Tomatoes

I’m delighted to introduce you to Stephanie Stiavetti who agreed to step in and cover the Grand Lake farmers market in Oakland while I was away this week.

Stephanie Stiavetti is a Bay Area freelance food and nutrition writer. Besides writing for magazines and radio, she also blogs about living a healthy gourmet (and gluten-free!) lifestyle at Wasabimon.com. Her top priority in life is eating well in every sense of the word and making sure people know that eating healthy can be a delicious endeavor.

You can also follow her on Twitter under the name @sstiavetti.

Thanks so much Stephanie!

Farmers Market Update: Grand Lake Oakland

Hello everyone!

This is Stephanie from Wasabimon, and I’m excited to be guest posting today on Summer Tomato. Darya’s asked me to take care of the weekly Farmers Market Update while she’s in Vegas, and since I live in the East Bay, today you’ll be getting a tour of Oakland’s Grand Lake Farmers Market.

For those not in the know, Oakland has a thriving farmers market community. With over ten markets throughout the week, East Bay residents have a lot of opportunities to buy organic, locally grown produce. Here’s just a sampling of what you can find at the Grand Lake market, which happens every Saturday from 9am – 2pm year round.

I love the colors of the market this time of year. So many bright colors as summer comes to a close! First I picked up a few of my obligatory (though no less lovely) squash and peppers from Capay Farms:

Peppers

Squash

Right across the way was Rodriguez Farms, who have some of the best potatoes and strawberries around – and who doesn’t love the fact that we can get local strawberries this time of year? Yay California!

Strawberries

Potatoes

Next up were the gorgeous radishes and carrots at Ledesma Family Farms. There is always so much color in this booth and I need to wear sunglasses when I go inside:

Radishes

Carrots

After wandering around a little bit (and indulging in some kettle corn, my favorite treat), I hit the jackpot at Toscano and Sons. They have the sweetest cherry tomatoes ever! They make such a perfect addition to salads, and I can never resist them.

Cherry Tomatoes

Toscano also had baby shallots and young leeks, which are just about my favorite things ever. I’m such an allium nut – I don’t cook with them all the time, but I love how there are so many different levels of flavor within the onion family:

Leeks

Baby Shallots

Happy Boy Farms was full of lovely winter and summer squash, and as usual their herb table was full of the freshest, most fragrant greenery. Their heirloom tomatoes were off-the-charts colorful, though I had to resist the urge to buy any since I already have some at home. Happy Boy also has my favorite salad mix, with edible flowers mixed in with the rest of the greens. I mean, how could you resist this beautiful display?

Salad Greens

I also discovered something new at the farmers market this week. I’ve seen jujubes before but hadn’t ever stopped to inspect further. These little Chinese dates are really good and I highly recommend you grab a handful if you ever see them!

Jujubees

Then how could I not stop and smell the roses at Western Sun Floral?

Roses

And on the way out the door, I stopped by my favorite stand, Marshall’s Farm Honey. Since I avoid refined sweeteners, honey is a mainstay in my kitchen:

Honey

I had a fabulous time at the Grand Lake Farmers Market today, and I hope you enjoyed my little photo tour. Thanks, Darya, for letting me share!

<3
~Steph

What did you find at your farmers market this week?

Impressive Melons

If you follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or Facebook you already know I’ve been down in Orange County the past few days and hit up the Irvine farmers market on Saturday. I’m always impressed by what I find in the OC, but I don’t think anything could have prepared me for melons like these!

Huge Watermelons

I also found some pretty spectacularly-sized daikon, or Japanese radish. Seriously, what do you guys put in your water?

Giant Diakon

I thought of about a hundred hilarious things to write under these photos, but I’d love to hear your suggestions. So let the games begin!

In the comments tell us your best caption idea for any of the 3 photos above. The funniest caption writer will be proudly dubbed the Summer Tomato commentor of the week. (note: innuendos welcome, but kindly refrain from NSFW language).

Asian Pears

Emerald Beaut Pluots

Since I am heading back to SF on Sunday, I didn’t buy much this trip. However I did grab a few of these emerald beaut pluots and Asian pears to share with friends and family.

I learned that the emerald beaut season is ending here in the OC, which is interesting since I mentioned last week it is just beginning in SF. In my experience, emerald beauts are the last available pluots at the end of the summer.

Jujubes (Chinese dates) are plentiful now here in Irvine. It is also a great time to get peppers, eggplant and assorted Asian greens and vegetables.

Jalepenos

Jujubes

Yuchoy

Chinese Eggplant & Melon

Chinese Long Beans

Don’t forget to tell us what you found at the farmers market this week!

Please visit Food Renegade for more great Fight Back Friday articles about local and sustainable food.

Adriatic Figs

Although I finally got my first sun tan of the summer this weekend at the Outside Lands music festival, the produce at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market is hinting that summer is winding down.

Okra

First Winter Squash

You can still find all the wonderful summer tomatoes, pluots, peaches and melons, but delicate fruits like berries are becoming tart and more difficult to find.

Likewise, zucchini and crooked neck squash are still around, but I was shocked to find the first thick-skinned winter squash this weekend too.

Assorted Grapes

Niitaka Asian Pears

Other hallmarks of fall are apples, pears and grapes, which are all spectacular right now. This is also a great time to get figs, dates, jujubes (Chinese dates), French plums (prunes), corn, okra, eggplant, melons and chili peppers.

Chantenay Carrots

Jujubes

I found some gnarly, giant chantenay carrots that I plan to turn into soup using my new hand blender. I also purchased the ingredients to make some delicious Thai food this week, since my lifetime cuisine poll from Wednesday reminded me how much I love it.

My final advice this week as summer winds down is to go to Frog Hollow and get some flavor king pluots while you still can.

Did you find hints of fall at the farmers market this weekend?

Today’s Purchases:

• Chinese eggplant (Chue’s Farm)
• Lemongrass (Chue’s Farm)
• Okra (Chue’s Farm)
• Thai peppers (Chue’s Farm)
• Thai basil (Chue’s Farm)
• Garlic (Chue’s Farm)
• Chinese long beans (Chue’s Farm)
• Green onion (Chue’s Farm)
• Early Girl tomatoes (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Cippolini onions (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Chanentay carrots (Tierra Vegetables)
• Red flame grapes (Capay Canyon Ranch)
• Flavor king pluots (Frog Hollow Farm)
• Red flame nectarine (Frog Hollow Farm)
• Pimento pepper (Happy Quail Farm)
• Miyogi ginger flower (Happy Quail Farm)
• Mediterranean Cucumbers (Happy Quail Farm)
• Arugula (Marin Roots Farm)
• Purslane (Marin Roots Farm)
• Lettuces (Marin Roots Farm)