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Blueberries and other bounty

Special Event: July 26-- Annual Blueberry Bash

Saturdays, 8 am-1 pm, parking lot on Cornell in front of Safeway

All of us at the Cedar Mill Farmers’ Market, sponsored by Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District, have been hard at work for months, and we’re now seeing the fruits of our labors, including helping to bring a bountiful blueberry crop to Cedar Mill. The abundance of blueberries will be a big part of an amazing month at the market, culminating in our annual Blueberry Bash on the last Saturday of July. We’ve already had beautiful berries on a few Saturdays, and we can’t wait for more, especially the legendary quarter-sized blueberries we always see in late July.

Plan to make it to the market on July 26 for the annual Blueberry Bash, with all kinds of fun and games, the fabulous music of the market’s sweetheart, Carley Baer, and a visit by perennial costumed favorite, Ima Blueberry. The music starts at about 9:30 am, and we’re expecting Ima to be on-site by 10 am to spread her blueberry-themed joy, but the fun, and especially the blueberries, will be around all day, from the opening bell at 8 am through closing at 1 pm, at the market’s well-established location in the Sunset Mall just west of Murray on NW Cornell. 

Besides the chance for fun selfies with Ima Blueberry (your friends will love them), the abundance of outstanding blueberries and entertainment, market guests can take advantage of games and the chance to win prizes donated by our very own market vendors and local merchants. Maybe this year you will be the lucky winner of the annual guessing contest, or perhaps you’ll win the blueberry toss! Everyone should give it a try! As usual, we’ll have a great selection of free recipes, including a great many of the blueberry variety, available at the market.

If you’re not willing to wait until you get home to cook something up with your market purchases, we have tamales, agua fresca, hibiscus tea, and horchata by La Popular Tradiciones, hot dogs with market toppings by Spot’s Dawg House, French pastries by La Provence Bakery, goodies by RhoJo’s, and the assorted hand-pie, cake, cookie, scone, and other treat selections at local award-winning bakery, Decadent Creations. You’ll find lots of choices for breakfast, lunch, and in-between, so don’t worry about staying all day. Long-time market regulars, like the Olive Lady with her wonderful olive oils, olives, and more, will be around, as well as the Nice Boys popping up kettle corn, and Bennett’s Urban Farm Store with jams and jellies, and their coffee made from locally-roasted beans.

Our vendors proudly offer a wide array of locally grown goodness, running the gamut from incredible vegetables, nuts, and honey to gorgeous perennial flowers to fresh eggs, and lamb, turkey, pork, chicken, beef. The great mix of new vendors and their offerings sprinkled among the long-time vendors with their fabulous and familiar goods makes every trip to the market interesting and unique.

If you’re looking specifically for organic-grown foods, we have Malinowski’s Organic Farm at the market every-other-week, offering their organic grass-fed local beef, chicken, and eggs, with orders welcome anytime. A new face at the market this month is Tanglewood Farms, featuring organic lamb, pork, turkey, and chicken grown in the Forest Grove area. Ask them for CSA information!

Another certified organic vendor to keep in mind is Dinihanian’s Farm, who had a limited presence at the market last year, but this year, much to market guests’ delight, they’ve been a weekly vendor, and we’re thrilled with their truly organic offerings.

If you don’t get hung up on labels, you can find chemical-free, though not certified organic, vegetables and fruits at Galin-Flory Farms, our all-natural-practices grower who has been with the market for nearly a decade. Hard-working family farmers Teresa and Matt of Galin-Flory Farms are thrilled to share their dedication to growing high-quality food with all of us, while promoting sustainable farming practices, a healthy environment, and stewardship of their Canby-area property, once the world-famous Steele’s Pansy Gardens.

So if you’re looking for good food for your family, grown without chemicals, without herbicides, without pesticides, and without genetically-modified seed, be sure to stop in at Dinihanian’s Farm and Galin-Flory farm. Another natural-practices option for “just berries” at the market is ELA Farms of Woodburn (formerly called Efimoff Berries). They offer the widest berry selection, usually with several different kinds of berries (various blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries) offered on any given market date. Dinihanian’s and Galin-Flory both offer CSA programs, and you can learn more about them at the market.

The Cedar Mill Farmers Market just wouldn’t be the great community venue that it is without the local artisans who share the beautiful results of their hard work with us when they get a chance, so be sure to stop in to the ever-changing booths of garden art, metal work, fine art, quilting, other sewing, and knitting work, fused glass, clever and beautiful jewelry, origami-themed art, soaps & other skin-care products, “green” glass, batik, and even massage. There’s always something new at the market, so why not join your family and friends in our community and make it a part of your Saturday ritual?

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