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Willamette Grain & Seed, the Ten Rivers Food Web, and the Southern Willamette Valley Bean and Grain Project hosted a Fill-your-pantry Market this fall in Shedd, Oregon. The event took place at what was once the Shedd Methodist Church on Highway 99. The church, recently purchased by Willow Coberly of Stalford Seed Farms and Willamette Seed and Grain, has been repainted and nicely refurbished. It currently acts as an office for WS&G and made for an excellent farmers' market in a beautiful rural setting.
Twenty vendors and some 430 customers took part in the event. People began arriving long before the opening time of 2:00 pm and continued to arrive until closing at 6:00. Both the first floor and the basement of the building were used for the market which stayed busy and vibrant the entire afternoon. A few vendors sold directly from their trucks on the curb out front of the church. Music for the event was provided by cellist Luke Beene and the toe-tapping old timey sound of the When Picks Fly string quartet.
The market was not limited to beans and grain, but really anything that would make a good addition to your winter pantry. A list of the farms that were there and what they sold demonstrates the variety of products and specifically the widening array of beans, grains, and flours now available locally here in the valley:
Open Oak Farm–red and yellow flint corn, buckwheat, dark rye, hulless oats, beets, carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, daikon, black radishes, turnips, dry beans (hutterite, Swedish browns, yellow-eye, Tiger's eye, Orca), and garlic; Lonesome Whistle Farm–golden and purple hulless barley, buckwheat flour, four kinds of potatoes, two kinds of winter squash, four kinds (calypso, rio zape, Dutch bullet, Vermont cranberry) of dry beans, and Dakota black popcorn; Goodfoot Farm–six kinds of potatoes and garlic (braids or bulk); Horsehoe Lake Farm–soft white wheatberries, whole wheat flour, de-hulled barley; Harmony Jack Farms/HJF Livestock–pork, beef, whole chickens, pork sausage, Italian sausage, and Octoberfest links; Afton Field Farm–whole chickens, whole turkeys, pork chops, ham roast, pork roast, spare ribs, sausage, eggs, and honey; Queen Bee Honey and Apiaries–wildflower honey; Olsen Honey Farms–honey; Midway Farm–onions, three kinds of squash, and apples; Stalford Seed Farms and Greenwillow Grains–rolled oats, Scottish oatmeal, oat bran, oat flour, soft white wheat berries, whole wheat bread flour, whole wheat pastry flour, wheat bran, gold and brown flax, buckwheat for sprouting; Sunbow Farm–fava beans, soft white wheat berries, triticale, garlic, and three kinds of potatoes; A2R Farm–hard red wheat berries, soft white wheat berries, whole wheat bread flour, who wheat pastry flour, brown flax; Living Earth Bakery and Oregon Cracker Company–gluten free granola bars and gluten free crackers; Fraga Farm Certified Organic Goat Cheese–aged feta, aged raw rio santiam and farmhouse cheeses (plain, chipotle, goatzarella); Sciacca's Focaccia–focaccia (basic, spice/herb, fresh fruit/nut); Randy's Main Street Coffee–coffee and treats; Lake View Farm–whole chickens, hamburger, hot sausage, bacon, beef jerky, whole turkeys, and eggs; Diamond Hill Farms–squash, dry beans (Cherokee trail of tears, French Horticultural, Dutch bullet), flour corn, and corn flour; Running Wild Rice–wild rice; Oregon Baby and Sunny Tuesday Farm–local, organic fruit and vegetable purees.
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Special thanks is extended to The Willamette Farm and Food Coalition and The Ten Rivers Food Web, Hummingbird Wholesale, and the Evergreen Hill Fund of Oregon Community Foundation for for their continued support of the Southern Willamette Valley Bean and Grain Project.
