November 3, 2011
Vol 5, Issue 29
logo with eggplant

Market Updates                       
HOURS CHANGE! This Saturday, November 5th, the Hollywood Farmers Market will open at 9am. The market will close at 1pm as usual. We will be open every Saturday until Thanksgiving, then open the 1st & 3rd Saturdays from December - April from 9am - 1pm. We hope to see you there!

New products this Saturday - Grains! Flour! Lentils! We are excited to welcome new vendor, Hunton's Farm & Camas Country Mill to the market this Saturday. Camas Country Mill is the natural extension of a 3rd generation farm family's efforts to connect the past, the fertile Willamette valley soils, and their community. The Hunton family grows grain and seed crops in an area that still nurtures native Camas patches scattered among the lowlands. Native Americans of the area used stone mortar and pestles to grind Camas root for their diet and now Camas Country Mill re-connects with those first millers of the area by growing and milling grains for the local community. By bringing back stone milling, locally grown and milled products are once again available after an 80 year absence in the south Willamette valley. The growers of Camas Country Mill are once again producing nutritious cereal grains and flour for everyone to enjoy.

Every November, the Hollywood Farmers Market welcomes a few select craft vendors into the market. We are excited and proud of this year's selection and we hope you will give them a warm welcome! Darris Dietz is back again this year with his colorful pottery. Lauri Arrington, another long-time HFM craft vendor, will bring her garden of delightful jewelry to the market again this year. La Fountain Herbal will be here with hand-crafted herbal soaps and body products. Woven Rainbows makes the most darling baskets and teaches basket weaving as well. Next week,  on November 12th, Kohlman's Soap will be at the market with goat's milk soap and other body products and Stuffedpals will be at the market with soft, plush toys for children of all ages. Handmade from recycled materials, they are both cute and ecologically-friendly!

Thanks to everyone, dog and human, who took part in last Saturday's Hollyween Pet Parade! There was some exceptional costumes that won prizes provided by Green Dog Pet Supply.

Don't forget: if you're entering a pie in the Fourth Annual Pumpkin Pie Contest this Saturday, make sure to get the pie to the market by 10am, and include your recipe for the judges to peruse. Drop off your pies at the information booth on the corner of 44th and Hancock.

See you at the market!
Columbia River Fish Company
by Chelsea Harlan

Simon Sampson comes from a long line of fishermen; his father and grandfather before him fished, and most likely his great-grandfather and his great-great grandfather before him. He is of the Yakama, a Native American tribe known as "the people of the narrow river." For thousands of years they hunted, gathered and fished all along the Columbia and Yakima rivers, and were best-known for trading one commodity in particular: salmon. Simon continues this tradition with his fish business, the Columbia River Fish Company, Treaty of 1855 (or CRFC), whose home base is on the Yakima Indian Reservation, in Toppenish, WA.

 

whole salmon from columbia river fish companyThe Treaty of 1855 identified the fourteen confederated tribes and bands of the Yakama and condensed them into one nation. It was the treaty wherein the Yakama relinquished their land-1.5 million acres- to the United States government, the treaty that created the Yakima Indian Reservation. ("Yakima" was officially changed to "Yakama" in 1994 to reflect the native pronunciation, although the spelling of the county and reservation hasn't changed). Celilo Falls, on the border between Oregon and Washington, was the oldest continuously-inhabited community on the North American continent until 1957, when the falls and the nearby settlements were submerged by the construction of the Dalles Dam. It was the fishing capital of Native American territory for 15,000 years until it was dammed - the Wall Street of the West, according to historians. Despite such setbacks the Yakama adapted to these boundaries and continued to fish, creating fishermen like Simon whose veins run with river water.

 

Simon established the CRCF in 1998, attending his first farmers market in Vancouver, WA.  For the next decade, he sold his fish to a restaurant owner in Seattle who ordered 1,900 pounds every week, and to a couple of wholesale food companies also in Seattle, at 500 to 600 pounds per week. Two years ago, he started taking his fish to local markets in Oregon. According to Simon, the best fishing spots along the Columbia River can now be found around The Dalles, Bonneville, and John Day. The fish are caught daily, at night when salmon are most active, using traditional Yakama practices that involve a wooden platform out on the water and a net that is forty feet in diameter. On an average night, he'll bring in about fifteen or twenty fish, weighing in at two hundred or three hundred pounds. He is known, fittingly, as "the Salmon Man." His voicemail message even says that he's unavailable because he's most likely out on the river.

