Winter POP Club – Week 20

Join the POP Club and discover the Power of Produce!
Week 20: March 31 – We will be trying to guess mystery vegetables using only our sense of touch! Kids will feel a vegetable in our mystery box and then draw it out on a provided piece of paper. If they do not know which vegetable it is, children are encouraged to explore the market looking for the vegetable they felt.
Two Bite Club – Carrots
The POP Club is a farmers market-based kids program. Children (ages 5 – 12 years old) will learn about fruits and vegetables, local food systems and healthy food preparation through fun activities all season long.
Each week children will earn a $3 market token to use towards any fruit or vegetable of their choice.
There is no cost to participate.  The POP Club runs every Sunday until the end of April. Please note the POP Club is hosted outside the Port Moody Recreation Complex. Please dress for the weather. The program will run rain or shine!

We’re Hiring!

Interested in agriculture, local food and community? The Coquitlam Farmers Market has two positions available for the upcoming summer market season. These positions are Canada Summer Student Grant positions – Candidates must be 15 – 30 years of age.

Events Program Assistant:market-day-assistant-events-2019
Program Coordinator:program-coordinator-2019

Thank you for your interest in the Coquitlam Farmers Market!

Sunday, March 31

This Sunday is Member Appreciation Day! Market Members can take advantage of special Member-only vendor deals this Sunday only! You can sign up for a membership any Sunday at the Market Info Table or online HERE. Memberships purchased now last until April 2020 – that’s 14 months of Market savings! Also, Members can choose from a 10th Anniversary Port Moody Winter Market tote bag or enamel camping mug as their Member gift!

Member Only Specials available this Sunday! 

  • Brazilian Roots: Beiju bag – buy 2 and get $2 off
  • Einai Designs: 10% off
  • Ela made me do it!: $1 off veggie pot pies
  • Gesundheit Bakery: Save $1 on a purchase of $5 or more
  • Ildiko Jewelry: $5 off any two pairs of earrings
  • Poco Soap Co: $1 off any soap
  • Quality Oak Accents: $5 off on any cutting board priced over $25
  • Reverent Acres: 10% off
  • Solasta Chocolate: 40% off our Belgian Speculoos Cookie Chocolate Bar and buy 4 bars for $24
  • Sweet Thea: 10% off
  • WestCoast Cider Co: $1.00 off of any flavor of our 650ml ciders
  • Your Wildest Foods: 2 bags of nettle for $7.50 (regular 10)

While at the market this Sunday, grab a delicious breakfast or lunch from Kara’s Crepes or Brazilian Roots food truck, and grab a hot cup of coffee from Cascadia Cook and Coffee.

Kids! Stop by the craft table to make butterfly silhouette art! Create one, or a few, to take home and decorate your walls with.

March is Nutrition Month! We’re happy to have local dieticians at the market this weekend to chat with you about unlocking the potential of food to fuel, discover, prevent, heal, and bring us together.

We will also be welcoming the Vancouver Humane Society this Sunday! Stop by their table inside to chat with them about animal issues and to pick up resources on plant-based eating.

Musician Barry Wilson will be keeping us entertained this weekend. Check him out live this weekend, but in the meantime, get a sneak peek of his music HERE.

VENDORS ATTENDING MARKET ON MARCH 31 – PLEASE NOTE THIS LIST IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

  • A Bread Affair
  • Amazing Food BC
  • Bobali
  • Bowen Island Herb Salts
  • Brazilian Roots
  • Cascadia Cook and Coffee
  • Central Park Farms
  • Chanthorn Orchids and Thai Curry Sauce
  • Culture Kefir Co.
  • Drunken Chocolatier
  • Eagle Mountain Leather
  • Earth Paws
  • Einai Designs
  • Ela made me do it!
  • Forstbauer Family Natural Food Farm
  • Gesundheit Bakery
  • Ildiko Jewelry
  • Jam’n Music
  • Kara’s Crepes
  • Kimi Designs
  • Kizzy’s Macarons
  • Koji Fine Foods
  • Mama Bear Essentials
  • Mandair Farms
  • Maples Sugar Shack
  • Mariner Brewing
  • NorthWest Distilling co
  • PoCo Soap Co
  • Quality Oak Accents
  • Reverent Acres
  • Rockweld Farm Ltd.
  • Sea Cider Farms & Ciderhouse
  • Solasta Chocolate
  • Sugar Free Kitchen
  • Sweet Thea
  • The Raw Guy
  • Trinity’s Tea Creations
  • WestCoast Cider Co.
  • Wild West Coast Seafoods
  • Your Wildest Foods

Vendor Spotlight: Your Wildest Foods

When did you begin foraging? What got you interested?

