People's Farmer's Market

Small with a giant personality, Portland's only year-round weekly market has a distinct Southeast vibe: hand-lettered signs, unusual organic veggies grown on tiny farms, and a charmingly quirky cast of vendors loyal to the food co-op where they gather. Regulars, including top eastside chefs, walk or bike here, and this year can linger on the store's pretty plaza while as many as 25 farm booths (fewer come in winter) stretch out onto Southeast Tibbetts Street.

Go: 2-7 p.m. Wednesdays, year-round, in front of People's Food Co-op, 3029 S.E. 21st Ave., one block north of Powell Boulevard.

Parking: Plenty of it on the street, but you may have to jockey for a spot at the co-op covered bike racks.

Rub down! You can often get a walk-in massage (a buck a minute) inside the co-op, but you might have to wait in line behind the guy who just sold you tomatoes.

Chef's Picks:Castagna's Kevin Gibson grabs favas at Sunbow, and lovage and duck eggs from "Chabo" -- look for the guy in the beanie. "His stuff is just gorgeous," Gibson says. "Everything is so good." Cathy Whims, of the soon-to-open restaurant Nostrana, is nuts for Fressen's 100 percent whole wheat sourdough; Gotham Bldg Tavern's Tommy Habetz snaps up the Obrists' grapes to simmer with chicken and balsamic vinegar.

Meet friends at: One of the cozy cob benches or the new cafe table on the plaza.

Next: Live music all summer long & during the warmer months; Harvest Festival -- with a pie-eating contest! -- every fall.

A few vendor profiles

Natural Harvest Farm
Hiro Miyoshi, a pro skateboarder turned farmer who goes by "Chabo," brings two coolers from his Canby fields that might as well be treasure chests, stuffed with luminous salad mix, ridiculously fragrant mint and jagged-edged shiso leaves, Japan's answer to basil.

Wild Things
Libby and Maks Sendek have been here since the early days in '93 bringing mushrooms, mixed bouquets of fresh-cut herbs, and eggs with deep orange yolks that only the happiest hens could have laid.

Herman and Lydia Obrist
People start calling in spring wondering when the Swiss-born Obrists will show up with some of "Herman's Honey." If you see the green grapes they call Interlachen, grab them before a chef does. Also look for summer berries.

Osmogaia
"Curly" (Ernie Kuntze) shows up in spring with stinging nettles and armloads of good-for-you greens. But come late July, the man with the flowing, fuzzy locks becomes the market's tomato king, with more than 50 taste-a-riffic heirloom varieties. Curly is one reliable farmer!

Wingnut Confections
Vegan treatmeister David Beer is the new kid on the candy block, but he knows how to dole out a good old-fashioned sugar high. Try the Thai Chili Truffles, just to say you have, but don't leave without one of the Citrus Haystacks; it's like a crispy-chewy lemon drop with a bittersweet chocolate chaser.

Fressen baker
German transplant Edgar Mullin-Loesch makes the best whole-grain bread this side of Bavaria. Try the beer bread or the Landbrot, both pleasantly sour and the perfect companion for your bowl of soup or slice of gruyere. Pastries compete with Portland's best, especially shortbread with farm-fresh lavender.

Thank you to Leslie Cole of the Oregonian for the text!