Early spring farmers market opens at Everett Community College

EVERETT — Local food fans, take note: The Everett Farmers Market is back.

Don’t look for it on the waterfront, however.

This is a new spring market, held Wednesdays through June 2 at Everett Community College. It’s a precursor to the larger Sunday market, which starts May 30.

Vendors at the new market, which opened Wednesday, were busy with students, faculty and local foodies on the prowl for fresh eats.

Shoppers found about a dozen booths, including Snohomish Bakery, selling a variety of savory and sweet baked goods, and Holmquist Hazelnuts of Lynden, offering a range of hazelnut products and samples.

Golden Glen Creamery of Skagit County was offering samples of cheese, including aged cheddars, fresh curds, feta and cheeses seasoned with dill, jalapeno and sun-dried tomatoes.

Island Fresh Seafoods of Anacortes was selling locally caught Dungeness crabs, trapped and cooked the previous day, sold whole.

“We love the farmers market,” said Angela Cooper-McCorkle, who was purchasing fresh beets from Frog’s Song Farm of Fir Island. “We’re so glad they’re here.”

EvCC hosted a similar market last fall from late September to early November after the Sunday market had closed for its regular season.

Nate O’Neil with Frog’s Song Farm said he didn’t know what to expect for the first spring market, held under the covered entrance to Gray Wolf Hall.

Potatoes and tomato plants were his hottest sellers, along with fresh garlic, onions, spinach, mushrooms and herbs.

Kathryn Kerby with Frog Chorus Farm of rural Snohomish had already sold out of eggs by lunchtime.

That left her with fresh herbs and information about her farm’s CSA (community supported agriculture) program, which provides regular shares of food from her farm to subscribers.

“I’m really pleased,” she said. “I’m getting a lot of questions. I have seen a major increase in people caring about what they put into their bodies. They’re asking about the hows, the whys, the wheres, the whens.”

Ornamental nursery plants, fresh-cut flower arrangements and soaps were also for sale at the market, along with apples and honey from Eastern Washington.

EvCC associate faculty member Laura Wild, who teaches nutrition, worked with organizers of the Everett Farmers Market to expand the local market season last fall.

This year’s spring market is a first.

“When people have easy access to good food, they’re likely to buy it,” said Wild, who is co-teaching a class this quarter called “Sustainable Food Systems: What to Eat and Why it Matters.”

Students in the new course will take a field trips focused on sustainable farming.

They’ll also grow a garden on campus, including lettuce, spinach and other crops, with help from the head groundskeeper at the college.

Go, buy, eat

Everett Farmers Market: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays through June 2 outside Gray Wolf Hall, Everett Community College, 2000 Tower St., Everett. See www.everettfarmersmarket.com for more information.

Find more: See www.heraldnet.com/ecogeek for a list of 14 farmers markets opening soon in or near Snohomish County. See www.pugetsoundfresh.org for a searchable database of regional farms and markets.

Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com.

Find a farmers market

Here’s a list of the 2010 seasonal farmers markets in or near Snohomish County.

New this year is the early spring Everett Farmers Market from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays now through June 2 in the covered area outside Gray Wolf Hall, Everett Community College, 2000 Tower St., Everett.

Arlington Farmers Market: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, June 19 through Sept. 25, Legion Park, 200 N. Olympic Ave., Arlington; 360-435-9272; www.arlingtonfarmersmarket.org.

Bayview Farmers Market: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, April 24 through Oct. 30, Bayview Corner, Highway 525 and Bayview Road; 360-321-4302; www.bayviewfarmersmarket.com.

Country Village Farmers Market: Noon to 6 p.m. Fridays, June 4 through Sept. 24, 23718 Bothell-Everett Highway, Bothell; 425-483-2250; www.countryvillagebothell.com.

Edmonds Museum Garden Market: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, May 1 through June 26, Fifth Avenue N. and Bell Street, public safety building parking lot, Edmonds; 425-776-7201.

Edmonds Museum Summer Market: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, July 3 through Oct. 2, Bell Street, in the area of Fifth Avenue N., Sixth Avenue and Bell Street, Edmonds; 425-776-7201; closed Aug. 14 for Taste of Edmonds.

Everett Farmers Market: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays, May 30 through Sept. 26, Port Gardner Landing, 1600 W. Marine View Drive; 425-258-3356.

Foster’s Produce: Open daily, May 1 through Oct. 31; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. spring, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. summer, 5818 Highway 530 NE, Arlington; 360-435-6516.

Garden Treasures Farm Stand: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily now through Nov. 24. From I-5 Exit 208 (Arlington), go half-mile east; 360-435-9272.

Lake Forest Park Commons Farmers Market: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays, May 9 through Oct. 9, indoors, adjacent to Third Place Books at Town Centre, 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park; 425-485-1042; www.thirdplacecommons.org.

Mountlake Terrace Farmers Market: 2 to 7 p.m. Thursdays, May 6 through Sept. 30, 232nd Street SW and library entrance at 58th Avenue W.; 425-640-8799.

Mukilteo Farmers Market: 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays, June 2 through Sept. 29, 609 Front St., Mukilteo; 425-418-6064; www.mukilteofarmersmarket.org.

Skykomish Open Air Market: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, May 15, June 12, July 10, Aug. 7, Sept. 4, near the Skykomish Library, 100 N. Fifth St.; 360-677-2135.

South Whidbey Tilth Farmers Market: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, May 1 through Oct. 9, Highway 525 and Thompson Road, Langley; www.southwhidbeytilth.org. Also a farm stand on Thompson Road open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily except Saturdays, May 1 through Oct. 9.

Contact Andrea McInnis at 425-339-3479 or amcinnis@heraldnet.com if you have updates or changes.