2010 Market Season

We are really looking for some more volunteers to help us make 2010 a returning event. Excited vendors want to return. But we still need some help in the grant writing and planning stages. Sure seems silly to work this far ahead, but it’s not. Grants due mid January and beyond. We also learned last year that before we knew it the summer was here and the market was a reality.

If you are interested in helping, please let us know. We need your help. This bilingual market is one of a kind in Seattle.

UNTIL NEXT YEAR

Just because the market is over for the year 2009, doesn’t mean we will not keep telling you all the things happening behind the scenes to make this next years market even better. So make sure you check in every once in a while and see what we are up to.

Right now we are gathering an advisory board which is meeting often to write grants and make suggestions and gather feedback. Then we start moving forward because to make a market successful, it has to be year-round at least in the planning stages. So off we go running for the 2010 season with plans to try and make this event weekly, have cake walks, more music, more produce, more of what you want, and even perhaps hours that will help folks who work on Saturday.

And as always, bi-lingual, multi-cultural and local resident vendors are the focus.

And a huge thank you to everyone that helped make the market a success, to the City of Seattle for our grant and faith in us, to our fiscal sponsor, to our neighborhood association who gave us insurance,  C2C for helping with our co-op, our vendors who continued to show up even though maybe our numbers were small, and to you, who spent your hard earned cash supporting a true grassroots organization.

WHAT VEGGIES WILL YOU FIND THIS SATURDAY

Remember Jose, and his local veggie garden at Marra Farm?
When I asked him what he should have available this Saturday at the
Market on Wheels to buy he said,”I should have some green tomatillos this weekend”.

Also he thinks he’ll be picking and selling:

• zucchini / calabacín
• cucumbers / pepinos
• kale / col rizada
• chard / cardo
• and even kelieta (see below)

(now mind you the reception on the phone was bad and I do not speak a lick of Spanish, and I can’t even figure out how to find it in google). He knew I was struggling on this one so he told me you steam it and it’s good. So I’m up for checking out a new veggie.

SIDE NOTE: This just in. Thank you to Nancy Swigger for sharing her knowledge with me to pass along. “It is spelled quelites and it is like a mild spinach and does grow wild, but you have to cook it longer than spinach and it is far more nutritious.  Super with beans.”

In addition to Jose, you’ll find Dao Lee Garden’s selling Asian herbs, veggies and flowers.
Bill & Honey will be selling organic and non-organic produce at their stand.
And Betty Jean might have some things from her pesticide-free home garden.
Last time I bought some organic catnip for my 3 fur balls.

And what could you make with tomatillos? You could try making homemade Salsa Verde or check out this recipe for a Spicy Chicken and Tomatillo Soup

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Soup/SpicyChickenTomatilloSoup.htm

So rain or shine, I hope to see you this Saturday at the 3rd South Park Market on Wheels. Located in the Napoli’s parking lot on the corner of 14th & Cloverdale. Market officially opens at 10 am and closes at 3pm.

AFTER THOUGHT: Here’s a link about the great wild spinach veggie (quelites) I mentioned above. One of the reasons I am having so much fun volunteering for this market is that I am learning a lot.

http://www.culinate.com/columns/deborah/quelites_love

VENDORS GET FIRED UP TO SELL EVEN MORE

Tonight our vendors all gathered at a meeting in South Park to talk about what is working at the market and what still needs some work. We planned a big push in advertising and getting the word out. We talked about making the market open longer hours next year and more often.

We talked about healthy foods being added to the prepared booths. About adding some vegetarian options. We talked about more produce and our produce vendors not overlapping items. We talked about trying to get refrigeration and having someone selling cheese and milk. Eggs, well, those are hard to do with health codes, sorry.

Great ideas emerged and what you will see this next market is a jazzed group of vendors wanting to make the market your place to shop. Instead of giving coupons, we talked about just making sure we give a quality product at a quality price.

You will also see signs stating the products and their costs. And more of those great ads we’ve been sending out. Really this learning curve for the market has been a great success for us all. We truly are working out the bugs to be one of the greatest markets in Seattle. We may be small, but we are different and we have some great stuff to offer.

So join us on the third Saturday of August, that’s August 15th from 10am to 3 pm for the next Market on Wheels. We are located on the corner of 14th & Cloverdale in South Park in the Napoli’s Pizza parking lot. And then come back on September 19th for more.

3 MORE DAYS: OPENING DAY OF THE MARKET

The grand opening of the new South Park Market on Wheels is just about here. For almost a year, the community has pulled together, gathered at meeting, filled our surveys, and worked to make this dream a reality. And now is is just 3 days away.

We’d like to take the time to thank those who were instrumental in the beginning, middle and end of this project. We’d like to thank all of you in advance for your support once we open. Our dream to have this grow into more often next year and truly supply South Park with food and good food is huge. And we want to extend this big welcome to our Georgetown friends as well. We hope you will come and enjoy our maret as well. Georgetown gives us several great events and places to go and things to do. We’d like to give something back to you as well. A great place to get food, produce and tamales.

Hope to see you all there. Remember, we are open the third Staurday of each month now through September in the Napoli’s Pizza parking lot on the Southeast corner of 14th and Cloverdale in South Park.