My family took more trips here in the Inland Northwest, exploring “new” places right under our noses. Attendance at farmers’ markets spiked and local food box subscriptions sold out. We barbecued, gathered around bonfires with friends and neighbors, and talked to strangers in the park down the street.

We remembered how important it is to shop from local businesses, not only to keep money in our community, but because those entrepreneurs are our friends and neighbors. We hunted for used bikes and outdoor gear online and at shops like Rambleraven Gear Trader because the supply chain on many things had gone berserk.

Shop, ski, bike, and adventure locally in the Northwest! PHOTOS (left-right): Rambleraven Gear Trader has gear and provides bike maintenance services. // Photo courtesy Rambleraven Gear Trader; A flannel-lined Spokane Mask for COVID-era skiing. // Photo: Amy McCaffree; Hometown tea towel sold at Atticus Coffee & Gifts. // Photo courtesy Atticus Coffee; We love our Spokane bike shops, like Wheel Sport. // Photo courtesy Wheel Sport Bicycles.

Slowly, many of us really began living local more than ever before. Although it’s yet to be seen, if we manage to hold on to some of those local connections in the years to come, the pandemic, despite its many tragic and terrible outcomes, will have had a silver lining for community involvement.

I, for one, will always look back on life over these past two years with at least some fondness. For the first time in my adult life, I felt connected to my community and neighbors in a deep, meaningful way. The degree to which our successes, failures, and fate have always been linked was made real before my eyes.

When COVID lockdowns first hit and the economy tumbled, many Out There advertisers began to cancel one after another. Who could blame them? People were scared and commerce slowed to a trickle.

We thought for a while that the end of OTO was near and feared for our future. For a week or so, we had a lot of time on our hands. We took long family walks through the neighborhood with our new shelter dog Fernie, named after a favorite place north of the border we could no longer visit. We stockpiled food and cooked elaborate meals, took up long-neglected house projects, and I even dusted off the old banjo.

Then, as suddenly as COVID had smacked us down, we were busier than ever with no time to worry about what would come next. When we couldn’t find a comfortable, quality facemask weeks before they became commonplace, my wife and Out There co-publisher Shallan launched Spokane Masks, selling local, incredibly comfortable hand-made masks in all sorts of stylish fabrics.

Thanks to friends and family who bought them at first, and then, after some great publicity in local media, a broader swath of the community that chose her quality local masks over cheap, mass-produced alternatives, we were living and breathing masks and barely keeping up on orders.            

A year and a half later, some things are getting back to normal and other aspects of life will never be the same. For us, mask sales have slowed to a trickle, but what started as a niche pandemic business has evolved into Spokane Made (spokanemade.com), an online store that sells a wide range of local, hand-made goods, from paperless paper towels to market totes and more.

Out There has bounced back too, and although we are publishing fewer issues these days, this is the biggest issue we have put out in two and a half years. As we go about our lives now, we are more keenly focused on shopping local and supporting local businesses than ever before, and we hope you are too.

In that spirit, this issue features our annual Local Holiday Gift Guide, which highlights nearly 100 gift ideas from local businesses, and other great gift ideas featured in the advertisements that make Out There Venture possible. You know what to do. Give them your love. Our community and the quality of life for all of us depends on it.

The quintessential Northwest outdoor adventurer, Derrick Knowles grew up in the Spokane area, graduated from Eastern Washington University, once worked for Conservation Northwest, and is now Out There Venture co-publisher and editor-in-chief. He co-edited with EWU professor and writer Paul Lindholdt the non-fiction anthology “Holding Common Ground: The Individual and Public Lands in the American West” (EWU Press, 2005).

The post Living Local & Other Silver Linings of the Covid-Era appeared first on Out There Venture.

Bike shops are the one exception, having been deemed essential businesses because of the bicycle maintenance services they provide. You can still get your bike fixed or buy a new or used bike from many of the region’s bike shops, either by visiting a store or shopping online.  

