Columbia City Farmers Market

Bike route from Cap Hill:

• S on 12th Ave through First Hill and I-D/Little Saigon
• stay right at the light after the bridge to stay on 12th
• turn left on Hill St (have to, 12th ends)
• turn right on 14th Ave
• 14th Ave kind of turns into Beacon Ave S, get on Beacon Ave S
• go past the golf course and turn left on Columbian
• down the hill on Columbian (it turns into Alaska), cross MLK
• right before Rainier Ave is the cultural center, can turn into their parking lot and access Columbia Park to avoid Rainier Ave. I had to walk my bike because there were literally babies crawling all over the park.

Best farmer’s market I’ve been to in Seattle, but one of the more crowded, especially right after people get off work. Usual stops: Tonnemaker’s for peaches, Alm Hill for berries, Patty Pan grill for grilled vegetables (line can be kind of long, so I skipped it last week since I needed to go home), Loki for smoked salmon bellies, and St Jude’s for tuna. I have more than enough vegetables to deal with from my CSA, but sometimes I stop by Alvarez to get some of the sunny side stuff like peppers and asparagus.

Mark the Wednesdays on your calendar, so you don’t miss three consecutive market days like I did :S

Anyway, today was very windy, but a lovely day nonetheless. Like me, quite a few people were walking their dogs, so Uma got to mingle a little with the locals ;)

I got some cheese but wasn’t lucky in finding any leeks. I’ll have to get them at the grocery store ::sigh::

The Canote Brothers were playing lively folk music with banjos —or an instrument very similar. Very nice day today at the market.

This past Wednesday —the 2nd open day of the market— was bright and sunny :o) As announced in the program, Ambertide was playing wonderful music.

Many more people than the opening day were strolling around and picnicking in the nearby park. What a nice market!

Today is the Opening Day for the summer of 2007!!

This was my very first time here, and I loved it. I’ll be checking in every Wednesday until October 31st. I just came back because it rained on us :( I hope it clears up soon.

As the program announced, Miles and Karina were performing live music. I really liked the ambiance, and I’m writing this just minutes after coming back since I’m so thrilled!

Today was the last market for this year… opens again 02 May 2007.

The 2006 season opens Wednesday, May 3rd. Check it out.

Every wednesday in summer – a great market in a hot parking lot.