California Farmers' Markets

[suzilightning]

On ‎12‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 4:36 PM, ProfessionalHobbit said:

Yup

 

One of these days I will be brave and buy some cardi instead of ogling them with my camera.

 

 

 

I could spend all day photographing them.

Come on, Stash.... take one for us here in the frozen NE.   You remember that.......right???????   Take pity on us and show us that great produce we are missing, my sweet man.......

[ProfessionalHobbit]

I've been sick for the past couple of weeks and am getting over a cold, sorry.  

 

But we went to the market today so...

 

 

 

 

This is puntarelle, a type of chicory. The traditional prep is in insalata di puntarelle, a salad with anchovy and lemon that's common in Rome.

 

These were selling for $3/lb.

 

 

 

Each turnip is no bigger than an American quarter coin. When they're young like these, they're sweet and tender, and need very little treatment to bring out their excellence.

 

Today we bought:  Oroblanco grapefruits, kumquats, curly-headed endive, potatoes, purple-white turnips, cauliflower and scallions.

 

Then we went inside the Ferry Building and saw

 

 

No, we didn't buy any. On the other hand, we got some veal shoulder (for Saturday dinner) and pecorino cheese.

[blue_dolphin]

My haul from this week's farmers market.  Sorry about the afternoon glare.

Clockwise from top left:  Eggs, spring onions, Easter radishes, fennel, black kale, cilantro, celery (very large, leafy celery!), Meyer lemons and cara cara oranges.

[lindag]

8 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

My haul from this week's farmers market.  Sorry about the afternoon glare.
 

Clockwise from top left:  Eggs, spring onions, Easter radishes, fennel, black kale, cilantro, celery (very large, leafy celery!), Meyer lemons and cara cara oranges.

Beautiful!  

[kayb]

14 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

My haul from this week's farmers market.  Sorry about the afternoon glare.

Clockwise from top left:  Eggs, spring onions, Easter radishes, fennel, black kale, cilantro, celery (very large, leafy celery!), Meyer lemons and cara cara oranges.

 

I am so jealous. Memphis Farmers Market will open the first of March, I think, and I will make a weekly pilgrimage down there until ours opens up here. There's also a new one an hour away from me that's doing a lot of work in greenhouses, so I need to get over there as well.

 

[ProfessionalHobbit]

 

 

today:  potatoes, carrots, cabbage, garlic, shallots, onions, blood oranges, California olive oil, dried cannellini beans, eggs, leeks

[ProfessionalHobbit]

 

 

 

 

today:  puntarelle (that's the vegetable you see in the first pic), broccolini spears, carrots, olio nuevo, potatoes, garlic, spare ribs, Oroblanco grapefruits, leeks, thyme, cheese

[ProfessionalHobbit]

 

 

 

stinging nettles, chicken, potatoes, turnips, carrots, beets, herbs, eggs, leeks, garlic, lard

[ProfessionalHobbit]

 

 

 

 

morel mushrooms, fava leaves, Meyer lemons, Tokyo turnips, pork, cauliflower, garlic, spring onions, cilantro

[blue_dolphin]

Today's market purchases:

Clockwise from the eggs,  we have avocados, cilantro, basil, carrots, radicchio, lemons and tomatoes. 

I didn't buy any but zucchinis have arrived so summer is certainly on the way. 

[Okanagancook]

OMG.

The Basil and parsley look amazing.

Our market just has over wintered carrots and parsnips.  Sprouts of various types.  Radishes.  Amazing oyster mushrooms from an expanded local grower. Then the non produce stuff like bread, baking, plants and eggs.

we are growing zone 6-7

[gfweb]

This is all depressing as hell. 

 

All I can get is great mushrooms and supermarket veg. 

Edited April 27, 2018 by gfweb (log)

[Anna N]

14 minutes ago, gfweb said:

This is all depressing as hell. 

 

All I can get is great mushrooms and supermarket veg. 

 

I am so with you! I need to remind myself of my blessings and stop looking at these photos! 

[heidih]

In a longstanding and most probably persistant drought I think we are just grateful for what is until it is not....

[blue_dolphin]

2 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

OMG.

The Basil and parsley look amazing.

Our market just has over wintered carrots and parsnips.  Sprouts of various types.  Radishes.  Amazing oyster mushrooms from an expanded local grower. Then the non produce stuff like bread, baking, plants and eggs.

we are growing zone 6-7

 

The basil and tomatoes are from a local hydroponic grower who uses hoop-houses in the cooler weather.  They're not as flavorful as summertime produce but since they're picked ripe just before the market, it's still better than supermarket stuff. 

