The new farmers market in Queen Anne Hill is doing very well a month and a half after it opened, according to a smiling George Counts, chairman of the Queen Anne Farmers Market Association.
Set up on Thursdays in the McClure Middle School parking lot for the time being, the vendors are happy because neighborhood residents are buying their products, he said last week. Counts also thinks the market's business will improve even more "as the popularity and word of mouth spread."
Market manager Judy Kirkhuff agrees. There were 35 vendors at the market last week, she said. "We started out with, I think, 27."
Furthermore, something like 2,000 local shoppers are showing up at the market every week, Kirkhuff added.
The market will move to the south and east sides of the Queen Anne Community Center on Aug. 30, when McClure classes start, she said. "We are negotiating with the parks department over the fees they charge," Kirkhuff added. "Here, we're paying the school district for the use of the lot."
Neighborhood resident Nancy Eichner said she was ecstatic about the new market on Queen Anne Hill as she stood next to a booth for Tiny's Organic Fruit.
"I get all my shopping done at the Queen Anne [farmers] market." Eichner said. "I look forward to Thursdays." She is also a major fan of organic produce and a major fan of not supporting huge grocery corporations, Eichner added.
Erick Olson, who was working at the Tiny's booth last week, isn't surprised at Eichner's enthusiasm. "It's definitely more than a fad," he said of the growing popularity of organic produce.
Olson conceded that most grocery stores now sell organic products, but he's not impressed. "It's crap," Olson grimaced, contending that the organic produce in grocery stores goes through the hands of one or more distributors and ends up in storage for a while before it hits the shelves.
By contrast, Tiny's fruits come straight from the farm to the stands, including one the owners have operated for a couple of decades at the Pike Place Market, he said.
Olson also likes the Queen Anne location. "These are people who have a strong sense of commu- nity."
Rocky Rococoa (his real name, according to his business card) had a booth at the market selling chocolate cakes and what were billed as "Quite possibly the best chocolate cookie you've ever tasted in your life."
"It's a little slow because it's just starting out," he said of the Queen Anne market. Rococoa has also sold his wares at farmers markets in Ballard and Wallingford, he said.
"One of the nice things about this," he added, "is I make people smile a lot."
Liana Jamison runs the Lavioli Ravioli booth at the Queen Anne market. "I do pretty well here," she said. Jamison also sells frozen ravioli that she makes every week at farmers markets in Edmonds and in South Seattle.
"Edmonds is great, too, but this is probably my favorite farmers market," she said in the parking lot next to McClure. "I love Queen Anne. I love the energy of the people here."
Local residents David Bobroff, who bought some salad greens, and his friend Paula Eggertsen, who bought some carrots, were at the market last week. Bobroff described it as a "marvelous" market.
"Unfortunately, I'm not able to avail myself of this very often," he said, explaining that Thursday is his day off and that he usually leaves town. "If it was a different day, I'd probably buy all my produce here."
That's not a problem for Eggertsen. "It's my place of choice for produce," she of the neighborhood market. "It's convenient, the produce looks fresh and organic, and the prices are good."
Counts, chair of the neighborhood market association, brought up another point. Organizers wanted to use the market space as a gathering place for the community, he said. "That was one of the main reasons we wanted to get it done."
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or 461-1309.[[In-content Ad]]
