Crowds gather for first Moscow Farmers Market of the season

The Moscow Farmers Market opened on Saturday morning to blue skies and close to 100 vendors selling food, produce, fine arts, ceramics and more. Bright and early, crowds began pooling into the market.

The Moscow Farmers Market, which began in 1976, will run every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. from now until October. It attracts roughly 7,700 visitors on an average Saturday, according to market organizers.

Longtime vendor Alison Meyer has been at the market for decades. She’s worked as a full-time photographer since 1991.

Meyer, who’s well-known for her landscape photos of the Palouse region, has taken nature photography for most of her career.

“That first photography class I took (in college) was more focused on like, sort of the fine art … the teacher at the time was like, ‘I don’t wanna see a picture of a duck in a landscape or a sunset,’” she said. “Our school was near a duck pond, so I guess a lot of the photography students took pictures of that. Then, when I got out here to Idaho and I moved in next to Lake Coeur d’Alene, the first picture I sold was a duck in a sunset.”

Meyer said she loves to visit with repeat customers, some of whom will give her ideas for locations to photograph. She keeps those locations in a binder, where she notes what time of day or year she wants to take photos.

“I almost didn’t get set up in time because people started coming quite early before the market even started, just to say their hellos,” Meyer said.

Jamin A. Smitchger, a produce vendor with Viola Gardens, grows roughly 100 different species of crops on 2 acres of farmland.

Smitchger said he typically works roughly 16-hour days during the summer, growing everything from asparagus and zucchini to lesser-known crops such as sorrel.

“I love being out working in fields, and that’s kind of my passion. Doesn’t always pay a lot of money — well, it never really pays a lot of money — but it’s a good life,” he said.

Abigail Lortz, owner of The Clamorous Cicada bakery, has been at the market for five years.

“I have been in the food industry since I was 17,” she said. “I just always loved baking, and at the time (when I started) there weren’t that many bakers at the market.”

Since she began, Lortz has gained a loyal following for her signature orange Earl Grey cookies, which she brings to every market, along with a rotating list of cakes, cookies and dessert bars.

More recently, she added cheesecake and some savory items. Lortz also sells T-shirts, and This year, Lortz started offering punch cards so loyal customers can get a few free treats over the summer.

“It’s fun to walk around town and see people wearing my merch,” she said. “The community is super supportive.”

Two new vendors this year, Canyon View Farmstead LLC and Link’d Hearts Ranch, will be offering chickens and eggs for the first time in market history.

Alyssa Link, the owner of Link’d Hearts Ranch, has been farming for 10 years but just started at the Moscow Farmers Market this year.

“This has been a long time coming,” she said.

Link said the farm started out of a desire to have good food for her family, and grew from there.

“We moved out to our farm about 15 years ago, bought the property. Grew the farm and then everybody else was like, ‘Hey, I want what you have.’”

Matt Lattuada, the owner of Canyon View, said his family’s operation also grew after his family started raising their own animals for food.

“Someone said, ‘Oh, we wish we could get some chicken.’ And so we said, ‘Well, we could do a few extra.’ And the first year we only did 40 extra,” he said. “And then the next year we did 300 extra. And this year we’re doing 1,000 extra.”

Both chicken vendors are selling eggs, with plans to offer meat at later markets. Lattuada said there’s a clear difference between pasture-raised and store-bought eggs.

“I don’t even call ‘em free range. I almost say that they’re like hippie chickens,” he said.

Theresa Rushing, a local artist, sells ceramics and fine arts. She’s in her third year as a vendor at the market, and 11th year doing ceramic work. Her table includes pots with flower and plant designs, mugs that look like flowers, mini vases and figures shaped like mushrooms.

Rushing said she takes heavy inspiration from nature.

“My favorite artist is God,” she said. “You look around and you’re like, ‘Wow, those clouds are amazing. Those trees are amazing, and that bark, oh my goodness.’ That’s where I get my jam on.”

Rushing said her best sellers are her mini vases. Her favorites tend to be whatever is newest, she said. She’s currently working on a set of daffodil mugs, which may show up at a future market.

Rushing said she loves the community of vendors and customers who show up for the farmers market.

“The people that come here in Moscow, they’re a lot more willing to support what’s going on here,” she said. “And they like the personality behind the things that they’re able to own and buy. Like, they buy into that community aspect,” she said. “(The market organizers) are really careful to guard that space, and I’m really grateful.”