Share Where You Live... farm stand

Visit a Farmers Market/Farm Stand - favorite fruit or vegetable | #16

Carpenito Bros. is by far my favorite farm stand.  I've been going there since I moved to this town in 2015, but it's been there much longer than that.

More than 50 years ago, brothers Mike and Dan Carpinito started growing vegetables on their family farm. Starting with pumpkins and corn, they sold to locals passing by on what is today Central Avenue in Kent. As interest grew, they gradually expanded into other vegetables, then built a roadside farm stand.

As their business grew, so did their dreams. they acquired more land in the famous Kent Valley, some of the most fertile farmland in the state (even the nation). Today, Mike and Dan, together with their sons, grow more than 40 varieties of farm-fresh vegetables on more than 800 acres. They also grow and sell plants of all kinds starting in the spring, topsoil and beauty bark (manufactured on site), and Christmas trees, before closing down for the winter. The towering piles of copper-red bark are a good landmark for finding the farm stand.

One of my favorite sights in the summertime is a John Deere tractor and trailer, hauling produce from the farms at the south end of town, to the farm stand at the north end.



Today I came for end-of-season perennials, and vegetables for the fridge. Like a 9-in. cabbage for a buck, and a huge head of Romaine for 75 cents. From June through September, this is the only place I buy vegetables, berries, and fruit.

My photos show one of my favorite flowers in many varieties: the hydrangea. And one of my favorite vegetables, cabbage.
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This is #16 on the @twistedroadstudio summer photography scavenger hunt

In the city...

We had a meeting in the downtown neighborhood of Belltown this morning. Since our parking is comped, we always stay around for a few hours. Walking, lunching, shopping... it's all fun, especially on a nice day like today.

The Pike Place Market is just a couple of blocks from here, and that's usually where we find a place for lunch. Today it was the Steelhead Diner, at the north end of the Pike Place Market. We actually went there first, then wandered around and checked out everyone else's menus, then ended up back here. It was a great choice. My blackened fish tacos were so good, spicy and flavorful. Saucy black beans, tomatoes, yellow bell peppers, and lots of shredded red and green cabbage. Yum.  I ate every bite, then wanted to lick the plate. Dave had an excellent Cuban sandwich made with green tomatillo salsa instead of mustard. The bread was house-made, and the toasted crispy crust was amazing.

We hung around through the lunch crowd, enjoying our wine. Then we wandered over to the Market. I came armed with a list of produce, but first stopped to photograph the spring flowers that are starting to come in. The tulips, the hyacinths... so beautiful. Just wait a few weeks; this is by far my favorite flower market.

I love shopping for produce here. I walk up and down the row of farm vendors and check prices, then choose a farm stand and just tell them what I want. It's pretty early in the season for much local produce, but I was still able to get everything on my list. Except for the lime leaves and curry leaves... and a rutabaga.

Anyone know where I can get lime leaves and curry leaves?

Carpenito Bros.

I don't know what I love more: the gorgeous flowers at Carpenito from late winter to early summer, or the specatular produce when the place transitions to a farm stand in June.

When the corn comes in in August I'm there often... it's Dave's favorite summer vegetable, and Carpenito grows their own. One of my favorite sights is one of their John Deere tractors pulling a trailer of corn through the streets of town, on its way from the fields to the farm stand.

The corn is amazing, but there's so much more. Fruit from local sources and if it's not grown here, they'll bring it in from the Yakima valley. Raspberries and blueberries and strawberries; cherries and plums and apricots, melons, and apricots (my favorite). Salad greens and onions, cucumbers and zucchini, melons and peppers from their own farms in Auburn. Tomatoes from California and warmer climates right now, replaced by local tomatoes of all kinds once the weather allows. It's the best place for heirloom tomatoes, at prices that won't break the bank.

The place was mobbed, and as I threaded my way through the rows I noticed a woman choosing melons, then noticed she was wearing a Safeway uniform. I just smiled.

Today I was in the market for salad greens and veggies for roasting, my favorite summertime dinner fare. For salads, Romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce, and tomatoes. For oven roasting, green beans, garlic, onions, green peppers, basil, and zucchini. And fresh, valley grown sweet corn. Yum.

Two big carry bags of the freshest produce, about 12 pounds worth, for $11. When I got home I couldn't resist weighing the huge head of Romaine lettuce:  it weighed 3.4 pounds, and cost 85 cents.

My favorite farm stand

If you're ever in Kent, be sure to visit Carpenito Bros. It's by far my favorite flower & produce market. Just drive north on Central until you see small mountains of fresh bark, and you'll know you're in the right spot.

