This past weekend I left my beloved San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market to visit my family in Southern California. I was really excited to feel the sun again and finally see the famous Santa Monica Farmers Market near the Santa Monica Pier and 3rd Street Promenade.
Their website said they were closed November 24, but since it was November 29 I thought I was good to go.
No such luck.
I guess they forgot to update their website from last year when November 24 was on a Saturday, because apparently the market is always closed the Saturday after Thanksgiving (something I learned from the visitors information booth once I got there).
But despite this brief let down, I was able to find another farmers market in Santa Monica at Virginia Park.
To my delight, the Virginia Park Farmers Market had a fantastic selection and was a pleasure to shop at. All the expected autumn delicacies were there–the parsnips and sunchokes were even sitting right next to each other at Weiser Family Farms. We also found vendors selling fresh eggs, cheese, chicken, duck and grass-fed beef.
Many of these items are not common to your typical grocery store, so Santa Monica residents should feel very lucky to have these offerings available to them.
One notable difference between the San Francisco market and the Santa Monica market is that tomatoes, summer squash and berries (summer produce) are still available down south. If you have been following this blog you know that these items have been missing from San Francisco for many weeks.
There were also some exotic ingredients at the Santa Monica market, like lemongrass and assorted guava fruit.
Here is what we purchased from the Virginia Park market:
- Persimmons
- Fresh walnuts
- Brussels sprouts
- Kohlrabe
- Sunchokes
- Various potatoes
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Savory
- Lily’s eggs
- Heirloom tomatoes
- Leeks
- Candy-stripe and golden beets