I began foraging after moving out of my parents’ house. I had a beautiful patch of forest to explore, and it was springtime. I already knew about picking a few greens like young nettle tops and maple blossoms, but was not familiar with the mushrooms I saw growing on the dead alder trees. They smelled fantastic- like fresh rain and anise, and looked conspicuously like the oyster mushrooms sold in the grocery store. I began to study- determined not to let this potential feast go untasted for mere lack of knowledge. Eventually I became confidant in matching all the features of the mushrooms in question with the identification key for Pleurotus pulmonarius; the PNW’s most common variety of oyster mushroom. Once I was confidant in the identification, I cooked and sampled a small piece. With no ill effects, I went back for a more substantial harvest the next day, and feasted on oyster mushrooms that whole rainy spring.

How did you educate yourself on what is edible, how to prepare them, etc?

To the surprise of many who ask, I did not learn to forage by some esoteric passage of secret knowledge down through family generations. The truth is much less interesting. Knowing nothing, I became curious. Curious, I began looking for identification books and good internet articles. After looking, I found many helpful sources, and guided by them I built an understanding of where, when, and how to find these elusive fungi, and how to distinguish them from their unsavoury kin.

Where do you forage the most? Do you have spots you always go to, or do you often explore new areas?

I find all my mushrooms at the very peak of Mt. Garibaldi. In the rock and ice? Sure…yep. Go ahead and check.

Responses like this are not uncommon when asking foragers about their foraging grounds. But, in all seriousness, I’m not worried about sharing a little real information. The lowlands of the Fraser Valley are great for spring greens like nettles, fiddleheads, watercress, false solomon’s seal, miner’s lettuce, and more. Vancouver island is one of our better chanterelle regions. Terrace is a mushroom Mecca, but especially famous for pine mushrooms. My best lobster mushroom patch is in the Kootenays. I explore new areas every year, but weather is a huge factor and the best approach is to go where conditions allow for a good flush of mushrooms, then check your patches there or find new ones. Returning somewhere only because it was great last year can be very disappointing.

Why is supporting local important to you?

Local, small business is what I believe a society ought to be made of. It is people who care about what they are doing, deal much more ethically, and form relationships with their customers. It makes society more human, and less market trend analysis. Locally sourced products and local talents both draw from and deepen the culture unique to that specific place, because what it has to offer cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The “local” movement is our chance to push back against the mono-(non?)culture that big business and globalization threaten. To me, all this is incredibly important.

What do you like the most about selling at farmers market?

I have such difficulty with “the most” questions. I definitely like being around other vendors and buying very fresh vegetables. I like meeting and chatting with the people who stop at my table. I like the fresh air and being on my feet all day. I like the opportunity to share what foraging knowledge I have accumulated; encouraging others to get out there and harvest some tangible reasons not to clearcut our province. I like knowing I am providing people with real, nutritious food. It is an all-around enjoyable and invigorating place to call my work.

Winter POP Club – Week 19

Join the POP Club and discover the Power of Produce!
Week 19: March 24 –  We will be planting broccoli and cabbage seeds. We will also be talking about the next steps for our seeds that have been growing so far.
Two Bite Club –  Beets
The POP Club is a farmers market-based kids program. Children (ages 5 – 12 years old) will learn about fruits and vegetables, local food systems and healthy food preparation through fun activities all season long.
Each week children will earn a $3 market token to use towards any fruit or vegetable of their choice.
There is no cost to participate.  The POP Club runs every Sunday until the end of April. Please note the POP Club is hosted outside the Port Moody Recreation Complex. Please dress for the weather. The program will run rain or shine!

