SF Bay Area Farmers' market good finds

Love the wild arugula at Tomatero.

Looking forward to pullet eggs at Fifth Crow Farms.

Also, delicious chicken sausage from a Russian sausage maker, I don’t think he has a stand name, but he’s in the first row if you are entering the San Mateo College Farmers Market from the giant parking lot. Across from the jerky place.

Thai broccoli from C-farm.

Its like rapini or broccoli rabe, but the stalks are much sweeter. Just need to peel the outer layer of the stalk out.

Bok Choy blossom/ rabe. Spectacular. Both Happy Boy and Heirloom Organic Garden (Palo Alto) had it this week. Heirloom had it last week also. Season is short.

Its so good that it converted my non-leafy-green-eating preschooler for this one day.

I completely forgot about the asparagus from the Bounty of the Valley farm. Fat juicy stalks. Great flavors.

Twin Girl Farms has really good pink pomelo right now. 2 for $5 or $3 each.

English peas from Iacopi Farms at the College of San Mateo FM will be here in two weeks!

Palo Alto Cal Ave:

I’m a big fan of Serendipity, although their selection isn’t as huge as some other places. Just finished up the last of some fava beans that I picked up there last Sunday. Medium-sized, tight pods with tender beans inside. A steal at $2/lb. Also made a jam out of some nice blueberries from there.

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two additions:

  1. Cara Cara Oranges at Bill Ferry Ranches stand. bar none, the best cara caras every year, compared to guys like Hamada. I go through 3 a day when in season… These oranges are picked at peak ripeness and have the concentrated cara cara taste coupled with unbelievable sweetness. Other vendors have longer seasons, which leads me to suspect they pick earlier and put stuff in cold storage…
  2. Kashiwase stone fruits. They don’t go as far south as where I am now, so don’t go anymore. but they have a ridiculous assortment of stone fruits, all of the highest quality. I’ve never really gotten into Frog Hollow, because imo, their fruits pale in comparison to Kashiwase, although you’ll pay for it as well. i recall they charge 2x what the other vendors do…

I have a bit of struggle with Kashiwase. I don’t know if I have rotten luck, but the few times I stopped by and sampled I got watery stone fruits. But the crowds were huge every time I passed by so I guessed that I was missing something. So this couple of years I frequent Frog Hollow for their stone fruit and blood oranges. The key is to get a box and fill up 10 lbs for $35 (this year) or $30 (last year), which is a substantial discount from their list price of $4.9/lb last year.

Where is the Bill Ferry stand located?

i frequent the south bay markets (mountain view, saratoga, cupertino) and they are a mainstay thre. i never go anywhere else for citrus.

re kashiwase, i’ve never had that issue, but i also haven’t had them the past 2 years (except for once) because they don’t come to the 'toga market.

their mandarins (i think the murcotts are in season / about to go out of season) are ridiculously good also. somehow their citrus always have hte right balance of sweet / tart, are juicy, i.e. never dried out inside, and never taste off

We dont buy from the same vendor all season. Depending on the location of the farm and the variety of stone fruit, I find that each product peaks at a different time and different farms peak at different times. The past few years we have been buying flats of peaches based on tasting each week and have found that Kashiwase is best early season, then we transition to Blossom Bluff and Frog Hollow. At the end of the season there is another farm (forget the name) that we buy from.

Cherries are back at Frog Hollow and Kashiwase. $8.9-$9 a pound. ouch. But then again I talked to the Frog Hollow gentleman and he said they were paying $19k on water a month.

For $8-9 per lb, what is the quality like? Firm, dark mahogany color, and large? In the past a lot of the farmers market cherries have been unripe yet soft with bruises.

You still have to sort them as they don’t. That’s the part I don’t like as it can be time consuming. There are definitely ripe to very ripe ones there.

Last weekend, the Rainiers from frog hollow were excellent. Large, plump, the right mix between sweet and tart. Treat of the season for me.

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CJ Olson’s in Mountain View sorts their cherries and I will gladly pay for their premium cherries. Their pricing is comparable to farmers market prices. The rainiers sound delicious, I cant get to a Frog Hollow stand this week, but maybe next week.

How does CJ Olsons’ quality compare with the typical farmer’s market’s? Its only available at their Sunnyvale store, right?