Leslyn Rassmussen has been selling her produce at various farmers’ markets for at least a decade and enjoys the interactions with customers. An idea took root over time and is finally bearing fruit. Earlier this year, Leslyn discussed her idea with another market vendor and friend, Del Vandeveer of Pilar Farm of Albany: she wanted to take the market directly to neighborhoods on their non-market days. Del thought it was a great idea so they put the word out and were invited to set up at Camas Commons, a lovely …

It’s farmers’ market season again! Corvallis and Albany markets opened on Saturday, April 17 and April 21st and will be followed soon by other markets throughout the valley. So, dig out your largest and most favored farmers’ market shopping basket. (Somehow baskets seem more appropriate for outdoor shopping, don’t they? Unless, of course, you’re on your bike.)

No matter where you are, there’s a farmers’ market nearby. If it’s not listed here, please let us know and we’ll add it to the ever-growing list of western Oregon farmers’ markets.

Shopping locally just got way, way easier. A new technological breakthrough now makes it possible to buy, year-round, the best local food available, ordering from the warmth and comfort of your own home and getting in your car only to drive to a local drop-off site to pick up your groceries.

When we moved here ten years ago, I was delighted by the food I could get from nearby–the fruits and vegetables, the berries, the lamb.  I’d moved around a lot, but coming to the Willamette Valley, I found the choices at the farmer’s markets a surprisingly big benefit to settling in Corvallis.  Since then, the local food scene has only gotten better. When we first arrived in the fall of 1999, there was no Ten Rivers Food Web, no Local 6 labeling at First Alternative Co-op, and no Southern Willamette …