Local vendors anchor Sammamish farmers market
June 11, 2008
By J.B. Wogan
Heidi Bohan is on a mission to keep the Sammamish Farmers Market as local as possible. Bohan, the market’s manager, said about a third of its vendors – and about 90 percent of the crafts people – have strong ties to Sammamish.
“We’re not accepting crafts vendors unless there’s a local link,” said Bohan.
The market boasts three Sammamish vendors in the food and produce category, and another four crafts and artisan vendors, according to a list released by Sammamish Chamber of Commerce President Dawn Sanders.
For some, the market has provided an opportunity to attempt a new business venture; for others, the market allows vendors to sell their hand-made cloths, bowls and teapots without traveling 10-20 miles from home. Either way, the Farmers Market is connecting local artists and businesses with their neighbors in a new way. Here are some of the market’s local stars.
Cynthia Houot, Angel Heart Designs
Fifteen-year Sammamish resident Cynthia Houot, like many business owners in town, works from home. Aside from a kiln and her low- and high-fire clay, Houot said her typical equipment spans no farther than her two bare hands and a playful mind.
“I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up,” said Houot. “I think people need to find more time to play. People are too serious. That’s why I started playing with clay.”
Her home, near City Hall on 228th Avenue Southeast, houses several goats, chickens, dogs and her husband Robert, a French chef who specializes in country-style French cuisine.
Robert, a professor in the culinary arts department at South Seattle Community College, also sells products at the market. His Robert’s Bistro food items, sold at the market, include gourmet salsas, dressings and sauces.
The Houot’s home is also the headquarters for Cynthia’s ceramics business, Angel Heart Designs.
When she isn’t using her hands to mold the clay, Cynthia implements kitchenware and office supplies to detail teapots, plates, cups, clocks and flowerpots. Her most unconventional tool? Dog paws, she said.
Jovy So, Panda Catering
According to Jovy So, the key to a satisfying meal is eating it hot. And that’s the approach she takes to her booth at the Sammamish Farmers Market.
“I want people to still smell the steam from the water,” said So. “This food, you must eat while it’s hot, so it’s still delicious.”
So is a Bay-area transplant who now lives in the Pine Lake neighborhood. Her parents used to own several restaurants in China, and she learned family recipes as a 10-year-old.
Her company, Panda Catering, is a one-chef operation, which can translate into 5-10 person lines. But So said it’s the price people are willing to pay for a freshly cooked meal.
“People understand, if you want fresh food, you have to wait,” she said.
Aside from the Sammamish Market, So’s pot stickers – crisp on the outside with a juicy interior - shrimp dumplings, phad thai noodles and sieumei – shrimp and ground pork in a wonton wrap – also make appearances at the Issaquah, Renton and Bothell farmers markets.
Cristy Harmon, Freckle Face Baking
The age of the Sammamish Farmers Market and Cristy Harmon’s professional baking career are one and the same.
Harmon started her company, Freckle Face Baking, specifically for the market, she said.
A resident of the Columbia neighborhood, Harmon named her company after her daughter Bailey.
“My 7-year-old daughter is a red head with a face full of freckles,” Harmon said.
Decked out in bright red, Harmon carts in plates of muffins, homemade-style chocolate brownies, snickerdoodles, ginger cookies and sandwich cookies. She rotates the selection of sweets, but the most popular item from the previous week always stays.
Harmon said her daughter’s favorite is the ginger cookie, though she prefers the chocolate brownie.
Harmon said she had no major plans for expanding her business in the immediate future, she has considered a more permanent location.
“Maybe some day I’d like to have a small bakery,” she said, adding that it would be nice to work in the city’s future Town Center.
Elisabeth Meyers, youth vendor
This fourth-grader from Samantha Smith Elementary has been making jewelry for about two years, so she jumped at the opportunity to sell her work at the youth entrepreneur’s booth at the Farmers Market.
“My friend and I were going to sell jewelry, but then I just thought I could do it on my own,” said Meyers, who finds her materials at various stores in Sammamish, Redmond and Issaquah.
“It’s going terrific,” said Meyers, who sold $40 worth of jewelry her first time at the market.
Meyers will appear at the youth vendor’s booth every other week this summer.
Leslie Jeide, Get Your Fuse On
Leslie Jeide said the Sammamish Farmers Market gave her a chance to preach the gospel of fused glass.
As a volunteer arts instructor at Christa McAullife Elementary, Jeide shares the art of fusing glass with children in grades K-6.
“The market is the first time I’ve really gone public,” said Jeide, who uses a kiln, glasscutters and a flame torch in her garage in the Columbia neighborhood. Her company is called Get Your Fuse On.
When she isn’t melting layers of multicolored glass, Jeide cares for her three children: Grant, 10, Joshua, 8, and Natalie, 6.
Although she sells several finished pieces – sushi plates, wall hangers and outdoor garden stakes – her best selling item is a fusion-to-go kit.
Customers at the market can design the shape and types of glass used to create an artwork and Jeide will take the blueprint home, fuse it and then mail it to the customers.
Jeide said people of all ages can create the designs.
“It’s a kid-friendly thing to do,” she said.
Jeide shares the market space with neighbor Jill Corriveau, who also has a kiln, but uses it to shape precious metals.
Jeide said neither woman realized how successful their shared booth would be - on opening day, they made about $600, according Jeide.
Still, due to time constraints, their booth will only appear once a month.
“With three kids each, it’s kind of hard to be there every Wednesday,” said Jeide. The joint Get Your Fuse On and Corriveau Designs booth will be at the Farmers Market again June 18.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.
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