MHCC Farmer’s Market

Where Local Vendors Grow

There are a lot of curveballs being thrown at Americans, whether it is tariffs or inflation. It has never been tougher than ever to tighten up your bootstraps and create something that is your own. That is why it’s awesome to see so many people hustling and see lots of consumers support local entrepreneurs in the Portland metro area. And while on most days the MHCC northeast parking lot is just a parking lot, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays – from now through Nov. 23 – it helps dreams happen for real. There was a great deal of diversity on display at the MHCC Farmer’s Market at its opening weekend of April 19-20. One especially spicey vendor was PDX Peppers, a local, biointensive pepper nursery that sells all-natural peppers. We got a chance to speak with the owner of the local farm and hot sauce peddler, Jackson. “I got into making sauces for just me and my friends, and eventually the demand for my sauces got so big, I could no longer keep up,” Jackson said. He told us that he had always built other people’s dreams for them, and he wanted to become an entrepreneur and build his own dream. I think this is the magic of local markets: local people can start a small operation and can then present and grow that business. I also interviewed Sarah, who works with a local soap company based out of nearby Vancouver, called Baeth, that creates soap out of naturally based ingredients. The company is a collection of about five different families pulling their resources together to make and sell soap products. Angela Polk is also part of a family-fueled business – Wasco Fisheries LLC, featuring fish gathered right here on the Columbia River. They use traditional fishing techniques that have helped sustain the local ecology for thousands of years. Polk shared that the company plans to grow and eventually have a brick-and-mortar store in the Columbia River Gorge. There were lots of people walking around and seeing what the market has to offer. And I can tell you that Jenny, who runs a small pop-up restaurant with her family, offered some of the best chow mein and dumpling I’ve had in years. It is amazing to see so many different people from diverse walks of life coming together and giving our community a place to hang out, eat food, and buy great products that help local people build their dream.

Below are photos taken by Catherine Green, highlighting the businesses we visited:

Wasco Fisheries:

PDX Peppers:

Lolo S. San Xiang:

Blind Coffee:

Baeth Soap: