Local Harvest
Fresh Finds at Siskiyou County Farmer’s Markets…
By the time the Mount Shasta Farmers Market starts filling up on a Monday evening, live music echoes through downtown and shoppers wander between tents carrying peaches, flowers, tamales and still-warm bread. It’s one of many local farmers markets across Siskiyou County.
“There are six certified farmers markets in Siskiyou and we all partner really well,” says Nancy Swift, executive director of the Jefferson Economic Development Institute (JEDI). “Dunsmuir, Mount Shasta, Weed, Yreka, Happy Camp and Etna. Each of us has some of the same and some different farmers, ranchers, producers and crafters.”
The camaraderie has evolved into the Siskiyou Certified Farmers Market Alliance, an informal network of the six farmers markets in Siskiyou County who all have a goal to bring fruits, vegetables, meats and artisan food products to their communities. “There’s a market somewhere five days a week,” adds Swift.
For Karen McGarrah, owner of McGarrah Farm and one of the producers at the Mount Shasta market, the biggest draw for her are the connections people build. “The best findings are all the new relationships with the people growing your food fresh and healthy.” But McGarrah also loves the variety, listing some of the more unusual things customers can find during peak season, including “scapes, Blue Oyster and Lion’s Mane mushrooms, artisan-made non-toxic makeup, non-toxic bug repellent, cutting boards that can be brought back to be refurbished over time, raw honey from very specific sites in Siskiyou County along with bee pollen, gluten-free cookies and baked goods, twice-baked biscotti, curry fish chowder, lamb, sheepskins, and plant-starts meant to thrive in our mountain-high plateau climates.”
She keeps going. “Flowers galore, jewelry made from pine cones of the region, fresh granola with crazy flavors like sesame or peanut butter, the best pumpkin pie ingredient, also known as kabocha squash. There are also chocolate flavors seen nowhere else and shaped like molten lava, tamales and sauce for a yummy dinner, eggs rich in omega-3 with photos of the hens, and even bone marrow broth soups that make you feel warm and cozy and healthy inside.”
Swift says markets became especially important during the pandemic and during natural disasters. “We were deemed essential when the pandemic closed down so much commerce,” she says. “We were first responders in part to allow farmers to sell harvests and community members to get food. And this happens too when natural disasters hit our regions like fires.”
Beyond food, Swift says the markets have become important community gathering places. “Markets are the hub of activity where ideas are shared, relationships are built, people learn so much more about the region and food is delivered as fresh as it could possibly be,” she says. “Many farmers are harvesting hours before the market and customers get to know the source of their meats.”
For McGarrah, farming for the market started with a love of gardening. “I’ve been developing my one-acre farm over the past 10 years,” she explains. Last fall, she earned organic certification through California Certified Organic Farmers after attending a workshop called “Transitioning to Organic Agriculture.” At her booth, customers line up for snap peas, green beans, summer squash, tomatoes and raspberries, and she hopes to soon add raspberry jam and fruit pies after receiving her Cottage Food Permit.
It’s the small moments with customers that keep her coming back each season. “I especially enjoy feedback, like a customer remarking that the vegetables stayed fresh all week,” McGarrah says. “Another customer showed me a picture of the pie he baked with my rhubarb.”
Programs like Market Match have also expanded access to fresh food across Siskiyou County. Swift says the Alliance secured grants through the California Nutrition Incentive Program and USDA GusNIP program that help stretch benefits for families using CalFresh, WIC, and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition programs. “This is a win-win-win action,” Swift says. “People who receive these benefits and want to spend them at farmers markets can either double or quadruple their dollars to purchase fresh produce, edible plants, meats, honey and hot foods.”
One of Swift’s favorite market stories involved a mysterious customer quietly leaving oversized tips for vendors throughout a season. “He was so excited about losing weight and shopping at the market that he left some very generous thank-yous,” she says. “He was a secret shopper.” Another favorite story grew into something larger. “School Café was a project born out of a high school student’s desire to bring healthier foods into the schools,” Swift says. Today, the program provides vouchers to kids at the Mount Shasta Farmers Market. “Kids 18 and under get two free vouchers a season,” she says. “The little kids love it with their parents shopping.”
Swift believes the markets are part of something bigger happening across Siskiyou County, and encourages everyone to support what they can. “The certified farmers markets are part of a larger ecosystem of small-scale farmers looking to sustain their operations, and finding new ways to work the land sustainably and profitably,” she says. McGarrah agrees. “Personally, I love to enjoy lunch or dinner at a farmers market while listening to live music,” she says.•
Jefferson Economic Development Institute (JEDI)
www.jedieconomy.org
