It has been ten years (and ten markets!) now, and The Oven Bakery is a year-round, full-time business here in Mt. Shasta. Tiphaine plans to return to our market for the 2018 year as well, and within a month will also be serving lunch sandwiches and salads from the bakery location, as well as the Friday night brick oven pizzas she's been offering already.

Anna Christie's entrepreneurial spirit, combined with her care and concern for people and planet, have produced a successful local small business of lovely, all-natural products. 

Jason and his family started selling eggs at the market in 2016, making this their second year - in fact, you can ONLY get their eggs at our market, or at their farm stand in Gazelle, though they'll be participating in a winter farmer distribution later this year too (more on that soon).

Hunter Orchards' main crops are peaches, nectarines, prune plums, apricots, Anjou pears, apples, and the pumpkin patch, a tradition that thankfully they've chosen to carry on. "We love all the people, especially the schoolchildren, that come out every year. It gives us the opportunity to help educate people about where their food comes from and maybe inspire them to grow some of their own!" Nicole and David also have a large covered hoop house in which they grow spring veggies for the pre-market season. This allows them to grow crops earlier in the season in a climate like ours.

While aquaponics has been an interest of Mike's for over ten years, Shasta Mountain Aquaponics is in its second professional year. "The first year, the fish were pretty small," he says, and it takes about a year for everything to settle in. The fish are housed in a 1500 gallon tank and help produce a living ecosystem - they create a usable nitrogen source that salad greens, especially, love to grow on. Shasta Mountain's tank holds temperate fish - large-mouth bass and catfish - that can survive our climate and season changes. The bass enjoy worms, bugs, and a special bass fish feed. while the catfish, who are bottom feeders, serve as cleanup crew.

Shasta Mountain Aquaponics is currently selling fresh produce in the Shasta and Dunsmuir farmers' markets and working on setting up business accounts for the coming year.

Rockside Ranch: What does this incredible non-profit mean for us at the market? It means giving youth a chance, and it means pasture-raised meat and eggs: certified organic chicken, eggs, pork and turkey as well as grass-fed lamb.

Running Rabbit Mills grows wheat and mills it on-premises in Fort Jones, CA; whole wheat stoneground flour is available at Dave's market booth, as are bags of wheat berries for sprouting and cooking.

Nestled in the foothills of the Marble Mountain wilderness, Hollis and Ross raise two children and grow high quality, certified organic food and medicine on about two acres of idyllic farmland, which they've been farming for almost five years. True to their ethics, they live off-grid, generating all their own power via hydro and solar.

Along with many years in the restaurant industry, Kevin has been cultivating mushrooms for nearly 20 years, though up until about 4 years ago it was "a glorified hobby". In the last four years he has made this a more professional endeavor, selling in about 10 different venues including the Mt. Shasta, Dunsmuir and Redding farmers' markets, Berryvale Grocery, Cafe Maddelena and other restaurants.

Meet your farmer! Each week we'll present one of our market vendors and give them a chance to talk about the how, what and why of what they do. If you frequent the market already, no doubt you've already been charmed by the infectious enthusiasm of Kate O'Brien-Mann. The positivity she brings to her booth each week is only a small piece of the heart and soul she puts into farming.