Cedar Mill Farmers’ Market opens in May!
by Dina Gross, Market Manager
The Cedar Mill Farmers' Market will be open EARLY this year! We’re anticipating our best year ever—did you know it’s our 10th anniversary year? This year, we’ll be in the same home we’ve had for six years?already (just west of Murray on NW Cornell in the Sunset Mall parking lot, across from Sunset Park),?8-1, Saturdays May 9 through September 26 (and bonus October dates as usual though this year those?bonus dates may be at Dinahanian Farms).
 Everyone will want to stop in at the Market for locally grown flowers?(picked just hours before the market starts!) from Vanessa and family for all the mothers in their lives. Why not give Mom a bouquet that is far more beautiful and lasts longer than all the others?
News Flash: Hooray!! We’ve got a wonderful new dairy vendor this year, starting on May 9th! Hope the community will come out to welcome Jacobs Creamery with their incredible handcrafted artisan cheese. A little taste knocks your socks off, it’s so wholesome and delicious! In addition to cheese, they’ll sell fresh milk, crème fraîche, and dangerously good pudding.
On Opening Day of our 10th anniversary season, you’ll also be able to visit with Ursula and see her new quilts and other handcrafted goodies. Ursula’s fan club has no doubt missed her over the long winter, but what many of them don’t know is that she’s the MVP of the market, week after week helping out with whatever needs doing, including filling in guests and potential vendors on what’s what—especially when the market manager can’t be found. Just look for her under the oak tree with her yellow apron and friendly smile.
One of those vendors Ursula will help you find on May 9 is the new Sauvie Island Sweet & Savory Food Co. with handmade cheesecakes and farm-fresh eggs. Another vendor sure to be a favorite on hot summer days is HOT LIPS Real Fruit Soda, starting with us on May 9, providing fresh soda made from fruit purchased from Oregon farmers. Flavors to try: Boysenberry, Blackberry, Pear, Strawberry, Red Raspberry, Black Raspberry, and whatever else they come up with from local fruit crops.
Oh my goodness, how we’ve missed Jason and his nephew Stewart. Happily, Stewart will join us this year starting with asparagus on May 9. Love that asparagus, and already dreaming of the delicious cherries they’ll bring in a few short weeks! We’re also thrilled that Donna of West 40 Nursery has a lot of garden starts ready to go. Don’t miss this sturdy stuff to jumpstart your garden.
A group from Cedar Mill’s Christ United Methodist Church is very excited about their booth which will open in late May. They’ll have coffee and baked goods in the morning, barbecued sausages for lunch and they’ll also be selling plant starts and hand-crafted items, and will also be sharing information about their church, Cedar Mill’s “hidden jewel,” and what it has to offer through displays and written materials.
By the second market day this season—May 16—we’ll have some fresh-roasted FAIR-TRADE ORGANIC coffee beans from St. John’s Coffee Roasters. They plan to be with us all season also. Also May 16, look for Mireille’s Les Couleurs de Provence french linens and Jonathan’s french pastries, as well as Kathy & Vicki’s Jewels, followed on May 23 by Great Harvest Breads. Also later in May, look for returning favorites Lauri of Arrington Art Jewelry, Uli of Pacific Flames soy candle fame, Susie of Turtle Island Trade Goods, and Lisa of Fuzion Glass.
Most of our farmers are expecting to join us as May’s sunshine gets Oregon’s fields warmed up. Look for old favorites Lone Elder Farms, DeMartini Family Farms, Martinez Family Farm, Duyck’s Peachy Pig Farm, and more. You asked for it and this year we deliver: Cranefield Organics of Sauvie Island will provide all manner of delicious organic produce including, in the early season, greens, root vegetables, and peas, and later on tomatoes, peppers, onions, beans, potatoes, etc. M & M Organics will also join us later in May with fantastic organic produce plus some organic garden starts, all from a farm just a couple miles north of the Market. Yeah!! Top that off with the addition of Lilly’s Blooming Acres, another organic grower from the Forest Grove area, and we are in good shape with all kinds of sustainably grown goods and even a variety of certified organic crops this year.
Naturally, we expect to have our happy (not to mention good-looking) teenaged balloon artists and facepainters on hand, as well as LIVE MUSIC (if it’s not too cold and rainy when Opening Day arrives). It’ll be a beautiful day at the Cedar Mill Farmers’ Market, brought to you by Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District, whatever the weather holds. See you there!
You can sign up for a weekly email newsletter during the season, letting you know about special events, what's available, with recipes and lots more good stuff —just email me and I'll add you to the list—dina@thegnar.org
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