Despite the afternoon rain, the Wallingford Farmer’s Market made its seasonal debut at the new Meridian Park location. Chris Witwer and Jordan Schwartz both had a chance to check it out and here’s what they had to say about it:
From Chris:
The setting is very nice, almost pastoral. Quiet and tucked away from the traffic noise coming from 45th. A spacious, relaxing venue. There was some mud due to the rain, but not so much that the grass cover wasn’t helpful. No huge mud puddles. More vendors than last year’s open, but still small with plenty of room to grow.
Available today: greens, asparagus, onions, garlic, many varieties of potatoes, pastries, handmade caramels, Whidbey Island ice cream, fish, Tiny’s Organics (apples, with a promise of strawberries next week), Grateful Bread, etc. And of course, the cooking demonstration tent. Customers were about the same in numbers as I remember early in the season last year, even though it was rather wettish out.
I asked 3 different vendors questions about the new location/how they like it, etc., and they all said today was their first day in Wallingford and they couldn’t compare to last year.
After I left the market, I headed to Sock Monster & QFC (see, people DO still shop on the way home from the market!) and saw a lot more pedestrians on 45th at 5:30pm than I normally see on a weekday. I’m hoping that’s a good sign for the Market and the Art Walk. Seriously, plenty of pedestrians out between say, Corliss & Densmore, right along 45th.
From Jordan:
I asked a few vendors how business was, and the consensus seemed to be that it was slow for the first couple of hours, but by the time I arrived at around 5:30, things had picked up nicely. They described it as ‘brisk’ and ‘pretty good’.
I saw Zach Lyons, the Communications Director for the Seattle Farmers Market Association and asked how he thought it was going and he said, ‘Well, it looks like people figured out where Meridian Park is!’
I also ‘interviewed’ Harley Sitner and his gigantic dog Ziggy: ‘We wanted to come out for the first day, see how it turned out, plus I saw this recipe in the New York Times a couple weeks ago that used green garlic cloves, scallions, spinach and basil to create a green puttanesca, and I wanted to try it out,’ he said, hefting his bag of groceries up and down. ‘There was another recipe that used mustard greens, but, you know, well’, he said, his voice trailing off briefly, ‘I didn’t want to getting stressed out. It’s just the first week.’ Ziggy had no comment.
Did you make it out to the new Farmer’s Market location? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
I LOVED the Marimba band! They are a great local group from right here in Wallingford and they were fantastic.
This new location is less than two blocks from our neighborhood, so it’s even more convenient. I was very glad the Farmers’ Market survived the relocation debates, and hope it will continue. Being able to buy the wonderful fresh and smoked fish from Wilson’s, the fresh butter from Golden Glen Creamery, the potatoes, the greens, plant starts and baked goods from other vendors is wonderful. There are also surprises from new vendors.
I’m glad not to have to drive. And if you can’t tell any other way, it’s a sign of summer!
I love the new location. It is so much safer for people with kids. It is also a perfect location for an easy Wednesday picnic at the park.
The new location is fine. The ground was a little squishy last night but certainly not a deterrent. I bought some beautiful king salmon from Wilson Fish, bagels from Grateful Bread, cheese from Golden Glen, asparagus from Alvarez, pasta and lettuce from… I can’t remember where. The only thing I didn’t see was any eggs and dairy but hopefully there will be some in the weeks to come.
I didn’t make it. Did my usual dash home from work to get here before 7:00, stopped at QFC and was a bit sad to hear the band playing at Wallingford Center with no farmers’ market nearby. It’s not really any farther to the new location, and I will be going there in the future, but I’m sad that we’ve lost something from our “urban core”.
Loved the marimba band! Husband and I were walking to the Seattle Mosaic Arts 2-yr anniversary celebration, heard the marimbas and curiously followed them into the park to find the market there. We’d forgotten all about it! We’ll be going more often now that it’s just a few blocks from our house. Loved the park location.
also loved the marimba band. it’s a little bit farther of a walk for me but ever since I discovered the park entrance on bagley meridian park has seemed a lot closer.
I was sad that I didn’t see the people with the milk and the people with the honey, but i’m now thinking honey might be a little seasonal and it’s a bit early for it.
my daughter liked that she could go play at the park afterwards, although we used to hit the market up after leaving the park last year. i was there around 6 and saw a good number of people there
I think the location will be great in the sunshine but not so much in rainy weather.
I never missed a Wed. shopping when the market was on pavement but now, on that wet grass with muddy patches, it’s tough with a stroller/packages/Gramma with her walker. I’ll be going to the U Market on rainy weeks now. This market really needs to move to a paved area to better serve people with all abilities/disabilities in our iffy weather.
what market?