Meet Us at the Market!

Showing up, Finding Community, and Strawberry Season.

Heavy Nettle Collective

Dacotah Cook

, and

Hillarie Maddox

Jun 12, 2024

How to Show Up for Farmers

Hello friends,

Many years ago, on a spring morning in Coupeville, Sheila Case-Smith was set up at the farmers market with strawberries on her table. After Case Farm had phased out of their U-Pick operation, these strawberries came from the small, personal patch they kept for themselves. A small offering of the reddest, ripest berries was overlooked by multiple customers. “That’s too expensive, I can get strawberries at the grocery store for much less,” they’d say. Along came a young mother and her nine-year-old daughter. The mother paused in front of the sign that said, “Real Strawberries,” and questioned whether they were good enough to justify the price.

After a brief conversation with Sheila, who was very proud of her berries and was more than willing to take them home and eat them herself if no one was willing to purchase them, the woman asked her daughter if she would like some strawberries. The little girl was not enthused. Strawberries, in her experience, were not worth eating. Lacking any real interest, the woman started to leave. She took a few steps away and then made her decision. She bought one box and took a bite. It was everything she’d hoped it would be: a perfect strawberry. She offered one to her daughter, who was still not interested. The mother insisted. Begrudgingly, the child took a bite. The way the little girl’s whole face lit up is the reason that Sheila still tells this story more than thirty years later.

My name is Elizabeth Case-Smith, and in addition to being a market board member, I’m also a fifth-generation farmer at Case Farm on North Whidbey, a second-generation marketer, and a co-founder of Heavy Nettle Collective. My parents, Michael & Sheila Case-Smith, helped found the Coupeville Farmers Market in 1979 and participated in numerous markets in Oak Harbor. I’ve been farming and marketing nearly as long as I’ve been able and have plenty of my own stories now like the one my mom tells about the little girl and her strawberries.

For me personally, these interactions with my community are what makes all the hard work of farming worth it. Whether it’s the old woman telling a new mom her favorite zucchini recipe while they wait in line, or the elderly man who burst into tears when he saw a vegetable from his childhood in France on my table, being able to connect to people through the food you provide to them is a gift.

In the 1970s, the advent of farmers markets (locally at least) was in response to the dwindling number of small producers in the country and the push to allow large-scale farming in California to grow our food, because they could do it so much more efficiently and inexpensively. But the loss of farmers means the loss of farmland, and the loss of the wild spaces around those farms as well. I believe that most people would argue that the charm of Whidbey Island is in its natural beauty, and the rural character of its communities. Farms and their stewards help protect and preserve these characteristics, and from the innumerable roadside stands to the bustling markets, supporting them helps continue that tradition.

So, what is the best way to support farmers markets? The simple answer is to show up. But more importantly, be willing to buy what is offered when it is ready, even if the greens are slightly wilted or the carrots have a few bug bites. For one thing, it’s the best way to ensure that you’re enjoying the tastiest and most nutritious food, and it also reduces food waste. The more of a habit you can make buying seasonally, the greater your understanding of everything that can affect production will be. Practice makes perfect, as they say, and this extends to buying and eating locally. If you’re unsure how to use the produce you find, ask the farmer. We usually have an abundance of less than perfect produce we must find new and exciting ways to enjoy. The other benefit to buying what you can when you can is that the money you spend at the farmers market stays in the community. According to the National Farmers Union, based on data from October 2021, the farmers’ share of every food dollar consumers spend is only 14.3 cents. Shopping at the farmers market is investing in your community.

There are multiple, unique farmers markets all over Whidbey Island, hosting vendors of all types, from bread bakers to potters, jewelers to jam makers. I encourage you to plan visits to all of them this summer to experience all that our island has to offer. If you are inclined to do more, consider volunteering at the market to help make it a success for the farmers and surrounding community.

by Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Case-Smith, Co-Founder of Heavy Nettle Collective

This article was originally published in Whidbey Weekly: May 19, 2022.

North Central Whidbey Farmers Market — Whidbey Island Grown Cooperative

Nurture • Support the Farmers Market and Heavy Nettle

Did you know that Heavy Nettle Collective began at the Oak Harbor Farmers Market? We gathered there weekly to share our goods, produce, and spend time dreaming of what we could create together. A few years later, the market is still a big piece of our work as a collective, and we want you to join us! Come say hello and get to know us by volunteering at the market.

