Produce, prepared foods, artisan goods all on offer on Oak Street

By James Sloan, Rogue Valley Times

Locals and tourists alike browsed through the Ashland Saturday Market, wandering between the booths with aromas of fresh produce and other food products among the chatter between vendors and visitors.

Organized by the Rogue Valley Growers & Crafters Market, the Ashland Saturday Market runs from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. each week, closing down the 100 block of Oak Street in downtown Ashland.

The market included a wide range of vendors from local honey purveyors to baked goods to locally caught fish.

“I just grabbed some smoked oysters, some fresh oysters, and we’re going to see a buddy in Rogue River after this,” said Colin Carr of Klamath Falls, visiting the market with his wife, Brittany Carr.

The couple were visiting the Ashland Saturday Market for the first time ever.

“(The market) seems pretty cool so far, there’s a few of the things we’re interested in, especially the honey for their antioxidant benefits locally, and we haven’t seen a fish booth like the one over in Grants Pass lately,” Colin Carr said.

“We love to support local, so we’re glad we’re here,” Brittany Carr said.

The two were taking a detour during a romantic getaway for Memorial Day weekend, planning to explore the Rogue Valley.

“Our afternoon plan is to go to some local wineries; we usually like to check some out that we haven’t seen yet,” Colin Carr said.

The market contained 20-plus vendors selling a wide range of goods, such as Bach Thor’s Nettle Man Wild Harvest booth, offering all kinds of herbal tinctures.

“I wild harvest in and around Southern Oregon with a lot of commonly known plants and not-so-commonly-known plants,” Thor said.

With the spring season bringing congestion and sniffles for many, the vendor was fulfilling popular requests for allergy relief tinctures.

“I have a longtime reputation for allergy relief,” Thor said, adding that he’s been in business for 15 years.

For the fans of spicy goods, Joey’s Hot Sauce delivered with seven different sauces to try and buy.

“It’s a good time, it’s nice to be out here in the community networking and having fun with people,” said Scott Siep, an employee with the hot sauce business.

The booth included milder bottles such as the “Mildish Bambino” and hot honey blend, also bringing the spicier sauces such as the “Flamethrower” and “Priscilla The Creeper.”

“Joey’s is made local and it’s all organic … There’re no fillers, preservatives or sweeteners, the sweetness comes from sweet peppers,” Siep said.

The hot sauce vendor was also offering a Saturday market exclusive, the “Serafino” sauce.

“At the moment, the Serafino is just for the market only; it might stick around though, it’s been a popular one,” Siep said.

Visiting multiple different Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters markets for years, Talent resident Stephanie Gibson was perusing all that was on offer.

“I love shopping locally, so locally-sourced produce is kind of really my main interest in coming to the farmers markets,” Gibson said. “There’s nothing better than shopping direct, and they come out rain or shine a lot of the time so I think that’s incredible.”

While it’s currently early in the spring harvest season, Upper Rogue Organics’ Eric Navickas had some fresh produce to check out.

“I had asparagus this morning too, so I had lettuce, asparagus and spinach, and all of it’s locally grown organic from our farm,” Navickas said. “This is the early season, so yeah, the greens are really what’s coming on now and as the season goes on we’ll start to get more berries and summer vegetables like zucchini.”

Navickas is a longtime vendor for the market, with more than 20 years selling his organic produce.

“I’ve been down here for years and we do the Tuesday market as well, but I really like the downtown location; it’s great to create synergy with the local businesses and really stimulate the economy downtown,” Navickas said.

The Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market hosts three different markets each week in Ashland and Medford.

“We have our Tuesday market in Ashland at ScienceWorks; that’s a new location this year and it’s a great layout,” said Drew Gojsovich, market site manager. “Thursdays we have our market at Hawthorne Park in Medford, and then this is our Saturday market.”

For details on the times and locations of the three markets and other information about the Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market, visit rvgrowersmarket.com.

“I love these markets, you’re surrounded by local farmers and you get to know where your produce is coming from, and same with your honey vendors and all your crafts people,” Gojsovich said. “The people here are great and super friendly and really nice, so it’s a nice environment to work in and be around.”

Reach reporter James Sloan at jsloan@rv-times.com. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.