Who doesn’t like a good treasure hunt? We’re feeling a little sneaky this week and we want to play a fun game. We’ll be hiding a little eggplant friend we call “Tick Tock”  somewhere in the market, and we invite you to keep your eyes peeled as you make your way through the market to pick up your goodies. When you spy Tick Tock, leave him undisturbed, and head to the RCFM booth. Write down where you saw him and provide us with your name and a way to contact you – all correct Tick Tock finders will be entered to win a little market prize pack that includes: Tick Tock himself, an RCFM 100% recycled cotton tote made in Canada, and a $10 gift certificate that can be spent at any market vendor. RCFM members who play along receive two entries to the draw just for being a member (please bring your membership card) – and you can pick up a membership that day – they’re just ten bucks!

As an added bonus, everyone who enters will receive a coupon for a free zucchini from Forstbauer Family Natural Food Farm with a minimum $10 purchase!

Here’s what else is going on at the market:

Entertainment:

• Balloon Twister Skittles
• Steel guitar Ross Werlick
• Storytime with Bluebeary and Kathleen

Community Group:

• New Westminster Public Library

Vendors This Week : (not all vendors come to every market, so check this list if you’re looking for someone special – they are arranged categorically. Want a complete listing of all the vendors, even the ones not here this week? Here it is!)

Eat On Site

• No coffee truck this week – but RCFM will be serving coffee by donation – courtesy of local coffee joint The Village Coffee Lounge! Check out the info tent for drip coffee.
• Copeland Foods – hot vegetarian samosas, frozen take home meat pies and frozen ready-to-eat dinners
• Maluma Health Foods - Bison hot dogs, bison smokies, bison chili and bison ribs and take home packages too!

Produce

• Apple Barn Pumpkin Farm – Peppers, tomatoes, apples & pumpkins
• Canwest Farms – blueberries!
• Celyddon Farms – Certified organic produce from Delta
• Forstbauer Family Natural Food Farm – organic produce, eggs, and beef
• Glen Valley Organic Farm – certified organic produce from a farm located only 50km from New Westminster
• new this week! Golden West Nurseries – Okanagan fruit grown in Summerland, many certified organic
• Maan Farms - assorted locally grown produce
• Nature Village Farm – Asian produce grown in Richmond
• Red Barn Plants and Produce – assorted locally grown produce, as well as herbs and perennials

Dairy

• Greendale Herb and Vine – Cheddar cheese, cheese curds, herbs, nut butters and honeycomb
• Little Qualicum Cheeseworks – High quality cheese from Vancouver Island

Meat & Fish

• Fresh Off the Boat – Fresh fish
• Outwest Ranches – beef raised locally and fresh eggs

Bread & Baking

• A Bread Affair – Breads
• Blackberry Hill – Baked Goods
• Eat It Up – Gluten free and no-sugar-added fruit pies, cookies and green tea
• Sunrise Pita Company – pitas, chips, dips, and banana bread

Delectable Treats

• Ace Curries to Go – curry mixes for when you are in a hurry
• AJI Gourmet Products – sauces made using aji spice
• Anne’s Gallery – Jams, jellies & knitting
• Bean Boy Creations – Organic hummous
• Con Amore Foods – handmade fresh pasta and vegan spreads and dips
• Gary’s Kettlecorn – Kettlecorn
• JJ’s Country Cookin’ and Diabetic Foods – sugar free jam and many varieties of pickled vegetables
• Jane’s Honey Bees – honey and other bee products
• Maples’ Sugar Shack - maple syrup products
• Momma Nellie’s - fresh handmade salsa and crisps
• Simply Delish Soup Co - layered soup mix, rice pilaf mix, and spice rubs

Local Crafters

• Dingolay Glass Creations – fused glass jewelry inspired by the Caribbean and Africa
• Diva Dawg Clothing Company – dog clothing and accessories, altered art bracelets for humans
• Lesley and Brenda – assorted knitting, beaded items, and other hand made goods
• Mod Argent – handcrafted sterling silver jewelry
• The Other Eden -  body and home cosmetics
• Quality Oak Accents – Fine wood creations

Gardening

• Petals & Butterflies – Perennials, shrubs & planters
• Secret Garden – cut flowers

We’re reaching the middle point of our season for the next few weeks and this means full harvests, lots of great (we hope) weather, flowers, plants, and food food food. Our cookbook swap from last month was quite popular and we’ve been asked to do it again, so this week we’ll be resurrecting the cookbook swap! How does it work? Simple!

