edible seattle | Spring 2025 17 the year. This is unmatched access to local farms, built on the relationships that have driven them since the beginning. “We are sending people exactly what’s coming out of the earth that week from the local farmers around them,” Johnstone says. “It is a subscription because that is the mutual trust that is so important in working with farmers. They’re planting seeds for you before they get the money.” Collective action has always been at the core of their work, and the Farm Boxes were no different. “It was so community-driven, it was mindblowing,” Johnstone says. People volunteered their time to pack sourdough, deliver boxes, collect produce and more. “Humans are really adaptable and communities are really powerful.” This same community support returned to them when the pair announced that they would be acquiring and revitalizing the Sunset Hill Green Market in early 2024. They had heard rumors that the Green Market was closing in February 2024. They immediately reached out to the landlords, introduced themselves and pitched their idea to preserve the community space under their business. “We signed the lease by the end of the next month. We put something out like April 1st,” Rothstein laughs. “It was not an April Fools’ joke.” They spent the next few months collaborating with friends and neighbors to prepare for their soft opening in October 2024. Rothstein and Johnstone say they were blown away by the community interest, with people offering everything from time to financial support to help with the bigger building projects required to get the grocery up and running again. A retail location hadn’t been a part of their plan, especially after the closure of Convoy Coffee in 2020 and the success of the Farm Boxes, which existed without a brick-and-mortar storefront, but the role that the former Sunset Hill Green Market filled in the neighborhood was aligned with the mission that has driven Salmonberry Goods since inception. “Operating in the timelessness of a space like this, in the built environment, it serves such a sweet need for, literally, our community,” Rothstein says of the storefront. The storefront offers a physical representation of the work Salmonberry does, in a way a website or social media account can’t quite capture. “[We wanted] to show the bizarre scope of work that we do, because it’s difficult to articulate. It’s not easy to say ‘small farm aggregate, sourdough baker, microgreen urban farm, kombucha fermentery,’” Rothstein says. Their work has evolved over the years, but each new project is based on the question “How do we connect people and farmers more?” The Salmonberry storefront is yet another way to support local farmers and bring high-quality produce, locally sourced pastries and freshly baked bread to their community. People decide to support local agriculture for a variety of reasons—health, ethics, environmentalism, taste. Rothstein and Johnstone welcome them all with open arms. “It’s beautiful to see and be seen by the people who have come to their own conclusion about why [to support small farms],” Rothstein says. “And it’s beautiful that we all come to the same conclusion.” Salmonberry Goods - Green Grocer 6405 32nd Ave NW Seattle, WA 98107 salmonberrygoods.com Josie Hinke is a Seattle-based storyteller and photographer focusing on the food and farms of the Pacific Northwest. She found her roots in the food system through her work with the Seattle farmers markets. You can find more of her work at josiehinke.com or on Instagram @josiehinke. Salmonberry Goods has a devoted following—customers queue up rain or shine every market day.
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