Queen Anne Farmers Market Preview

I love living in Seattle. Not only do we have fantastic summer weather, but from the middle of May through October, we have farmers markets all the time. So far I haven’t found any on Mondays, but every other day of the week you’ll find at least one and possibly up to four or five markets available. It is wonderful!

Now I admit that John and I go a little overboard on our farmers’ markets. We visit at least three or four a week! I know some of the farmers even tease us about it! In part, we like shopping a little at a time, since we never really know what we’re going to feel like cooking, but in a large part, we go to so many markets because we love the farmers. Whether we’re chatting with Matthew about wine, Brandon about Guanciale, Brent about potatoes, Eiko about her eggs, Clayton about his greenhouses, Kia about her carrots, or Janna about her salts, we enjoy the social interaction as much as the food.

Because we spend so much time at the markets, we’ve gotten a good sense of each market’s unique personality. They really do each have their own, you know. We’ll talk more about this over the next few weeks, but the combination of the farmers, the patrons, and the market organization really contribute to a unique experience at each farmers’ market.

On Thursdays this year,  Seattle has a brand, spanking new farmers’ market – the Queen Anne Farmers’ Market. There has been a lot of confusion about the Queen Anne Farmers’ Market this year but if you haven’t visited their website yet, I will set you straight. Yes, Virginia, there is a Queen Anne Farmers Market this year.

I won’t go into a lot of the boring procedural stuff that went on, but instead will just summarize. There were a few issues with the location, the scale, the parking, etc. In that whole hullabaloo, many people (including me) thought the market would soon be no more. But luckily, the neighborhood of Queen Anne knew what they wanted and they wanted their farmers market. So what did they do? They formed their own management team, rounded up volunteers and dollars, and they got themselves a market.

Organizing a market isn’t easy. There are a lot fo hoops that you need to jump through and a lot of red tape to negotiate. Even the amount of permits and organization needed to put up signage on the light poles is amazing. I’ve really gained a whole new appreciation for what goes into putting on a farmers market from talking to Julie from the Queen Anne Farmers’ Market Association, following them on Twitter, and reading their blog.

They’ve got a great list of vendors as well. From Wilson Fish to Dog Mountain Farm, from Billy’s Organics to Golden Glen Creamery, you can find amny of the vendors you know and love from the other Seattle area farmers’ markets. What you won’t find at Queen Anne though, are crafts. The Queen Anne Farmers’ Market is a farmer focused market. While some other farmers’ markets in the area allow a variety of crafts, the Queen Anne Farmers Market decided to use its limited space for the benefit of farms and food producers.

The market starts up on Thursday, June 18th, at 3pm. For opening day, the Queen Anne Farmers’ market has a great line up.

From 3-5pm, you can rock out to music from Snake Suspenderz.

At 4pm, there will be a Chef’s Demo with jason Franey from Canlis.

At 5pm, Matthew Amster-Burton, of Roots and Grubs, will be on the scene talking about his book, The Hungry Monkey, and signing copies.

From 5-7pm, there will be neo-Flamenco music by Andre Feriante.

If that wasn’t enough, there will be great food and beautiful flowers that you’ll be able to purchase and Skillet Street Food will be on the scene serving up some dinner.

Cook Local will be attending the opening day of the market and we’ll have photos, real time Twitter updates, and a live blog post coming at you on Thursday afternoon.

So pack up your reusable bags, check out the bus schedule, and head on out to Queen Anne this Thurday, or any Thursday through October 1, 2009. Let’s show Seattle’s newest farmers market some love!