Farmers markets keep Valley growers connected with local buyers

PALMER — As the sun lingers longer in the Alaska spring skies, work is ramping up at family farms across the Mat-Su.

For Vitali and Monica Seldovitsch, who farm a modest 1.5 acres in the Butte, summer days are often spent working from sun up to sun down in a climate where there’s a good 20 hours between those events.

One of the welcome breaks for the Seldovitsch family is time spent selling their crops at local farmers markets. On Friday, Monica was bundled up while protecting her early vegetables and herbs from a sometimes-brisk wind at Palmer’s weekly Friday Fling, a weekly farmers market event.

On this day, she had pungent young spring onions, deep red radishes and a variety of potted herbs. As a small, independent grower, outlets like a farmers market are vital, she said.

“Well, we always need help because there’s lots of work to do,” she said. “People seem to like the produce and say it’s good and tasty.”

That seems to be true for Mary Vittone, a Matanuska Electric Association employee who spent part of her lunch break at the market.

“You just get lots of fresh, locally grown produce here,” she said. “That’s what I like about it.”

The Valley has a rich agricultural history, which will carried on through at least five local farmers markets this season. Friday Fling is the first to open, but soon local residents will be eagerly watching the vendors at two markets in Wasilla, one in Houston and another in Willow.

While the collections of local growers, craftspeople and food vendors can be eclectic and change weekly, farmers markets often are good places to find one-of-a-kind products, said Dan Jones.

He owns Jonesers, a Willow-based company that produces handmade honey, loose-leaf teas and fresh-roasted coffees.

On Friday in Palmer, he had a rainbow of honey varieties across his table flavored with all kinds of things Jones gathers himself, like spruce tip.

“This is handmade honey, which means we don’t collect it from bees,” he said. “It’s made from a 100-plus-year-old recipe with things like fireweed. We spend the whole summer picking and the winter making.”

For a unique product like his, Jones said farmers markets are vital to keeping his business afloat. Because he can’t produce mass volumes of his product, any venue that allows him direct access to customers is important.

“It’s very important, because you need to outlet your product, and the more established (farmers markets) are the best. This is one of the premiere ones in the Valley.”

Besides, you never know from week to week what you might see.

“I like the open air, getting out and the different variety of things and Alaska gifts you wouldn’t find anywhere else,” Jones said. “Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd.”

As important as the markets are for growers and vendors, others simply cannot resist stopping at a good farmers market, said Pat Park-Fisher.

A Wasilla resident, Park-Fisher sidles up to the Turkey Red booth at the latest Friday Fling.

“I love their cookies,” she said. “I just love farmers markets in general. I come almost every Friday. I like the fresh produce — and you really have to try these cookies.”

As tempting as the cookies are, it’s another unique food item that brought Park-Fisher back to downtown Palmer on Friday.

“Last week, there was someone selling some Cajun food, and it was just wonderful,” she said. “I’m trying to see if they’re back.”

After a little more searching, she finds chef Paul Villnerve of Moose Bites Personal Chefs. And yes, he brought back the authentic Cajun food he grew up with in New Orleans.

“We like to get the word out about us and it’s a way for people to taste our food,” Villnerve said, adding that as a chef, he also likes to see what local growers bring. “We’re always looking for deals on fresh produce and what’s being grown locally.”

Meeting small business owners and growers face-to-face is what attracts Skylar Kastar of Talkeetna. He loves farmers markets because “you get to meet the farmers themselves, and a lot of it is local. You know that if you buy from them, it all goes back and stays right here in the Valley.”