Bring a cookbook from home that you’re tired of and have a look through the books on our table and swap it up for a similarly sized book! Or, if you are looking to downsize, we will gratefully accept cookbook donations for our next swap. And finally, if you don’t have a book to swap, you are welcome to buy books for a minimum $3 per book donation, which we will happily pass on to the good folks at the Food Bank.  Please note, due to storage issues, we can only accept cookbooks.

What else is going on this week? Have a look…

Entertainment:

• Buskings – local boys Jake and Joey  play violin and accordion from 3-5
• Doug Towle - award winning Latin guitar player 5-7
• Face Painter Allyson Grant 3-7

Community Group:

• New Westminster Public Library – books for sale and info about what the oldest library in BC has to offer you

Vendors This Week : (not all vendors come to every market, so check this list if you’re looking for someone special – they are arranged categorically. Want a complete listing of all the vendors, even the ones not here this week? Here it is!)

Eat On Site

• Beer Brats – Beer. Brats. Brilliant.
• Copeland Foods – hot vegetarian samosas, as well as frozen take home meat pies and ready-to-eat dinners
• Gogo Java – Coffee, tea, smoothies, juice, and other liquids
• Maluma Health Foods - Bison hot dogs, bison smokies, bison chili and bison ribs and take home packages too!

Produce

• Apple Barn Pumpkin Farm – Peppers, tomatoes, apples & pumpkins
• Canwest Farms – blueberries!
• Celyddon Farms – Certified organic produce from Delta
• Forstbauer Family Natural Food Farm – organic produce, eggs, and beef
• Glen Valley Organic Farm – certified organic produce from a farm located only 50km from New Westminster
• Maan Farms - assorted locally grown produce
• Nature Village Farm – Asian produce grown in Richmond
• Red Barn Plants and Produce – assorted locally grown produce

Dairy

• Farmhouse Natural Cheeses - cow’s milk cheeses, goat’s milk cheese, goat’s milk yogurt, cow milk butter
• Greendale Herb and Vine – Cheddar cheese, cheese curds, herbs, nut butters and honeycomb
• Little Qualicum Cheeseworks – High quality cheese from Vancouver Island

Meat & Fish

• Fresh Off the Boat – Fresh fish
• Gelderman Farms – Pork
• Outwest Ranches – beef raised locally and fresh eggs

Bread & Baking

• A Bread Affair – Breads
• Blackberry Hill – Baked Goods
• Eat It Up – Gluten free and no-sugar-added fruit pies, cookies and green tea

Delectable Treats

• Amber’s Choice – baked madeleines, soups, salad dressing
• Bamboo Yoga Tea – batch crafted wellness teas prepared locally
• Bean Boy Creations – Organic hummous
• Con Amore Foods – handmade fresh pasta and vegan spreads and dips
• Gary’s Kettlecorn – Kettlecorn
• JJ’s Country Cookin’ and Diabetic Foods – sugar free jam and many varieties of pickled vegetables
• Jane’s Honey Bees – honey and other bee products
• Momma Nellie’s Goodies – Salsa
• Simply Delish Soup Co - layered soup mix, rice pilaf mix, and spice rubs

Local Crafters

• Black Bamboo Artisans – hand made glazed pottery and knitting
• Magnetite Jewelry by Gina – magnetite jewelry custom fit
• The Other Eden - cold process soaps scented with essential and fragrance oils, room sprays, body products
• Something Pretty by Beth – Hand-painted domino tile jewelry

Gardening

• Petals & Butterflies – Perennials, shrubs & planters
• Secret Garden – cut flowers

Services

• Harmony Works Chair Massage – on site chair massage

We are taking the show on the road this season! You’ll see a mini version of RCFM at a few different community events, with a small and rotating selection of vendors as well as our info booth serving up their regular wonderful goodies. Our first event is Summerfest this Saturday July 17th from 4pm – 8pm at Grimston Park.

