There's nothing quite like stumbling upon a small island farm, selecting fresh, locally-grown vegetables and fruit, scoring some farm-fresh eggs, and then getting an impromptu tour from one of the growers. That's what our family did Sunday afternoon, on Vashon Island. Vashon is a place I've written about a few times recently (here and here) as part of my ongoing tourism blogging project. Our discovery Sunday was totally serendipitous. Along Dilworth Road, we spotted a sign by a driveway that said "GreenMan Farm," and then "potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggs." What are you gonna do? No resisting the siren call. Sweet little place, it turns out. Here's the farmstand itself.

In the typical Vashon fashion, you just weigh the stuff yourself, calculate the cost based on posted prices per pound, and leave your money in the jar on the counter. We met Will Forrester, a really friendly guy, who's a painter, and now a grower, too. He lived on Vashon in the 70s, then married into this quaint 1.75-acre spread less than two years ago.

His wife Jasper has been at it there for a good while, and they currently head the Vashon Island Growers Association (VIGA).

VIGA has 15 farms as members. Some operate onsite farmstands, and all sell from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday, April to early October at the Vashon Farmers Market at the Village Green. That's on Vashon Highway north of Bank Road.

At GreenMan Farm, Will gave us a sample of a yellow-ish "lemon" cucumber (delicious, we bought a bunch), and we picked out some orange tomatoes, sweet peppers and sweet onions.

Then he took us on a tour. We met the dinosaur kale (right), the chickens, the goats, the dogs, and the broccoli (Will threw in a bunch of that free, and we helped him cut it right off the stalks). I asked him about whether some of the advocacy on pesticides that's used to market organic produce isn't a bit alarmist, and what's so important about organic, anyway. He replied the real issue is locally-grown versus not locally-grown. The former is usually going to taste a lot better because it doesn't have to be picked before its time to survive shipping. Good point.

So head on out to Vashon Island, and cruise the local farmstands for produce. For a map-guide with more information on all 15 VIGA farms, e-mail: viga@greenmanfarm.com, and ask them to snail mail you a copy of their pamphlet, "Vashon Fresh: A Guide to Island Farm Products." If you're visiting Puget Sound from elsewhere, places like GreenMan are just another reason to stay in a rental unit of some sort, with a kitchen. In fact, there are cottage and guest house rentals available on Vashon (poke around here); it's a great place to bike; and if you have a map, you'll find beaches and parks aplenty. There's the car ferry connection with West Seattle; the passenger-only ferry to downtown Seattle, and at the island's south end, the Tallequah car ferry to Point Defiance in Tacoma, an increasingly tourism-friendly city.

DETAILS: GreenMan Farm, 8800 S.W. Dilworth Rd., Vashon Island, Washington. Directions from Vashon ferry landing: follow main road off boat and keep going. That's Vashon Highway. Turn left, or east, at 156th St., then right, or south on 91st Ave. S.W., followed by left on Dilworth Rd., then a quick left into GreenMan's signed driveway. Phone: (206) 567-4548. There's another farm next door at 16530 91st Ave. S.W., Hogsback Farm. They also sell fresh farmstand produce and eggs; (206) 463-1896.

TECHNORATI TAGS: VASHON ISLAND, FARMSTAND, SEATTLE TOURISM

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Posted by Matt Rosenberg at October 11, 2005 12:05 AM