Seattle Culture
Kelley Moore’s Waterside Farm Picnic
A new floating farmers' market docking weekly at Lake Union creates a scenic backdrop for a fresh, c
By Kelley Moore June 10, 2011
This article originally appeared in the July 2011 issue of Seattle magazine.
It has finally arrived: that golden summer moment when local fruits—from cherries to blueberries—are ripe and ready to eat, and we spend weekends perusing our neighborhood farmers’ market for salad greens. Celebrate the bounty of the season with a farm-to-table dinner that lets the produce take center stage. Using ingredients from the new FarmBoat (farmboat.org), a roving floating market that makes stops around the Sound, I created a colorful, rustic picnic at its Seattle docking site near Lake Union Park, complete with easy DIY details, a garden-tag chandelier and a fresh salad-dressing takeaway.
A snackable summer tabletop: Repurpose lush fruit and veggies as simple, colorful décor. Here, I lined up clear acrylic containers filled with bright blueberries, kumquats, snap peas and cherry tomatoes along the table for a snackable yet sophisticated spread. A produce bag is tucked into each guest’s water glass, to be filled at the end of the night. Guests also take home a bottle of local caterer Gourmondo’s salad dressing.
Take a Seat: Two DIY projects add punches of personality to place settings: Layered under ceramic cocoa plates, the copper charger is actually made from old newspapers folded into a fan and then spray-painted copper. For the place cards, I stitched each guest’s name onto a shabby-chic burlap flatware bag.
Craft a Rustic Chandelier: Perfect to hang from a pergola or a horizontal tree branch, this DIY copper chandelier is crafted from three different sizes of wreath forms and garden tags found at gardening stores. To create this hanging décor (which makes a delightful tinkling noise in the wind!), take the three wreath forms and tie them together with 6-inch-long pieces of twine. Once you have the chandelier base, tie the copper tags onto each form with fishing line.
All Aboard: Organizer Dave Petrich moves edible wares aboard the historic Virginia V steamship, transforming it into the FarmBoat, which stops by the Lake Union Park wharf (South Lake Union, 860 Terry Ave. N) every Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aboard, you’ll find fresh produce from the likes of Alm Hill Gardens, Foraged and Found Edibles, and Full Circle organic farm. For more information, visit farmboat.org.
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