We buy them when we find them. Eatwell farm and Everything under the Sun have had them recently at Ferry Plaza. They are sometimes available as sprouts at Monterey Market.
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Sarah Fritsche has a guide about Winter produce.
While Iām writing, itās not farmers market, but several places on Stockton in Chinatown have large stalks of celtuce. The one I picked up on the corner of Pacific was fresher than Iāve bought from the Avenues or on the Peninsulan in the past
Going to be a great asparagus season with the ongoing rain (or sucky season for the citrus). Bounty of the Valley Farm has their first asparagus today in Palo Alto. Big juicy aromatic stalks of asparagus, like in past years.
āā¦ asparagus, tinged with ultramarine and rosy pink which ran from their heads, finely stippled in mauve and azure, through a series of imperceptible changes to their white feet, still stained a little by the soil of their garden-bed: a rainbow-loveliness that was not of this world. I felt that these celestial hues indicated the presence of exquisite creatures who had been pleased to assume vegetable form, who, through the disguise which covered their firm and edible flesh, allowed me to discern in this radiance of earliest dawn, these hinted rainbows, these blue evening shades, that precious quality which I should recognise again when, all night long after a dinner at which I had partaken of them, they played (lyrical and coarse in their jesting as the fairies in Shakespeareās Dream) at transforming my humble chamberpot into a bower of aromatic perfume.ā
ā Marcel Proust, Swannās Way
That good?
Monsieur Proustās dinner, while exquisite and otherworldly in their looks, were merely āfirm and edibleā in taste. I donāt quite have the monsieurās ability to create a hyperbolic heaven of words regarding the taste of the stalks from Bounty of the Valley Farm, but suffice to say that my earlier ābig, juicy and aromaticā description didnāt really do the stalks justice. If there are better tasting asparagus in the Bay Area, I honestly would like to taste them. They are this good. (And they are this expensive, I look at them as a spring splurge).
Years ago the buyer from Baume down the street came by and picked a box of these up. They paid like $40 for a big box, a pittance compared to the retail price, and no doubt the stalks transform their chamberpots into bowers of aromatic perfume whose smell waft along the length of the empty California Avenue in the eveningā¦
These baby purple tatsoi from Heirloom Organic is spectacular. Thank you winter and rain.
Far West- Reishi/ Ling Zhi medicinal/ herbal mushroom
Downtown Oakland has a relatively new bread stand, https://themidwifeandthebaker.com.
In past weeks I have enjoyed their croissants and whole wheat bread. But this week I tried their chocolate sourdough loaf and am hooked. It has the texture of great bread and the flavor of chocolate cake. Very unique and worth trying at $4 for a small round.
They sell at other markets too, including Mountain View on Sundays.
This yearās rain caused a lot of flooding and damage to the Happy Boy Farm. Hereās their recovery fundraiser:
Is it the consumersā job, to bail out private enterprises afflicted by natural disasters?
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Normally I agree with you re; bailing out private enterprises, but theyāre essentially selling futures which seems like a realistically capitalist approach. (Normally I agree with you about everything!)
Yes, I was glad to see they were not merely looking for a handout.
For those who did not read, they are offering credit vouchers to their farmerās market stand which match donations +10%.
Iāll admit, I didnāt read the āfine printā when I made my first comment. Sounds like a good deal for their followers and themselves (a lot better than a a bank load). Do they appear at HOTC? Thatās the only Farmersā Market I support.
When I was there a month ago, I didnāt see them there. How do you like the fish stall?
They appear at Fort Mason, which is more spendy than HOTC but less so than FPFM. I have taken to frequenting both, since I know where to find the better values at FPFM, and the meat choices are more varied (best rabbit ever!), but generally Fort Mason is about 25% cheaper. Also Fort Mason has a great fish stall with FRESH shrimp.
Another winner in downtown Oakland: Annaās Seafood. You can read the background here: https://www.chowhound.com/post/annas-seafood-larkspur-petaluma-1042571
I picked up sashimi grade yellowtail twice, salmon collar, hamachi collar, and black cod. All of it was high quality and pricing was $1-3/lb below most other places.
Oysters $1 each and a few weeks ago they had uni in its shell.
Local oysters or from somewhere else?
Whatās the pricing on the uni?
Local blueberries are starting to ramp up. Gotta start showing up early at the Borba stand. They got some seriously complex tasting blueberries.
Are you willing to share where the better values are at FPFM?
Iād love to know. Its quite overwhelming for the non-regular shoppers there with the number of stalls.
While Iām the first to admit that FPFM is shy of real bargains, I find the best value at the following stands;
When the season is on, The Peach Farm has lower prices than most for stone fruit, figs, tomatoes and squashes. In high tomato season I regularly buy flats of āat-riskā tomatoes for $5-10 and find lots for salad today and more for sauce later .
Heirloom organics usually has great prices on root vegetables without tops and a good selection of ābabyā veg. Today I got a great price on really mean, spiky artichokes that I know from the past are very fleshy and rich.
A new addition is a duck-egg vendor at $8 per dozen. Cheaper than farm chicken eggs, and larger and richer. I may never go back to chicken eggs again if I donāt have to.
Also am a long-time fan of Zuckermann for Asparagus and spuds.
Indoors, meats at Prather Ranch are reasonably priced ,allowing for the quality and protocols of the business.
Hope this is helpful, otherwise weāll see you at Fort Mason.
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