Farmstr

The Wallingford Farmers Market is closed for the season, and your summer garden has been dug under, composting for the winter. I’ve got a winter garden going, two kinds of kale, some cabbage, but it certainly doesn’t grow as quickly as summer time crops.

So what’s a hungry locavore to do?

Janelle Maiocco has a solution: Farmstr.com. She explains:

I live on 37th and Burke Ave in the house surrounded by chickens. My day job for the last 8+ months has been a start-up company called Farmstr. We just launched our online marketplace (initially just Seattle) and I thought you’d like to know since my house will occasionally be a drop-site for some pretty fantastic farm food.

Farmstr is an online marketplace where customers can find and buy food directly from local, sustainable farmers – and farmers can reach new customers and enjoy higher margins. (And yes: urban farmers can sell on Farmstr too – I sell my own farm eggs from yard-ranging hens!). Farmstr just launched in Seattle and will be selling local, organic (both certified and not certified) farm food year round – drops in Wallingford include residential address 3648 Burke Ave North and Portage Bay Grange (north side of University Bridge).

Consider: with Farmstr, you can buy grass-fed beef, organic pears, heirloom tomatoes for a fraction of what it costs at the store. It takes a lot of work for farmers to go through complicated sales channels with layers that chip away at their margins. Yet until now it has been hard for all small farmers to find new customers (they don’t all have the time to be at farmers markets each weekend!).

Selling direct through an online marketplace means farmers keep more profit – even when they sell it to customers for less than you’d pay at the store. (I bought organic pears for $1 LB & grass-fed beef for $7 LB for all cuts incl tenderloin/steaks). While we just opened and will always be making improvements – for now you can find your farmers and buy direct – soon you will be able to keep track and communicate with farmers, set alerts (when new farmers or products come online), add pickup times to your calendar and more.

We are a young company and excited for your feedback. If you do try us out – please tell us what you think!

We can attest that there are deals to be had. Mrs. Wallyhood just bought 20 lbs of organic brussel sprouts for $55 ($2.25 / lbs). Head over to PCC or Whole Foods and you’ll be paying $7.99 / lbs.

And, in case you’re wondering: yes, they do have Heritage Turkeys for the holidays: Spanish Black, Blue Slate, Bourbon Red, and Royal Palm. I think I got a recipe for the Bourbon Red.