Stock Your Pantry at the PSU Farmers Market
As a winter chill starts to fill the air, a walk through the year-round Portland State University Farmers Market is an opportunity to shop for delicious seasonal cool-weather produce for the week ahead and to plan a fresh, delectable, and lasting pantry for the winter months and beyond. Whether you are a dedicated home chef or someone who just enjoys trying new recipes, a cook relies on the household pantry in the colder months even more than in the time of plentiful tomatoes and greens.
Katherine Deumling, local cooking instructor, food blogger, and entrepreneur behind Cook With What You Have, says that by having a well-stocked pantry, cooking becomes a whole lot easier, healthier, and fun.
“If you visit my kitchen, you’ll always find pantry staples like beans, grains, nuts, oils, vinegars, sauces and more – all of which I can get from our local farmers market, where they are so fresh and delicious”, said Deumling. “A properly stocked pantry also saves you serious hassle – it means you can focus on cooking and using up all that fabulous market produce, instead of fighting traffic to get to the store for a missing ingredient!”
You can load up on these shelf-stable pantry essentials at the PSU Farmers Market:
Grains: Flours, Oats, Wheat, Flax, Barley, Rye, Polenta, Berries, Popcorn
- Gee Creek Farm – year round
- Lonesome Whistle Farm – year-round
- Sun Gold Farm – through Dec 22
Beans: Dried heirloom bean varietals
- Sun Gold Farm – through Dec 22
- Old World Apples – 2018 market dates: Dec 22
- Gee Creek Farm – year round
Storage Tips for Beans: Be sure to store beans and grains in a cool, dry place but keep them as close as possible so you use them! Cook a big pot of beans or wheat berries and then freeze some for future use. You’ll be so glad when you discover those!
Oils and Vinegars: Cooking, drinking and infused vinegar, culinary oils
- Blossom Vinegars – through Dec 22
- Ole World Oils – 2018 market dates: Dec 22
- Springbank Farm 2018 market dates: Dec 15
Nuts & Nut Butters
- Freddy Guys Hazelnuts – through Dec 22
- Sun Gold Farm – through Dec 22
- Gee Creek Farm – year round
- La Mancha Ranch & Orchard – through Dec 22
- Oregon Walnuts – through Dec 22
Storage Tips for Nuts: Keep nuts in the fridge or freezer if you have the space. And nuts from the market are unbelievably better than your typical store nuts. That sweet freshness doesn’t last forever though so enjoy them over the next month or so.
Dried Herbs, Fruits, Veggies and Fungi
- Cherry Country – year round
- Dancing Light Ranch – year round
- Rick’s Wild Mushrooms – year round
Salts
- Dancing Light Ranch – year round
- Jacobsen Salt Co. – through Dec 22
- Rick’s Wild Mushrooms – year round
Pickles and Ferments
- Chop Butchery & Charcuterie – through Dec 22
- Gathering Together Farm – through Dec 22
- OlyKraut – year round
Soups, Salsas, and Sauces
- Gathering Together Farm – through Dec 22
- Gee Creek Farm – year round
- Groundwork Organics – year round
- Winter Green Farm – through Dec 15
- Souper Natural – year round
The PSU Farmers Market is open year-round (except for Dec 29). For more information about the PSU Farmers Market and the vendors listed above, click here. Feeling weighed down by your purchases? Drop them off at our Veggie Valet, located at the yellow Information Booth. Market staff will hold on to your purchases until you’re done shopping!
