By Idalie Munoz Munoz

It’s 1 a.m. Saturday morning, time for José Esquivel, 22, to leave the comfort of his warm bed in Wapato and head with his brothers to the Federal Way Farmers Market some 163 miles away.

The Esquivels have been making the same trip from their farm since the farmers market first opened for business in 2004. In the beginning, José’s parents, Pedro and Edelmira, would set up their vegetable stand while their three sons napped in the truck. The early days were a struggle for the growing family, who first settled into their modest 65-acre farm near Yakima from their native Michoacán in Mexico.

Farming has always been a family affair for the Esquivels. Aunts, uncles, cousins and hired workers help harvest the crops and load the trucks for market. During the summer months, José and his brothers Salvador, 14, and Alejandro, 16, are now old enough to manage their own stand in Federal Way on Saturdays. The rest of the week, they sell their produce at 10 other area farmers markets.

Farming doesn’t stop at summer’s end and there are plenty of chores for the Esquivel boys to do during the long fall and winter months.

José takes pride in bringing his family’s produce to the Saturday dinner table that was picked the day before. The Esquivels’ rainbow display of juicy staples, cherries, peaches, apricots, apples, asparagus and tomatoes, tempt strolling shoppers.

Federal Way area foodies also seek out José’s yellow-and-white checkered corn for its pleasing peaches-and-cream colors and flavorful sweetness. José enjoys the market’s family-friendly atmosphere and the familiarity of return customers.

Christopher Columbus is the furthest thing from José’s mind as he tends to his customers, but the intrepid explorer is credited with discovering sweet and hot peppers in the West Indies and taking them back to Europe.

The family sells 40 varieties of peppers wholesale. A colorful and diverse crop of sweet and hot peppers, bell, pimento, Romanian, Christy, sweet, gypsy, super chili, habanero, serrano, will be available in mid-July.

The bell pepper is the most popular sweet pepper in the United States. Bell peppers become sweeter as they ripen from green to red. They are high in vitamins A, C, and beta carotene. According to researchers at the University of Maine, one raw pepper provides more vitamin C than one cup of orange juice. They are at their most nutritious when eaten raw. Red peppers contain the highest amount of vitamins A and C.

Peppers can be eaten raw, baked, steamed or microwaved, and form the basis for many delicious recipes, such as the one below from the Esquivel family:

Esquivel Family Recipe for Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients:

1 fresh lime

½ c water

olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½-1 tsp cayenne pepper

½-1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

2 green bell peppers, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 onion, thinly sliced

3 c chicken breasts, shredded in long strips

2 tomatoes, chopped

3 c shredded cheddar cheese

1 c shredded lettuce

⅓ c olive oil or vegetable oil

1 lemon

8 flour tortillas

Marinate chicken for several hours in ¼ cup lime juice, ½ c water, a splash of olive oil, garlic, cayenne pepper and black pepper to taste. Heat oil in large skillet. Add chicken and cook over medium heat until done. Add vegetables and sauté, being careful not to overcook. Remove chicken and vegetables from heat and serve at once on 8 flour tortillas. Add lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. Sprinkle freshly squeezed lemon juice over mixture. Makes 8 servings.