I just returned from Tacoma's Sixth Avenue farmers market . I am impressed. Based on only one visit (not a scientific method, I know) it's my new favorite market. It's compact, chock full of food (and not crafts, lotions and knick knacks) and has a neighborhood feel. As vendor Ann O'Neil told me, you can find everything you need for dinner there: veggies, fruit, cheese, meat and more. "We've been doing farmers markets for nine years and this is the best," O'Neil said of the Sixth Avenue market. But since this is the gardening blog, I'm happy to report that several nurseries were represented there. I bought sage and sedums from O'Neil's Cottage Gardens. Ann O'Neil sells her plants outside the Engine House brew pub on Pine Street Tuesday night. A new (to me) nursery at the market was The Rhododendron Garden out of Federal Way. Owner Dianne Bell had an impressive stock of hydrangeas on hand. "I only have two weaknesses," Bell said of her passion for rhodys and hydrys. Bell, at right in the photo (talking with Emillie Hirota of Steilacoom) said the hydrangeas were late this year (like everything else.) Bell said she'd be back at the market next week but couldn't commit after that. Customers and vendors both seem smitten by Tacoma's latest farmers market. Hirota called it "charming." Bell was a little in awe. "People have been coming up and thanking me," she said. Get down there on a Tuesday afternoon and check it out. The market opens at 3 ...
Anytime
I just returned from Tacoma's Sixth Avenue farmers market . I am impressed. Based on only one visit (not a scientific method, I know) it's my new favorite market. It's compact, chock full of food (and not crafts, lotions and knick knacks) and has a neighborhood feel. As vendor Ann O'Neil told me, you can find everything you need for dinner there: veggies, fruit, cheese, meat and more. "We've been doing farmers markets for nine years and this is the best," O'Neil said of the Sixth Avenue market. But since this is the gardening blog, I'm happy to report that several nurseries were represented there. I bought sage and sedums from O'Neil's Cottage Gardens. Ann O'Neil sells her plants outside the Engine House brew pub on Pine Street Tuesday night. A new (to me) nursery at the market was The Rhododendron Garden out of Federal Way. Owner Dianne Bell had an impressive stock of hydrangeas on hand. "I only have two weaknesses," Bell said of her passion for rhodys and hydrys. Bell, at right in the photo (talking with Emillie Hirota of Steilacoom) said the hydrangeas were late this year (like everything else.) Bell said she'd be back at the market next week but couldn't commit after that. Customers and vendors both seem smitten by Tacoma's latest farmers market. Hirota called it "charming." Bell was a little in awe. "People have been coming up and thanking me," she said. Get down there on a Tuesday afternoon and check it out. The market opens at 3 ...