In the spring, the place is packed with nursery starts of flowers and vegetables and herbs. In summer, it transitions to a fresh produce market. Most of the fresh veggies come from their own farm, south of town. The place is packed most days, but especially in August when the fresh corn arrives from the farm. They haul it through town on tractor-pulled trailers (John Deere, of course!), which is a sight to see.

My favorite time is the transition zone between the end of flower season and when the fruits & vegetables start to arrive. The hanging planters are spectacular.
















I took my sister and brother-in-law there today. We were stocking up for their visit, but first we spent a half hour walking around the flower side of the market.

Truck farms

We're heading to the lake this morning, on what promises to be the hottest weekend of the summer. First thing on the agenda was breakfast at one of Kent's landmark (albeit out-of-the-way) restaurants, Mom's Kitchen. Mom's was once in downtown Kent, but is now on the south end of town, just before you cross the Green River into Auburn. The river makes a huge bend right here, contorting itself into a future oxbow (and oxbow lake), but unless you look at a map, you'd never know it. The road doesn't follow the river here, but heads straight south through fields of lettuce and corn. Dairy cows graze here, too... one of the last remaining commercial dairies is just on the other side of the valley.

Our route to the freeway took us past one of the last remaining truck farms in the valley, and it was a busy place this morning. The Mountain was out, the skies were blue, the irrigation was pumping, workers were cutting lettuce to load into waiting trucks, and a lone tractor was working the rows.

Everything was perfect for taking photos, so we couldn't resist turning around. Dave dropped me off on the side of the road, then found a tiny driveway to put the truck into. He walked one way, and I walked the other, and we spent a half hour photographing the farm in the midst of harvest.

Tractors in town

Look closely, and you'll see a herald of summer in my town--a John Deere tractor with 2 trailers of lettuce, heading through town toward the Carpenito Brothers produce market.

Rush hour traffic wouldn't let me get close enough for a good photo, but I did manage to get this shot, the reflection in my rear view mirror.

A table full of goodness

On my way home, I stopped at Carpenito Bros. for some fresh veggies for the long weekend. All this bounty cost a mere $20. I couldn't resist turning everything out onto the kitchen table and taking a photo.

Corn, celery, red peppers, garlic, red onions, Walla Walla sweet onions, pears, yellow and green zucchini, basil, Romaine, radishes, broccoli, and flat parsley.

Apple Red

Or, "In Search of Corn." Take your pick of titles. After a morning of gardening, potting plants, sweeping, ironing, laundry, it was time for the great corn and apple search. Dave gently inquired whether I was going to the farm stand in Enumclaw, the last best place for the perfect ear of corn. Hadn't thought of going so far, but I was heading for the library, which was halfway there. So why not?

This sounded like a great chance to take the wee MX-5 for a spin in the country. I quickly revised my route to include Thomas Road to Auburn-Black Diamond Road, which got me to Green Valley, which is probably the perfect sports car road (if there aren't any Sunday drivers in front of me). Today is a beautiful top-down day, not too hot. As I turned onto Green Valley, I spotted a huge sign advertising a produce stand, right there in the valley. Perfect! I'll get corn and apples, and whatever else they have that looks good (baby yellow potatoes, rhubarb for a pie, garlic), then drive the rest of my favorite road.

Multi-tasking was never so fun!

Farm stands

I love the fresh produce stands that crop up all over in the summer. On the weekends, you can find small roadside stands selling fresh fruit from Eastern Washington. Lots of neighboring towns have a Saturday market, where you can buy produce, crafts, and fresh flowers. Once the stands open up, I don't buy fresh produce anywhere else until the weather turns cold.

Yesterday we stopped at a farm stand in Enumclaw to get fresh-picked corn. This semi-permanent stand boasts fresh-picked corn, produce of all types, fruit from Eastern Washington, and homemade fudge. The stand is surrounded by produce gardens, and the corn fields are a stone's throw away. While I chose my tomatoes from an outside table, two employees were picking produce to replenish the tables. Another stand I like is near Covington. It's on a side road and not visible from the main road, and it's entirely self-serve. They post the prices, you choose what you want, and leave money in the jar. It's a great place for local tomatoes and zucchini.

My favorite produce stand is Carpenito Brothers, which has been in Kent for decades. In summer, I stop there on my way home from work to buy fresh corn, potatoes, and produce. Their corn fields are on the other side of town, and several times a day they haul in corn by the trailer-load, towed behind a John Deere tractor, right through the heart of town.

But Carpenito isn't just a produce stand. In the spring, it's the place for annuals and perennials, and beautiful baskets for Mothers Day. Their towering hills of bark and topsoil are a Kent landmark. In fall, you'll find pumpkins, squash, and chrysanthemums of every color. In winter, they sell Christmas trees and wreaths. They close down only in the early months, then the cycle begins all over again.