Summerfest is a new community festival celebrating a very unique park in the West End of New Westminster. The special day will feature free activities for the whole family,  food vendors, community tables, crafts, and information, as well as th grand opening of the brand new playground. The wading pool will also be open all day as well. At 9:30PM, festival organizers will be showing the classic “E.T: The Extra Terrestrial” on a giant outdoor screen and encourages people to bring blankets and enjoy a picnic in the park. RCFM vendors will be on hand as well (please note, there is no ATM at the park) to pick up hot foods, produce, smokies, crafts and hand crafted breads.

RCFM vendors participating in this mini market are:

• Copeland Foods
• Black Bamboo Artisans
• Beer Brats
• Nature Village
• A Bread Affair

As well, fan favourite Allyson Grant, our talented face painter, and market musicians Ross Werlick, steel guitarist; Chris Messytone, accordion; and Ron Ulrich, classic guitar will be there (among others).

For more info about Summerfest or a map to the park, check out Tenth to the Fraser.

Stay tuned for information about our next mini market.

A few weeks ago, one of our directors, Matthew Laird, tweeted about the delicious meal he had whipped up using ingredients bought at RCFM’s opening market. He said:

Bacon, roast pepper, goat feta & tomato sandwich made from @nwfarmers ingredients. Mmm.

And then, to make us all drool, he included a photo.

And then, while cruising around Flickr for pictures of the market, something I regularly do, I came across a photostream from Jessica, a local food blogger who writes at Yum-o-rama. Jessica had stopped by the last winter market in April and picked up the goods to make a pizza. She then took luscious photos of the process:

So, without further ado, we are pleased to announce this season’s photo contest – Made from the Market.

You don’t need to be a professional photographer (heck, Matthew’s photo was taken using his iPhone)- the key here is that we want to see what people make when they go home from the market with all their goodies. So, blog about it. Email us. Tweet us. Tell us with pictures what you made from what you picked up. Bonus points if you share your recipes. Anyone who shares with us is entered to win the grand prize.

What’s the grand prize, you say? Stay tuned. I promise it will be good. We’re just finalizing some details and we’ll post the prizes soon! Enter as many times as you wish. Enter by posting to our Flickr group, emailing info@rcfm.ca, posting on our Facebook page, or tweeting us a link. We will draw at the market on October 7th.

Good luck!

This week there are over 40 vendors for you to choose from to pick up amazing ingredients to blend together in a masterpiece of yummy. Produce, fish, meats, breads, sweets, dips, spreads, pasta, dairy, cheese, produce… oh wait? Did we say produce?

If cooking’s not your game- although we prefer the term “food mixologist” because not everything needs to be cooked – then consider the market for a tasty fresh hot snack! Try craft-beer infused smokies from Beer Brats (the Red Racer is a winner), unbelievably tasty bison dogs from Maluma Bison (we recommend the Brie smokie), or delectable hot vegetarian samosas served with a fantastic homemade tamarind chutney from Copeland Foods. If you’re headed down after dinner, come for dessert! Choose traditional baked sweets from Blackberry Hill (our pick: the date squares) or try gluten free baked yummies from Eat It Up - including fresh made GF pies both in mini and regular sizes.

Pair your food finds with one of a kind crafts and artisan products made locally by your neighbours. Don’t miss the Art in the Park open air art gallery and bring a blanket for some down time communing with Mother Nature in gorgeous Tipperary Park.

As always, parking is available for bicycles at a rack at the south end of the market, and for cars on Royal, Queens, and in the City Hall parking lot after 4:30. We offer free drinking water – the nicest tap water this side of heaven – and kids’ activities.

Here’s the fresh sheet for this week:

Entertainment:

• Allyson Grant – Face Painting – 3-7
• Jinhee Park – Violin – 3-7

Community Group:

• Burns Bog Conservation Society

Vendors This Week : (not all vendors come to every market, so check this list if you’re looking for someone special – they are arranged categorically. Want a complete listing of all the vendors, even the ones not here this week? Here it is!)

We’re pleased as punch that you seem to love us.  This week is about sharing the harvest with over 30 vendors, including ten local farmers to choose from.  This week is also about sharing the  summer lovin’ because it’s Bring a Newbie week! We want as many people as we can to understand the love of a farmers market and to see why it’s good for us all! Bring a friend who’s never been to our market and join us for one of two guided market tours with Operations Manager, Jen Arbo. Get the inside scoop on some of  our many amazing vendors and meet the people who grow your food! Learn how to select purchases from the experts themselves. Market tours start from the RCFM tent at 5:00PM and 6:00PM. Pre-registration not required. Those of you who do the friend-bringing can enter to win a gorgeous 100% recycled cotton, washable, sturdy, made-in-Canada RCFM market tote.

