Spring and Easter Feasting from the Beaverton Farmers Market
To Our Market Community,
It is Easter weekend and most of us will be planning a special meal to celebrate. Whether it is breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner — we have lots of great suggestions to make your meal memorable.
Starting off with brunch there are some wonderful sweet and savory treats. Milk Money has two quiches to choose from, Mushroom and Smoked Gouda and a customer favorite, Chevre and Caramelized Onion. Jessica’s quiches are so airy and fluffy — a real treat. She will also have Easter egg cookie decorating kits and her Lemon Huckleberry Chess pie makes a wonderful addition to any meal. Quantities are limited so be sure to shop early. Mindy of Decadent Creations will also have quiche! If you’re craving Easter ham, she has an Olympia Provisions Ham and Cheddar quiche as well as Hot Cross Donuts — oh my! Don’t forget to pick up a Carrot Cake for the Easter bunny too! Preorders on all Decadent Creation items are available through Thursday.
If an Easter dinner feast is in your plans there’s no shortage of meat cuts to choose from. Lonely Lane Farms will have leg of lamb as well as rack of lamb available for the quintessential holiday meal. For a little surf and turf, we love serving Quinn’s Crabcakes as an appetizer or along with any cut of meat you serve. Linda Brand’s crab dip makes a great appetizer served with baguette, crackers, and crudite. If you haven’t had the chance to pick up Wagyu beef from Mason Hill Cattle this weekend is a great opportunity and to splurge on their choice cuts of Wagyu beef. Washington Post has a simple yet flavorful recipe for Tuscan Style Roast Beef (‘Rosbiffe’), which would be lovely served with roasted purple sprouting broccoli and smashed baby red potatoes.
We have everything to stock your Easter baskets with treats. Suzanne’s Chocolates oh so cute chocolate bunnies are a must! Last year, Marketing Director, Kate Laubernds, stocked up on chocolate eggs. Now, these are no run-of-the-mill chocolate eggs. They are filled with cream in three different flavors, strawberry pistachio, passionfruit coconut, and peanut butter. These are truly addictive — don’t say we didn’t warn you! Sinful Confections will have their delightful and allergen free treats to put in Easter baskets, including whoopie pies and cupcakes topped with Easter sprinkles.
Warm Regards,
The Beaverton Farmers Market
We will see you all this Saturday at the Market, from 10AM-1:30PM!
It’s Almost Planting Thyme!
It is April which means two things to us here at the market –
Easter is this Sunday and our vendors’ stalls will be filled with lots of fun foods for your celebration.
It is the beginning of planting season and our plant vendors will start rolling in this week.
When asked about what she would be bringing on her first day back at the market, Rosie Sullivan of N&M Herb Nursery told us that she would be bringing happiness for all of the people excited about getting out in the garden. We know this to be true because we have all gotten lost in the euphoria of shopping amongst all of the gorgeous plants in their booth.
Pumpkin Ridge Gardens will also be making their 2021 debut this Saturday. Grower Polly Gottesman gave us an overview of what we will find in her booth as well as the link to her pre-order website which is easy and convenient to use. Polly explains, “We will be back at the market a month early with lots of vegetable, herb and flower starts, grown using organic materials and techniques! April is the perfect time to plant peas, spinach, lettuce, Asian greens, cilantro, dill and many perennial herbs and flowers. We will also have the first warm-weather crops such as zucchini, summer squash and tomatoes for the early birds. Please visit our webstore to preorder and skip the line at market. Plants that are marked out of stock will be updated as they mature, so check back weekly.”
As Polly mentioned, it is early in the growing season and despite some really beautiful afternoons, we have had overnight frosts so it is important to know the cold hardiness of the plants you are putting in the ground. If you plant tender starts such as basil or tomatoes, they will need some nighttime protection from the cold.
One of the ways to understand a plant’s cold hardiness is to know which USDA Zone the plant is rated for. The USDA divides the United States into zones based on the area’s average minimum temperatures. Here in the Beaverton area, we are rated Zone 8b which means that plants will thrive in our area which can withstand a range of minimum temperatures from 10 degrees F to 20 degrees. *
To find the hardiness zone of your specific zipcode see the USDA Hardiness map.
Not all growing zones are created equal and it is important for gardeners to keep this in mind when selecting plants. For example, the hardiness zone for Red Leaved Banana trees (Ensente ventricosum) is 10 – 11. The lowest average temperature of Zone 11 is 40 to 50 degrees (F). This banana would not survive a winter in our area. A Portland area gardener looking to plant a banana tree in their garden should consider the genus Musa. These cold-hardy bananas are rated to Zone 4 which means your plant can survive with an average cold temp of -10 to -20 degrees. (Zone 4 would probably mean that you were living somewhere in interior Alaska.)
If you purchase a plant that is rated above our zone, #1-7, it is likely not to survive our winter temperatures. This means that you would have to grow it as an annual or make plans to over-winter it in a greenhouse or other protected area.
If this sounds confusing don’t worry! Our expert nursery growers can help you select the plants that will be best suited to your garden.
*Many other environmental factors, in addition to hardiness zones, contribute to the success or failure of plants. Wind, soil type, soil moisture, humidity, pollution, snow, and winter sunshine can greatly affect the survival of plants. The way plants are placed in the landscape, how they are planted, and their size and health might also influence their survival.
Hibisbloom will be starting the market just in time for spring with their refreshing drink! Hibisbloom is an interpretation of the traditional hibiscus flower tea Bissap to your table. Hibisbloom is a premium hibiscus-based beverage and cocktail mixer. We offer three unique and delicious flavors: Cascade Vanilla, Savanna Cinnamon, and Cavally Mint.
Sidekick Provisions will be back in the market this week with their addictive non-dairy dips.
If an Easter dinner feast is in your plans there’s no shortage of meat cuts to choose from. Lonely Lane Farms will have leg of lamb as well as rack of lamb available for the quintessential holiday meal. For a little surf and turf, we love serving Quinn’s Crabcakes as an appetizer or along with any cut of meat you serve. Linda Brand’s crab dip makes a great appetizer served with baguette, crackers, and crudite. If you haven’t had the chance to pick up Wagyu beef from Mason Hill Cattle this weekend is a great opportunity and to splurge on their choice cuts of Wagyu beef. Washington Post has a simple yet flavorful 
