Growing Year-Round: Expanded Markets, Websites, Shares and Outlets Allow Consumers to Get Fresh Produce in Winter

Amiah Wildhaber stocks produce at The Market at Jeremy's Farm to Table in Chehalis.

Melissa Hyatt at the Newaukum Valley Farm farm stand, which is open through Oct. 30 at the farm on Spooner Road. Hyatt said root vegetables, onions and garlic and sturdy greens are best this time of year.

Posted Monday, October 21, 2019 3:51 pm

By Carrina Stanton / For The Chronicle

The temperatures may have dipped and many green plants turned brown, but in the farming world, some folks are still going strong.

Last Thursday marked the first week of the now year-round Toledo Thursday Market. The market was slated to complete its season at the end of September but received word that the new Steamboat Landing building built by Mike and Di Morgan would be willing to house an extended market season.

“We are beyond excited,” said Cindy Samco, a volunteer with the Toledo Thursday Market.

{{tncms-inline content="Chehalis Farmers Market 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays on Boistfort Street in downtown Chehalis now through Oct. 29 Chehalisfarmersmarket.com &nbsp; Constellation Farm Rochester Constellation-farm.com Stand at Olympia Farmers Market 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through December&nbsp; &nbsp; Helsing Junction Farms 12013 Independence Road SW, Rochester Helsingjunctionfarms.com, @helsingfarmcsa (360) 273-2033 Farm stand open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. now through early November offering carrots, beets, kales, chard, radish, onions, winter squash, garlic, herbs and more. &nbsp; Never Winter Farm 236 Gray Road, Toledo (360) 864-4880 Neverwinterfarm.com, @mygreensfarm, mygreensfarm@gmail.com Products offered at: Chehalis Farmers Market (11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays until Oct. 29), Olympia Farmers Market (10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through December) and Toledo Thursday Market (2-6 p.m. Thursdays year round). Plans to launch a storefront on their website that allows consumers to browse each week&rsquo;s harvest, place an order for pickup at the farm or for local delivery. Email farm for more information &nbsp; Newaukum Valley Farm 482 Spooner Road, Chehalis Newaukumvalleyfarm.com (360) 269-5135 Farm Stand open 1-7 p.m. Wednesdays through Oct. 30. Produce available for purchase at: Olympia Food Co-op; Jeremy&rsquo;s Farm to Table and Market in Chehalis; and Marlene&rsquo;s Market in Federal Way. November and December CSA boxes will be offered for $60 per box with pickup at Shakespeare &amp; Co. in Chehalis. November box delivery will be Nov. 23 and the December pickup date is TBA. Look on the website for more information. &nbsp; &nbsp;The Market at Jeremy&rsquo;s Farm to Table 576 West Main Street, Chehalis (fruit stand located at 1849 N. National Ave, Chehalis) Jeremysfarmtotable.com (360) 748-4417 Local, seasonal produce as available as well as regionally sourced produce &nbsp; Toledo Thursday Market&nbsp; 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays year-round at Steamboat Landing, 115 Ramsey Way Vendors Include: Buckleberry Farm; Vienna Garden; Bee Wrangler Honey; Sugarbear Farm; River House Bake Shop; Dragonfly Chocolates; Never Winter Farm; and Blooming Artichoke. Trick or Treating and photos on Oct. 31. Holiday Market on Nov. 14. &nbsp; Boistfort Valley Farm, Inc. 426 Boistfort Road (360) 245-3796 @boistfortvalleyfarm, info@boistfortvalleyfarm.com Vendor at Community Farmers Market at Chehalis, open through Oct. 29. pumpkin patch at the farm open weekends from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until the end of October offering edible and ornamental pumpkins and winter squash. After Oct. 31, call to arrange times to come out on Saturdays. Twice monthly winter CSA deliveries featuring Boistfort Valley Farm produce as well as regional products from mid-November through May. Cost is $60 per delivery. &nbsp; Rising River Farm 13208 201st Ave. SW, Rochester risingriverfarm.com, @Rising-River-Farm-107989195897429 (360) 273-5368&nbsp; Late fall CSA, first of three deliveries was Oct. 19 but sign-ups still available for the other two deliveries at a pro-rated rate. Late Fall CSA Share $90 for three deliveries mid November through mid December. Vendor stall at the Olympia Farmers Market and Tacoma Proctor Farmers Markets through December." id="c17d204b-b901-44a5-8166-57b0b3a3dcfb" style-type="info" title="Where Can I Still Get Local Produce?" type="relcontent"}}

This was the Toledo Thursday Market’s third season and Samco said a year-round market has been a long-held dream for market supporters. She said the market has been a vehicle for growing community solidarity and support for producers and she is glad to see it continue past the traditional summer market season.

“Just fresh produce in general is so much healthier and it’s just a great place for all of these people who have like-minded interests to get together and for producers to bring wholesome goods for the community.”

Besides Toledo, Southwest Washington consumers mourning the end of their favorite farmers market season have a lot of options for continuing to get local, seasonal produce. At Newaukum Valley Farm, owners Josh and Melissa Hyatt say their season never really ends. A number of restaurants in the region rely on them to offer produce year-round, Melissa Hyatt explained, so they have found crops that excel in Washington’s wet and cold winters.

Some of the best veggies to seek out during the fall and winter include: root vegetables such as beets, potatoes and parsnips; sturdy greens such as kale, chard and collards; pumpkins and winter squash; and aromatics such as onions, shallots and garlic.

“And carrots are so sweet in the winter,” Hyatt said. “They just seem to get sweeter with time.”

Producers using greenhouses, such as Never Winter Farm in Toledo, can even produce more tender lettuces year-round.

Newaukum Valley Farms is one of a handful of local farms that offer winter Consumer Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares. Some farms refer to these boxes as “keeper shares” because they are filled with crops that are not only available in the winter but will easily keep for weeks in the right environments. Newaukum Valley will offer a November box that will be delivered the Saturday before Thanksgiving to help with holiday meal planning and the December box will also happen before the Christmas holiday. Besides being filled with all the essentials for holiday meals, the boxes are a great way to buy local, Hyatt said.

“You know your food and you know where it’s coming from,” Hyatt said. “And supporting local farmers is so important. There’s not a lot of us and it’s a hard job.”

Several local restaurants and retailers also carry a limited amount of local produce year round. One of those is Jeremy’s Farm to Table restaurant as well as The Market at Jeremy’s and now The Fruit Stand (located at the former Veggie’s in Chehalis). Amber Wildhaber said the market carries produce from Newaukum Valley Farm year round. Seasonally they also carry produce from farmers such as green beans, zucchini and pumpkins from Riverside Fire’s Steve Emerich and sweet corn from Dennis and Dana Styger of Chehalis. The Wildhaber family has had a farm stand in one form or another for 30 years and has always offered boxed fruits from Eastern Washington producers but also seasonal produce from Southwest Washington growers and foragers when available because supporting local agriculture is important.

“You definitely build a relationship with that farmer to where you feel like family and you want to support their families,” Wildhaber said. “And we know our suppliers. We know where they are growing and how much spray they are using.”

Growing Year-Round: Expanded Markets, Websites, Shares and Outlets Allow Consumers to Get Fresh Produce in Winter

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