What fun to go to farmers markets this Saturday with Edible Alaska’s Amy O’Neill. Amy is visiting Anchorage from Cordova this week to celebrate the magazine’s 10th anniversary. The Summer 2026 edition includes AFMA’s Farmers Market Directory and a beautiful essay by AFMA board member, farmer, and market manager Brandi Jo Nyberg entitled “It’s the International Year of the Woman Farmer.” What better way for Amy and me to celebrate that delightful fact than sharing a market day together. Thanks Amy!
Our first stop was the Anchorage Midtown Farmers Market which was bustling. There we found beets and potatoes in abundance alongside beautiful pickles, jams, hot sauces, and honey. We met a beekeeper who recently installed a vending machine of raw Alaskan honey in the Midtown Mall and chatted with the Far North Fungi friends with their lovely mushrooms. Theresa Brown had signs up for the Wednesday 6/17 Alaska Farm Bureau Anchorage section meeting. And I came home with raspberry habanero dipping sauce and fresh zucchini among my bounty.
Next we visited Pena Park Market, known as Anchorage’s Hmong market (celebrated in this short Indie Alaska film on the market’s history). Pena Park feels like one of those special places where people who are in the know are really in the know. Streets were parked up in all directions as people lined up for delicious food from the many hot vendors. And the abundance of greens was remarkable. The farmers I shopped from shared their bok choy, a purple-leafed spinach variety, and green onions.
Given our late spring this year, everything came from an early start in their Wasilla greenhouse, and each generous bunch of greens cost just around $5.
Both markets had music, laughter, and vibrancy- the kind of uplifting feel that makes you very glad to have stopped. Plus I came home with a batch of steam rolls for dinner.
Hope to see you out there!
