Veg out at the market

Take the fastest root to Newport for fresh produce, crafts and more

By Naima Baker

For the TODAY

With a lively atmosphere and bright collection of sights and smells, Newport Farmers Market, held Saturdays through November, is ripe with vivacious vegetables and the fruits of artisan labor.

Roll on over to How We Roll to get some seriously perfected pastries from Jen and Roy Olsen, manager and executive pastry chef respectively. Roy is a self-proclaimed "all around badass," a title that is much-deserved due to his talent in the tricky art of lamination. This delicious and difficult-to-master technique results in pastries with a thin, sugary crunch on every bite, lighting up your tastebuds with sweetness and delivering a crisp that just won't quit. Roy spent 40 years as an executive pastry chef at the ski slopes in Utah before bringing his most popular creations to the coast. Their highly sought after Kouign Amann, a beautiful rosette of buttery, layered croissant-like dough, is caramelized on the outside with sugar, cardamom and sea salt.

"At a place called Bake 360 back in Salt Lake City, this was our best seller, accounting for a third of total sales,” Jen said. “But it was hard to find a good work-life balance there. Doing farmers markets allows us to be more in control of our schedules and just be us. I love our story of how we came here, the community and our loyal customer base. We've made tons of friends.”

The Olsens have a variety of goodies on their changing menu, including gooey cinnamon buns, scones and savory ham and Swiss croissants. Be sure to make this one of your first stops, as the goods go fast.

Another booth to get to quickly is the very local and all-natural Single Fin Farm, boasting a no-till or -pesticides approach and bringing produce from a little plot in Seal Rock, only eight miles away. It’s run by the industrious and humble Teal family: couple Joss and Kendall and their young son, Aldo.

"We grow some things in a hoop house but the majority is grown outdoors, which many people are surprised is possible so close to the coast,” Joss said. “But it’s doable if you put a lot of time and care into it.”

The integrity of their low-impact business model is palpable in their vivacious, chemical-free carrots, beets, onions, lettuce, cilantro and parsley, with the last bunches almost gone before noon. Fortunately, they also supply vegetables to Oceana Natural Foods in Newport.

"After we had Aldo, we wanted to have something we could do as a family, something we can just step outside and work hard at,” Joss said. “It’s a privilege to be able to grow quality organic food and we love being able to feed our community."

Now with yummy munchies and healthy dinner ingredients in the bag, it’s time to slow down for some art appreciation at Falcone Oddities. The delicate beauty of moth wings doesn’t last long in the wild, but Olivia Falcone gives a second life to these ephemeral treasures of nature, along with other insects, bones and skeletons. All sourced ethically, respecting the natural lifetime of the animals, their still lovely remains are respectfully encased in glass and adorned with dried flowers, moss and colorful backgrounds.

"None of the bugs I use are killed and all the bones are ones that I found,” Falcone said. “I’ll take roadkill and process the bones at my house, or clean up hunters’ boneyards for them. The moths that I raise only live for four to seven days. Once they become moths, they can no longer eat and their only purpose is to mate and lay eggs. I let them fly around freely in a big room at our house and once they pass away, I use them for art, collect the eggs, raise the caterpillars and start the process again every season."

Mother of four and part-owner of Old Growth tattoo shop in Lincoln City, Falcone is a busy woman, but she still finds time to give these moths, butterflies, bones and beetles another chance to be admired, and offers an appealing way to invite bugs into your home.

Newport Farmers Market is held from 9 am to 1 pm every Saturday through November in downtown Newport, across from City Hall on Highway101. For more information, go to newportfarmersmarket.org.