Backyard garden? More like the back 13

Valerie Tachenko checks a small part of her big garden near Medical Springs.

By LISA BRITTON
For the Baker City Herald

MEDICAL SPRINGS — In a land of sagebrush, Valerie and Rod Tachenko have created an oasis — 13 acres of vegetables grown for the local community.

And beyond — they ship produce to a Portland buying club every Monday, provide CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) boxes for 29 families, and sell at farmers markets in Baker City, Ontario and La Grande.

The Tachenkos live in Medical Springs, about 25 miles from Baker City.

And the closest market, she says, is their favorite.

“Baker’s the best one because people are there to buy,” she said. “I’m just thrilled with the market. There’s good energy.”

And this year’s garden, she said, is “one of the best we’ve had.”

“It was cool, but not as cold as last year,” she said.

She also planted earlier this year, using row cover to protect the tender seedlings.

“Some we didn’t pull until after July Fourth,” she said.

The Tachenkos are on their third planting of lettuce — the cool crops, planted now, will grow into November — and the warm vegetables are beginning to ripen.

“The tomatoes are coming on, and the corn’s looking really good,” she said.

To put their garden into perspective: They have an acre of tomatoes and peppers, and an acre of winter squash.

Then there are the eggplants, potatoes, greens, carrots, beets ...

And 5fi acres of corn that will be turned into a maze this fall.

The most popular crop, so far, has been kale.

She smiles at the reason.

“Anything Dr. Oz says, that’s what people want,” she said. “We shipped cases of it to Portland.”

Locally, her spinach has been served at Mamacita’s restaurant in La Grande.

“He said the customers know when it’s local spinach. It’s a different flavor,” she said.

Which is the draw of the Farmers Market — everything for sale is picked fresh and doesn’t travel very far.

Eagle Creek Orchard is now bringing fruit to the market — apricots and plumcots now, peaches to come soon.

A tour through the market also finds fancy treats by Sweet Wife Baking, jewelry, pesto, honey, fruit and fresh bread (cinnamon swirl, honey wheat, old-fashioned white, cheddar garlic and more).

Vendors number from eight to 14, and there’s room for more.

“The need for things that are ready-to-eat are in super high demand,” said Kristen Bell, market manager.

A full space (13 feet) is $15 per market, and a half space (6 feet) is $12. New vendors will have this fee waived for their first market.

“If you want to just try it out,” Bell said.

Also, vendors must be members of the Baker City Farmers Market. Annual membership is $10.

There are a few guidelines for vendors:

• Must sell only products they create or grow

• Producers of home-processed items (jams, jellies, baked goods) are required by Oregon law to have proper licenses from the Oregon Department of Agriculture or Oregon Health Department. Copies must be given to the market manager.

Food items fall into two categories — prepackaged and prepared on site. For preparing food, vendors would need a temporary restaurant license and a handwashing station.

An established restaurant that brings goods to the market doesn’t need an extra license.

“That would be ideal,” Bell said.

The market continues every Wednesday, through Oct. 26, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Special events coming up are a taco feed and salsa contest Aug. 24, watermelon giveaway and corn-on-the-cob feed Sept. 7, and a harvest festival in October.

Also, every market features a raffle basket filled with something from each vendor. Tickets are $1 each.

Bell is encouraging the community and businesses to become members of the market ($10 annual fee) or to sponsor a market.

“Just to help keep it going,” she said.

For more information, call Bell at 541-519-4107. The market also has a website, www.bakercityfarmers

market.org, and is on facebook.