Markets - Farmers say weather-delayed plantings will mean gaps later in the season

The buy-local crowd was out in force for the 20th annual opening of the Beaverton Farmers Market on Saturday.

Shoppers could fill their recyclable grocery bags with an array of spring vegetables or tote away hanging baskets of summer blooms for Mother's Day.

Produce stalls were stocked with lettuces and chard, collards and turnips, rhubarb, kale and sorrel. There were vegetable starts, tomato plants, succulents and herbs.

The prepared-food stalls filled the air with mingled aromas of falafel, tortillas, barbecue and caramel corn.

Michelle Smith said she didn't expect the market to be as busy as it was. She was carrying a 16-inch hanging basket of summer flowers and two bags of vegetables looped over her daughter's stroller.

"It's very important to me to support local growers," she said. "A lot of what's here is organic. The vegetables are fresher, and I feel better serving them to my family."

Kathryn and Gary Foubister had just finished shopping with their 10-year-old son, Connor, who loves Willamette Valley cheddar. In addition to cheese, they bought lettuce and beets as well as mustard from the Roman Catholic sisters of Mount Angel.

"We try to shop locally," said Gary Foubister. "We're not hard-core." In the offseason, the Foubisters get their groceries at New Seasons or the People's Food Co-op in Southeast Portland.

So far, neither the economy nor the weather seems to be having much effect on farmers markets. Shoppers said they didn't notice any bump in prices.

That's sure to change in coming weeks. Farmers said the outlook for vegetable crops is good. But the cold, wet spring has delayed some plantings, and fruit orchards have taken a beating.

Don Baird of Baird Family Orchards said he lost 95 percent of his peaches in Dayton. Luckily, a microclimate spared his orchards in Maryhill, Wash., so he expects a decent harvest of cherries and nectarines.

That was echoed by farmers at other markets. In Portland's Southwest Park Blocks, Jeff Falen of Persephone Farms said strawberries are only just flowering and will be late this year.

"We don't have any potatoes in yet," he said, also because of cold, wet weather. He said the lag in plantings means there will be gaps in the volume of available produce, probably in late June and early July.

Unpredictable weather is a fact of life for farmers. But farmers markets have been a bright spot. Farmers agree that the weekly outdoor markets have been a steadily growing part of their business.

Back in Beaverton, nurseryman Thomas Barnett of Margie's Buds and Blooms in Aurora said he and his wife have added a new greenhouse every year over the past seven years. "That's another 3,000 square feet of growing space." he said.

Meanwhile, David Hoyle stood behind wooden trays of rapidly dwindling stores of rhubarb, romaine lettuce, Russian kale, chard and French sorrel. The outdoor market has grown to almost 20 percent of his business, Creative Growers. The rest of his organic produce is sold to such restaurants as Paley's Place and Wildwood.

"We used to sell mainly to chefs looking for high-quality specialty ingredients." Now, he said, the farmers markets no longer seem faddish. "It's a more established market."

Nanine Alexander: 503-221-8340; nalexander @news.oregonian.com