Here’s what else is on this week:

Entertainment:

• Jeffrey Huggins 3-5
• Chris Messytone 5-7
• Allyson the Face Painter 3-7

Community Group:

• Fraser River Discovery Centre – info about their interpretive centre on the Fraser River, as well as crafts for kids!

Vendors This Week : (not all vendors come to every market, so check this list if you’re looking for someone special – they are arranged categorically. Want a complete listing of all the vendors, even the ones not here this week? Here it is!)

Eat On Site

• Beer Brats – Beer. Brats. Brilliant.
• Copeland Foods – hot and tasty samosas, take and bake frozen meat pies and frozen ready-to-eat dinners
• Gogo Java – Coffee, tea, smoothies, juice, and other liquids
• Maluma Health Foods - Bison hot dogs, bison smokies, bison chili and bison ribs and take home packages too!

Produce

• Apple Barn Pumpkin Farm – Peppers, tomatoes, apples & pumpkins
• new this week! Canwest Farms – blueberries!
• Celyddon Farms – Certified organic produce from Delta
• Dream Farm Natural Growers - produce grown in Burnaby
• Forstbauer Family Natural Food Farm – organic produce, eggs, and beef
• Glen Valley Organic Farm – certified organic produce from a farm located only 50km from New Westminster
• Maan Farms - assorted locally grown produce
• Misty Mountain Specialties - fresh wild and cultivated mushrooms, dried mushroom products
• Nature Village Farm – Asian produce grown in Richmond
• new this week! Red Barn Plants and Produce – assorted locally grown produce

Dairy

• Farmhouse Natural Cheeses - cow’s milk cheeses, goat’s milk cheese, goat’s milk yogurt, cow milk butter
• Little Qualicum Cheeseworks – High quality cheese from Vancouver Island

Meat & Fish

• Fresh Off the Boat – Fresh fish
• Gelderman Farms – Pork
• Outwest Ranches – beef raised locally and fresh eggs

Bread & Baking

• A Bread Affair – Breads
• Blackberry Hill – Baked Goods
• Eat It Up – Gluten free and no-sugar-added fruit pies, cookies and green tea

Delectable Treats

• Amber’s Choice – baked madeleines, soups, salad dressing
• Bean Boy Creations – Organic hummous
• Con Amore Foods – handmade fresh pasta and vegan spreads and dips
• Gary’s Kettlecorn – Kettlecorn
• JJ’s Country Cookin’ and Diabetic Foods – sugar free jam and many varieties of pickled vegetables
• Jane’s Honey Bees – honey and other bee products
• Momma Nellie’s Goodies – Salsa

Local Crafters

• Black Bamboo Artisans – hand made glazed pottery and knitting
• Mod Argent – hand forged sterling silver jewelry
• The Other Eden - cold process soaps scented with essential and fragrance oils, room sprays, body products
• Pomomama Designs - wire crochet jewelry and accessories, fused fabric and metal art
• Quality Oak Accents – Fine wood creations

Gardening

• Petals & Butterflies – Perennials, shrubs & planters
• Secret Garden – cut flowers

Services

• Harmony Works Chair Massage – on site chair massage

We’re pleased to offer you this coupon for a free bell pepper at tomorrow’s market! Please print it off and present it at the Applebarn when you come tomorrow.

This week, we’re putting aside our two favourite colours, purple and khaki, to show our other favourite colour combination as we hoist the Canadian flag and wish our fellow neighbours a Happy Canada Day.

And there is much to celebrate! The rise in popularity at Farmers Markets means that people are more and more interested in eating locally produced, more nutritious, craft-made foods. The connection between farmer and shopper is getting stronger and we are so proud that we are able to help connect the two. If you are what you eat, then knowing what you eat is pretty important!

Here in New West there is much to do on Canada Day. Check out the annual celebration at Queens’ Park from 11:30-3:30 and then wander on down to the market. Bring a blanket and enjoy a picnic in gorgeous Tipperary Park. We’re featuring a kids’ fishing derby and scavenger hunt, as well local favourite dixieland jazz trio Razzmajazz. We’re also bringing some lawn toys, and weather permitting, we’re hoping to start the (completely informal) annual RCFM Bocce tournie!

