The season has been exceptional in many ways. Many of you are telling me it is your “earliest ever” for bringing your crops and product to market. The summer weather has been sunny on Saturdays and the crowds at market have been formidable!

The music line-up, put together by Cindy Graebner, Ed Cohen, Tofu Mike and Allyson, has been great so far. A big thank you to Denise Payne, our McKinleyville Market Manager, for spearheading our music sponsorship program this year. Thanks to her talents and enthusiasm we have over 40 sponsors! Sponsors receive year–round recognition on our website and have their business names highlighted on our sponsor board at every Saturday Market.

We are gearing up for our busiest time of the year and market space will get pushed to its limit. Please take time to say hi to your neighbor, check in with the market manager about any of your concerns and clean up after yourself at the end of the day. Make sure you are packed up and off the plaza by 3pm as our Plaza business neighbors depend on this. Good neighborliness goes a long way to making the season smoother for everyone!

A follow up to the Oyster Festival: we are considering giving up 8th or 9th street to help consolidate our growers into one area and make a better market. I have been talking with Taffy the Director at Arcata Main Street about possible scenarios, including having the children’s activities take over the space. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

Important notes about events coming up (see full event listing in this newsletter): The HSU Welcome Back Festival, put on by the Arcata Chamber of Commerce, will be closing 8th and 9th streets to vehicle traffic. There will be HSU student groups tabling on the plaza and plaza businesses are encouraged to have sidewalk sales. The Organic Planet Festival has been moved to Sunday this year. The NCGA will have a booth there staffed by Cindy Pemberton of Rock-N-Rose, Allyson Carroll and Laura Bruder our market intern. Many thanks to Cindy for helping to facilitate the transition from a Saturday to a Sunday event. Coming up in September is our 5th annual potluck picnic and the North Country Fair. For the North Country Fair, the Farmers’ Market will be on 8th and I streets as usual. I will be going around to assign stall spaces two weeks before the Fair. Also, September is the first annual Local Food Month, with many exciting events organized by our local CAFF chapter (see event calendar in this newsletter).

Merchandise sales have been going well this year. We will be ordering more T-shirts and bags soon. The 2008 calendar of Alan Sanborn’s paintings will debut the end of this month. EBT (food stamp) sales have picked up and WIC and Senior Coupons are in full swing. We are working with the state and local WIC offices to make the application process easier next year– hopefully adding the yearly WIC application to our spring membership packet for a one-stop form package.

I’d like to finish up by thanking my amazing staff, which help make our markets run so smoothly: Amanda (Wildberries Manager), Denise (McKinleyville Manager), David (Eureka Manager), Emily and Erin (Saturday Assistant Managers). In particular I’d like to thank Allyson Carroll for doing such a stellar job of market managing while I was on my maternity leave. Many of you have come up to me and let me know how wonderful she was – a tribute to her hard work, kind personality and sharp mind. Allyson will continue to work with us in many different capacities. She is helping put together this newsletter right now!

I look forward to the abundant months of fall to come. Here’s to a prosperous season for all. - T

WEEKDAY MARKET UPDATES:

Old Town – Tuesdays 10:00am to 1:00pm Henderson Center – Thursdays 10:00am to 1:00pm Manager: David MacCuish The Eureka Markets are going well. Between 12 and 18 farmers show up at each market with a pretty wide variety of goods. We have many nursery plants, great produce and some cool non-ag additions. CAFF and Food for people table fairly regularly and are a great addition to the market. They are helping reach out to people that would not normally buy from a farmers market. Turn has been good, I would say that June was probably a little bit better but there have been some pretty busy times in July as well. -David

Wildberries Market – Tuesdays 3:30 to 6:30pm Manager: Amanda Barker The Wildberries Market has seen it all so far this season—shimmering sun, torrential rain, and the kind of wind that will tip a fifty pound umbrella! Kudos to all the farmers that are sticking with this developing market! In spite of its slow start, the Wildberries market holds promise for the weeks to come. We are currently seeking jugglers to offer entertainment for the children folk, and in a few short weeks, the HSU students will return to breath life back into Arcata! In addition, although the market is small, the variety is extensive, and the shoppers have always been able to find anything in season that they have sought. Keep it up everyone; you all are doing an awesome job! - Amanda

