Pike Place Market

A new addition to Pike Place is Marshland Orchards, AKA Maltby Farms.

Recently I did a farm inspection of their farm(s) and boy was I impressed.  The farm was started in 1968 by John and Marijke Postema on a four acre parcel of land.  42 years later they farm 125 acres and daughter their Liesa is in charge of their Pike Place Market operations.  This year they will harvest 22 varieties of apples grown at Marshland Orchards. Their farm-pressed cider is a year-round treat: sold crisp and cold in the heat of summer and deliciously hot in the cold of winter.

Marshland Orchard’s Hothouse Veggies

Though their cider and apples are integral to their presence at Pike Place Market, they run one of the most diverse and organized farming operations that I have ever seen.  You name it, they grow it: vegetables and fruit are grown in their production greenhouses and their fields at the Maltby and Marshland locations. Currently this includes lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, broccoli, green beans, spinach, potatoes, radishes, carrots and freshly prepared salad mixes. In season they grow strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. They also carry a full line of culinary and medicinal herbs.

Marshland Orchards Herbs and Bedding Starts

Oh, did I mention their bedding starts?? AND (if you are lucky) you might catch them with fresh goose & chicken eggs. I mention luck because the big stack of egg cartons that appears in the morning quickly begins to disappear as the first shoppers of the day scurry by their table…