Farmers' markets gearing up for the summer

Farmers' markets gearing up for summer-selling time

By Maia Nolan
Daily News correspondent

Published: June 11th, 2009 03:13 PM
Last Modified: June 12th, 2009 05:51 PM

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ERIK HILL / Anchorage Daily News

Kathy Baker of Gray Owl Farm of Palmer visits with customers at South Anchorage Farmers' Market at O'Malley Sports Complex.

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Summertime in Anchorage means one thing to local foodies: market season. With the return of the sun (and the mosquitoes) comes the return of the farmers, packing in from the Valley and beyond to peddle vegetables, meats, cheeses and more.

Over the years the original Anchorage farmers' market evolved into the Anchorage Market & Festival, and a couple of smaller, more produce-oriented markets popped up.

Anchorage Farmers' Market

Web: anchoragefarmersmarket.org

When: Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., through mid-October

Where: Central Lutheran Church, 15th Ave. and Cordova Street

Vibe: Locavore's corner store

Centrally located with a laid-back, outdoorsy atmosphere, the Anchorage Farmers' Market feels kind of like the organic, Alaska equivalent of a New York City bodega. Get in, get out, get what you need, and know that you're going to find what you're looking for.

Of course, convenience doesn't mean you have to forego a pleasant shopping experience. One of the best things about this market is the hospitality tent, where the women of Central Lutheran Church offer up coffee, tea and treats along with market information and welcoming smiles.

Arctic Organics has a wide variety of tomato plants, along with sunflowers, baskets, flower and vegetable starters and organic fertilizers. On the other side of the market you can get potatoes from last season, still good after a winter in storage, as well as fresh Alaska eggs ($6 per dozen) and shares in A.D. Farm's 2009 pig program (make a $220 down payment now on half a pig, to be butchered later this summer). There's also fresh local bread and baked goods, and as the growing season progresses, there will be plenty of fresh local produce (lettuce and basil are already headed to market).

If you mourned the downfall of Matanuska Maid Dairy, take heart. Matanuska Creamery is now open at the Anchorage Farmers' Market with an assortment of ice creams in flavors like birch and Oreo, along with white and yellow cheddar cheeses ($8 per pound). The yellow is tasty, but if you're looking for a sharper cheddar flavor, go for the white.

South Anchorage Farmers' Market

Web: southanchoragefarmersmarket.com

When: Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., through Oct. 3

Where: Subway/Cellular One Sports Center, corner of Old Seward Highway and O'Malley Road

Vibe: Neighborhood hangout

Like the Anchorage Farmers' Market, the South Anchorage Farmers' Market's mission is to encourage farming and local eating, said market reporter Alison Arians.

"By supporting our local farmers, we're buying healthy, really fresh food," Arians said. "The whole process of buying local foods and cooking them for our loved ones -- it's a great, healthy thing to do."

Arians talks to vendors each week, finds out what shoppers can expect to see at the market and publishes updates and recipes in a weekly newsletter shoppers can subscribe to on the market's site.

"People will show up with the recipe printed out, and they'll run out of whatever's in the recipe," she said. "It just got them excited about trying something new."

Arians also posts updates on the market's blog and Twitter feed (twitter.com/akfarmersmarket), and last summer she published a cookbook featuring more than 100 recipes collected from the farmers.

At the moment the market's focus is on gardening. Grey Owl Farms, The Blue Poppy and Mile 5.2 Greenhouse have starter herbs, veggies and flowers (including hanging baskets, window boxes and perennials specifically chosen to thrive in Alaska). You can also find Alaska-made jams and jellies, strawberry-and-squash-blossom honey, gluten-free bread and natural ointments. There are locally raised, certified naturally grown oyster mushrooms and lots and lots of seafood, including Copper River king fillets, scallops and Pacific cod. The produce hasn't really started to come in yet, although there are some Alaska-grown storage vegetables.

"It's still early for an Alaskan growing season," Arians said.

More produce will start to show up around mid-June, along with fresh bread from Arians' Rise & Shine Bakery, which returns to the market Saturday. On July 1, the market begins its Wednesday hours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the parking lot in front of the Dimond Center Hotel.

Arians calls the market's atmosphere, "very convivial and friendly and happy."

"It's as close as we can get to a neighborhood, community feeling on the south side," she said. "Our houses aren't close together out here."

Anchorage Market & Festival

Web: anchoragemarkets.com

When: Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., through Sept. 13

Where: W. 3rd Ave., between C and E Street

Vibe: State fair

Started in 1992 as the Anchorage Downtown Saturday Market, the Anchorage Market & Festival has grown to epic proportions. According to the market's Web site, more than 600,000 people visited the market last summer.

These days the market feels like a microcosm of the Alaska State Fair (without the rides, the Disneyland-sized parking lots or the 45-minute drive). Booths are lined up along paths with Alaska-sounding names like Caribou Corridor and Aurora Alley, and vendors hawk a mind-boggling variety of wares -- everything from prayer flags to Pampered Chef gadgets. There are still a few Alaska farmers at the market, but local produce isn't really the focus anymore.

Not that you'll go hungry. The market features a dizzying array of food vendors. Cheese steaks, biscuits and gravy, kalbi (Korean short ribs), waffles, crepes, ribs, gyros, pierogies and piroshki, reindeer corn dogs ... you name it, it's cooking here, along with state fair standbys like funnel cake and kettle corn.

While there are some vendors with made-in-China T-shirts and tchotchkes, they're tucked in among plenty of Alaska-made crafts.

Tassita Rawlins, who has operated her Alaskan Zipper Pulls booth at the market for nine summers, said she likes the market's festive atmosphere.

"After being cooped up all winter it's nice to see everybody," she said. "The tourists, people you went to high school with."

Rawlins makes zipper pulls using halibut tackle, glass beads, bone and antler. For her, the market is a more affordable alternative to opening a store. Plus she gets to be outside all weekend.

"If the weather's good, it's all good," she said.

One last thing: When you're traveling around the state this summer, don't think you have to forego your weekly veggie binge. The new Alaska Farmers' Market Association Web site (alaskafarmersmarkets.org) features a statewide market directory to help you find markets from Dillingham to Delta Junction.

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