Eating Healthy and Staying Fit at the MVFM

Everywhere one turns, the media is loudly declaring the importance of eating healthy and staying fit. While that task may sometimes seem a bit overwhelming, the Maple Valley Farmers’ Market makes the goal much easier to achieve by offering local, just-picked produce and locally-created food items each Saturday from 9:00-2:00 on the Rock Creek Elementary grounds.

This Saturday, July 25, the Market will feature 13 farmers’ booths, brimming with honey, berries, kale, zucchini and summer squash, peaches, corn, fresh herbs, and many more ingredients to add color, flavor, and vitamins to one’s diet. Those who wish to live on more than just delicious fruits and vegetables should visit the Market Pasta booth for such exotic pastas as chipotle black bean tagliatelle or lemon chive angel hair pasta. These pastas, as well as the array of salad greens from the MVFM, can be made even more delectable by adding oils and/or vinegars from the Taste of Eden booth. Some of the most popular varieties include Olive Branch Parmesan Garlic/Herb Bread Dipper, Blood Orange Balsamic Vinegar, and Thai Basil Lemongrass Infused Extra-Virgin Olive Oil.

Visitors who wish to eat healthy, but don’t wish to do the work to prepare the food, have several choices this Saturday. EJ’s Catering is back, as he has been every season of the six years of the MVFM, with pulled pork, breakfast burritos and frittatas, artisan salads, soups, and Mango Berry Lemonade. And, while most think of George’s Bakery for homemade delicious sugary treats, they also feature healthy breads and rolls. And, one can combine both the sweet and the healthful with Pike Place Nuts--cashews and almonds covered in caramel, cinnamon, coconut, and other decadent delights.

Eating healthy also includes feeding one’s soul, and Farmers’ Market visitors will want to visit the flower stalls to scoop up a huge bouquet of fresh flowers to brighten up the home. Those nurturing their aesthetic side will enjoy the artisans visiting the Market on Saturday. They include Amber by Design jewelry, Betty Jeans Creations, Glass in Motion, Rock Creation, Tom Ildstad, and Debi Pitts with her bright original acrylic paintings. Herb and Flower will also have a booth this Saturday, featuring their handmade soaps and bath items.

Another way to keep the soul fit and healthy is to enjoy some lovely notes of music wafting through the Market, making souls and spirits healthy and fit. Musical entertainment will keep the summer heat blasting with Dace Anderson and Arielle Young’s band, Sealth. Sealth plays everything from the Mamas and the Papas to Led Zeppelin to Van Halen to the Head and the Heart. According to their band’s website, www.reverbnation.com/sealth, “the high energy rock duo incorporates washboard, harmonica, and kazoo along with their acoustic guitars to create classic rock covers with a folky, Americana twist.” Market visitors can see them at 11:30 on Saturday. Dace and Arielle, who are the exclusive Entertainment Sponsors for the MVFM 2015 season, run a 501(c)3 nonprofit music school in Maple Valley, Dace’s Rock ‘n’ More Music Academy, (www.rocknmore.org). Their goal is to “provide a positive, uplifting and inclusive educational experience for all members of the community through private, class, and applied music instruction.”

To help with garden fitness, the Master Gardeners will be at Saturday’s Market to answer those plaguing questions that keep us from good garden health. And, the Maple Valley Creative Arts Council, incorporated in 1999, will help to improve visitors’ aesthetic health as they promote their events and programs, including the upcoming Vocal Performance Enrichment Workshop for young adults ages 12-18 and their First Friday Open Mic Nights. In addition, member artists will share their artwork with Market visitors. More information about Maple Valley Creative Arts Council can be found at http://www.maplevalleyarts.com.

The MVFM Board wishes to remind all that Maple Valley Farmers’ Market is “the Saturday morning place to be!” this Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Rock Creek Elementary School on Maple Valley Highway. More information on Maple Valley Farmers’ Market is available at (425) 463-6751 or at info@maplevalleyfarmersmarket.org. Patty Morrison, President of the MVFM, urges MVFM fans to “Like us on FACEBOOK” or follow the Market on Twitter.