The Farmers’ Market is open again!

The Saturday Bellingham Farmer’s Market opened for its 20th season on April 7. Beautiful weather, crowds of happy people, farmers and producers with plenty to offer, entertaining buskers (including my older son), and the promise of a bountiful year for all of us who love to cook and eat good food grown close to home. Envisioning salads, stir-fries, pasta tosses and smoothies, I came home with sacks of fresh greens from Terra Verde, Spring Frog and Rabbit Fields farms: spinach, kale, arugula, pea shoots, mizuna, lettuce mixes, tatsoi, broccoli rabe. There were also impossible-to-resist Brussels sprouts, which are addicting when simply drizzled with olive oil, tossed with diced pancetta and then roasted. I bought a jar of golden honey from Backyard Bees, a round of creamy goat cheese from Gothberg Farms, and a package of red pepper pasta sheets from B’ham Pasta. From BreadFarm, fresh “Monster” loaves for the week of sandwiches ahead, and a mini pumpkin bread for my snack as I strolled among the vendors and visitors. It’s a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning – so much so that I often linger into the afternoon, as there are many tasty lunch options from vendors on site. The B’ham Farmers Market. Downtown Market Depot. 10 am – 3 pm every Saturday til just before Christmas. And come June, a smaller (but still wonderful) version on the Village Green in Fairhaven, every Wednesday til the end of September, from noon to 5 pm. Don’t miss it.

Beautiful late-summer produce at the 2009 B'ham market.