Oak Harbor Farmers Market:

Open monthly in 2024 on the 2nd Thursday, 4 pm - 7 pm

June 13th - Ft Nugent Park | July 11th - Pioneer Way | August 8th - Windjammer Park

Coupeville Farmers Market

Open every Saturday, April 20th - October 12th, 10 am - 2 pm

788 Northwest Alexander Street, Coupeville

Heavy Nettle Marketers include:

Betty & Jasmine at Case Farm: The *best* Whidbey tough tomato starts (150+ varieties), seasonal produce, and fresh eggs
Garrett at Glacial Tilth: seasonal veg
Priscilla at Grass Becomes a Wave Farm + Studio: Farm fresh flowers, seasonal veg, and Wato Soap products
Samantha Joy at the Market Info Booth: Share your thoughts, ask questions, and sign up to volunteer!

Seed • Planting Seeds of Community

Planting seeds is both a physical action and a metaphor in life. It represents the potential for something to grow into something more than we imagined and to have hope for the future. Our story of seeds planted comes from one the newest member of Heavy Nettle Collective, Tom, and is an excerpt from his full write up in Whidbey Weekly:

To be 'batty' or bat#### means to be crazy, unhinged, insane. Consider then, how you would feel, removing thousands of gallons of literal bat feces, or guano, from the ceiling of your house. Since May was mental health month, we thought we'd share our story and the lessons we've learned.

In the top level of our home on Cornet Bay, my family has been slowly taking down the drywall, only to get showered by millions of dried up pellets of poo. Purchasing the home last year, we lived happily for two months. Then, roughly a thousand seasonally migratory bats arrived and took over. Several made their way into our home while we slept. Later, the department of health labeled our home an imminent health hazard and red-tagged our house.

The biggest challenge, however, was attempting to rectify our situation while simultaneously raising a one-year-old. Taking refuge in our old property in King County, our family has been split apart. I have missed literal months of my son's early development because I've been a hundred miles away doing intensive demolition work.

The ballooning costs of the project has also caused my wife to return to work a year earlier than expected. It turns out, putting our son in a crowded day-care was a bigger health risk than the bat feces. After just seven days, he got a severe fever from multiple illnesses. We spent two nights in intensive pediatric ER, he came through just fine. From the medical costs, we lost every penny and more earned from my wife's contract job.

Following another sequence of events, we met 'Heavy Nettle Collective' at the Greenbank Seed Swap. We brought our seed collection, and also bagged up little lunch sacks full of guano, for use as fertilizer. Soon after, we were invited into the group. I no longer felt alone up here. We had found our community.

Read the full story here!

Flora • Yard & Plant Sale

Exciting news for plant lovers and bargain hunters! Heavy Nettle is hosting a multi-family yard and plant sale. Swing by to say hi and discover a variety of plants and other treasures we’re letting go of. Don’t miss this chance to add some new greenery to your collection and find fantastic deals!

Food • Floral Jelly

by Dacotah Cook

Did you know there's a flower that really has it ALL? That you can make jelly from, whose seeds you can eat fresh or pickled like capers, and whose leaves you can use in salads or wraps? Every part of this flower is edible, on top of being aesthetically pleasing.

That plant is Nasturtium!

Nasturtiums’ beautiful blooms are lightly floral and peppery. They can be added to salads or soups as a colorful, tasty garnish. My favorite way to use them is to make one of my homemade jellies, capturing the beautiful color and flavor of these flowers to eat year round on toast or as a way to amplify grilled cheese sandwiches. Eating Nasturtium jelly reminds me of the Summer sun and the warmth that comes with it.

The seeds and leaves of Nasturtium are fresh and crisp with a bit of a horseradish edge - the perfect kick of spice to bring a salad up a notch! You can even pickle the fresh seeds and eat them like spicy capers! My favorite way to do this is by making a quick pickle with radishes and some red onion in cider vinegar with salt and sugar. You can also add dill or other spices to your taste.

Nasturtium leaf wrapped Spring rolls, Nasturtium compound butter, Nasturtium pesto…what creative recipes can you think of using this fabulous flower?

Food • Strawberry Honey Jam

by Hillarie Maddox

Growing up, my mother taught us many skills she learned on a homestead, including how to make jams and preserves. We made them for gifts and entered them into 4H competitions. But as I got older, the skill seemed irrelevant when preserved foods could be conveniently purchased.

However, a few summers ago at the Oak Harbor Farmers Market, I bought a carton of strawberries that were so delicious, they were gone before we got to the car. The flavor was so bright and sweet that I was inspired to preserve it so I could enjoy it after peak strawberry season.

A few weeks later, I returned to the Farmers Market to setup my my first Rewilding Homestead booth to demo how to make this simple strawberry jam with local berries. I like this recipe because it is quick, requires no water bath, and uses honey—which is even more special when that honey comes from a local farmer.

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1. Round it up

Ingredients: 3 lbs fresh strawberries, hulled. 1 small green apple, grated. 1 TBSP lemon juice. 1.5 cups honey.
Equipment: Large heavy pot. Wooden spoon. Masher. Ladle. Funnel. 4 sterile pint jars.

2. Cook it down