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Farmers’ Market Launch Today

Farmers’ Market Launch Today

EGFM sandwich boardWell, the big day is finally here. The Emerson Garfield Farmers’ Market launches today (Friday, July 19) at 3pm and will run until 7pm in the parking lot Knox Presbyterian Church (806 W. Knox) [map].

The buzz so far seems to be great. Yesterday we got a wonderful writeup in The Inlander‘s food newsletter, Entree, and this website saw some of its highest traffic ever. In the past 24 hours alone, we’ve added LyLo’s Teriyaki food truck and Orange Thyme to our full-season vendors.

Here are some highlights and important info:

  • We have approximately 16 vendors and food trucks taking part today, with the possibility of some last-minute additions. Even more are scheduled for next week (but let’s not get ahead of ourselves).
  • Today’s event isn’t just a one-off. It’s a weekly market that runs until October 18, and if it’s a success, it will continue next year too.
  • Remember that this is not the location that we announced back in May. It’s in the parking lot of Knox Presbyterian at the corner of Knox and Post. Look for the sandwich boards (pictured) when you’re heading north on Monroe, west on Indiana and south on Post.
  • The Party Palace on Division was fantastic enough to donate some balloons to decorate our sandwich boards. R&R Custom Color Lab on N. Monroe was kind enough to cut us a nice break on flyer printing, which was largely out-of-pocket.
  • Bri Musser designed our logo as well as our soon-to-be-printed tokens. If the market has slick branding, she’s the one to credit. Those tokens are being sponsored by Prime Lending and the interesting new episodic TV show Washington Grown, and we’re incredibly grateful for their generosity and support. Megan Kennedy and Melissa Parker were the dynamic duo that recruited those sponsors.
  • The Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market is a “sister” market of the West Central Marketplace. We got this off the ground in just 60 days because we were able to pool resources with Project HOPE, who have been instrumental in sorting out a lot of the back-end paperwork. That also means market tokens from one market will be valid at the other — which opens up your market shopping opportunities.
  • Knox Presbyterian has been a dream venue for a lot of reasons — not least their eagerness to make sure we had all the amenities a market would need. If you bump into one of their volunteers, thank them profusely.
  • Despite all our publicity, there are plenty of people who still won’t know about this new weekly event. Mention it to your friends, family and co-workers — tell ’em that there’s a convenient place to go on Friday afternoon/evening for some excellent fast food as well as some fresh, affordable weekend shopping. Spokane’s north side needs a little love.

And we’ll conclude there for now. See you at the market!

Farmers’ Market Vendor Lineup

Farmers’ Market Vendor Lineup

On Friday we sent confirmation e-mails to the vendors and food trucks who had applied to be part of the first-ever Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market. Here are the ones you can expect to see each week at the market this season:

Farmers' Market BingoPlease visit their websites and check them out on Facebook!

Keep in mind that this is by no means the definitive list. We’re awaiting signed applications from a few more vendors and food trucks, and there are also day vendors who will be appearing intermittently. To add some promotional suspense, we’ll keep those day vendors a surprise until the week before they’re scheduled to attend.

However, we are still trying to recruit some specialist food trucks (especially tacos and BBQ) for our rotating lineup. If you’re interested, please download an application here — and if you have a favorite food truck, urge them to take part. We’re not looking for any more full-season trucks, just some to be part of a round robin schedule to mix things up a bit.

One of the things we’re especially proud of is the fact that five of the fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen vendors listed above are located within Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood. So not only will the market give Emerson-Garfield residents access to fresh, local food, it will also help bring some much-deserved attention to these Emerson-Garfield businesses.

Book Signing at Heart of Spokane, Jun 14

Book Signing at Heart of Spokane, Jun 14

On Friday, June 14 there will be a four-author book signing and reception at The Heart of Spokane [map] from 6 to 8pm. The theme is food, but there are every different takes on that theme, including gluten-free cooking, vegan cooking, and gourmet “health-and-healing” dishes.

THOS_Book-signing_2013-06-14

The books and their respective authors are: Dinner with Cecile and Willam, a cookbook by Cecile Charles and William Maltese; The Gluten-Free Way: My Way by Adrienne Z. Milligan; and Get-Real Vegan Desserts by Christina-Marie Wright.

For more info, contact Sarah at (509) 443-4799.

Tossed & Found Barn Sale, May 25

Tossed & Found Barn Sale, May 25

Tossed & Found is going to be holding its third annual Barn Sale on Saturday, May 25. This is the event where one of N. Monroe’s most popular vintage stores closes off its parking lot and opens up its barn. It will run from 9am until 5pm and will be held in the rear parking lot of the building [map].

BarnSale 3

For the past two years, the Barn Sale has been a cornucopia of all things distressed, vintage, antique, and retro. Some third-party vendors take part and offer their wares in addition to Tossed and Found’s ample selection of furniture, trinkets, books, signs, tools, gewgaws, knickknacks, and nostalgia items.

Oh, and please don’t park at Waffles Plus. They’ll get surly and will tow.

Emerson-Garfield Farmer’s Market

Emerson-Garfield Farmer’s Market

[Update July 18: A lot has changed since we first posted this back in May. For starters, we had to seek a new location. So please consider what you read below to be history. The dedicated Emerson-Garfield Farmer’s Market page with all up-to-date info is here.]

With kind assistance from Melissa McNabb, the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council has just arranged use of the parking lot in front of the Adult Education Center (part of the Institute for Extended Learning) on N. Monroe. We hope to organize a weekly farmer’s market there during the growing season, which runs roughly May to October.

Adult Education Center

The location is ideal. The parking lot is directly across from Caffe Delicio and the Vintage Rabbit Antique Mall. Highly frequented bus stops at the corners of Monroe and Montgomery will allow for easy public transit access, and the central location within the neighborhood means that cyclists and pedestrians will also find it convenient. Commuters who work downtown will be able to stop off quickly for fresh veggies and gourmet items on their return journey.

Right now we are looking for interested vendors. Since our focus is on the local, we want to make a point of involving neighborhood stores like Petunia’s Marketplace and Christ Kitchen to ensure that there is a wide range of food available. Another aim is to provide owners of nearby retro and craft stores — like The Heart of Spokane and Paint in My Hair — with the chance to set up booths and sell market-oriented items. And depending on the quality of quantity of the harvest, we might even have super-local produce from the Emerson Community Garden for sale.

To help bring this to (quick) fruition, we will be reaching out to Craig Goodwin, author of Year of Plenty and founder of the successful Millwood Farmer’s Market, to see what advice he can offer.


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If you are interested in participating in the farmer’s market, helping to organize it, or simply shopping there when it’s ready, please get in touch with us by using our contact form or by leaving a comment below.