WE SCENE IT >>>
Opening day for the Proctor Farmers Market was Saturday, March 31. Despite the stormy weather, brave market-goers and vendors came out to kick off the first market of the 2012 season.
Veteran market vendors such as Pampeana Empanadas, Blue Rose Dairy, Stone Ground Bakery, Heavenly Honey and Rosecrest Farm were all back to tempt the crowd with their delicious wares.
It's always nice to see familiar faces, but there were notable newbies to the Proctor Farmers Market. OlyKraut, Mountain Muesli, Purdy Pickle Company and Wilridge Winery were just some of the new vendors to peruse and get excited about.
I've had OlyKraut on my radar for a while, and have been looking forward to trying their line of sauerkraut made in Olympia. I happily tried their samples, and went home with a jar of their Eastern European flavor of sauerkraut.
I was thrilled to see the Mountain Muesli booth, filled with their various flavors of their Tacoma-made muesli and cereal bars. If you're wondering "muesli-what?", it's a Swiss breakfast cereal made with oats and dried fruits. It's quite wonderful any time of the day, drenched in cold milk or as a snack on its own.
The Purdy Pickle Company was holding down the pickle front with samples of their sweet and sour bread and butter pickles, as well as pickled carrots and beets.
Bonus: the Proctor Farmers Market is involved in a pilot program allowing beer and wine samples at farmers markets. Wilridge Winery was there on opening day with samples of their wines for the "it's five o'clock somewhere" crowd.
The Proctor Farmers Market is every Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Other South Sound Farmers Market opening dates:
Olympia Farmers Market, April 5, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Gig Harbor Farmers Market, April 7, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Vashon Farmers Market, April 7, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Puyallup Farmers Market, April 14, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Federal Way Farmers Market, May 12, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Steilacoom Farmers Market, June 13, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.