Opening day of the Portland Farmers Market at PSU* is a true Portland party, where the music is live, the coffee is fresh, the bagels are wood-fired, and the decorations take the shape of mounds of colorful chard, Easter egg radishes, and bright green leeks.

Join Portland’s top chefs and other market enthusiasts on Saturday, March 15 from 8:30 am to 2 pm to kick off the market's 23rd year and check out the season’s first bounty: wildly-colored carrots, fragrant fennel, pleasantly bitter chicories, fresh crowns of broccoli, wild nettles, and hedgehog mushrooms nestled amongst year-round treats like baked goods, meats, cheeses, and seafood. 

In addition to nearly 100 returning farmers, ranchers, bakers, and artisans, this year’s ten new vendors will include:

• Fairlight Farm: Specializing in 33 varieties of heirloom apples, many not found in the grocery store, from Gaston

• Starvation Alley: An organic cranberry farm and juice company located on the Long Beach Peninsula in Southwest Washington (read our profile on their exciting new products).

• Oregon Aqua: A Portland-based and completely environmentally sustainable aquaculture farm, raising Oregon White Leg Prawns without the use of GMO feed, hormones, antibiotics or chemical treatments.

• Ole World Oils: This Ritzville, WA oil producer offers camelina oil, a cold-pressed, raw product very high in omega 3s and vitamin E. Camelina is an ancient oilseed crop and is a versatile oil that can be used anywhere olive oil is used.

• New Deal Distillery: Portland's craft distillery offers hand-made vodka, gin, ginger liqueur, locally-inspired coffee liqueur, small-batch rums and infused vodkas.

• Mio's Delectables: Hand-crafted pastries in the French tradition inspired by Japanese refined simplicity.

• Minto Island Growers Certified organic, diversified vegetable, blueberry and tea farmers from Salem.

• Merry Meat Pie Company: A Portland bakery offering diverse meat pies.

• House Spirits Distillery: A Portland craft distillery melding old-world philosophy into its products for the savvy new world palate, offering well-balanced and flavorful spirits that embody complexity and timelessness.

• Greenleaf Juicing Company: 100% pressed fresh daily USDA organic fruit and vegetable juices.

What are you looking forward to with the launch of the new farmers market season? Check out our photos from previous seasons in the slide show above. 

*The Saturday Market is located at Portland State University in the South Park Blocks between SW Hall & SW Montgomery. A close street address to this market is 1717 SW Park Avenue.