 

17 minutes ago, heidih said:

In a longstanding and most probably persistant drought I think we are just grateful for what is until it is not....

Amen.  

[blue_dolphin]

This is more of a farm stand than a market but I'll put it here anyway. I forgot to buy green onions at the farmers market yesterday and my parsley got frozen in the fridge so I decided to visit Underwood Family Farms to pick up those items, some more fava beans and a few more photos to annoy those of you presently lacking in fresh produce .  This stand is ~ 7 miles from my house.

 

Underwood is a good sized operation.  They sell at a number of farmers markets, have farm tours for kids, a u-pick business and the farm stand. I used to get a CSA box from them but they discontinued that.  Fun fact:  Underwood grows all the red jalapeños for Huy Fong Sriracha.  I used to get a bottle of it in my CSA box every now and again.  

 

It's still early in the season but the vegetables were looking particularly lovely this morning.

Carrots of various shapes and colors:

 

Beets and turnips:

 

Lettuces, greens, radishes, cilantro, cauliflower of various sorts:

 

More greens, fennel, parsley, green onion, broccoli, leeks, several kinds of kale, celery, collards and cabbages

 

They also had English peas, sugar snaps and fava beans, Brussels sprouts, broccolini, avocados, citrus and strawberries. 

On the not-so-good side, I should have taken a picture of the very sorry looking, locally grown rhubarb they were selling for $3.99/lb. That would have made those of you still enduring the cold weather feel better 

Edited April 27, 2018 by blue_dolphin (log)

[IowaDee]

Please note that in the last photo, the head of celery on the left has a stalk out of place!    

Had to find something, anything to make me feel better doncha know?  There is hope here

in recently thawed Iowa.  Many planters in the fields today.

[Okanagancook]

What a beautiful display of nature's bounty.

The garden is slow here due to the very cool nights.  I will have arugula soon.

[blue_dolphin]

51 minutes ago, IowaDee said:

Please note that in the last photo, the head of celery on the left has a stalk out of place!    

Had to find something, anything to make me feel better doncha know?  There is hope here

in recently thawed Iowa.  Many planters in the fields today.

 

Gotta love that you noticed that wayward celery stalk! 

The CSA boxes that I got from these folks were always packed like beautiful gift boxes. I think the staff know how much work goes into growing this stuff and enjoy making the produce look its best!

[IowaDee]

I got to thinking about that celery stalk and recalled an Amish friend telling me that she and the other quilters in her family always make sure

that there is an error in every quilt they make.  It is to show God that they are not driven by the need for perfection.  If there is a God, she

must love me and my messy life!

[rotuts]

@blue_dolphin

 

thank you for the Veg pOrn

 

not in my area yet

 

if ever

 

tasty looking though

[ProfessionalHobbit]

Spring is in full swing here in the SF Bay Area.

 

I haven't been to the market in a while due to the weather and traveling, so making up lost time:

 

 

New potatoes

 

 

 

 

 

Goose eggs - each egg was selling for $4 and are the size of your palm.

 

this weekend we bought:  chicken, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, rosemary, new potatoes, Little Gem lettuces and young onions. 

[Porthos]

I found these beautful Brussels Sprouts at the Claremont Farmer's Market yesterday morning. 

 

[ProfessionalHobbit]

 

 

 

 

It's been a few weeks. Today we bought: apricots, rabbit, herbs (basil, parsley), green beans, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, ricotta cheese, lard, melon, strawberries, peach conserve, nectarine conserve, bread, red onions and heirloom garlic.

[Katie Meadow]

Finally....great tomatoes and excellent corn! We usually alternate weeks at the Berkeley farmers' market with weeks at the Temescal market. Both are good; most of my favorite vendors are at the Saturday Berkeley market, but Temescal is closer and easier parking these days. Berkeley has a vendor with smoked fish. The smoked black cod is to die for and the price will also kill you. Berkeley also has more and better varieties of tomatoes. Later in the season there is one vendor there with a great selection of fresh shelling beans and fresh red espellette peppers, For some reason the pepper seeds are getting hotter every year, and last year the peppers were some of the hottest I've ever eaten, not necessarily a good thing, but remarkable. Chicken baked with tomatoes and those peppers is pretty outstanding. 

 

Sunday evening we had my very favorite summer meal: Greek salads with tomatoes, Japanese cucumbers, oil cured black olives and Fresh feta, corn on the cob and fresh baguette served with butter and paper thin slices of jambon. And for dessert? Cherries. This has been a good year for them. And this morning for breakfast? I'm looking forward to my first peach of the year. Oh, and the one last ear of corn left....