McKinleyville Shopping Center – Thursdays 3:30pm to 6:30pm Manager: Denise Payne Hi everyone just a note from the McKinlyville market. We have had a great start so far this year. Thanks to Willow Creek, McIntosh and Greatfully Grown we have had produce from the start, and that has kept the customers coming, thanks also to all the great plant people that have been keeping us going every year at this time. I hope you are all happy with the market and its progress and just a little FYI the paces will be 15 feet on days we have more producers. I hope you all enjoy some of new music we have this year. - Denise

NCGA Survey Results

Thanks to all who returned a survey this Spring. A special thank you for Erin Derden-Little for her expertise and much needed help in creating the survey. A total of 44 (out of a approximate 100 farms) were received. As you may recall, during our 2006 Fall General Meeting a desire to pull out some general trends in measuring success and places for improvement were voiced. It was felt that a survey might glean some general issues, trends or solutions to guide us. The raw data has now been compiled and is available to review. Copies will be available along with this month¹s (August) newsletter at all the managers’ tables. It will be on the Board’s agenda for discussion in August. Please take the time to review the results and share your thoughts. All data and comments made at any point on the survey have been faithfully recorded for your review. - Maria

Calendar of Events

Klamath Fish Festival - Sunday, August 19th (farmers invited to attend! - call Mandy @ #599-0496)

HSU Welcome Back Festival - Saturday, August 25th (8th and 9th streets will be closed to vehicle traffic)

Organic Planet Festival - Sunday, August 26th (NCGA and CAFF will have a booth there!)

5th Annual NCGA Picnic - Saturday, Sept. 15h, Potluck Barbeque after market at Perigot Park in Blue Lake (all growers, families and friends are welcome to come) North Country Fair - Saturday, September 22nd (Farmers' Market moved to 8th and I streets)

Pastel's on the Plaza - Saturday, October 6th (Farmers' Market moved back into the street on the plaza)

NOTES and ANNOUNCEMENTS

The North Country Fair people are looking for farmers who want to compost food waste from the fair. Call 707-822-5320 if you are interested.

We have four farmers who’ve requested and been granted leaves of absence for this year; Dennis Potter, Stacey Kett, Sylvia Malloy, Jane Ludsaw, and Roger Smith. We’ll miss them at markets this year.

REMINDER: We must all stop selling at 2PM at the Saturday market and be off the Plaza by 3PM at the latest. Please, do not abuse this. The Plaza does not belong to us and these are the City’s rules.

NOTES FROM YOUR BOARD

We’re well into the market season now. Glorious summer produce is coming to the market in all it’s colorful abundance. The weekly markets started almost two months ago and we would love to hear from those of you who do them, how are you doing, relative to previous years. It seems that the McKinleyville Market might be finally finding its niche.

The Welcome Back HSU Fest is moving ahead. They are planning on closing 8th and 9th Streets to traffic. We’ve let them know that we would prefer none.

The Organic Planet Festival will occur on Aug. 26th, the day after the Welcome Back HSU Market. NCGA will be there with a complete, fully staffed booth selling our T-shirts, totes, aprons, cards, etc.

The Farmers’ Market Calendar, which we’re putting out in conjunction with our local chapter of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) is almost finished. We have 12 Farmers’ Market paintings by Alan Sanborn, from the 12 years he’s been doing them, one for each month. The calendar will be ready to sell by the 25th in time for the HSU Welcome Back Fest and the Organic Planet Festival.

We tried a new configuration for the Oyster Fest market this year. There were farmers on 8th, 9th, and “I” Streets. Allyson did a great job of bringing in non-profit booths to make it look more “filled” since we don’t have as many farmers who do this market as on a normal Saturday, but the consensus was that it still looked spotty. Although no one wants to give up any street space, since we’ll surely never get it back, we feel we have to face the reality that we don’t have enough farmers who do this market to fill in all three streets, even with the non-profit booths. For future festivals, maybe we should use only 9th and “I” Streets when we have to be off plaza. The Board would like to get some ideas of how the farmers who do the Oyster Fest market are doing, relative to the markets the week before and after the Fest: better, worse, or the same? Let us know. We also discussed having a section for those farmers who stay ‘till the end of the Oyster Fest so that farmers who leave at 2PM are not breaking down and bringing in their trucks while other farmers are still selling and customers (including kids) are still in the street. All of these issues apply to the North Country Fair market (coming up on Sept. 22nd) and the Kinetic Sculpture market. So, if you’ve got opinions (and who among us hasn’t), let’s hear ‘em.

