It’s Dairy Day..and don’t forget Dad!

Jason Hansen loves his Jersey Calves!!

It’s Dairy Day this Saturday! Meet Clackamas County’s Dairy Princess…AND… Mason the Jersey Calf…whose offspring will produce the wonderful milk that only Jersey’s produce! Hansen Family Farms son Jason will be showing Mason to you all…..plus the Clackamas Dairy Women will be cutting into a 40lb cheese wheel and giving samples.

One of Portland Creamery’s mama goats.

Our very own Goat Herder (!)  Liz from Portland Creamery,  will have ‘special samples’ for you this weekend….her award-winning Chevre goes oh SO well with all the produce now in the Market…even the berries go great with her Cajeta (caramelized goats milk…yum)…but just-grilled Fava beans (or sauteed zucchini) with warm Chevre is a must!

Lovely hand-crafted boards…add a salami and cheese for a great gift.

Sunday is Fathers Day…find all kinds of treats for Dad at the Market. Roasted Nuts from Nuttopia, bottles of hard Cider from Portland Cider Company, local Wines from Kings Raven, beautiful crafted Wood Items from Spindles and Fiber…or put together a basket of goodies for him. Does he like fish? Wild Oregon will have Troll caught Chinook Salmon, Ling [and possibly] Black Cod, Dover Sole and:   FATHER’S DAY SPECIAL!!   Steelhead for the grill!  Try cooking with a drizzle of maple syrup and lime juice, then to serve, top it off with fresh basil. Plus Robin will have have Steamer Clams and  Smoked Chinook Spread for hors d’oeuvre to help celebrate the day in style!

RJ ‘s Farm boys showing off their hoophouses!

Visiting down on RJ’s Farm this Tuesday it was so obvious how well Art and Stacey grow their produce. They have a wonderful “closed loop” system of producing food, from growing the grains to feed the cows and chickens , to using the manure these animals generate to feed their soil..they have a beautiful operation. Predator insects keep the bad bugs down, that plus careful rotation and hoop houses to keep the rain off enable them to grow incredibly healthy crops,  good nutrition for their growing boys …..and for you too. Ask them about their growing practices…they are truly growing food like it should be grown!

Raspberries and Blueberries this Saturday.

‘Tis the season for berries..we’ll have Strawberries, Raspberries, Blueberies, Tayberries, Blackberries and Gooseberries. Don’t forget to pick up your free sample of Ball Pectin with a purchase of berries (at the Info Booth). Cherries are coming in too now…don’t you just LOVE this time of year? Chelans to begin with, and from Profarm their prized “Berry Cherries” so -called as they have the flavor (says Ryan from Profarm) of strawberries. Maryhill Orchards will have lots of cherries too and really sweet small Peaches…the first crop off  new trees, small so they ripen quicker. Make sure you sample them this Saturday. They also have their peach and cherry blossom honey. Rhubarb is plentiful too, make Dad a rhubarb and strawberry cobbler…why not?

Tom’s last market for a couple of months till his crops are ready to harvest.

Veggies include all the peas, asparagus (still), greens, beets, carrots, herbs, zukes and cukes, onions, potatoes, and the first hoop house tomatoes. We have a good assortment of plant starts in the Market…Hansen Family Farms have wonderful varieties of tomatoes and peppers for your garden. This will be the last Market till later on for Pitkin Winterrowd Farms but Tom still has basil, oregano and assorted herb plants. Plus a few a few Grafted Tomatoes at special price of 3 for $20.00.  The Master Gardeners Workshop this week will be on Raised Bed Gardening , 30 mins at 10am. (Next week it’s fruit-tree pruning at 10am)

54 vendors this week …whoo hoo! Daniel Cecil, local musician plays original songs while Mitzil and Savory et Sweet cook up great food! Just read Chris’s menu:  Crepes this weekend: Mushroom-Potato; Pulled Pork with Chipotle Yam (this one features Chris’ Blackberry Catsup, made for first of season, RJ’s Farm blackberries!); Poblano Chicken in Polenta crepe and the Figgy. As the market berries are soooo good this year, look for many berry crepes on the sweet side of things! One features Nuttopia’s glazed coconut almonds. And did you know, customers can put together their own combination of fruit-chocolate-nuts? Chris can almost always honor a special request And don’t forget all crepes can be made in her gluten free buckwheat batter! Coffee, fresh fruit smoothies and wine by the glass available too.

Kids POP (Power Of Produce!) Club for kids (5-12), we accept Debit, WIC and have a $5 match for the OR Trail card.  Yes….yet another delicious and fun day at the Market this Saturday, tell your neighbors and friends…and bring Dad!! We’ll see you there in the warm sunshine:)

The Wednesday afternoon Market (8th St at Main) starts at 3pm and ends at 7pm. Live music, hot food, coffee, smoothies and wine by the glass…relax after work and pick up something tasty for dinner.