New West Farmers Market

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The City of New Westminster recently proclaimed it Farmers Market Month in the Royal City. We are absolutely thrilled! We’re kicking off a month of special planning and have some tricks up our sleeves. You’ll have to come and check it out!

Did you know that RCFM offers a kids’ toy area at every market? We have selected a number of creative, free play, safe toys for kids of all ages with the help of toy experts and RCFM business supporter, Pedagogy Toys. These toys are available in the grassy area just east of the market as long as it’s not pouring.

We also offer free drinking water at every market at our info tent at the top of the market – clean, wonderful, New Westminster tap water is free for the taking. We encourage you to bring your own container, but if you forget, we do offer compostable and recyclable BioCups.

This week at the market:

Entertainment:

Community Groups:

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

Dairy

Meat & Fish

Bread & Baking

Delectable Treats

Local Crafters

Gardening

Services

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Local market shopper Elise Weatherby dropped us a note today about our market:

Way better selection of produce vendors; better, fresher, and organic produce and more hard to find stuff ie: pea shoots and gooseberries! This is the type of stuff farm markets are famous for!  It’s so fantastic to have a good local fresh food source so close to home!  I do grow a small garden myself so I want to add that I am extremely picky about purchasing produce, and the quality at RCFM is pretty much as good as it gets (outside of growing my own).

Thanks Elise! We really appreciate you taking the time to email us and let us know.

You can check out Elise’s review of RCFM on her new blog– which is all about growing your own food. We agree that growing your own is the very best way to eat – but not everyone can grow their own because it takes a lot of time and effort and at the very least, a patio! Next best thing is a farmers market, where you can get to know your farmer and enjoy fresh picked goods.

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One of my favorite parts of summer is when our beautiful Dahlias start showing their colourful blooms around the garden. This tuberous perennial is extremely popular amongst flower enthusiasts and are often grown just for judged shows. The Dahlia is native to Latin regions such as Mexico and Central America and was used by the Aztecs for food and even for decorative purposes.

Photo courtesy of Muhammad Mahdi Karim, www.micro2macro.net

Now I don’t use my Dahlias for bragging rights at a flower show, nor do I use them in some primitive ceremonial ritual. To me they are there for sheer eye candy inside and outside of my home. I marvel at the vibrant range of colours they produce and will often traipse into the garden with my snips in hand so I can capture their exotic colouring to display on my nightstand or in my bathroom. These little punches of colour awaken my senses on the most tiresome of days. It is amazing what a little floral therapy can do for the soul.

Dahlias come in a variety of “types”. We have some beautiful Art Deco and Adelaide Fontane varieties on our garden this year. Each kind of Dahlia has a unique shape of bloom such as a round Aurora’s Kiss or a flame-like Akita. Because these flowers come in so many different shapes and colours they are very popular amongst seasoned and newbie gardeners. They are quite easy to grow, just be sure to plant in mid-April to May (about the same time you would plant your vegetable garden) and plant them in an area where they will recieve 8 hours of sun a day. We planted ours in a large planter in the front yard under a huge bay window that gets most of the day’s sun. Our Dahlias are watered once a day and are inspected for pests such as slugs quite frequently.

These showy flowers are in season and available at RCFM right now. Why not grab a couple stems while buying your staple items at the market? These darling Dahlias are perfect for adding fresh colour to your home.

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Photo by Harry Pehkonen

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:

Community Group:

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

Dairy

Meat & Fish

Bread & Baking

Delectable Treats

Local Crafters

Gardening


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Photo by Elizabeth Thomsen

Many of my friends live in apartments and condos with little real estate to have a garden besides a patio or a sunny window sill. Just because you don’t have a large backyard doesn’t mean you can’t have your own fresh herbs or produce. Container gardening allows you to plants many of the items you would grow in the yard, such as tomatoes. It is easy, fun and gives you that feeling of accomplishment in knowing that you created this from the ground up (or in some cases, down). No matter how small the space the key ingredient is the sun.

When you pick a spot to have your tomato garden consider an area that gets sun at least half of the day. Once you have picked a winning area you need to decide what you want to plant. There are many different types of tomatoes that are used in varieties of dishes. Do you pick Plum tomatoes for the large size and thin skin? Cherry tomatoes that can be plucked of the vine and popped in your mouth or included in a delicious summer salad? Compari tomatoes for their delicious sweetness? There are also Heirloom tomatoes, the open-pollinated (non-hybrid) variety which are becoming more and more popular. For a list of Heirloom cultivars check out the plant’s wikipedia page.

Some things to keep in mind when planting:

– Avoid planting before you know there will be freezing/frosty temperatures

– The leaves of tomato plants can be poisonous if consumed in large quantities, keep this in mind when choosing an area to keep them if you have small children or curious pets.

– Tomatoes take about 70 days to grow

– Read the labeling on your plants/seeds as specific types of tomato require specific growing needs.

This website is quite informative when it comes to container gardening.

Tomatoes are a healthy, fresh and nutritious way to keep your heart healthy and pack in your daily anti-oxidant intake (along with a glass of your favorite vino!). If you didn’t have enough time or the inclination to get going on your indoor/outdoor gardening this year, the Royal City Farmers Market is a wonderful place to pick up a bunch of these ripe and red disease fighting fruits.



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Land Acknowledgement

Our market is grateful to operate on the unceded land of the Qayqayt, Kwikwetlem, and other Halkomelem speaking Peoples. We acknowledge that colonialism has made invisible their histories and connections to the land. We acknowledge the incredible gift this land is to our market and BC Agriculture. We commit to the ongoing work of decolonization and allyship.