On the way to the hotel in Seattle, I tumbled by accident across a farmers’ market: the South Lake Union Farmers’ Market. So I hurried up to get my luggage into the room, and in a second I was out again. Just a couple blocks and I was at Amazon place where the market takes place. It took me quite a while to realize and asking a few people that the square at its name for a reason: it is the location of the Amazon headquarters. I felt really stupid. But I have to say kudos to such a company which doesn’t put big signs on their offices. So clearly the market was at a hidden prime location.

First: flowers

People from the offices nearby came to the market to have lunch, buy some produce or flowers. I almost had the impression that flowers were THE bestseller at this place. Guys with a dog on a leach in one hand were juggling on the other hand a large bouquet. The flower dealers were all the time busy. I did not understand this longing for flowers.

Lunch in the digital age

As the market operated around lunch, people enjoyed street food: chicken wings, pizza, tamales, kombucha, biscuits, naan and more. For the naan, people were queuing for at least 20 minutes to get their share. Understanding that they were working in the digital world with instant delivery etc. I was impressed how patient they could be to get the hottest plate at the market.

The crowd

Having so many people from Amazon sticking around made me curious. It does not happen every day to me to be in the center of something so significant to the digital world. I wanted to understand if they looked like Millennials, hip, geeky or something different to what I am used to. Well, apart from the many buyers of flowers and a many dog owners, things looked “normal”. Many people looked like they could have been working in any other office building. Most seemed to be Millennials, still some older ones where easy to spot as well. Apart from being quite an international crowd, they all looked rather normal or better: as to be expected from a larger city like Seattle. Anyway, it is always interesting when perceptions meets reality.

What to check out

Let’s not forget: we are at a farmers’ market and have a mission: discovering the good stuff and the people behind it.

It was berry season, so the fruit stands were all offering the beautiful bounty, and I was happy to see so many blueberries. But all the other summer vegetables and fruit were plenty as well: tomatoes in a large variety, peppers, eggplants, strawberries, Mt. Rainier cherries, fresh corn, potatoes … All looked lovely and this is what you expect from a good farmers’ market.

When I browse through a market, there are always a couple stalls getting my special attention, be it the vendor is very communicative and entertaining or the produce is very interesting. And some times, like at the South Lake Union Farmers’ Market it is both. It is about the fish and the saffron stalls.

King Salmon

Wilson Fish Markets belongs to a traditional fisherman, meaning that he is fishing in the near waters around Washington state. Fishing there is strongly regulated, the government issues quota. As far as I remember the quota was less than 100 pieces of King Salmon in a week for Mr. Wilson. The salmon is being caught by line fishing not with nets. Besides salmon, halibut and other fish are being sold. Jania the sister of the fisherman is doing all the work on farmers’ markets. She is not only serving South Lake Union farmers’ market but also other ones including the famous Ballard farmers’ market in Seattle – one which has become also a tourist destination.

One of the down sides of US farmers’ markets in general is the lack of stalls with refrigerated displays, the stuff which has to be kept cold is vacuumed in freezer bags and “hidden” in coolers. But sampling is usually generous. The same here: on visible display was smoked salmon which I tested before buying and enjoying it for a couple days.

One of my favorite subjects in Seattle is the Pike Place Public Market. It is an important tourist destination mainly due to their fish and seafood stalls. It is certainly a place with some good produce, but it is from my perspective overrated and I never feel comfortable there, I somehow have a love-hate relation. I told Jania that I was surprised by the prices there of 30$ or so per pound of salmon. She replied that those are the normal prices any stall can sell King Salmon for in Seattle, outside the city prices decrease significantly. Happy to hear that producers can make a good margin as well.

Saffron produced in Washington State

I still regret that I did not buy any saffron produced in Washington State from the market. It comes in small glasses and can be easily transported in the cabin luggage. And I never heard that it is being produced in North America before I read about it for this post in Wikipedia. At the Cyrus Saffron stall I got a full introduction in German to its production. The whole enterprise belongs to a German-Iranian couple which started the production in the Eastern part of the sate. A nice result of globalization

The German lady told me that they started the business a few years ago and she is still working part-time in another job. The region where they produce the saffron is a fruit growing area as well. As the fruit seasons ends, the saffron one starts, the field workers from Mexico stay a little longer to pull out the threads from the saffron flower (a crocus variety). This is a tedious job as you may see in this video and more detailed in this one from Italy. All is then nicely packaged and labeled and marketing on the web includes an online shop. But having a direct contact with customers on a market is worth a lot. I enjoyed the conversation and got some inspiration. I certainly have a weakness for entrepreneurs who open new frontiers in food. They also contribute in getting younger crowds to the markets.

