Portland Farmers Market at PSU — Attraction in Portland

One of the best year round farmers markets in America. I go every single week and if I don't I have to suffer through the mediocracy of industrial food found at the whole foods of the world. The best farms are Groundworks Organics, DeNoble Farms, Draper Girls Orchards, Linda Brand Crab and Sudan Lamb Farm, though there are many many more. There is a wide selection of charcuterie, cheese, meats, fish, spirits and beers.

SuDan Farm Lamb

Dan and Sue Wilson started their rural farm in 2000, in the historic community of Yoder, nine miles south of Canby, Oregon. He had walked away from a very successful career working for large agricultural corporation wanting to be his own boss.

By 2001 he had assembled a few lambs old enough to process and started offering a small number of cuts at a tiny booth at the Salem Farmers Market. They started raising hard to find breeds known for superior meat and breeding purposes like Border Leicester (English), Coopworth (New Zealand), and Gotland (Swedish) sheep. Over the next 14 years, they have grown to where they now raise over 1,600 lambs per year, supplying many restaurants, grocery stores, and customers. Nothing is wasted on a rural farm. His wife Sue further utilizes the lamb for producing yarns, blankets, sheepskins, felt and numerous other products for the fiber customers.

DeNoble Farms Artichokes

DeNoble Farms is a sustainably run family farm located on the Oregon Coast in Tillamook, the cheese capital of Oregon, owned and operated by Tom and Patreece DeNoble and their children. They started farming in 1996 when they were growing specialty cut flowers for the wholesale market. They switched to growing artichokes sustainably in 2001 using natural growing practices, such as applying organic compost & fertilizers, doing crop rotations, use of beneficial insects, and only using organic sprays when absolutely necessary.

Each year the DeNobles grow more and more vegetable varieties. In 2009, they bought a larger farm and decided to put all their focus on growing fresh produce for the farmer's markets and restaurants in Oregon. “We have seen tremendous growth over the last six years. The demand for quality fresh produce just keeps expanding,” explains Patreece. “We have two children that work with us on the farm. Our daughter, Lexi, 22, and our son, Chandler, 19. They literally have grown up at the farmer’s markets and both played integral parts in expanding our restaurant accounts throughout the Portland area. We are best known for our Concerto and Opera artichokes - Italian heirloom varieties. They do really well in our coastal climate. The moderate temperatures and rich fertile soils produce very high-quality vegetables that are huge and delicious. We are able to grow to produce year-round by using greenhouses and planting overwintering crop varieties. We haven’t had our farm certified, but we do grow everything...

This market is in a beautiful park, up at the south end of Portland State University buildings. There are multiple parking garages with flat rate, all day fees within a mile. If you're willing to walk just under a mile, from the north end of this green space strip, you can pay as little as $5 for the whole day. There are multiple veggie and fruit stands, a couple with twenty to thirty minute long waits in line. You can purchase garlic scapes, berries, beet greens (use like you would chard) fresh onions iwth stalk intact and more. There are honey vendors, goat cheese, fresh dairy butter and small batch cheeses, herbs, seasonings and multiple bakers...including New Cascadia gluten free bakery. I scored some donuts here and if you haven't tried the new vegan ones...go for it...you can't tell they are vegan and they are SO good! There is also a paleo, raw, vegan bakery. You can purchase plants, succulants and veggie starts even still. There is a local meat vendor, Scratch Meats, who sells pork and lamb products. Most of them are also gluten free. The pistachio sausages are definately something you won't find elsewhere. I cooked up the lamb sausage, soaked red with paprika, diced it up and made it into a shepards pie. It was really good...and I'm not generally a fan of lamb. The rest of the family is though, so I purchased it. The breakfast sausges are a coarser grind than the "dinner" sausages so I'm not sure I'd get them again and I prefer a semi-smooth grind. That said, the maple syrup flavor was perfectly balanced with the herbs and I'm very picky on my breakfast sausage...so these really are above average. Thankfully, there are many good farmers markets in the area. This is one of...

This is a pretty awesome farmer's market. Sadly didn't take pictures of the scenery to give you an idea of the size and scope, but it's really HUGE! All I do have left is this picture of the lunch I got from one of the vendors, but there's SO MANY different vendors with all sorts of things to buy [to eat, to wear, whatnot]. Of course, where you have people gather, you'll get some folks soliciting, but I'm actually OK with the folks from the International Rescue Committee being there. My problem is I wanted to make a one-time donation on my card, and they would only sign people up for monthly donations. Honestly, I might be more inclined to donate more often if you guys would actually take one-time donations or even what little cash I have. Just a suggestion! I'm sure one of the founders Albert Einstein would look at science-based evidence of looking at human behavior. In any case! The campus isn't too far away from the History museum and Art Museum. So if you're done grabbing a bite at the Farmer's market, those museums are convenient for you to visit! I would better plan my entire day around this Farmer's market! Definitely...