June, 2023
Just to the south of the very small community of Bay View is the nice sized small town of Mount Vernon.
Mount Vernon has the most extraordinary farmers market/co-op I’ve ever seen. It’s not an outdoor sporadic event kind of thing held only in the summer when it’s not raining, etc. It is housed inside a building that takes up a full half of a block, and it’s two stories high. It’s huge compared to all other co-ops I’ve seen. And it is active, open, and offers full services and local food and local clothing (and so much more!) all year long.
The name of this market/co-op is Skagit Valley Food Co-op. Use that link to learn more. Their website photos are a heck of a lot more fun and more clear than mine. But let me share my few photos here since they are mine and were taken when I was there inside that building. 🙂
The main entrance (above) is in the alley at the back of the building. There’s lots of parking back there, since there isn’t always necessarily much parking out on the main street.
Once you get inside, the food is abundant, the smells are glorious, the people working there are friendly and knowledgeable, and it’s so clean! And there is so much to see!
Please know that my photos above (and below) show only a fraction of the fresh veg/fruit produce and other food options too. There was too much of each to get in one photo!
Above … chocolate, who can have too much chocolate? Most of the items above were commercial items from outside the area, but many were locally produced.
Here in the meat section (above), again, some of the items were shipped in commercially, but most of the meat was local. And there was another larger group of meat (and fish) for sale (LOTS of local fish here). So much to choose from.
Below, a local company’s offering of incense sticks and of “smudge” sticks for blessings and cleansings, and other good stuff, along with pots and plates and dishes and holders for all those sorts of things.
The photo below was taken from the stairs that led up to the second floor … so many plants, green and healthy plants for sale here. Upstairs were clothes, made locally, sewn locally, and also using material from local sources (cotton, yes cotton is grown here, or imported and then made into threads to use to make material, and wool from sheep and alpaca and others who are raised and cared for here). Also shoes, with leather from animals who have died a natural death here. And jewelry, all local.
And … then … back downstairs, the walls (walls!) of grains and seeds and other such stuff was again too large to get just one photo of everything.
Local bread. There are a few offerings of commercially produced bread, but most was local. The photo below shows just a fraction.
The deli section … oh the deli section! It went on and on.
After over two hours at the Skagit Valley Food Co-op in Mount Vernon, I finally tore myself away and drove back to the campground. And yes, I bought quite a few things. 🙂
The photo below is a reminder of the view from what was my favorite campsite here. I took this photo earlier this week when there was no one in that campsite.
Today, as I drove back into the campground after my visit to Mount Vernon’s farmers market and co-op, here’s what I saw … a camper in that very campsite. Oh, I was so jealous! 🙂 But they had a reservation and that’s fair. And I had a perfectly good campsite too.
And yet, later that afternoon, when no one was around, I ventured in among the cabins here to find my very favorite of cabins … C5. The photo below looks at the back side of the cabin. The front door is on the opposite, far side, of the cabin, with windows, the porch with its swing seat for two and room for two chairs, its view was right out through those trees and across the saltwater of Padilla Bay towards the islands … with a perfect frontrow seat view of the islands and of every sunset here. Ah me.
I will be back here to Bay View State Park … either in that campsite above with its view out over the water, or I’ll stay in cabin C5 if I no longer have a trailer. Either way, and even if I never do get back here, what a blessing and memory.
Here’s to the local folks here and everywhere who thoughtfully produce food and shelter and clothing for their human neighbors and other animals. Here’s to all of us who care, who care for each other no matter anyone’s background, ethnicity, height, language, shoe size, age, what we eat, who we love, or anything else. Let’s be farmers … and grow ourselves.
I’ve been there! Yes, best co-op and farmer’s market in the world. Open to everyone, no membership required. They also have a lunch counter with tables/chairs. Local beer and wine. Fantastic place.
Thanks, Steve. 🙂
The market is brilliant. We have farmers markets here in the UK but they are outdoors and held only at times of harvest. It would be great fun to visit your market in Mount Vernon!
Henry, if you ever get over to the USA, please let me know … let all of us know … and we will show you around! 🙂
It seems more and more people are getting back to sharing fresh food, not using chemicals, but instead using earth-air-water-friendly processes, and not trying to make anyone personally filthy rich as a result, but sharing a reasonable profit. The people in Skagit Valley obviously care. Thank you for this peace of mind.
I’m seeing a shift too, Mary. To locally produced food and clothing, locally built furnitue, small local service companies. I like it. I like to know that my money is helping my neighbors. And yes, it does bring peace of mind, thanks for that thought.
Wow, what a great co-op! And I bet there are people in the area who raise or keep bees as pollinators for all of those wonderful crops. 🙂 Just saying.
Judy BEE (I love bees and raise/house them)
Thank you, Judy BEE! 🙂 I love your adopted last name.
And yes, I see bee farms pretty much everywhere I go here. With bees and other pollinators in trouble because of climate change and chemical use, we need to help them. I have been planting bee-friendly and hummingbird-friendly and butterfly-friendly plants around my house. I hope every does that.
Darn it! Another place you’ve been that we haven’t, Ann. Or maybe that’s a GOOD thing since now we will stop there on our travels to/through Washington. We have similar farmers markets/co-ops here in BC, but this sounds like an extraordinary one. So, who owns it? Is it owned by a corporation? Or a small private group of individuals? I’d be interested in that background if you know. We have one near where we live that is in trouble because just a few people own it, but simply skim the profits without doing anything to help, and they expect volunteers to do all the work.