Marketing research

The farmers’ markets in the US have a notable difference to most other farmers’ markets I am aware of: there is always an information booth with some volunteers or professional market managers. No difference here, but with some marketing research. Five flip charts were ready for customers to pin their stickers like in a multiple choice test. The questions were basic ones: where one is coming from, the reason for visit of the market, the frequency of visits, the willingness to pay. Another one gave space for any suggestions. I really appreciate the efforts to work on the customer experience and good exercise for the interns who conducted the research.

On the suggestion chart the few suggestions were focusing mainly on getting more vendors, something I judged reasonable as meat, milk and cheese were missing.

All in all: An “Amazon prime location”, a good place for lunch and purchase of good produce including local salmon and saffron

A little link list:

• The official website of the South Lake Union farmers’ market which is part of the Pike Place Market group
• A list of the vendors and some information on the operations from “thestranger.com
• The Wilson Fish Markets stall Facebook page
• The website of the amazing entrepreneurs Cyrus Saffron and their Facebook page
• An the website of the guy who was once a security officer at Amazon and is now producing and selling premium sauces + chicken wings

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Heading back from a visit of Soulard market in St. Louis, Missouri, we came across Kirkwood farmers’ market. This little market was founded in 1976 and serves the community. It consists of a permanent structure.

Approaching the market from the small parking lot, we were greeted by a friendly sculpture: an iron farmer painted in green.

The variety of products is quite large despite the size. All the standard produces were available. Melon were in season as well as tomatoes, corn, etc. and my favourite: potatoes. Pretty much basic and Mid-Western.

A few unusual things to me were the elk & bison meat in the freezer. I have never seen them were I live. The bison summer sausage we tried had a smooth and nicely spiced taste – worth a purchase.

To get an overview over the market does not cost a lot of time. Being there for the first time one feeling persists: it reminds rather of an outdoor supermarket than of a farmers’ market. Probably one needs to be a local and develop some kind of relationship with vendors to fully appreciate its beauty.

All in all: reminds rather of an outdoor supermarket, bison sausage was nice.

A little link list:

• Official market website from the city of Kirkwood
• A post with nice pictures from Carrie Nenonen
• A nice post of the Kirkwood Public Library with a list of books related to farmers’ markets
• A short selection of farmers markets in St. Louis
• An interactive map of farmers’ markets in St. Louis area from the St. Louis Dispatch

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Some time ago I blogged on Soulard Market in St. Louis, Missouri and I knew it would not be the last time. And so I re-visited it after a few years.

Soulard Market is still impressive to me. It has a very nice, quite original choice of products, catering for needs of all types of communities. The meat comes from all kinds of animals, incl. frogs, the vegetables appear in all their shapes and colours, there is nuts I have not seen elsewhere like whole black walnuts, which are really hard to crack, there is a great spice shop, of course there are also cheeses, even raw milk ones, and seafood is available (sea is quite far). But there is also funny popcorn, donuts etc. Not everything is regional, but everything is interesting and mostly of good quality.

And the crowd visiting the market seems to be as the market itself: rather unpretentious, not flashy, and with very diverse backgrounds, kind of little melting pot. Often people are coming with trolleys to carry their purchases, as it seems to be affordable for everyone unlike on some farmers markets.

Apparently a lot of vendors remain the same as the market has not changed much over the years. It has resisted any potential gentrification as described e.g. for Boston. Yes I missed the vendor of the hot sauces. The Goose Poop (a relish) stand was new to me and showed clearly attempts to create an own brand, rather unusual for this market. There was a new food stand as well, probably the one & only which might be close to be called hipster. They sold nice spring rolls, wraps and alike, ginger salad and more (how does that fit with Dr. Pepper, guys?). But otherwise? …

There seemed to be no substantial change. Is this good? Well, people seem to like it, the flow of visitors never stopped despite the hot humid summer. It is also nice to see some things become a tradition, having own roots and may be called something like home. Despite the lack of change, I have not observed complacency.

I am really curious about the times to come and how new generations of visitors and vendors will shape the market or how the master plan of the city of St. Louis will be put into action (or has it already been put into action?).

All in all: Soulard Market remains one of my favorite ones for its wide diversity in products and visitors, for its down to earth approach, and maybe for the stubbornness to remain as it is.

