News & Updates

Market Poster Contest 2016

Posted on by E-G Market

Parents of students at Audubon and Garfield Elementary,  please take note!

The Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market is holding its third annual poster contest for students in neighborhood schools. Audubon Elementary and Garfield Elementary are the schools that have been invited to take part this year. A notice should have been distributed in the students’ Monday folders about two weeks ago.

Students in grades 1–6 at these schools are asked to design a poster for the upcoming 2016 market season.

The poster should:

  • be in color on white 8.5″ x 11″ (US letter-sized) paper; portrait or landscape style are both acceptable
  • contain the title: Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market — please make sure it’s properly spelled and punctuated!
  • illustrate the theme “community farmers market”

The deadline is Friday, May 6. Two winning entries — one from each school — will be selected and announced by Monday, May 9. Students are asked to submit only one (1) entry per individual.

The winning entries will printed as posters and flyers. They will be hung throughout the neighborhood and around Spokane prior to and during the 2016 market season to help promote the market. They will also be posted on the market’s and/or Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood’s blog, Twitter and Facebook accounts.

The two winners and their parent(s) or guardian will be asked to be present at the opening market on Friday, June 10 to be acknowledged in person. They will each receive a similar amount ($15 each) of tokens to be spent at the market.

More info about the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market is available here on this website or on our Facebook page.

Students can check with their school office to see where they should submit your entries.

As always, we look forward to seeing what you create!

Our Market Is Moving!

Posted on by E-G Market

The Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market is moving! Starting this season (which begins on June 10, by the way), you can find us in the parking lot of the Adult Education Center located at 2310 North Monroe.

This is amazing news for a number of reasons:

  • The market is now more visible and centrally located along North Monroe.
  • The new location is right next to the stop for the #24 bus line and the only lighted crosswalk on North Monroe.
  • We’ll have a perfect basis for collaboration with the Community Colleges of Spokane.
  • There will be even more room for vendors, music, activities and parking.
  • It’s only two blocks from the former site, so it remains just as accessible to our existing patrons.

The market day and times—that is, every Friday from 3-7pm—are unchanged.

The folks at the Adult Education Center and Community Colleges of Spokane who helped make this happen in incredibly short order deserve a huge thanks. We’re looking forward to working with them further.

We confess to leaving the parking lot of Knox Presbyterian with a heavy heart. They’ve been ideal hosts for the past three years — and they were unique in recognizing the mutually beneficial potential of our community-oriented farmers market from the very beginning. We still intend to honor their early involvement with waived vendor fees for Knox congregants. And we’re also working on ways to make sure that Korean food from Spokane Hope CRC, which shares the Knox building, is still available on select market dates.

In the meantime, please help spread the word by sharing this post far and wide! We worked our tails off for years to encourage people to seek out the market in the Knox lot, and now we’ve got to make sure all our loyal patrons are ready to move with us.

Vendors, Remember to Reapply for FMNP

Posted on by E-G Market

We’d like to remind all our produce vendors that all growers’ contracts for the WIC & Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) expired as of December.

If you want to accept FMNP vouchers for the 2016 season, you must reapply.

The returning grower’s application must be postmarked by April 1 to be considered; new vendors have until July 1. The Grower Application and Contract Agreement are available in English and Spanish from the following website:

http://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/WIC/FarmersMarket

Once you’ve filled it out, please mail your completed application to:

WA State Dept. of Health
WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program
PO Box 47886
Olympia, WA 98504-7886

FMNP benefits our patrons, our market and growers like you, so please don’t delay your application.

Volunteers Needed for 2016 Season

Posted on by E-G Market

Our market is looking for committed volunteers for the 2016 season. This year the season will likely run from June 10 to September 30 (exact dates are still being finalized).

Specifically, we need people who are willing to help in the following areas:

  • Recruiting vendors before and during the market season
  • Liaising regularly with vendors throughout the season to ensure their needs are being met
  • Setting up and breaking down the market each Friday (takes place before 3pm and after 7pm)
  • Staffing the market booth to answer customer inquiries and swipe credit/debit/EBT cards in exchange for tokens
  • Organizing the annual school poster contest
  • Creating and distributing promotional materials (e.g., posters, flyers)
  • Maintaining the market’s social media (e.g., blog and Facebook)
  • Scheduling activities and musicians each week
  • Establishing partnerships with likeminded area nonprofits
  • Coordinating the market’s participation in FMNP and the WSFMA
  • Collecting vendor tokens, entering weekly tallies and requesting payment

You don’t necessarily need expertise in any of these areas! Our existing volunteers are happy to provide one-on-one mentoring.

We’re also open to working with organizations that are looking for internship placement opportunities. The market offers on-the-job experience in PR, marketing, entrepreneurship, management, budgeting, and lots more. It’s the perfect learn-by-doing environment to train young adults in these valuable job skills. And because our market is concerned with outreach, food access and community-building, it has the potential to be much more fulfilling than ordinary internships.

If you’re interested in any of these opportunities, please send us an e-mail.

As the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market is a grassroots, community-oriented initiative, your involvement—even if it’s one market per month or one hour per week—is essential to making it happen.

Vendors and Activities for October 16: Season Finale!

Posted on by E-G Market

Well, here it is. The final market of the season. It always leaves us a little sad, but beginnings and ends are a necessary part of the seasonal cycle. And few people are more attuned to the seasons than our growers.

In what’s now become a popular tradition, we’ll have a hand-cranked wooden cider press at today’s market. You’re welcome to bring or buy your own apples for pressing — and don’t forget a jug or container of some kind.

Because of the cider press, we’ll also have lots of residual mash. You’re welcome to take this (chickens and compost piles love it), so feel free to show up and haul it away. We’ll also have straw bales left over at the end of market. You can grab them for a couple bucks — they make great Halloween décor for your porch!

For music, we’ve got Bryant McKinley (aka Spokaloo) playing classic pop and rock hits today.

Spokane Hope Christian Reformed Church will be serving their authentic Korean food for eating in or taking home. We’re not sure if they’re continuing after market season, so don’t miss what could be your last chance this year for their bulgogi, potstickers, kimchi fried rice, sushi, and more.

Here are the vendors who’ve said that they’re planning to attend today:

  • Common Crumb Bakery – A range of traditional breads and baked goods
  • Food for All (aka Vinegar Flats) – Locally grown veggies and herbs
  • Mary Beauregard – Plastic canvas needlepoint
  • Morning Sun Bakery – Cinnamon rolls, muffins, cakes
  • Orange Thyme – Natural balms, soaps, perfume oils, body butters and more
  • Rebekah Mincks – Unique hand-knitted hats
  • Riverfront Farm – Locally grown vegetables from Project Hope Spokane
  • R.P. Guerrero Farms – Organic fruit (cherries, peaches, nectarines, apples)
  • The Scone Ranger – Sweet and savory scones
  • Simply Sweets – Confectionery including baklava and brittles
  • Song Sparrow Farms – Locally grown vegetables
  • Vladimir Kuzmenko – Fruits and vegetables from the Yakima area

We should also have some dump passes (worth $20 in credit at the Spokane Regional Waste Facility) on hand for Emerson-Garfield residents. Pick them up at the market info booth.

We’re looking forward to you joining us for the last market of 2015!