We’ve been discussing some additional advertising for August. We have some money in the Ad budget that we’ll use for ads in the Tri City Weekly and the Nature’s Riches section of the Times Standard. Denise has been talking to KHUM about live broadcasts at the Saturday market and it’s looking like they will try it. More later. We also got some wonderful advertising of the free variety in the form of local media features on several of our farmers in the past few weeks. There was a good article in the Journal on Jacques and Amy Neukom’s peaches (along with cools photos of Jacques and said peaches) and the weather. Johnny, Heather, and Caleb Gary of G Farm were featured in the Meet Our Neighbors section of the Murphy’s Market ad section with a sweet photo of the three of them. Claudia and Von from Claudia’s Organic Herbs were prominently featured in photos and text in the Journal. Andi and Lisa Zierer were spotlighted in a lovely article with pix in the last Co-op Newsletter. All and all, quite a bonanza of free advertising and much deserved recognition for some of our farmers.

Our NCGA Annual Picnic will be held on, Saturday, Sept. 15th after the market at Perigot Park in Blue Lake. I’m hearing that Dennis Potter has agreed to BBQ again this year and we’ll be able to sample all the delicious dishes made by our fellow farmers.

We are giving the West African Dance Troup one more try this year. They will be performing for 15 minutes during the regular band’s break on August 25th and have promised to perform in one area and not form a conga line that snakes the plaza.

• Midge

MUSIC at the MARKET!

We have another great season of music at our Farmers’ Markets to keep us all bouncing through the day. As requested, here is a list of our music schedule for the year for the Saturday Plaza Market. Thanks so much to all our sponsors and musicians for bringing fabulous local music to go along with our local food and plants! Thanks to Mike “Tofu” Schwartz for his amazing work as our sound guy and to Denise Payne for helping NCGA to reach its goal for music sponsorship! See the music link at our website for up to date info and a list of music at our weekday markets. And remember, North Coast Horticulture has offered a 15% off for NCGA farmers for use in their stores in Eureka (60 W. 4th St.) and McKinleyville (1580 Nursery Rd. – off Central Ave, N of School Rd), just present them with your Producers’ Certificate.

Bands and Sponsors

April 14 - Bayou Swamis (Pierce Family Farm and Flying Blue Dog Farm and Nursery)

April 21 - Bucky Walters (the Farmers)

April 28 - Compost Mtn. Boys (Humboldt Internet)

May 5 - Music of the Andes (Umpqua Bank)

May 12 – Magnolia (Arcata School of Massage)

May 19 - Ponche! (Northcoast Horticulture)

May 26 - Kinetic Sculpture Race

June 2 - Good Company (Glenmar Heather)

June 9 - Redwood Rhythm

June 16 - Oyster Festival

June 23 - Vintage Soul (Winnett Vineyards & the Farmers)

June 30 – Kulica (Northcoast Horticulture)

July 7 - Cuckoo’s Nest (Willow Creek Farm)

July 14 - Horn Band (Plaza Design)

July 21 - Music of the Andes (Northcoast Horticulture)

July 28 - Massagana (Small Fruits and G Farm)

August 4 - Pan Dulce (Redwood Roots and Hunter Orchard)

August 11 – Bucky Walters (Arcata Eye)

August 18 - Falling Rocks (Northcoast Horticulture) August 25 - Good Company (Caravan of Dreams)

September 1 - Chubritza (Arcata Exchange)

September 8 - Compost Mt. Boys (Brant Electric)

September 15 - Absynth (Pierce Family Farm and Flying Blue Dog Farm and Nursery)

September 22 - North Country Fair

September 29 - Jah Sun (Northcoast Horticulture)

October 6 - Bayou Swamis (Video Experience) Pastels on the Plaza

October 13 - TBA (Little River Farm and Mountain Home Farm)

October 20 - Huckleberry Flint (Brio)

October 27 - Delta Nationals (Claudia’s Organic Herbs)

November 3 - Eileen Hemphill-Haley (Northcoast Horticulture)

November 10 - WoMama

November 17 Striped Pig String Band (Arcata Community Recycling Program)

Calendar Release Party at Avalon Restaurant

Come celebrate the release of the CAFF/NCGA 2008 Farm to Table calendar Sunday, September 9th, at Avalon Restaurant at 3rd and G Streets in Eureka. Farmers are invited to bring samples of their produce and winemakers to bring samples of their wine. Contact CAFF for more info at 707-444-3255.

