresh-picked vegetables and farm goods, while the other half are tourists who tend to visit the craft stands more frequently, said market manager Angi Wildt.
About 1,000 people daily attend the market, according to Wildt.
With more than 50 vendors, the market offers fresh, local produce and artisan crafts, as well as Oaxacan-style delicacies from the Monte Alban food truck and smoked salmon chowder by Dan Delay.
There are plenty of treats for everyone at the 2019 market including spicy jams, doughnuts, fresh lettuce, cut polished stones and CBD honey, to name a few.
Mother's helper
Emi Turpin helps out at the SeMe Family Foods booth every week.
Melissa Turpin of SeMe Family Foods has been vending at the Seaside market for three years. She and her three sisters craft and sell delectable macaron cookies in lavender, strawberry, lemon, chocolate and hazelnut.
Glory B!
Chloe Zimmerman of Glory B Farms prepares for Seaside Farmers Market.
Chloe Zimmerman of Glory B Farm has been at most of the markets in the last five years, when she isn’t in session at Yale University, selling luscious seasonal produce from her family farm in Washington. T Bee S, CBD honey vendor sells a specialty product with royal bee jelly.
Very berry
Freshly picked berries from Maria and Domnica of A & B Berries.
But it’s hard for Wildt to pick a favorite.
“Some days I’m the mood for fudge, some days I’m in the mood for gelato. One of my favorite things is to get fresh produce at the market,” said Wildt.
Wildt’s experience with the local farmers markets circuit comes as a vendor for the Nehalem Bay Winery where she worked for several years. But she attributed her love of markets to the first time she went to an outdoor market when she was stationed overseas in Spain. It sparked a lifelong love affair with outdoor vending.
Wildt, who was hired by Sunset Park and Recreation District three years ago, is particularly excited about the live music performances, including Robby Mayer who will be playing on July 31. Musicians play for most of the market. A calendar of performers can be found at www.seasidemarket.org.
The music series is supported from sponsorships from Knife River, Quackenbush Builders and the U Street Pub and Eatery.
This is the eighth year of the Seaside Farmers Market, which started with fewer than 15 vendors and grew to what it is today. Wildt doesn’t plan on growing the size of the market substantially.
“If we go too much more than that we won’t have enough parking,” said Wildt,
The market runs from 2 to 6 p.m. every Wednesday until Sept. 25.k