According to Mark Neupert, co-owner of Spokane’s Wheel Sport Bicycles, the shop has seen an increase in people using bicycles to maintain their physical and mental health during the last couple weeks of March. “We were honored that the Governor recognized the critical role cycling plays in transportation and wellness,” Neupert says, noting that the opportunity to continue to serve the public also carries a significant burden. “We are at higher risk of exposing ourselves and our customers to COVID-19. It has required us to be hyper vigilant about cleaning surfaces and objects people touch, and it can make for some unusual customer experiences,” he says. “Historically, we have not asked a customer to wait until we finished cleaning or washing our hands before we could help them or to maintain an appropriate distance between them and a service associate, but those are the conversations we are having today.” Wheel Sport stores on Spokane’s South Hill and on the Northside and in Spokane Valley were open as of late March, however the Recyclery on Division had closed. 

Grafton Pannell who owns and operates the Spokane region’s mobile bike shop Velofix Spokane has also seen a spike in business, noting that he had his busiest March ever. Pannell’s business is particularly suited to the times and addressing people’s concerns about putting themselves or others at risk for spreading the virus. “Customers don’t seem overly nervous but most of them now are starting to respect social distance, which I’m thankful for,” notes Pannell, who says his priority is to keep himself, his family, and his customers safe. “I believe in the power of bicycles and I want to see people getting out but doing it safely.” Velofix Spokane stands out, he says, because Pannell can take care of you and your bike without every coming into contact after he shows up in front of your home to pick up your bike and roll it out to his van to be worked on. “Nobody is allowed in the van, I take care to keep customers at least 10 feet away while I work, and I thoroughly clean each bike.” 

In these crazy times, please do what you can to support local businesses, whether you shop local online or wait to make a purchase until brick and mortar shops re-open. Help keep dollars and jobs in our communities! In these crazy times, please do what you can to support local businesses, whether you shop local online or wait to make a purchase until brick and mortar shops re-open. Help keep dollars and jobs in our communities! In these crazy times, please do what you can to support local businesses, whether you shop local online or wait to make a purchase until brick and mortar shops re-open. Help keep dollars and jobs in our communities!

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For a farm, offering a u-pick option has many benefits. First, it reduces labor, cost, and overhead for the farmers. Second, it eliminates the need for storing and transporting produce to be sold at a market or grocery store, while also providing it in its freshest form to customers. Finally, it allows farmers to set harvest hours and u-pick appointments that are most beneficial to growing things and to the business side of the operation.

For you, the customer, making a trip to a u-pick farm can save you money per pound, keep your dollars in your community, afford you a look at how a farmer operates, and give you and your family the opportunity to handle your food for part of its journey from the farm to your table.

Green Bluff in Spokane County, one of the most well-known u-pick spots in the Inland Northwest, is prolific with growers that offer everything from vegetables to apples to pumpkins.

However, there are plenty of other opportunities to pick your own food. Utecht Produce in Spokane Valley allows customers to come and pick okra, tomatoes, green beans, and more, by appointment only.

Carver Farms in Newman Lake, Wash., provides a u-pick harvest schedule and prices on their website. Riley Creek Blueberry Farm in Laclede, Idaho, is well known for their blueberry fields, but they also grow blackberries and raspberries.

Red Canoe Blueberry Farm in Hauser, Idaho, also has a u-pick field and lets you pick Washington cherries in season.

Whichever you choose, your u-pick day will be an adventure to savor.

Originally published in the July 2019 issue.

Visit the OTO archives for more stories about farmers’ markets.

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In recent years, heirloom and rare varieties of all sorts of fruits and vegetables have become more available through local growers. When we as customers are more curious about our food, it inspires farmers to seek out produce that we can all be passionate about. It also brings deeper layers of flavor to our table.

World-renown Spanish-American chef Jose Andres explains it this way: “Bringing all these heritage breeds and heirloom varieties back helps us connect to our roots, our communities, and helps us feed America the proper way.”

This spring, ask your farmer at the market if they have any heirlooms or special produce, and give it a try.

In addition to the established weekly markets across the Inland Northwest, the 2019 season is launching with new and expanding markets. The new Spokane Valley Farmers Market will be Fridays 5 to 8 p.m. from June 7 through Sept. 13at the CenterPlace Regional Event Center.

