Meet Our Farmers: Canales Produce

Left to right: Alegria helps out her dad, Farmer Manny, most market weekends during the spring and summer.

Our farmers markets are application-based, and there is often a lot to learn about the history and mission of each vendor’s submission. In their application, farmers Michele and Manny kept it simple,

"Canales Produce has been growing certified organically since 1994. We believe in taking care of the land and growing healthy food for everyone."

This straightforward yet meaningful approach perfectly matches our values here at the Neighborhood Farmers Markets. It may go without saying that Manny and Michelle’s ethos mirrors how customers experience their produce at market; a few varieties at a time, grown sustainably and with great care so they can offer the best foods possible, seasonally.

In the early spring, Canales Produce returns to the farmers markets with asparagus. Thick, thin, and everything in between, if you're looking for asparagus, that's what they've got. There is a great deal of emphasis placed on business diversification, but if you ever taste Manny and Michele’s asparagus you realize there is just as much value in specialization. It is truly heavenly, and we're just talking about asparagus here. By mid-summer sweet, flavorful strawberries replace asparagus, which are in turn replaced by jammy, plump blackberries. In late summer come the grapes. Apologies for breaking the fourth wall but I have to tell you, these are the BEST grapes I have ever had. Biting into the seedless Interlaken variety, one would think they had just taken a sip of pure honey nectar. My interpretation of this experience isn’t unique, the numerous die-hard Canales Produce fans would vouch for me.

Don't take my word for it. You can taste for yourself by visiting Canales Produce at the University District Farmers Market, West Seattle Farmers Market, Capitol Hill Farmers Market, and the Columbia City Farmers Market when it returns in the summer. Michele and Manny are often accompanied by their daughter Alegria under the market tent, and the three of them would be happy to share their deep knowledge of their crops.