A little link list

• The official website – kind of …
• The one of the Historic Soulard Market Merchants Association Official Website soulardmarketstl.com
• On facebook
• On Twitter
• Soulard market on the St. Louis city site
• Master plan of the city of St. Louis concerning the market
• An interesting perspective on the development of the Boston Public Market and its impact on gentrification – from untappedcities.com
• A nice video presenting the market from Phil Stephenson

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A fire destroyed the Eastern Market of Washington DC in 2007, but today nothing can be noticed. And the market hall still has a nice old fashioned charm. Outside there is an open market for stands on Tuesday afternoons and weekends. This outdoor market has just a nice roof structure and the trucks of the producers drive up to their stalls. When I visited the market the outdoor stands were just being set up. And I guess it was the first time that I saw Amish vendors.

The structure inside is simple. Fans do the cooling of the two rows for the vendors and the one aisle in the middle large enough to stroll around comfortably. Most of the stands seem to sell meat and sausages and the choices are very large. I found the loose home made sausage very appealing. It is even possible to see the artisan sausage production live at the stands. And it is nice to find also all kinds of bones with marrow, pig feet, etc.

But of course there are also baking goods, cheese (incl. French ones), artisan butter, fresh fish, vegetables, fruit etc., all the produce for basic needs. And there is also a place to get breakfast or lunch which is being appreciated by tourists as well as business folks.

The owners of the stands do not necessarily operate them, still the market hall definitely has an artisan appearance. And to a certain degree there are adaptations to modern taste: nice colorful pasta, cut fruit in cups to go etc.

All in all: Nice ambiance, serves all the basic needs with a large selection of meats and sausages. Pleasant place to have lunch.

A little link list:

• The official website
• On Wikipedia
• On facebook
• Nice blog post from inmediasrecipe.com with lots of pictures from the outdoor market, …
• … and here another good one from beyondmyfrontdoor.com
• On tripadvisor with many reviews
• Many reviews as well on Yelp

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It was a rainy day. A pity for the very very touristy but still very pleasant town of Provincetown. The whole town reminds me of a possible American equivalent of a European medieval one like Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which could have been invented for tourists, just far more liberal.

By accident we tumbled upon the farmers market which stretched along the road next to the beautiful Town Hall. There were probably not more than a dozen stands and despite the rain with quite a few buyers.

Vegetables and fruits were dominant, but meat (beef, pork, lamb & chicken) out of Vermont was also available from a friendly vendor. As a highlight there was a guy who demonstrated spinning of threads, kind of Gandhi like style, but more comfortable on a chair. The guy selling mushrooms was either sold out or did not want to show too much of his produce.

I like a lot the one veggie stand which display its merchandise on a shelf were the shelves themselves were made of wood in a shape of barrels cut in half (the picture shows what I really mean).

It was rainy, so we left a bit faster than necessary.

All in all:  Fairly small farmers’ market, nothing wrong about it.

A little link list:

• Listing of location, vendors & products – not sure if up to date from farmfresh.org
• Nice blog post from serious eats

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On the Dewey square in the middle of the city of Boston and next to the Boston South Station is one of their public markets which is indeed a farmers’ market. Quite a clever location, even though the many people seem to be in the rush to go somewhere. And there are a lot of tall office buildings around the market giving almost the feeling of being in a valley. So there is people coming during the day, placing their orders and picking it up after work is finished.

And the market has a lot to offer for daily consumption: fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, milk products, bakery goods of all kinds, pasta, mushrooms etc. and a mobile coffee stand. The latter one is very important to me. To my surprise there is also a stand representing the organization of the Boston Public Market (BPM) with a person informing the public as well as replacing vendors when they go for lunch or so.

One particular farmer impressed me: Carl Hills who grows more than 50 varieties of tomatoes!! He did not have all of them on the stand, but quite a nice selection. I am wondering how he is managing his farm with such a diversity. According to him, he learned that over time as he is not new in the business. And the tomatoes tasted really good.

The bread from the Swissbäkers stand did not impress that much, but it was still good. The selection of Fromage Blanc – French for curd – was nice. Unfortunately I could not taste the pasta sauce from the mushroom stand, if it as good as the mushrooms on display, then it is worth being bought. By the way pasta, there was also a stand dedicated to that produce in all kinds of shapes and colors, a nice temptation.

Despite the not so big size of the market for a city like Boston, it spreads a nice ambiance in the surroundings of business and office towers full of busy people. Walking by the stands during a lunch break seems to be like a little vacation for eyes and brain before the stress starts again. And in the evening you pick up your purchases to prepare a simple but tasty meal at home for a smile on your face and a happy stomach. Or so.