Coeur d’Alene’s Riverstone Village Market had a bustling first year in 2018 and returns with an invitation to “Eat*Shop*Play” every Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. The Silver Valley Community Market in Kellogg is also making a name for itself on Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m. as they “foster small business and strengthen community.”

Originally published in the May 2019 print issue.

Visit the OTO archives for more stories about farmers’ markets.

The post Aperitif: Find Fresh Foods at Inland Northwest Farmers Markets appeared first on Out There Venture.

Fall is the perfect time to take part in local harvests. First, it’s cooler. Second, farms often have seasonal activities to accompany the end of the growing year, such as corn mazes, fall foods, harvest festivals, apple pressing, and pumpkin carving. If you’re just out to pick, here’s what you’ll find: apples, pears, squash, pumpkins, potatoes, and some vegetables. Imagine transforming a boxful of apples that you picked into luscious applesauce for the winter.

The most concentrated place to find u-pick opportunities is at Green Bluff in Spokane County. With 30 farms, two breweries, a meadery, a cidery, two wineries, petting zoos, corn mazes, and some of the best pumpkin donuts you’ll ever taste (at Beck’s Harvest House), there is no shortage of things to do for the whole family. The Green Bluff Grange, Community United Methodist Church, and Trading Post also host their own harvest festivals on October weekends.

Other fall u-pick spots include Carver Farms in Newman Lake, Prairie Home Farm in Coeur d’Alene, and Promised Land Family Farm, also in Coeur d’Alene. Experience further aspects of the harvest season at the Kootenai County Farmers’ Market Harvest Festival Downtown on Oct. 28 or enter Pilgrim’s Market’s Pumpkin Carving Contest, Oct. 29-30, to win a $50 gift card. The Spokane Farmers’ Market is also open on Wednesdays and Saturdays through October.

Don’t hibernate too early. Get out there this fall and bring home something delicious.

Visit the OTO archives for more stories about farmers’ markets.

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My family’s affection for farmers’ markets started as newlyweds when we would bike down the South Hill to the Spokane Farmers’ Market at its old location in the church parking lot off Second Avenue. We’d load up our panniers and backpacks with vegetables and fruit and come back later with our Subaru Outback if needed to pick up plant starts and bags of potatoes.

Eventually, we became a CSA (community-supported agriculture) family through Tolstoy Farms (tolstoyfarms.org). Our firstborn was only a few months old when we picked up our very first half-bushel box of organic produce from Tolstoy Farm’s vendor booth – the market by then located on Fifth Avenue between Division and Browne.

By the fall, when we were approaching the end of market season, I was baking and pureeing carrots for homemade baby food and freezing in cubed trays for the not-so-distant future when my son would be eating solid food.

Our days of biking to the market are on hiatus for now; biking to and from the market while towing two kids and then also a heavy box of food is a bit too Ironman-ish for us. Our weekly (or even twice-weekly) visits to the market are akin to our Sabbath. It’s a ritual that nourishes our bodies and souls. Every farmers’ market has this same vibe – a warm, welcoming community of farmers and families.

Personally handing my cash to the hands of the one who toiled the soil and harvested the food or cared for the honeycombs or baked the bread provides an emotional, visceral connection.

My children and I adore the market and the farmers. We adore “Farmer Joe” from Tolstoy who greets us every Wednesday during summer market when we pick up our box. And it’s not just because Joe is friendly and looks like a farmer-hippie version of actor Keanu Reeves. Joe is a real farmer; he is the story behind our food. My children started eating raw green beans, snap peas, carrots with the green tops still attached (so they could eat like bunnies), beets, and turnips because they were from Farmer Joe, not because Mommy asked them to.

Now, our fourth summer as a Tolstoy CSA family, our life would feel incomplete without the Spokane Farmers’ Market. All winter long, whenever we drove down Division and past the market location, my children would ask, “When is the market going to open?”

A thousand memories come from our market experiences – like when my son, last summer, touched his finger to a patch of dirt and asked, “Is this the Earth?”

