SF Bay Area Farmers' market good finds

Regional Dining Discussions SF Bay Area + NorCal
#1

some good stuff i am seeing in the markets recently (my local market is Cal Ave in Palo Alto):

Frog Hollow shinko pears, juicy crunchy sweet pears with just the right amount of tartness. (available for a couple of weeks already)

Borba Farms green guindilla chili peppers. not spicy. great as homemade tapas when sauteed with salt and garlic.

Borba Farms cherry tomatoes- various varieties. ripe and sweet. an exercise to pick ones that haven’t bursted yet. but the effort is rewarded.

Fifth Crow Farms turnip: the turnip is great. but the greens are great sauteed.

baby corn from teh salad green people next to Frog Hollow. 25c each.

What seasonal good stuff are folks seeing in the markets?

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Grocery Shopping In [Houston, Texas]
#2

The green bean from Tomatero farm, juicy and tasty, sauteed with garlic.

#3

the watermelon from capay farm, they are just right for their sweetness and juiciness, not over ripen, very satisfied in the summer days. I used to get from happy boys farm, they are good as well, but many time they are a little over ripen. the ones from capay has the good size, small, and you can finish in two days.
I have not seen it for a couple of weeks in farmer’s market, maybe season is over already.

#4

I’ve been picking up some pretty good tomatoes at the Alemany farmers market. I wish I could remember the name of the farm. They also have really excellent eggplant.

I found some great Hungarian peppers a couple weeks ago and made a bastardised version of Székely Gulyás. I’ve not had great luck with corn this year. :frowning:

I’ve been eating lots of eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, basil, peppers and greens.

#5

Why not corn? The corn people in our market seems to be providing corn that is similar to past years.

#6

which farm did you get the Hungarian peppers? I got some nice ones from Borba, would like to know if you have better choice.

#7

The Hungarian peppers were at Alemany farmers market. I wish I knew the name of the farm. They were at the south entrance to the left (if you’re entering at the south). Not the first vendor with the potatoes, peppers, onions etc. but the vendor on the left just before the cement structures start.

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#8

My local market is downtown Oakland aka Old Oakland on Fridays. Last week I discovered red delicious apples at the apple stand closest to Desco, Rainbow Orchards. Crisp juicy red delicious are hard to find, so I was happy to return this week to buy more. I know they’ve really fallen out of favor especially with so many apple varieties that are more exotic, but if you want to revisit the red delicious, Rainbow’s is a great example.

#9

My favorite apple returns finally, the golden delicious from prevedelli farm, they are so crunchy, juicy and sweet, but not overly sweet, the sweetness is like light raw can suger sweet. Avaliable until Jan. I have seen them in both Sunnyvale and Palo Alto farmer’s market.
They go very well with balsamic vinegar, if you slide them as salad.

#10

Okinawan sweet potato from the Japanese mushroom/ sweet potatoes folks in the Cal Ave market in Palo Alto.

White outside, purple inside. Haven’t seen them for a while.


(Picture from Jollytomato.com)

#11

Last week and this week I picked up sweet and juicy pink fleshed pomelos from Hamada.

#12

We got the same pomelo from Hamada too.

Do you have a recommendation of grape vendor? We get it from Hamada, but I thought I would want to try some other grapes.

#13

Ive been getting grapes from Hamada too. There’s room for improvement but I haven’t found better yet.

#14

Hamada’s pomelo this past Friday went up in price to $2 each or $5 for 2. First one I tried was really sour! My one year old loved the ones from previous weeks but this week she is making sour faces. Are we past peak season already or is demand so high that they are picking underripe?

#15

Less sun and pick of the bunch.

#16

Interesting pricing. Buy two and pay more…

A year or two ago, I remember the exact same thing happened with one of the farmers- likely Hamada- buy more, and pay even more.

#17

Oops, I meant 3 for $5.

Wally, what does pick of the bunch mean?

#18

Quality bok choy is back. Multiple vendors had it - Heirloom organic, Happy Boy, Capay. Also napa cabbage appeared intermittently.

#19

Purple bok choy is available at Heirloom Organic Gardens

Frog Hollow has blood oranges.

Separately, where do you buy your apples? I like Prevedelli over Hidden Star or Pinnacle. What others do you like?

#20

Outstanding broccolini from Tomatero.

“Food is a pretty good prism through which to view humanity.”

― Jonathan Gold