Boasting the widest variety of any of our area's many farmers markets, the Puyallup Farmers Market is by far the largest in Pierce County. Spread out across Pioneer Park and inside the Pioneer Park Pavilion, this market also spills into the adjacent streets. Resembling a fair or community festival - complete with bounce house and a water play area for the kids - the Puyallup Farmers Market regularly features multiple live music performers, henna artist and area favorite Dagmar Peterson, face painters, artists, bakers, cheese mongers, fishermen, winemakers and nearly a dozen food vendors.

From the farm

Late August at any farmers market is a boon for the veggie lover. In Puyallup, fragrant herbs beckoned from South Creek Farm (Eatonville). And folks waited patiently in line at McDonald's Farms (Puyallup). Tables held golden beets, bright orange carrots and deep red Roma tomatoes.

Offering the largest variety and quantity of the farms represented, farmer Brad Ziemke of Ziemke Farms (Buckley) started slashing prices with a booming, hawker voice. Gigantic cucumbers (close to two-feet long) were suddenly 25 cents each; softball-size green bell peppers were three for a dollar; and big bags of cherries rang up at a paltry $2. With pickling, stir-fry and cobbler in mind, I filled my cloth bags fast. Jason Huntington, this month's lunch at the market date, spied fuzzy skinned Sun Crest peaches as big as his fist. Demonstrating how nicely ripe they were, he used his library card to cut one in half and presented me with a dripping, exceptionally sweet treat. With grinning faces, we licked juice off our arms and headed inside the Pioneer Park Pavilion.

At the opposite end of the farming spectrum, a kind woman with a tiny booth told us she and her family farm rented land in the Kent Valley. After selling us a bush worth of cilantro for only $1, she insisted we take extra kohlrabi - which tastes like cabbage and broccoli rolled into one and looks like alien plant life. We thanked her with more money. Munching raw kohlrabi, we decided to check out cheese purveyors.

Special made

Moderately creamy, the St. Helens cheese Meg Gregory of Black Sheep Creamery (Adna) sells has a mild washed rind and subtle earthiness ($8.50). Over at the Backcountry Creamery booth, owner Tom Dargon was sold out of most of his cheeses. But he happily took us through the remaining samples. Backcountry Creamery's take on Manchego cheese is excellent; creamy and slightly nutty, it's no wonder it sold out.

Back out in the sun, a glass of iced orange creamsicle rooibos tea ($2) from Tea Madame Tea Shoppe blew Gatorade away as a tasty thirst-quencher. Refills were only $1. Loose teas were also available. Nearby, Maria's Famous Tamales were bagged up for purchase and cooking.

Eat it there

Many hot food vendors are clustered at one end of the market, selling everything from beef, turkey and veggie burgers, to gyros German sausages, hand-dipped corndogs, lumpia, garlic fries, crepes and Caesar salads.

Salmon from the San Juans at Local Boys BBQ sounded perfect. Served as a burger on a lightly grilled bun, caramelized onions and chopped head lettuce let the moist salmon shine ($5.50).

Huntington was mildly taken aback by the vendor's kindness. "They were so nice. The guy making the food came over and gave me an extra piece of salmon," he told me. 

I faired just as well over at Philly This, scoring the "Philly Phlyer," a lighter wrap-style option without all the bread ($5). Thinly sliced, ultra lean, rib-eye beef, melted provolone cheese, sautéed red bell peppers, mushrooms and onions make for one delightfully flavorful combination rolled up in a simple flour tortilla.

Puyallup Farmers Market

Saturdays through Oct. 15
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
330 S. Meridian, Puyallup

LINK: More farmers market lunch options