Next time we come south, maybe we can buy you lunch at the Mount Vernon co-op. Campsite #4 looks great too … you can have #3 since you found it first. 🙂
Jim
LOL! Jim, you gotta catch up! 🙂 On the other hand, I’m sure you and Janey have been hundreds of interesting places up in British Columbia that I haven’t been to, so it works both ways.
So, ownership of the co-op … my online research tells me that every membership, every person who is a member, is an owner and can vote when votes are called for. [Tho you don’t have to be a member to shop there.] And this co-op is operated and managed by a Board of Directors who are elected by the membership. It appears that every staff person is paid, there are no volunteers. And an acquaintence of mine tells me that the employees are very happy with the place, with maybe rare exception here and there. It’s a non-profit corporation, run by a Board of Directors, with input from members. And it sounds like it’s run very well, with great communication between the members and the Board. The “profits” are reinvested in the co-op, not paid out to anyone. Sounds like maybe the co-op near you could use a change in organzation … or maybe a whole new co-op that would compete with the existing one.
Oh, yes! Campsite #4 would be my second choice, so whichever works for you folks. Gosh it would be fun to meet up, yes? Maybe one of these days. 🙂
The farmers market is great, but I love that cabin in the last photo. A friend of mine and I have vacationed up and down the west coast each year, a week or so at a time … that cabin C5 just might be our next destination. We’ll let you know. 🙂
Yes, please do let me know if you ever stay in C5. If I’m anywhere near, I’ll stop by! That would be great.
Oh yum, wish there was a farmers market near me. Love that view from that campsite (your campsite) on your next visit here, or from “your” cabin. 🙂
June, check around on the internet, there might be a farmers market or co-op within driving range of where you live. Or maybe you have already and there isn’t one. But I hope you find something close enough to visit.
If/when I return to this campground, I’ll sure share photos of Towhee the Trailer in that favorite campsite. 🙂
We have a similar co-op here in Santa Fe, La Montañita. It too is fabulous although I don’t think it’s as large as yours in Mount Vernon, WA. Still, it sure is great to buy food and clothing and other things that people in your community have grown or made.
Yes, doesn’t it feel good to “buy local”? I checked out Santa Fe’s La Montañita online … are there three locations, three stores? If you add the resources of all three, then it’s huge, really impressive.
I also found online that Montañita is a small town in Ecuador … and the word means “small mountain”. I like that. 🙂
I don’t think we have a co-op near me, but I should find out. It would be fun and good, both, if there was one!
I bet there is one, Dawn. How could Michigan not have lots of them? Michigan is wonderful. Find one and post about it, ok? 🙂
Knew you would find something new and cool!
I must have driven by this place more than a hundred times and never stopped. Never realized it was so big From the outside it doesn’t look like much. 🤔
We will have to pay it a visit when we are up there camping next month. 👌👍
Isn’t that the way? We drive by stuff and are so busy getting somewhere that we don’t take the time to stop and explore. Maybe especially in areas where we’ve lived or were raised or used to work. When I first started camping, I figured Washington State would soon become boring and I’d be WAY up in British Columbia and over in Idaho and Montana and down the coast to Oregon and California, and even Mexico (I would like to RV down the Mexico coast), and be driving to the “maritimes” back east for a whole summer. But when I actually started camping here in Washington, I found so much to see!! So I’ve camped in BC once, Oregon twice, and never been outside Washington except for that. There’s so much to see and learn. Yes, do, give the Mount Vernon co-op a look-see when you/s are there and let me know what you think. Thanks, Fritzi. Have a great camping trip.
I don’t comment much, but this blog post prompted me to speak, or write. 🙂 I like the camping trips and info, and I also really like all of the different sorts of things you find on your trips, and that you find in life in between trips, so many different sorts of things. I like your curiosity about SO many things, and your willingness to admit you don’t know something and then ask here if anyone knows. I love your photos. But most of all I like the times when you write something like the last paragraph in this blog post. Where you encourage all of us to take care of each other. You are obviously exceptionally intelligent (Paralegal, diesel truck mechanic, Microsoft Systems Engineer, majored in math in college, a wood worker on your 1939 40-foot boat, zounds!), but you are also so extraordinarily kind and caring of other people. It shows. I really like that. 🙂 Thank you for this blog, and for you!
Oh … and, there used to be a way for people to “buy you a coffee”, the link was posted on the right side of each webpage here. But it has disappeared. I hope you bring it back, and I hope your family and friends are helping with the cost of your retirement, and RVing, and this blog. People here write that it’s their favorite blog. It sure is mine!
And THAT being said, if I ever get up to Washington State and the Bay View area, you can bet I’ll be staying in cabin C5 … come by for a visit. 🙂
Oh my gosh Tina, thank you! What nice words! I’m humbled by how much you notice and remember about what I’ve written, and of course humbled by your words about me personally. You thank me for the blog … you are very welcome … and I thank you for any and all comments you wish to make, and your incredibly loving comments this time. Wow. 🙂
Ok, the “buy me a coffee” link. I deleted it because I felt selfish even just offering a way for people to support this blog financially, even though I didn’t advertise that link or push that option. You and others used that link to help me offset the cost … you got emails from me! Every blog I follow has that kind of link on it, sigh, so maybe I’ll put a link back up. The blog sure does cost money. Ok, let me think about that.
Cabin C5 … reader Kinny has her sights set on that cabin too. Better reserve it quick. 🙂 And yes please do let me know. Thanks Tina.