BOTTOM LINE: Woohoo Plus! Such a fantabulous Farmers Market that I don't know where to start.
My hubby and I are Farmers Market junkies and visit them all over the country. Of the many we've visited, this has to be in the top tier of Markets for variety, for vibe and for "all are welcome here" accessibility.
We wish we could clone the marvelous Beaverton Marketmaster and staff to put the lackluster downtown Farmers Market in our home community into top gear.
Shopping at the Beaverton market is a delight. Go! You'll be glad you did.
PRIDE OF COMMUNITY SHOWS: The passion Marketmaster Ginger Rappaport demonstrates for making this market come alive as a community resource where those who grow the food and make the food are connected to nourish the people who shop at the market and consume the products is evident. The entire market staff clearly loves what they do and it shows. This kind of market helps make Farmers / Food Artisans and Shoppers all the better for participating. The very essence of what Farmers Markets are all about.
Much is made, and rightly so, of Portland's wonderful farmers markets. Especially the one at the parks blocks at PSU on Saturday mornings. I love that market too. But after my recent visit to the incredible Saturday morning market in downtown Beaverton, an updated lyric to an old Rod Stewart song comes to mind; "...the Portland Market has got nuthin' on you..."
VARIETY & QUALITY OF PRODUCTS MAKE THIS MARKET POPULAR: The Beaverton Saturday Farmers Market opens early - 8:00 a.m. We arrived about 8:15 and were already finding parking at a premium. By the time we left around 9:45 that was even more true as shoppers streamed in.
There's a reason for the market popularity. It is well laid out and chock full of farmers and artisan food producers selling top notch products. On our visit that included but wasn't limited to incredible peppers, artichokes, lettuce greens, garlic, blackberries, peaches (incredible peaches actually), goat cheese, berry pies that were still warm from their ovens, multiple varities of fresh garlic, organic pure cranberry juice and gelato. (Highly recommend Alotto Gelato's salted caramel gelato for breakfast by the way.)
The aroma of roasting peppers filled the air as a couple of guys turned the charring peppers in a big drum and then offered their work product for sale. The sound of the band playing sweet music, even as early as 8:30, drifted in. Farmers and food vendors had samples to offer and information to share about what they produced.
NEAT FEATURE - MARKET PURCHASE LOADING ZONES: We didn't want to leave, but our market bags were full and we had another market to visit that morning. Had we wanted to park our purchases to listen to the band out by the adjacent park water feature, shop some more and come back and pick up our purchases later, this market has a couple of locations where we could have done just that. A couple of purchase "valet booths" as it were, near the accessible parking location and staffed by volunteers where you can leave your purchases for drive up and pick up later. How convenient! Encourages shoppers to purchase more, like the whole case of Baird peaches, with a convenient place to leave them without having to hike to the car and hike back to shop some more.
EQUAL ACCESSIBILITY: For Yeeps and other Peeps who use wheelchairs or canes or walkers, and for the people who shop with them, the accessibility here for shoppers of all physical abilities is some of the best I've seen at any of the many markets my hubby and I have visited all across the country. Good access is as useful for parents pushing strollers or shoppers pulling market carts as it is essential for shoppers with mobilty disabilities. ( Including me as I have MS.)
Parking may be the hitch in this giddeyup. Because while the market offers an astounding 40 or so accessible parking spaces, all being used which is a good thing, I didn't see any evidence of spaces with the striped access aisle that would allow a vehicle user to deploy a wheelchair ramp. If you need that kind of parking, you may want to get in touch with the Market staff to see if they know something about parking that I didn't see. read more