Summer Season #15 opens!!

Tell your neighbors and friends…..this is the place to be on Saturdays in OC!

Fifteen summers ago we opened this week with just 6 vendors. Us organizers were so worried about having very little to offer that we all went home and dug up plants out of our own gardens to add an extra booth. One gal dug up lemon balm …..she was amazed at the end of the day she had sold ‘weeds’ ! During that first market day a guy stopped by and told us he had much better plants at home, we said ‘great-so go get them’ and an hour later he was set up, selling them! So we began to add vendors immediately. Back then we had to set up by the old ‘dog pound’ close to the jail. The dogs would bark and howl and the occasional inmate in orange on work duty would wander through. The gravel on that old lot soon proved too difficult for wheelchairs etc. and the County allowed us to move to the current site in July that year, 2005. It is with tons of gratitude to the County that we continue in this beautiful site today. Yes it’s off the beaten track, but it’s big and clean with plentiful close parking.  I know you’ll make up for the out of the way location by helping us to spread the word! Have you seen the new lamppost banners up around town?

La Provence Bakery is back and The Small Baking Company is taking Grano Bakery’s place this week….check out their delicous baked goods!

All the vendors who where there last year (except for Daisy Fed Soaps and Shy Ann Meats, both closed) will be back this summer, plus several new ones. Due to the cold spring and snow in March some farmers will be arriving in a few weeks. One you may remember from a few years ago, Profarm, from Zillah Wa, is BACK starting this Saturday! (This is the farm with the delicious thin asaparagus and (later) Berry cherries) plus we have Farm D’ICI joining for the summer, which brings the total of ‘certified’ farms growing to organic standards to 5!!! Coyote Ridge Farm is back this week too.

Wild Oregon Seafood is BACK! This week’s catch: Spring Chinook Salmon, Ling Cod and Steamer Clams….fresh from the docks!!

We will have plant starts from Sun Love Farm and Maggys Farm (all Certified Naturally Grown) plus you’ll get lots of selection and good advice from the growers! The night time temps are slowly warming but it’s always a good idea to watch the forecast at this time of year.   S and K Nursery (Woodburn) are back in with their gorgeous hanging baskets and more. Ten Oaks Nursery is out this week, back next.

Saturday should be the first warm opening day we have had in a while, and Landia will have plenty of their sun block  in stock, don’t start off the month with a sun burn! The Steve and Margot Show (formally Big Yellow Taxi) are this week’s entertainment and Saras Tamales AND the Cafe de Crepe Food truck are both back. The Truck is helping us out this week as we wait for several other food vendors to join us. Stayed tuned for news on this,  you’ll have new and exciting food options starting next week.

So pack a shopping bag or too, bring a cooler and remember to buy yourselves a bunch of fresh flowers…summer has started!!!