‘It just feels good to buy’ at farmers market

Aracali Sauno bags corn Sunday at Crawford’s Nursery and Produce as a steady stream of Vancouver Farmers Market shoppers passes by. The market is open two more weekends. (N. Scott Trimble/The Columbian)

Lisa Dunning of Vancouver checks out the Alex’s Produce stall Sunday. Business was up this year at the Vancouver Farmers Market, as higher shipping costs meant supermarket produce was no longer such a bargain in comparison. (N. Scott Trimble/The Columbian)

Home gardeners know this year’s harvest season is fast drawing to a close. Sad but true, that chill in the air means days are numbered for those late-ripening tomatoes, juicy cucumbers and fat zucchinis.

But you wouldn’t know it at the Vancouver Farmers Market, where produce stands overflow with lettuces and eggplants, peppers and squash, cabbages and apples, peaches and pears. On Sunday, a steady stream of shoppers took advantage of warm, sunny weather to grab some of that farm-fresh produce before its taste and texture become a distant memory.

Chris Follmar of Vancouver was giving in to the temptation of white nectarines, at $2 a pound. “They’re so sweet, compared to what you get in the stores,” he said. He comes, he said, to support local vendors and farms — though some of the produce comes from as far as Kennewick, Yakima and Hermiston, Ore. “Nowadays, with everything that’s going on with the economy, you can feel good about buying here.”

This year, his family has made a visit to the weekend market a weekly routine. “We didn’t used to. But it just feels good to buy locally.”

The market has two more weekends to go, and though spring came late this year, it’s been a good run, said Market Master Robert Ray.

“We are up about 44 percent over last year” in overall sales, Ray said. “We’ve peaked at 192 spaces this year. We have completely paid off our debt to the city now.”

The market ran up a $212,000 debt while operating an indoor, year-round market adjacent to the outdoor venue on Esther Street. The indoor market closed its doors in September 2007.

Demand for fresh fruits and vegetables has been high this year, Ray said.

“We’ve had more local farmers and a lot more shoppers looking for local produce than in years past.”

The high cost of supermarket food — and gas for the car — has contributed to the market’s success, he believes. Farmers market produce, once a boutique item, is now competitive with store-bought. On Sunday, luscious vine-ripened tomatoes sold at one stall for 50 cents a pound.

Deanna Green of Ridgefield, who sells produce at the IKO Farm stall, agreed.

“A lot of people in the past couple of years would say, ‘I’m here because I want to support local farms,’” she said. “Now they’re saying, ‘What a good deal!’”

As for the cost of gas, “I think it’s helping us,” Ray said. “People don’t want to drive anywhere. Do you want to drive to the beach or go down and spend the day at the Saturday market?”

Murray and Candy Falk of La Center have been selling their blackcap jam at the market for several years. They’ve managed to keep the price constant — at $6.50 a jar — by cutting their profit.

They grow the berries at their La Center farm and say customers have come to count on their product line, which includes a sugar-free jam. “A lot of diabetics rely on us for our spread,” Candy Falk said.

Ray said the market’s setting — next to Esther Short Park — and its less crowded, more relaxed ambience draw shoppers even from Portland, which has several neighborhood farmers markets of its own as well as a mega-market in the downtown park blocks.

Having more parking available at The Columbian building’s parking lot across Sixth Street also helps, he said.

“Eighty percent of customers have said what they like best is the improved parking,” he said. “For two years, there was a real shortage of parking. Our crowds were down 10 to 12 percent.”

This year, he estimates the market drew 13,000 to 15,000 people on its busiest Saturdays, slightly fewer on Sundays.

“I talk to the people,” Ray said. “I canvass them. We are getting a lot of people from Portland.” Some have told him they find the Portland markets too crowded or dirty or confusing.

Ray said he visited the downtown Portland, Beaverton and Hollywood neighborhood markets to check them out for himself.

“I found out we really didn’t have any competition,” he said.