 

CRFC's set-up at Hollywood Farmers Market is direct, no-fuss, and savvy (much like the man himself): a folding table sits dead-center of the market's west entrance, with only a checked plastic tablecloth, a hand-lettered sign proclaiming the wares, and of course, large filets of bright juicy salmon bobbing in ice-water-filled trays. Naturally, salmon is the lifeblood of CRFC: Chinook, Coho, Steelhead, Wall-Eyed. It accounts for the majority of what Simon catches and sells, although occasionally catfish or sturgeon will find their way to the table. When I asked Simon what made his fish stand out above other such vendors, his reply was quick and sincere: "Because it's the freshest fish in town. The best-tasting, at the best price." At five or six dollars a pound, caught only hours earlier, he may very well be right.

 

CRFC also has contracts with several restaurants around town, including Bread and Ink, Tabla, and Nostrana. It seems that you'll be able to find Simon's fish in more Portland restaurants in the coming months. In addition to Hollywood, you can also find Simon's salmon at the PSU, Milwaukie and Gresham markets.

 

Also on Simon's plate is community involvement. He's the founder and chairperson of the Toppenish Community Safety Network, whose members include his wife Diane. The network's objective is to make the town cleaner and safer for the community. The CSN collaborates with other local organizations to create better crime-free rental housing, combat underage drinking, limit graffiti, and to fight gang violence. "I think what a lot of this boils down to is if we can unite as a community-police, city officials, school officials," Simon has said (Yakima Herald, July 2009).

 

Besides meeting new people, Simon's favorite part of the fish biz is getting to include the entire family. He and his son and nephew fish from around eight in the evening until midnight the night before a market, and his children and grandchildren help him prepare the fish. This means they head, gut, and "chunk them out" (meaning to fillet the fish in pieces instead of halves). In this way the Yakama fishing tradition is perpetuated in what is more than a passion for the Salmon Man: it's a way of life, with roots sunk deep in the past and unfurling into the future.

At the Market

Music & Entertainment:

Haldeman's Oompah Boys 

 

Community Booth:

Portland Composts!

Metro 

 

Upcoming Events:

Pumpkin Pie Contest - Saturday, November 5, winners announced at 12:00 noon

Tip of the Week
brought to you by Robert Reynolds' Chefs Studio
Nuts & Grains - Keep your nuts, whole grains & whole grain flours in the refrigerator, stored in Ziploc bags or plastic/glass containers, in order to preserve their freshness, prevent the fats from going rancid, and keep them bug-free.
Featured Product

November 5, 2011  

kale  

 

Kale
Persephone Farm
Persephone Farm has four different varieties of organic kale including; Lacinato (also referred to as dinosaur kale), Winterbor, Redbor, and Chiddori. These four have similar flavor profiles but differ slightly in texture. The Winterbor is the best choice for making kale chips, but all of them are delicious steamed and drizzled with vinegar.
 
Ciabatta Rolls

Delphina's Bakery 

Ciabatta rolls from Delphina's Bakery are great for making panini sandwiches. With their soft, airy texture, they are also perfect for sopping up the rest of your sauce from a good meal, or for dipping in a mix of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Try serving some warmed with a bowl of soup. Only one dollar! 

 

Mt. Rose Apples

Kiyokawa Family Orchards 

Mountain Rose apples from Kiyokawa Orchards have also been called Pink Pearls. They are a pearly light green on the outside, with flesh that is startlingly hot pink swirled with white. They are small and speckled with a distinct flavor. When tasters were asked, one said that this apple had a "complex texture, dry like a fine wine." Another remarked that the Mountain Rose is "sweet followed by tangy; firm and somewhat granular." Stop by and ask for a sample! 

 

Heavy Cream
Lady Lane Farm

For those who love to make homemade whipped cream, have we got the cream for you! Lady Lane Farm has glass jars of heavy cream that come from their Jersey Cows less than 24 hours before market day! All of their tasty dairy products are non-homogenized and many find them easier to digest. Their ultra-low-heat pasteurization process keeps good bacteria in, so not only will your tastebuds sing, but your gut will be happy as well.  

    

Market Pics





carrots stacked at sweet leaf

volunteers dressed up for hollyween
hfm_mapDays:
Every Saturday, May - Thanksgiving
1st & 3rd Saturdays, December - April

Hours:
May - October, 8am - 1pm
November - April, 9am - 1pm

Location:
NE Hancock Street between 44th and 45th Avenues (one block South of Sandy Blvd). In the Grocery Outlet parking lot!

For more information, check us out online at www.hollywoodfarmersmarket.org.

See you Saturday!

Hollywood Farmers Market
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