Join us for Local Food Month!

To celebrate and promote local farms, producers and sustainability in our region, the Community Alliance with Family Farmers is launching our first annual Local Food Month. September will be filled with events dedicated to cultivating awareness and appreciation for our local foods. We will launch our Farm to Table calendar, have family farm fieldtrips, local food potlucks and a gourmet dinner on September 30th- see our calendar or website www.caff.org. Strengthening our local food systems increases the viability for all our family farmers to sustain their way of life, our agricultural lands and to provide high quality delicious foods to the members of our community.

Local Food Month September 2007 Celebrating Humboldt County’s Local Farms, Local Producers and Local Abundance

Saturday 8th Food Justice Workshop Redwood Roots Farm, Bayside 1-4pmLearn how the corporate food system hurts our families and the environment, and how we can build a democratic, local food system for Humboldt County.www.duhc.org. Contact 707-269-0984

Sunday 9th Calendar Release Party Avalon Restaurant, Eureka 4pmLaunching the 2008 Farm-to-Table Calendar. Purchase of calendar buys you admissionContact CAFF 707-444-3255

Sunday 16th Family Farm Fieldtrip Arcata Educational Farm, Arcata 12-1pmCome for a fun filled farm tour for the whole familyContact 707-825-1777

Wednesday 19th Peak Oil Action Group 250-Mile Diet Potluck Bayside Grange, Bayside 6:30pmBring a dish to share and celebrate the bounty of our farmers and local foodwww.baysidegrange.org Contact shooshoo11@aol.com

Wednesday 19th Southern Humboldt Economic Localization 100-Mile Diet Potluck Tooby Community Park Farm, Garberville, 6pmBring a dish made with local ingredients to share. SHEL’s quarterly meeting to followContact 707-923-2636

Sunday 23rd The Taste of Willow Creek Willow Creek 11am- 4pm, 5pm DinnerTour wineries and farms for a taste of local produce, wine and art. Tickets $20 advance/ $25 day of, plus additional cost for dinner.www.studio299.tripod.com Contact 530-629-3488

Sunday 30th Taste of Place Gourmet Garden Dinner Redwood Roots Farm, Bayside, 4 - 8pmEnjoy the best of Humboldt's local abundance. Tickets $50 advance, two for $85, or after 9/15 $65, $100Contact CAFF 707-444-3255

Organic Planet Festival – Sunday, August 26

Please join us in celebrating a non-toxic and natural world at the third annual Organic Planet Festival on the Eureka waterfront, Sunday, August 26.

It's a fun-filled and informative extravaganza featuring top-flight music, food and beverages,inspiring talks, the World's Largest Organic Salad, an eco-hip fashion show, a kids' village and dozens of exhibitors.

The purpose is to raise awareness about how to "get more organic" - in our food, jobs, homes and leisure - as we advance into the 21st century. And it's all brought to you in a day-long festive environment.

Music will be headlined by blues maestro Tommy Castro, socially-conscious hip-hopper Wisdom, reggae artist Prezident Brown, and African drumming, bluegrass and zydeco performers.

Listen, too, to featured speaker Lois Gibbs, who began as an environmental activist when she learned her neighborhood had been built atop a toxic dump known as Love Canal - a site laden with deadly dioxin such has been found in Humboldt Bay. Her work has earned her a Goldman Environmental Award and the Heinz Award.

Harvard "Green Campus" coordinator Allison Rogers, who - as a Miss America contestant - introduced environmental concerns to millions, will speak on the "Inconvenient Truth" campaign and global sustainability.

Go to www.organicplanetfestival.org for a schedule and more information, or call 707-445-5100.

To reach the Festival, take Highway 101 into Eureka and turn on "L" Street toward the Bay.

See you there!