Today was the first ever Winter Farmers Market for Portland... yes there was the nice preorder pick up happening every couple weeks in Deering Oaks and Monument Square but the newly acquired indoor spot (8 Free St.) serves the purpose of a farmers market just fine. Cassi and I rolled in at about 10:15 with the hours posted as 10-1. From the moment we stepped in it was apparent that Portland was glad to have the market up and running. The space was bustling with people... Lots of great products and a few new faces on the producer front. Goransen, Swallowtail Farm and Hahn's End stood out as people and goods we had yet to see in the Portland area. The market was also full of familiar producers; Lalibella, Freedom, Fishbowl, Olivia's, Thirty Acre, Tourmaline and a couple other meat farmers who we aren't as familiar with, seeing as we live the pescatarian lifestyle... but to each his own, Im sure they produce some fine cuts of meat. One noticeable problem was the absence of Mother Oven Bread (an integral part organizing the Winter Market) as well as a few other producers who I heard through the grapevine may be setting up tables. I was told that the city of Portland gave the organizers only 24 hours notice that "certain" vendors needed to set up a day prior for a health inspection before they were able to sell their products. With a hurdle like that for someone like a fresh bread artisan... I can only imagine the problems that caused for someone who needs to spend days preparing starter and excess loaves in order to provide the public with a top notch product. Hopefully these issues will be squared away by the time next week rolls around... I know we will be there every week for the next 9 weeks they have committed to running the market !
Here's a few shots of how it went down...
Here is what we took back to our west end apartment....
Goransen Farm
1 Bag Curly Kale
2 Bags Red Russian Kale
Winter Carnival Squash
Kombocha Squash
Swallowtail Farm
1/2 # Butter
Ball of Mozzarella
Tub of Ricotta
Hahn's End
Fiddler's Reach Cheese
City of Ships Cheese
Thirty Acre
2 Black Radishes
1 Red Cabbage
Tourmaline Farm
Quart Raw Goat Milk
Fishbowl Farm
2 Bags Baby Spinach
Dried Chili Peppers
Smoked Chipolte Peppers
we also got gifted a couple samples of Lalibella Tempeh made with Garbanzo beans and another with Navy Beans ! Thanks, Jamie
Oh yeah and the eggs are from Sunrise Acres in Cumberland and were purchased @ Aurora Provisions on our walk home from the market.
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