Gilham's Urban Farm -- This Garden Getaway In The Middle Of Bellevue Is Well-Known To Those Who Appreciate Fresh Produce Close To Home.

Sooner or later, Northwest people who like fresh foods find out about Gilham's Gardens, the produce stand at 156th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 16th Street in Bellevue.

But whether you're shopping or not, this spot - a working farm, inside Washington's fourth-largest city - is a perfect summertime escape close to home.

Here are wholesome foods fresh out of the field, from warm people with honest smiles in a good neighborhood.

Gilham's sells sweet corn, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, squash, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, beans, herbs, pumpkins, and even dried shallots in a jar - all grown on 9 1/2 acres adjacent to the stand.

Wayne Gilham leases the land, mostly peat bog, from the city. The stand is open from August through late October every day but Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The only items Gilham doesn't raise himself are the apples that walkers like to buy from him to munch on while enjoying the Lake Hills Greenbelt Trail, which runs by his stand.

I walk by there often - it's one of my favorite haunts all year long. After the first hard frost ends the growing season, Canada geese and countless other varieties of birds zoom down into Gilham's fields to glean the leftovers. No wonder the Audubon Society meets at the ranger station next door.

The place is wild with animals. Families of mallard ducks, muskrats, and coyotes romp in the area. I've seen snakes there, too, and I confess I like them. Poisonous snakes never have become established west of the Cascades. So Bellevue walkers don't have to worry when checking out a garter or bull snake sunning itself on the grassy skirts of Gilham's fields.

Once upon a time, before local residents dug a channel from Phantom Lake to Lake Sammamish, the entire area between Larsen and Phantom Lakes, including the farmland, was often under water.

Gilham's acreage still floods every winter. There's no other place for the rain to go but this protected wetland. Build on it, and half of east Bellevue will be in rowboats.

Gilham rumbles around town in his Dodge pick-up with the GROW IT license plate, driving down 156th with a honk and a wave to a pedestrian that he recognizes by her crazy hat.

In May there's planting for me to watch. In June the farmer and his half-dozen part-time Laotian field workers nurture each seedling.

By July I'm shaking my head: Will the 18-inch-high sweet corn really sport eating-size ears by fall? Yep, I learn, about 24,000 ears annually, and with just-off-the-stalk flavor.

Customers mill around the stand while Gilham or wife Micki weighs out their purchases. The Gilhams, who live on Mercer Island, have been farming in Bellevue for about a decade. Micki's sister and her husband help customers, too.

One customer walked up to the stand and wanted beets, sold for 50 cents a pound. But she had picked out an amount just a hair under the pound mark, complicating the arithmetic. So the seller tossed another beet onto the scale, running the total well over a pound.

"One pound exactly," the man said with a broad smile. "Fifty cents." It's not only the eating that's fun around here - the buying is, too.

Gilham is a retired mechanical engineer, raised on a farm. Micki acquired retail experience managing a sportswear shop. While working for Boeing, her husband did hobby farming on the lot next to their home.

Cash in on your great escape -- Where do you go when you want to unwind but don't want to spend hours on the freeway just to get there? We all know East King County is full of opportunities for recreation, both out in nature and right in the heart of downtown. What's your favorite?

As summer winds down, we're running a regular feature of the best Eastside Getaways. Send us your nomination, with a description. If we publish it, we'll send you $25 to help on your next great escape.

Entries should be no more than two pages, typed, double-spaced. Just send them or bring them to our office. Mail entries to: Eastside Getaways, c/o Seattle Times, Suite 105, 11061 N.E. Second St., Bellevue, WA 98004; or fax them to us at 453-0449.

Questions? Call Bill Ristow, editor, Times Eastside edition, 453-2412.