Coast Chronicles: Brian Brown, our produce man

Published 10:37 am Monday, August 10, 2020

We’ve been graced with such sunny summer days that sometimes it’s easy to forget these difficult times. The gears of our national government have nearly ground to a halt; political signs on the highway tend to make us cautious of our neighbors; racial divisions are rampant; virus on the Peninsula — now around 50 positive cases — has tripled since Independence Day; and many people are still not wearing masks, as if that were some badge of freedom instead of a precautionary health measure.

I’ve been falling back on morning routine to stay grounded: put the kettle on for coffee; let the dog out; make toast… with strawberry jam.

Fresh Yakima produce

Yep, I’m enjoying the fruits of the season. Blueberries are ripe for the picking at Cranguyma. Melons are scrumptious; peaches are juicy; corn is sweet; and apples are being harvested. If you’re looking for another activity to accompany bread-baking, canning should be at the top of your list; or as my Pennsylvania-Dutch grandma would say, “Time to put food by.”

And what better partner for this activity than Brian Brown, our north end produce guy. Brian’s easy-up tent and produce stand is just east of the Ocean Park Thriftway. (In front of Forgotten Treasures Antique Mall, 1910 Bay Ave. Cash only.) He lives with his wife Amber, who works in special education at the Ocean Park Elementary School, and his four-year-old daughter Samantha.

I interrupted Brian last week and sat behind the counter with him while we talked. “I started the stand about three seasons ago. Sometimes I’m here with Samantha — she always wants to be with daddy — when she isn’t at our church-based childcare. Vincent and Alissa Stevens approached me about opening a fruit stand in their parking lot. At first I thought. ‘How can that work? I’m sitting right next to a grocery store!’”

“But, lo and behold, the stand took off immediately. I spend about 80 hours a week at this. I drive in to the Yakima Valley every Tuesday. I get up at 5 a.m. and I’m on the road by 5:30. I take my ‘99 suburban, pull down the seats, and fill it up. I make stops at Benedicto Farms on Lateral A, Imperial’s Garden, Blueberry Hill Berries, and Calhoun Family Fruit off Campbell in Wapato. I do a majority of my business with all the small guys in the valley.”

Pull Quote

‘One thing I’m happy about is I created a market for donut peaches. I had them out for samples for awhile three years ago when they first showed up. It was a pretty pricey sample, but the proof is in the pudding when you turn around and sell a whole box.’

Brian Brown

Brian started his produce stand again this year just into asparagus season. He’s open from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. or so Wednesday through Sunday, until he sells out. “On my way back from Yakima on Tuesdays, I’ve been stopping at Bay Center from about 8 p.m. until 10 p.m. just to get those people some fresh produce — they get same-day produce and they’re ecstatic about it. There are about 100 homes there and it’s a food desert. This past week was my fourth in Bay Center.”

“I grew up in Clovis, California and it was my mom and dad who first came up here on a vacation. When they started working at Brown’s Coastal Corner Market and Deli in Long Beach, me and my brother moved up here as well. I used to be a truck driver. But our baby girl was born four years ago and now we’ll never move back.”

Quality control

Certainly one of the keys to Brian’s success, aside from his obvious people skills, is the quality of his produce. As he says, “I’m surprised about the loyalty of my customers, people come here every week. But I think they’re very happy to get produce that’s just been picked. I have a reputation for fresh produce. When I pick it up, I look at it, I inspect it, if it’s not good enough to feed my family, it’s not going out on the table.”

The other thing he prides himself on is creating markets for some of the products he likes. “One thing I’m happy about is I created a market for donut peaches. I had them out for samples for awhile three years ago when they first showed up. It was a pretty pricey sample, but the proof is in the pudding when you turn around and sell a whole box. They’re like peach candy — so sweet. I sell two or three boxes a week now. I’ve always been a salesman, ever since I was a little kid. We used to have candy drives for school. We’d sell Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and I was always the top salesman.”

Preparing for winter

One regular customer walks up, “Hey Brian — how you doin’ today?” When I ask, she says, “I’m Ellen, I live here now, up in Surfside, originally from the Bay Area. I made vinegar from some of your cherries, Brian. I just got some inexpensive balsamic and I heat it up — not to boiling though — just until it kinda smokes. Then I put the cherries in, smash them into pulp, and put it in the fridge for maybe a week. Then strain it out. It’s delicious. I’ve made some with blackberries too.” Just another satisfied customer. Ellen doesn’t have quite the right change for her purchase today. “Oh, just bring it by later,” Brian says.

Before leaving I notice half a flat of end-of-season strawberries. “These are from a grower in Mossyrock,” he says. “He put his strawberries in late and he doesn’t have much of a market up there.” I scoop them up and now I have six half-pint jars of luscious jam cooling on the counter.

When I stop by later to snap a couple pictures, Brian is stacking fresh corn on a bench. He has Gravenstein apples; Walla Walla sweet onions [Carin Gordon, originally from Walla Walla, buys several]; plums; July flame nectarine; peaches; cukes for both pickling and eating; squash; tomatoes; and also cinnamon rolls; bread; oregano, cheddar and plain dinner rolls made from the pizza dough from the adjacent business.

“I don’t want to sound conceited or self-centered but I think people like what I’m doing. What it all boils down to is cutting out the middleman. Everyone who gets hold of produce puts a dollar in their back pocket. I buy direct from the farmers. I put in the time and I do it with a smile. It’s all about knowing the market value of what you have. I know what a fair price is for the produce because I know what I paid for it.”

The future of fruit

We talk a little about how covid-19 has changed the market. With the borders closed, there are fewer hands to pick the harvest, so prices are higher. “What’s really hampering farmers is labor — there are not a lot of transient workers right now and a lot of the family-owned farms don’t have extra workers. Prices for both peaches and corn are inflated this year because of the picking. The trend to $15/hour everywhere pushes prices up. Depending on covid-prices, I’ll probably keep the stand running until, I want to say Oct. 20 or so. Halloween was when I hung it up last year. But who’s to know and who’s to say?”

Brian will also do special orders. Just call him at 559-367-8663 if you want something and he’ll try to bring it the next week. He also has a Facebook page if you want to keep up on what he’s offering any week (Brian Mackinnon Brown: https://www.facebook.com/brian.m.brown.5).

As for me, I’m comforted by the fact that in the middle of winter, I’m going to have homemade strawberry jam.