Sunday, March 24

Spring is here! A great way to spend a Sunday morning in the Spring is strolling the market and enjoying the best of everything local. We’re in Port Moody until the end of April, so come visit while you can!

Stop by for a sweet or savoury crepe from Kara’s Crepes, and grab a beautifully crafted coffee from Brewnetti Cafe.

We’re making spring flowers at the Kids Craft Table this Sunday! Stop by to make one of these beautiful tissue paper creations.

There are still a few spots remaining in this weekend’s Succulent Planters workshop with Port Moody Flowers. Click Here to find out more, or to register!

We’re happy to have Larry’s Brother and his great tunes join us this weekend. Come check him out on Sunday, and get a sneak peek of his music HERE.

VENDORS ATTENDING MARKET ON MARCH 24 – PLEASE NOTE THIS LIST IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
  • A Bread Affair
  • Amazing Food BC
  • Art Cards by Valerie
  • Bali Bites
  • Brewnetti Cafe
  • Central Park Farms
  • Chanthorn Orchids and Thai Curry Sauce
  • Cocoaro Craft Chocolate
  • Divine East
  • Eagle Mountain Leather
  • Earth Paws
  • Einai Designs
  • Ela made me do it!
  • Forstbauer Family Natural Food Farm
  • Garys Kettle Corn
  • Gesundheit Bakery Ltd.
  • Kara’s Crepes
  • Kizzy’s Macarons
  • Mama Bear Essentials
  • Mandair Farms
  • Mariner Brewing
  • Mediterra Soaps
  • Mike’s Perfect Perogys
  • Nasty Free Naturals
  • Occasionally Honey
  • Redl’s Home Grown Beef
  • Rockweld Farm Ltd.
  • Royal City Donuts
  • Samaya Delights
  • Sea Cider Farms & Ciderhouse
  • Sweet Thea
  • Synergy of Nature Aromatherapy & Herbals
  • The Jerk Store
  • Trinity’s Tea Creations
  • Wild West Coast Seafoods
  • Your Wildest Foods

Winter POP Club – Week 18

Join the POP Club and discover the Power of Produce!
Week 18: March 17 –  We will be talking about how our seeds have been growing so far indoors and what changes we are seeing. We will also learn about the cycle of the seed and play a game to match the seed with the vegetable or fruit.
Two Bite Club –  Carrots
The POP Club is a farmers market-based kids program. Children (ages 5 – 12 years old) will learn about fruits and vegetables, local food systems and healthy food preparation through fun activities all season long.
Each week children will earn a $3 market token to use towards any fruit or vegetable of their choice.
There is no cost to participate.  The POP Club runs every Sunday until the end of April. Please note the POP Club is hosted outside the Port Moody Recreation Complex. Please dress for the weather. The program will run rain or shine!

Sunday, March 17

Spring is just around the corner! A great way to spend a Sunday morning in the Spring is strolling the market and enjoying the best of everything local. We’re in Port Moody until the end of April, so come visit while you can!

Kids! We’ve got a little luck of the Irish for you this Sunday! Come to the craft table to make a fun leprechaun mask!

In our Power of Produce (POP) Kids Club we will be talking about how our seeds have been growing so far indoors and what changes we are seeing. We will also learn about the cycle of the seed and play a game to match the seed with the vegetable or fruit. For our 2 Bite Club we will be tasting carrots!

We’re happy to have musician Corey Primus with us this weekend. Come check him out on Sunday, and get a sneak peek of his music HERE.

