As holidays near, only a handful of chances left to stock up at the farmers market
Just in time for Thanksgiving and December holidays, the Tacoma Farmers Market will host four winter markets with plenty of local produce and handmade gifts. The Proctor Farmers Market also runs every Saturday through Dec. 19 before taking a brief break ahead of its January winter launch.
Next Thursday, Nov. 19, head to the Broadway market between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to stock up on parsnips, celeriac, potatoes and more for your intimate Thanksgiving meal. More than 40 vendors will attend this year’s winter markets, according to Anika Moran, executive director of Tacoma Farmers Market.
That’s more than attended the end-of-season dates over the past two months, she said. Some faces will be familiar to regular market-goers, but others are brand-new, including Puget Sound Cider Company and Mason’s Cheesecake Company, creator of miniature cheesecakes perfect for a small household-only gathering.
In terms of produce, expect classic and alternative starches that will encourage creativity with your holiday meals.
“Our growing season is really favorable to the most delicious crops,” said Moran, pointing to cold-weather favorites like parsnips and celeriac, a knobby root that lends a slightly nutty taste, delicious raw and sliced super-thin in salads or cooked and whipped into a pillowy purée. “It’s a small alien that comes out of the ground,” she laughed, “but it’s also one of the healthiest veggies out there.”
The market will also host a handful of new craft vendors primed for unique holiday gifts, such as wood-block printer Katie Dean of Little Green Cards and macrame plant hangers and banners from Tacoma-based BonesBits.
At the Point Ruston markets post-Thanksgiving, customers can also shop the growing array of vendors inside The Public Market, including Owens Meats, Only Oat Cookies and Pike Place Nuts.
As has become tradition this year, the winter markets will also host soap makers and local mask-sewers.
Moran stressed these new vendors — in every category — as integral to the excitement of this year’s winter markets, the second ever in the organization’s 30-year history, and one that almost didn’t happen.
“We weren’t sure, even before COVID, if we would do a winter market,” she added. “Our vendors asked us to. There are no holiday shows. A lot of farmers markets in western Washington never opened this season, and so they missed sales opportunities all year long. Our vendors needed a venue to continue being able to support themselves.”
WINTER FARMERS MARKETS
Farmers markets have patched a fraying rope of our food supply chain in 2020 in more ways than one.
While countless markets around the country, including in Seattle, never opened for the season, those in the South Sound forged ahead this summer despite the coronavirus odds.
They limited vendors to allow for 10 feet or more between tents. They required masks, even before the state mandate to wear them in public. They set up sanitizer booths and handwashing stations. Craftspeople adjusted their inventory to include handmade masks.
Regular customers continued their weekly visits, and first-timers showed up in search of a safe outdoor shopping experience. Others came to take advantage of SNAP Match, a state and county-funded initiative that doubles the value of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
According to Moran and Proctor market manager Karen Bowes, both markets saw an increase in SNAP and Food Assistance Program users, the latter being the state’s food assistance for legal immigrants. That jump dovetails with a rise in SNAP recipients statewide: After steadily decreasing since 2017, to about 475,000 monthly users in February, SNAP and FAP caseloads reached above 537,000 by June, according to data from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services.
The organization received a welcome end-of-year boost in the form of additional CARES Act funding allocated by Pierce County to support the double-value program. Normally, it is primarily funded through the state Department of Health, with local money from the City of Tacoma.
Now, SNAP shoppers can double their dollar at these winter markets — but the CARES funding must be used before the end of the year, or it will be redistributed by the county.
Heralding success this time around, added Moran, these winter markets will likely become a permanent fixture.
The Proctor market, meanwhile, will be open for pre-Thanksgiving shopping on Nov. 21. It will also be open each weekend through Dec. 19, returning with its own winter markets, January through March on the second Saturday of each month.
TACOMA FARMERS MARKET
▪ Downtown: Broadway St. downtown at 9th St., Nov. 19, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
▪ Point Ruston: 5101 Yacht Club Road (outside The Public Market at Point Ruston), Nov. 29, Dec. 6 and Dec. 13, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
PROCTOR FARMERS MARKET
▪ Regular Season: N. 27th St. at N. Proctor St.; Saturdays through Dec. 19, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
▪ Winter Markets: same location; Jan. 9, Feb. 13, March 13, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
This story was originally published November 15, 2020 at 6:00 AM.