Or receiving honey sticks from Wild-n-Sweet Rich Honey. Eating bread samples from Arabesque Farms & Bakery and buying our favorite to make sandwiches for lunch that day, along with a cinnamon roll and huckleberry Danish to eat right away. Sitting on the grass to enjoy the live music, my children clapping and dancing along. Taking home fruit from Pacific Produce every time.

Now whenever we go on vacation, we find the local farmers’ market wherever we’re going and plan our trip agenda and meals around it.

Why not make farmers’ markets part of your family’s story?

Guide to Inland Northwest Farmers’ Markets (2014)

Never miss a market; download the Farm Stand app: farmstandapp.com.

Spokane County

• Airway Heights: Fridays 9 a.m.-1 p.m. (corner of SR 92 and 84^th St.).
• Cheney: Tuesdays 2-7 p.m. (City Hall). Cheneyfarmersmarket.com.
• Clayton: Sundays noon-4 p.m. (fairgrounds). Localharvest.org/clayton-farmers-market-M28783.
• Emerson-Garfield: Fridays 3-7 p.m. (Knox Presbyterian Church). Emersongarfield.org.
• Liberty Lake: Saturdays 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. (1421 N. Meadowwood Lane). Libertylakefarmersmarket.com.
• Millwood: Wednesdays 3-7 p.m. (Millwood Presbyterian Church). Millwoodpc.org/Mission/FarmersMarket.aspx.
• South Perry: Thursdays 3-7 p.m. (The Shop). Thursdaymarket.org.
• Spokane: Wednesdays and Saturdays 8 a.m. -1 p.m. (5^th/Browne). Spokanefarmersmarket.org.
• West Central: Tuesdays 3-6 p.m. (Cannon Playground-West Central Community Center). Projecthopespokane.org/west-central-marketplace.

North Idaho

• Coeur d’Alene: Wednesdays 4-7 p.m. (Sherman Ave/Fifth St.). Kootenaifarmersmarkets.org.
• Downtown Coeur d’Alene: Wednesdays 4-7 p.m. (5^th/Sherman). Cdadowntown.com.
• Hayden: Saturdays 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (SE Corner Hwy 95/Prairie Ave). Kootenaifarmersmarkets.org.
• Sandpoint: Wednesdays 3-6 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Farmin Park (Third Ave/Oak St.). Sandpointfarmersmarket.com.

Around the Inland NW

• Chewelah: Fridays 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. (Chewelah City Park). Chewelahfarmersmarket.com.
• Clarkston: Saturdays 8 a.m.-12 p.m. (5^th/Sycamore). Visitlcvalley.com.
• Colville/Northeast Washington: Wednesdays and Saturdays 9 a.m.-1 p.m. (Main/Astor). Newfarmersmarket.org.
• Lewiston: Saturdays 5-8 p.m. (D Street/Brackenbury Square). Beautifuldowntownlewiston.com/lfm.
• Moscow: Saturdays 8 a.m.-1 p.m. (Friendship Square-4^th/Main St.). Ci.moscow.id.us/residents/farmers-market.
• Pend Oreille Valley: Saturdays 10 a.m.-4 p.m. in Newport (Spruce/Union). Smallfarms.wsu.edu/farms/farmers_markets.asp.
• Pullman: Wednesdays 3:30-6 p.m. (240 NE Kamiaken St.). Pullmanchamber.com/visit-pullman/things-to-do-in-pullman/farmers-market.
• Tri-Cities: 5 market locations. Visittri-cities.com/visitors/what-to-see-and-do/farmers–markets.
• Wallowa County: Thursdays 4-7 p.m. (Enterprise-Wallowa County Courthouse lawn) and Saturdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (Joseph-Main St.). Wallowacountyfarmersmarket.com.

British Columbia

• Nelson: Saturdays 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Cottonwood Community Market (Cottonwood Falls Park). Ecosociety.ca/markets/cottonwood-market.
• Nelson (downtown): Wednesdays 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (400 block-Baker Street). Ecosociety.ca/markets/nelson-downtown-local-market.
• Rossland: Thursdays 3-6 p.m. (Columbia Ave/Queen St.). Rosslandmountainmarket.com.

Originally published in the July 2014 issue.

Visit the OTO archives for more stories about farmers’ markets.

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