VENDORS ATTENDING MARKET ON MARCH 17 – PLEASE NOTE THIS LIST IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
  • A Bread Affair
  • Amazing Food BC
  • Arnalia Pristine Beauty
  • Big Red’s Poutine
  • Bobali
  • Cascadia Cook and Coffee
  • Central Park Farms
  • Chanthorn Orchids and Thai Curry Sauce
  • Culture Kefir Co.
  • Divine East
  • Drunken Chocolatier
  • Earth Paws
  • Ela made me do it!
  • Forstbauer Family Natural Food Farm
  • Garys Kettle Corn
  • Gesundheit Bakery
  • Half Pint Pies
  • Ildiko Jewelry
  • Jam’n Music
  • Kara’s Crepes
  • Kimi Designs
  • Kizzy’s Macarons
  • Mama Bear Essentials
  • Mandair Farms
  • Maples Sugar Shack
  • Mariner Brewing
  • NorthWest Distilling Co
  • PoCo Soap Co
  • Rockweld Farm
  • Royal City Donuts
  • Samaya Delights
  • Solasta Chocolate
  • Sugar Free Kitchen
  • Sweet Thea
  • Tesfa Farms
  • WestCoast Cider Co.
  • Wild West Coast Seafoods
  • Your Wildest Foods

Winter POP Club – Week 17

Join the POP Club and discover the Power of Produce!
Week 17: March 10 – This Sunday we will be making our own microgreen gardens. Please bring a small shallow container to plant your microgram gardens in. Our small gardens will thrive near a sunny window, so please try to bring a small container that will fit nicely on a window ledge. You will learn how to care for your mini gardens and watch for the signs to know they are ready to harvest.
Two Bite Club –  We will taste frozen raspberries (Mandair Farms had to cancel last minute, so we are going to try again this Sunday!)
The POP Club is a farmers market-based kids program. Children (ages 5 – 12 years old) will learn about fruits and vegetables, local food systems and healthy food preparation through fun activities all season long.
Each week children will earn a $3 market token to use towards any fruit or vegetable of their choice.
There is no cost to participate.  The POP Club runs every Sunday until the end of April. Please note the POP Club is hosted outside the Port Moody Recreation Complex. Please dress for the weather. The program will run rain or shine!

Sunday, March 10

It’s Party Time! We’re celebrating our 10th Anniversary Season this Sunday at the Market! We’ll have kids games, entertainers, 10-year vendor recognition, and of course – birthday cake! Cake cutting starts at 11am.

Kids! Visit our craft table this weekend to design your own party hat. Create a fun and festive hat, and join the party! Also, be sure to visit our game zone courtesy of the Port Moody Recreation Complex in the middle of the market! They will have face painting, crafts, egg races and parachute games.

This Sunday in the Power of Produce Club we will be making our own microgreen gardens. Please bring a small shallow container to plant your microgreen gardens in. Our small gardens will thrive near a sunny window, so please try to bring a small container that will fit nicely on a window ledge. You will learn how to care for your mini gardens and watch for the signs to know they are ready to harvest.

Noons Creek Hatchery will be our community group this Sunday. Visit their tent to learn more about the hatchery, and how you can get involved!

We’re happy to have musicians Kelly Kay and Larry’s Brother join in the party this Sunday! These guys always put on a great show! You don’t want to miss it.

VENDORS ATTENDING MARKET ON MARCH 10 – PLEASE NOTE THIS LIST IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
  • A Bread Affair
  • Amazing Food BC
  • Anderson Distilleries
  • Bali Bites
  • Bowen Island Herb Salts
  • Brewnetti Cafe
  • Central Park Farms
  • Chanthorn Orchids and Thai Curry Sauce
  • Cocoaro Craft Chocolate
  • Eagle Mountain Leather
  • Earth Paws
  • Einai Designs
  • Ela made me do it!
  • Forstbauer Family Natural Food Farm
  • Garys Kettle Corn
  • Gesundheit Bakery
  • Jam Shack Preservery
  • Kizzy’s Macarons
  • Mama Bear Essentials
  • Mandair Farms
  • Mike’s Perfect Perogys
  • Nasty Free Naturals
  • Occasionally Honey
  • PoCo Soap Co
  • Redl’s Home Grown Beef
  • Rockweld Farm Ltd.
  • Royal City Donuts
  • Samaya Delights
  • Sea Cider Farms & Ciderhouse
  • Sweet Thea
  • The Jerk Store
  • Trinity’s Tea Creations
  • Westwood Total Health
  • Wild West Coast Seafoods
  • Your Wildest Foods