LOCAL FOOD page 2

The Farmers' Market in Eugene can trace its beginnings back to the first public market in this part of Oregon, the Eugene Producers Market, which began in 1915. (shown at the top of this page in 1927) It was located in the same location it is today.
Lane County Historical Society

At this time of the early 1900s, hops was the most important crop in our area,

with large worker's encampments in the Seavey Loop area east of LCC. The Springfield Museum has pictures of these encampments as does a book the Eugene Register-Guard published in 2005 called "Looking Back LANE COUNTY".

An article I read once on the Springfield Museum website said:

Hops, used in brewing of beer, became an important agricultural crop during the 1880s. Oregon was the leading producer of hops in the United States. Springfield was the leading hops producer in Lane County. Many families worked in the fields gathering hops.

In the 1930s, the Depression and a mildew epidemic caused farmers to need to plow under their hops crops.

Flax was declared a World War II defense commodity and many farmers replaced hops with flax in the 1940s. Flax was used to make parachute harnesses as well as linen thread.

With the introduction of large-scale irrigation techniques in the 1930s, vegetable crops and orchards grew to the point that the Eugene cannery, Agripac, was very busy.

This photo, published in the 1969 book called "Market Days", by Stan Bettis, is credited to photographer Carl Baker and provided to the book by Lyman Coburn.

permission to use pending

Below is the second location of the Eugene Producers Market, on the southeast corner of Charnelton and Broadway, in 1929. (You can click on the photo to see the full image.)

The growth of large supermarkets as well as other conditions led to the closure of the original market in 1959 and the Farmers' Market was reorganized into its present form in 1979.

You can still get an idea what the inside of the Eugene Producers Market looked like by going inside ShawMed, the current occupant on the southeast corner of Charnelton and Broadway.

I'm not sure if these beautiful insets in the ceiling were part of the Eugene Producers Market building, or if they were done as part of a remodel of the building.

Here is a Directory of Oregon Farmers Markets. (We're in the "Willamette" section.)

FARMERS' MARKETS

Downtown Eugene or
Springfield or
South Eugene or
Lane County Fairgrounds: Holiday

a. This next series of photos was taken at the Farmers' Market in downtown Eugene (8th and Oak St.) on Saturdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The following photos were taken over a period of years and so may not reflect current prices.

Freeman Rowe has The Gourd Patch booth at the Eugene Farmers' Market. The expertise he shares there he also shared with many LCC students over his 30 plus-year biology faculty career.

Kale

Basil

The one on the bottom left is called cheddar cauliflower.

Speaking of cauliflower, I love this quilt I saw at the Pioneer Quilters show in April 2009.

You can click on it to see a larger image.

Freda Freshour made the quilt and her friend Pam Reim quilted it.

Back to the markets....

The Deck Family Farm also sells meat at the downtown Eugene Farmer's Market. It is pictured later in the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) section.

Click on the photo for a larger version.

This next series of photos was taken at the Farmers' Market in downtown Eugene (8th and Oak) on Thursday.

The Lane County Farmers' Market in downtown Eugene accepts Credit, Debit, Oregon Trail (SNAP), WIC and Senior Coupons. Check the Information booth for a debit card scanner.

Kathleen Merrigan, deputy secretary of USDA, was quoted in 2012 saying that SNAP expenditures at farmers' market have risen by 400% since 2008. Thanks to grants from the federal government, more farmers’ markets are set up to use the wireless “point of sale” food program’s debit cards.

b. This next series of photos was taken at the Farmers' Market in Springfield when it was in the parking lot of the Springfield Museum. The 2012 season is on Friday from 3-7pm. And it is now in front of the Springfield Public Library near the fountain (225 Fifth Street).

c. This one is in south Eugene (28th and Oak) on Saturdays

There are other Farmers' Markets appearing in our area, including ones in Cottage Grove, Creswell, Dexter Lake and Florence. I saw the above poster in the summer of 2007.

You can click on the image above to see a larger version.

If you want to check the location and hours of current farmers' markets in our area, here is a Directory of Oregon Farmers Markets.

Before leaving the summer farmers' market scene, here's another option.

This seller told Deb that the corn had just been picked on her brother's farm that morning. It was our third day in a row of corn and it was the best yet.

d. and this series is at the Fairgrounds in Eugene in December

5. CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture)

Local farms operating as CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) sell "shares" to members before the start of the growing season. Farmers get cash flow to start the season without going into debt. Households then receive a weekly box of fresh fruits and vegetables from about May to October, although some still operate in the winter.

Willamette Farm and Food Coalition has a directory of Lane County area CSAs.

Their directory includes information about financial assistance. For example, some CSAs offer shares available for sliding scales, work trades or to purchase with SNAP [formerly called food stamps] benefits.

We were a member of the above CSA for over 10 years.

This is a sample half-share for a week in mid-summer of 1994.

Later in the summer, our half-share included this absolutely delicious watermelon.

Some CSAs also include activities to connect with the life of the farm.

Above is another CSA.

This is the CSA we're now members of.

We pick up our week's food at a house just 2 blocks away.

This is our order.

We split it with another family.

Our CSA has an additional fall harvest. This one is a full share.

I've learned to enjoy beet greens, finding that they are especially wonderful when they were just picked that morning!

The CSA has helped us try vegetables that weren't on our menu before. That's fennel on the left (the white bulb with the feathery top) and parsnips (the ones that look like white carrots).

And that's celeriac.

That's kale on the left and bok choy on the right.

The Deck family has a CSA providing grass-fed beef, pork and lamb, pastured poultry (meat and eggs) and dairy products.

Their farm follows the principles of Joel Salatin and and his Virginia Polyface Farm, described in Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Once the Decks' cows or sheep have finished grazing a pasture, they are moved out and a “chicken condo” comes in. The hens spread out over the pasture, eating the short grass and picking insect larvae out of the cow pies. While spreading the cow manure which fertilizes the soil, they are also eliminating the farm's parasite problem. The hens lay their eggs in the "condo", making it easy to collect them.

Deck Family Farm http://www.deckfamilyfarm.com

We also joined the Deck Family Farm CSA and thoroughly enjoy it with my favorite being their chorizo.

Willamette Farm and Food Coalition's directory of Lane County area CSAs has information about other local CSAs that supply animal products.

Laughing Stock Farm is an animal food CSA (free-range eggs, fresh pork & lamb). Paul also had success growing soft winter wheat in their garden. Paul is part of the Southern Willamette Valley Bean and Grain Project and he told me that organic black beans in are being grown in Veneta. I can't wait to start seeing local black beans in stores. Paul gave that 5-gallon jar of wheat.

Wheat is hard hard HARD, even soft winter wheat. Nothing I had would grind it into flour so we had it as a chewy breakfast cereal.

Here's an article about a small commercial grain mill in Brownsville.

Milling flour for local needs, By Carla Wise, 30 April 2010, Ten Rivers Food Web.

6. Home Delivery
0780deliveryhomegrown

HomeGrown Delivery

The next page shows

Growing Your Own
Local Food Products
Restaurants and
Free Food (blackberries, etc.)

Click here for the next page (page 3).
Click here for the first page.