Celebrating 20 years in the community! Visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts to win!
Week 17: $20 Store Credit for Kirina’s Krafts and $20 in market money!
This giveaway will run from August 22nd to August 26th at 6pm! Winner will be announced on Saturday August 27th and the prize will be available for pick up on Sunday August 28th at the Coquitlam Farmers Market!
* There is one prize available – participants can enter on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
This Sunday is Members Day at the Coquitlam Farmers Market!
Member Specials Available this Sunday:
Not a member? Sign up at the Market Information Tent or online. Memberships are $10 and include an exclusive market bag, access to member only specials the last market of every month and more! Memberships purchased now are valid until April 2017 and can be used at our Winter Port Moody Farmers Market.
Celebrating 20 years in the community! Visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts to win!
Week 16: Lunch for 2 at Gypsy Trunk Gourmet Fare at market on Sunday and $20 in market money!
This giveaway will run from August 15th to August 19th at 6pm! Winner will be announced on Saturday August 20th and the prize will be available for pick up on Sunday August 21st at the Coquitlam Farmers Market!
* There is one prize available – participants can enter on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Stop by market this Sunday to pick up all of your favourite fruits and vegetables, freshly baked goods, prepared foods, handmade treasures and more!
Fred Soofi of Pasta Polo will be at market to host a cooking demonstration of the delicious dish he will be preparing for our 20th Anniversary Long Table Dinner on August 31. Chef Fred is one of 4 amazing local chefs who will be preparing our feast. Tickets are $75 and can be purchased at market or online.
With all this hot weather, we’re keeping our minds on cool treats at the kids craft table this weekend. Join us to make a paper popsicle! They won’t help you beat the heat, but they will be a lot of fun to create!
We’re happy to have Circle Farm Tour as our community group this weekend. Circle Farm Tour provides information on farms, artisan shops, eateries and more for people interested in exploring all their region has to offer. Visit their table to learn more about their free, self-guided tours. Kids, stop by and plant a blue lake pole bean seed to take home!
Save the Date – It’s Back to School time! Join us at the market on Sunday, September 4 for our Back to School BBQ! There will be a hot dog meal for purchase and local organizations will be at the market with information about their kids programs as well as some fun activities and demonstrations! Don’t forget to stock up on some local goods from our fantastic vendors for those school lunches and snacks!!
Written by: Danielle Kelliher
Forstbauer Family Natural Food Farm was one of Coquitlam Farmers Market’s first vendors. The farm was started in 1977 by Mary and Hans Forstbauer on the Matsqui Flats, near Abbotsford. In 1988 Mary and Hans moved their family to Chilliwack, where it is now run by their children and grandchildren, who collectively attend eight markets at the height of the season. Mary Forstbauer is remembered by many as a legendary organic farming pioneer, having an extraordinary impact on “not only the local food scene, the provincial organic industry, but also the national health food community.” (Chilliwack Times) Read more about the farm’s history here.
Niklaus and Lindsey Forstbauer attend the Sunday Coquitlam Farmers Market with their seven children. It’s a long day that starts at 5:00am, when much of the food is picked that morning, if not the day before.
Farmers markets are a way of life for the Forstbauers and many other small farmers who could not earn a living without them. Almost 95% of what is grown on the Forstbauer farm is sold at the markets, sustaining the business and allowing the family to work and live on the organic farm.
Niklaus says, “Before the market we used to have to sell to the wholesaler. Markets give us a chance to have a relationship with the people we sell to. It also helps make it so we can survive as a farm, financially.”
Niklaus has attended farmers markets since he was a child and has seen first-hand how they’ve changed over the years. “In the beginning there were only a couple farmers and our mom was one of the first. Now there’s so many people. It took a long time for the markets to become what they are now.”
While the markets provide essential income for vendors, they also provide an important service to community, connecting people with the food they eat and the people who grow it.
Says Niklaus, “My mom made sure that we were a big part of not only the farm at home but also a part of selling the food and interacting with the customers.”
“These days there are a lot of backyard gardeners, especially in Coquitlam. They come to us for advice or questions, like why their zucchini isn’t growing, so I talk to them about how to pollinate a zucchini.”
Niklaus remembers one of his mom’s favourite market stories:
“One year we got a new flock of chickens. They were pullets [young hens], so when they started laying, the eggs were small. As pullets lay more eggs, they get bigger. We were selling the eggs at the market for less, because of their small size. A few people came by the stand and were asking my mom why the eggs were so small. She told them it was because we just got new chickens, that the eggs will get bigger over time. Well, two weeks later the person came back to the market and was frustrated. She said, “I left the eggs on the counter for two weeks and they’re still the same size!”
Photo Credit: Michele Mateus Photography
Celebrating 20 years in the community! Visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts to win!
Week 15: 4 bags of kettle corn from Gary’s Kettle Corn and $20 in market money! 1 large and 1 small of Sweet & Salty, and 1 large and 1 small of Caramel.
This giveaway will run from August 8th to August 12th at 6pm! Winner will be announced on Saturday August 13th and the prize will be available for pick up on Sunday August 14th at the Coquitlam Farmers Market!
* There is one prize available – participants can enter on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Don’t miss our Composting Workshop on Sunday August 14! Fabrizio Mazzuchi will teach workshop participants about three different composting techniques – hot composting (the most known technique), vermicomposting (composting with worms), and bokashi (fermenting food waste as an additive to soil). Participants will leave with a $10 market token as well as a compost container and worms. Workshops start at 10:00 am & 11:30 am. Sign up online or at the market information tent.
Our local Divas in Demin, Diana Dilworth, Polly Krier and Selina Robinson, will be at market this Sunday selling tickets to our 20th Anniversary Long Table Dinner hosted on August 31st!
We’re happy to welcome singer/songwriter ‘Larry’s Brother’ to market for the first time this weekend. Come by and listen to some great music and welcome him to the market!
Stop by our free kids craft table to make some magic and cast some spells. Join us to create a magic wand to take home.
Join us for a morning of games, music and great food! The Coquitlam Kinsmen will be at market preparing a delicious pancake breakfast for purchase made with the season’s freshest blueberries.
Visit our kids area this Sunday for fun games and a great craft! Create cute blueberry magnets to take home and display proudly on your fridge. And, we’ll have lots of games for you to play like bean bag toss, hula hoops and a chance for you to try your luck to win a jar of blueberries!!
We’re happy to have Port Moody Arts Centre at our breakfast. Visit their table to find out about all the exciting arts programs they offer and do a fantastic plasticine painting activity. Representatives from the City of Coquitlam’s Environmental Services program will also be at market with information on water conservation, urban wildlife and waste reduction. Test your knowledge with urban wildlife trivia and kids can pick up a fun temporary tattoo.
Don’t miss our Composting Workshop on Sunday August 14! Fabrizio Mazzuchi will teach workshop participants about three different composting techniques – hot composting (the most known technique), vermicomposting (composting with worms), and bokashi (fermenting food waste as an additive to soil). Participants will leave with a $10 market token as well as a compost container and worms. Workshops start at 10:00 am & 11:30 am. Sign up online or at the market information tent.
Be sure to check out this week’s giveaway in our 20 Weeks of Giveaways for a chance for you and a friend to win a free breakfast plus $40 in market money!
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Celebrating 20 years in the community! Visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts to win!
Week 14: Win breakfast for 2 at our Blueberry Pancake Breakfast and $40 in market money!
This giveaway will run from August 1st to August 5th at 6pm! Winner will be announced on Saturday August 6th and the prize will be available for pick up on Sunday August 7th at the Coquitlam Farmers Market!
* There is one prize available – participants can enter on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
