In Season NW: Mushrooms, Markets, Mergers

Local chefs went wild when Viridian Farms debuted their padron peppers and again when Olympic Provisions brought out their take on Spanish chorizo. And it looks like it's happening again with the pioppino or black poplar mushrooms that Roger Konka and Norma Cravens are cultivating at Springwater Farm. Always quick with a quip, Roger's dubbed it "the poor man's porcini," which trips off the tongue much more easily than its Latin name, Agrocybe aegerita.

Details: Pioppino mushrooms from Springwater Farm. Available at Portland Farmers' Market at PSU, Hillsdale Farmers' Market, Lake Oswego Farmers' Market and Westmoreland Farmers' Market. Links, hours and maps on the Oregon Farmers' Markets page.

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Instant hits are usually reserved for the latest pop culture phenomenon. But PDX-ers, in their lust for ever-more-local food sources, jumped on Chef Noe Garnica's Verde Cocina almost as soon as it debuted at area farmers' markets. Now it looks like the family business is going all bricks and mortar with a retail outlet in Hillsdale at the location recently vacated by Kurt Spak's blink-and-it's-gone Caffe Autogrill. Look for the fresh Mexican fare you've come to love like fajitas, chilaquiles and tacos made with local meats and seasonal vegetables, plus new menu items courtesy of expanded kitchen capabilities. And in the space next door vacated by Spak's Alba Osteria, rumored tenant Ramsay's Dram vanished without a trace to be replaced by Sasquatch Brewing, a new 7-barrel brewpub started by Portland native Tom Sims. Mexican food and beer? Sounds like a pairing made in heaven!

Details: Verde Cocina, 6440 SW Capitol Hwy. 503-750-2722.

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Big news broke this week from Hollywood…no, not Tinseltown, but the Hollywood neighborhood's eponymous farmers' market…that they are taking over the smaller but vital Lloyd Farmers' Market. It began began in 2007 as part of a grant to promote active living and healthy worksites and was managed by Eamon Molloy, market manager at the innovative Hillsdale Farmers' Market. "Hollywood has the experience to further the growth and success of the Lloyd Farmers Market. Adding debit and EBT services [will be] a big plus to this market," said Molloy. Location and hours remain the same, and Lloyd will continue to serve office workers and neighborhood residents as well as giving the Hollywood Farmers' Market a mid-week presence. Hollywood also announced it will officially be going year-round on first and third Saturdays from December through April, fulfilling neighbors' requests and its vendors efforts to develop "cutting edge season extension techniques," according to market manager Sarah Broderick.

Details: Lloyd Farmers' Market. Open Tuesdays, 10 am-2 pm year-round; Thursdays, 10 am-2 pm, June-Sept. In the Oregon Square Courtyard on NE Holladay Street between 7th and 9th Aves.

In Season NW: New Market, New Schedule & Farmer John

It was embarrassing. Here I'm supposed to be all up on farmers' markets around town, and I drive by a sign on NE Broadway announcing that the Irvington Farmers' Market happens there on Sundays. What??? The last I'd heard it had been canceled for the season! So Sunday found me walking the block-long aisle of this well-stocked little market, drooling over the humongous burritos at Canby Asparagus while Dave chatted with Morgan Brownlow of Tails & Trotters. Needless to say, we'll be going back!

Details: Irvington Farmers' Market. Sundays, 11 am-3 pm. NE 16th between Broadway and Weidler.

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If you're at the Portland Farmers' Market on Oct. 3 and it looks a little, well, "different" (not that there's anything wrong with that), especially as you get closer to Norma Craven and Roger Konka's Springwater Farm booth, it's because Farmer John Peterson, star of "The Real Dirt on Farmer John,"will be there selling and signing copies of "Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables."Chef Kathryn LaSusa Yeomans will be there as well, cooking and handing out samples from his recipes. Rumor has it that there may be some flaunting of feather boas.

Details: Farmer John Peterson of "The Real Dirt on Farmer John" book sale, signing and recipe sampling. Sat., Oct. 3, 9 am-2 pm. Springwater Farm booth at the Portland Farmers' Market, in the South Park Blocks between SW Harrison & Montgomery.

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A year-round farmers' market may seem like a contradiction in terms, conjuring visions of piles of muddy rutabagas and parsnips. But here in Oregon farmers are growing greens outdoors year-round and harvesting gorgeous bok choy, mushrooms, wildflower honey, garlic, squash, kiwis and shallots. Plus there are all the breads, jams, beans, meats and cheeses that you've come to love in warmer seasons. Now comes news that, in addition to the two year-round markets in Hillsdale and at People's Co-op, the Lloyd Farmers' Market will be starting a winter schedule on Tuesdays from 10 am till 2 pm, Jan. 5 through Mar. 16. Yay!

Details: Lloyd Farmers' Market. Tuesdays, 10 am-2 pm through Dec. 5, then Jan. 5-Mar. 16. Located in Oregon Square on NE Holladay St. between 7th & 9th Aves.

In Season NW: Market Roundup

Can you hear it? That slight rumble in the distance, like a thunderstorm on the other side of the mountains that gradually builds to a deafening roar. It takes a couple of months to reach full pitch, but what you're hearing is the tsunami of fresh produce that's starting to pour into local farmers' markets. Last month the rhubarb trickled in with late winter greens and spring onions. Now we're seeing the first of the Oregon strawberries, soon to be followed by blueberries, raspberries, giant heads of lettuce and a a catalog of peppers and melons.

Hollywood Farmers' Market: It was garlic shoots both straight and curly, spring onions and vegetable starts at Gales Meadow Farms. More exotic greens were on display at Blooming Goodies, and Seng Lee and her nephew (top photo) were excitedly describing magnificent stir-fries that could be made with their pea shoots, gai lan, amaranth, curly Thai flowers, ong choy, basil and mint.

Saturdays from 8:30 am-1 pm on NE Hancock between 44th and 45th Aves. in the Hollywood neighborhood.

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Lloyd Farmers' Market: Almost literally hidden between big office buildings in a small park just south of Lloyd Center in Northeast Portland, this market is made up of vendors hand-picked for the quality of their products. From pastries and luscious lunch crepes you can pick up something to munch on while you shop. And that's just what manager Eamon Molloy wants you to do. He's even been known to send photos of vendors from his Blackberry to lure customers. The photo at right came with the description "Kirk & Julie of Red Tree Farm work 2 acres on Sauvie Island, commuting from N Portland. They brought salad greens, radishes and eggs this week."

Tuesdays from 10am-2pm in Oregon Square on NE Holladay St. between 7th and 9th Aves.

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People's Farmers' Market: An old-world charm gushes from the humming little market that clusters around People's Co-op in this densely populated Southeast Portland neighborhood. Young women with babies on their tattooed hips, men with more silver in their ears than most people will wear in a year and all of whom exude an earnest happiness gather and laugh and talk local politics. My favorite vendor is Herman Obrist (left), whose gentle Swiss accent and sparkling blue eyes twinkle when he describes coming to Oregon in the middle of the last century with his wife, Lydia, and settling on his farm in Gaston. His honey is renowned for its subtle sweetness and an aroma of a field of flowers.

Wednesdays from 2-7 pm at People's Co-op, 3029 SE 21st, between Powell and Division.