All in all: A very pleasant market in a busy environment with some good quality produce to be discovered

A little link list:

• Official website with all the ongoing developments
• Website of the impressive tomato farm
• An interesting perspective on the development of the Boston Public Market and its impact on gentrification – from untappedcities.com
• A listing of the other Boston farmers markets

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The weather was not so nice, still the farmers’ market in Orleans (Cape Cod, Massachusetts) was busy. Busy in the sense that there was some nice live music and all visitors seemed to be part of a family or of the same vibe. The more than 2 dozen were placed almost like an open corral, the 2 musicians in the center were underlining this.

Since the weather was not so friendly, it was good to have a stand with organic & probably fair trade coffee. This drink is a fair proxy for the rest of the market: focused on organic food, not only vegetarian, almost giving the feeling of a modern version of a flower power meeting – with clean air, instead of the smell of the “good old days”.

In contrast to public markets in general or European markets, the stands did not display their produce in a lush way, there was always a little bit of this and a little bit of that. This almost gave the impression that the producers just had a hobby, which certainly was not the case after having talked to some.

In terms of products all the basics were available: vegetables of all kinds, beef & poultry meat stored in coolers, jelly (e.g. peach bourbon), bakery goods, and so on. One stand also had purslane, something which is rather uncommon. The vendor gave some good tips on how to use it – sautéed in butter and or in small pieces on salads. Sounds good. Surprising was a stand with nice vegetable juices like cucumber mixed with some other nice flavors. Unfortunately the quart (?) was about 12$, so I did not try it. Now I am regretting it as I do not know if it was worth it or not.

Hopefully the live music is always as nice at it was that day, then a visit will always be a pleasant experience.

All in all: A pleasant market with the basics a farmers’ market should offer and some modern flower power feeling, but not on the cheap

A little link list:

• The official website of the Orleans farmers’ market
• A little blog post from Seasonal Chef

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The Pike Place Market in Seattle is quite known by tourists coming from the US and abroad. It is located close the water in a rather larger building. The surroundings are quite nice, not only because Starbucks opened its first coffee shop there. There are some food shops around, bars, restaurants etc. which give this environment a slight hipster touch.

Pike Place Market is known for fish especially salmon, which is chosen by the customer, then packed on site and shipped. Quite a convenient service. The selection of oysters is nice, unfortunately they were not opened on site by the staff The result of my “hunger” was then a few drops of blood when handling them with a pocket knife. Well, it was worth it.

Besides fish and shells there are also stands for vegetables and fruits and other non-food items. I bought some gluten free pasta for a friend. In general the choices are rather limited, but I like the gluten free pasta which I bought for a friend. It is not an impressive market, it is lacking the creativity one can find on the West Coast in general. The focus on tourists does not add a lot of quality to this market for a food lover either.

All in all: not a must see market for food lovers, but it is nice to see the salmon and oysters.

A little link list:

• The mother of Pike Market web sites
• Pike Market on Twitter
• Blog with nice pictures of Pike Market

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The Red Barn in Bradenton, Florida / USA is a whole structure in its own. It gives the feeling to be a mix of flee market, one dollar shop and food supply warehouse. It has lots of indoor space mainly consisting of the non-food section and catering, whereas the outside offers a lot of food supplies mainly vegetables and fruits. Meat, cheese and other processed food is less present.

The crowd is not a gourmet one, rather one looking for a deal. The food is focused towards staple food with seasonal highlights. The available cactus “leaves” – smaller parts of some cactus, where interesting, unfortunately I do not know the use of them.

The display of all the goods is rather rustic, underlining the focus on low cost.

All in all: Very eclectic, but also interesting.

A little link list:

• A review in trip advisor
• Official website

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This is one of my favourites: Soulard market. Since 1779 – okay I was not born at the time. And it is a market with a true character, not as flashy as Pike Place market in Seattle (WA) but it offers a unique variety of great food and at times live animals (chicken, turkey etc.).

It is located not so far from the river and Budweiser brewery.

The iron construction is quite remarkable but focused to support what Soulard is: a market where you can make your daily and festive food purchases and where you meet people from a lot of backgrounds. Beef jerky there is great, as well as a large variety of many food products. At times squirrels steal some nuts and are being chased by the vendors without great success.

Something to appreciate: despite being a well known place it has remained a place which does not offer fake glamour but a sense that a good agricultural product speaks for itself.

All in all: If you ever come to St. Louis, it is a place not to miss, if you appreciate food markets.

A little link list:

• The official website – kind of
• On facebook
• On Twitter
• Soulard market on the St. Louis city site

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