Going to the Bayview Farmer’s Market

I always love mornings on Whidbey Island! I get up late, lounge on my deck with a bracing cup of Mukilteo Coffee’s best blend brewed in my own French press, pull on my well-worn jeans, and grab my market basket to head off to the Bayview Farmer’s Market. The market is my go-to place for fresh breads, my weekend veggies, my weekly flowers, and general gab fest with friends and acquaintances.

Historic Bayview Corner, located right off Hwy 525, about ten minutes north of the Clinton Ferry, is home to a collection of renovated buildings owned by Goosefoot. On Saturdays, from April through October, over seventy various vendors representing fruit, vegetable, and flower farms, jewelry designers, homemade soaps and lotions, artwork, pottery, and fiber artists gather to sell their wares and products. It is an enticing array of colors, smells, and tastes! Local musicians provide the ambient background accompaniment, and several booths offer mouth watering prepared foods, such as barbeque pulled pork sandwiches, Mr. Mobley’s chicken and rice with signature Mobley Sauce, and Rosie’s Famous Potatoes!

I always make a beeline to my favorite vendors before they sell out or get picked over. Tree Top Bakery has the best pain au chocolat, and Pam’s Produce is my go-to booth for the freshest salad greens. My weekly fresh flowers come from Cedar Moon Herb and Flower Farm, and the tastiest tomatoes are at Five Acre Farm.

After making my planned purchases, I am free to stroll through the market curious to discover what is new, in season, or particularly enticing. I have discovered the most exquisite herbed chevre from a local goat farmer that is fabulous! Tree Top Bakery also makes incredible olive bread that graces my table almost every weekend!

Many of the produce and plant farmers at the Bayview Market are organic farmers. Burr Oak Acres is a certified organic mini farm that has grown over the last several years to include greenhouses and an honors system farm stand that Whidbey Island residents can visit daily.

The Bayview Farmers Market is a beloved Whidbey Island institution and a weekly ritual for hundreds of local Whidbey residents and weekend visitors. Over the years, more and more mini farms have sprung up on the island as a new generation seeks a simpler lifestyle, and a desire to live closer to the land and produce their own food.

There are a few really wonderful mini farms on Whidbey Island currently for sale. Here is a sample of the best of them:

 Glendale Road, 18 acres, 3 bedrooms, 3.75 baths, meadows, pasture, woodlands, pond, $899,000!

 Deerlake, lakefront with dock, 12 acres, 4 bedrooms, 1,75 baths, $750,000!

 Newman Road, 6+ acres, 1940′s farmhouse, newer barn, rolling pastureland, 3bedrooms, 1.75 baths, $575,000!

These are but a few of the magical mini farms available for your new, closer-to-the-land lifestyle! Contact me, Kimberly Allen, Cooper-Jacobs Real Estate Services, for a tour of Whidbey Island mini farms!