Saturday, June 6th
A picture perfect day in Anchorage as summer begins in earnest. Apart from the wind making it hard for tents to stay upright, vendors at the 3 markets I attended today were all all smiles.
I had my 14-year old son and my mother (visiting from Kenucky) with me, and their happy instructions were to shop from as many vendors as possible while I said hello to farmers and handed out AFMA’s “Don’t Buy Food From Strangers’ bumper stickers. From a lion’s mane mushroom (wow!) to salad greens, beets (all those for $3!), rosemary olive bread, rhubarb raspberry jam, Egyptian pastries, and fresh eggs, we came home ready to feast (total price tag $83 including the fern for my garden and mint to grow in our kitchen window planters).
We started at the South Anchorage Farmer Market Market which was bustling. The music was lovely, the line for fish was wrapped around the stall, and the cut flowers from Sun Circle Farm were beautiful. Farmer Bruce from EarthWorks Farm said with gratitude, “I couldn’t be doing what I’m doing without this market.’ And a few vendors inquired about getting SNAP authorized.
Next up, the Spenard Farmers Market, with new market manager Nancy Tone’s grandson selling my son the mint plant- fun to see two young teenage boys doing business at the farmers market. There was more beautiful music, lots of garden starts for sale, and the gorgeous mushroom. Plus we could have registered to vote (all our eligible voters were already registered).
We finished at the Anchorage Farmers Market on Cordova which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this summer. That’s where Zeke scored big on the beets (thanks to Farmer Beth encouraging a kid to take as many of last year’s beets as he promised to eat). The Hope Center was there selling pastries to support those in need. And a shopper who arrived by bike took home a front basket full of herbs.
Three generations of market shoppers came home filled up by the warmth, kindness, and fortitude of Alaska’s farmers working hard to keep us fed. And we’re looking forward to next Saturday and another (different) three Anchorage markets.
Happy summer!