After we pack up at 7PM,  you can saunter over to City Hall lawn or even further to the Quay to watch the annual fireworks put on by the Hyack Festival Association at dusk. Who needs to go away for Canada Day when a day of fun, free, family friendly festivities are right here?

Here’s the details about this week:

Entertainment:

• Razzmajazz Jazz Trio 3-7

Community Groups:

• New Westminster Community Garden Society
• New Westminster Environmental Partners

Art in the Park: (not a complete list; some artists are drop-in)

• Carolyn Mohr
• Lauren Albrice
• Cliff Milne
• Tow Teh Lim

Vendors at this market : (not all vendors come to every market, so check this list if you’re looking for someone special – they are arranged categorically. Want a complete listing of all the vendors, even the ones not here this week? Here it is!)

Eat On Site

• Beer Brats – Beer. Brats. Brilliant.
• Gogo Java – Coffee, tea, smoothies, juice, and other liquids
• Maluma Health Foods - Bison hot dogs, bison smokies, bison chili and bison ribs and take home packages too!
• Varinicey Pakoras - vegetable pakoras

Produce

• Apple Barn Pumpkin Farm – Peppers, tomatoes, apples & pumpkins
• Celyddon Farms – Certified organic produce from Delta
• Dream Farm Natural Growers - produce grown in Burnaby
• Forstbauer Family Natural Food Farm – organic produce, eggs, and beef
• Glen Valley Organic Farm – certified organic produce from a farm located only 50km from New Westminster
• Maan Farms - assorted locally grown produce
• Nature Village Farm – Asian produce grown in Richmond

Dairy

• Greendale Herb and Vine – Cheddar cheese, cheese curds, herbs, nut butters and honeycomb
• Little Qualicum Cheeseworks – High quality cheese from Vancouver Island

Meat & Fish

• Copeland Foods – meat pies and frozen ready-to-eat dinners
• Fresh Off the Boat – Fresh fish
• Outwest Ranches – beef raised locally and fresh eggs

Bread & Baking

• A Bread Affair – Breads
• Blackberry Hill – Baked Goods
• Eat It Up – Gluten free and no-sugar-added fruit pies, cookies and green tea
• Sunrise Pita Company – pitas, chips, dips, and banana bread

Delectable Treats

• Amber’s Choice – baked madeleines, soups, salad dressing
• Anne’s Gallery – Jams, jellies & knitting
• Bean Boy Creations – Organic hummous
• Con Amore Foods – handmade fresh pasta and vegan spreads and dips
• Gary’s Kettlecorn – Kettlecorn
• JJ’s Country Cookin’ and Diabetic Foods – sugar free jam and many varieties of pickled vegetables
• Jane’s Honey Bees – honey and other bee products
• Simply Delish Soup Co - layered soup mix, rice pilaf mix, and spice rubs

Local Crafters

• Alma Valle Fine Silver Jewelry – handcrafted sterling silver original jewelry
• Diva Dawg Clothing Company – dog clothing and accessories, altered art bracelets for humans
• Lesley and Brenda – assorted knitting, beaded items, and other hand made goods
• Mod Argent – hand forged sterling silver jewelry
• The Other Eden - cold process soaps scented with essential and fragrance oils, room sprays, body products

Gardening

• Petals & Butterflies – Perennials, shrubs & planters
• Secret Garden – cut flowers

Services

• Harmony Works Chair Massage – on site chair massage

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post. Some of you may already be aware, but we wanted to be sure everyone knew. RCFM has lost a valuable member of our community this weekend. Ilona Schachner of Vienna Treasures passed away in her sleep Sunday after a battle with cancer. While Vienna Treasures was not a vendor with us this summer season, she was a vendor for the first two seasons of RCFM.

Additionally, Ilona served on our original board as the vendor representative. Because of her tireless work and dedication, RCFM is what it is today. She was thoughful, feisty, and positive, and an amazing resource for our organization. She brought vendors on board while RCFM was in its infancy, many of whom are still a part of our community.

Ilona with Jen last season, with a week to go.

Update June 25: The memorial for Ilona has been cancelled until further notice.

We will miss her a great deal.

Choose. There can only be one. One vegetable to rule them all. Pick your side.