Farmers Market Update: Living Easy

Black and Green Figs
It’s finally summertime in San Francisco. Woohoo! And what a beautiful day to return to my beloved farmers market.
Since I was sick and working on finishing my thesis I hadn’t been to the market in weeks, a lapse I haven’t made in years. It was terrible. But now that those things are behind me I was thrilled to return to the market today and stock up on delicious foods to get my healthstyle back on track. Life is good.
We are currently at the peak of summer: tomatoes are ripe, stone fruit is juicy and greens are plentiful. Now is your chance to get the best peaches, nectarines, figs, melons and pluots. I was so taken by the iridescent pink glow of these pluots I forgot to look at the name of the varietal (or maybe I’m out of practice).
I was sure to grab enough lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes for salads this week. I also got some kale for dinner, and green beans for more pickling.
I am also seeing the beginning of some of the fall fruits like grapes, pears and apples.
The apples looked amazing today. There are so many heirloom varieties I’ve never heard of, I grabbed a few different kinds just to get myself acquainted. I’m particularly excited about these pink pearl apples I found at the Apple Farm.
Nature never lets us forget that the next season is right around the corner. I spotted potatoes today and *gasp* winter squash. As delicious as they are, I don’t think I’m quite ready to make that leap yet, I’m going to enjoy the rest of my summer first.
There were a couple other interesting finds today in San Francisco. Langier Ranches was offering a fruit called paw paws, which look like a mango but taste more creamy and less acidic. I was also ecstatic to see my favorite bean company Rancho Gordo has started offering heirloom corn tortillas. Yes, I bought some.
Today’s purchases:
- Early girl tomatoes (Dirty Girl Produce)
- Red leaf lettuce (Dirty Girl Produce)
- Japanese cucumbers (Madison Growers)
- Red leaf kale (Green Gulch Farm)
- Tea bouquet (Green Gulch Farm)
- Haas avocados (Brokaw Nursery)
- Heirloom corn tortillas (Ranch Gordo)
- Vaquero beans (Ranch Gordo)
- Empire apple (Devoto Gardens)
- Red gala apple (Devoto Gardens)
- Pink pearl apple (Apple Farm)
- Parsley (Chue’s Farm)
- Green onions (Catalán Family Farm)
- Emerald beaut pluot (Frog Hollow Farm)
- Flavor king pluot (Frog Hollow Farm)
- Asian pear (Kashiwase Farm)
- Pluot (Kashiwase Farm)
- Blue lake beans (Iacopi Farms)
- Pioppini mushrooms (Far West Fungi)
- Trumpet mushrooms (Far West Fungi)
- Eggs (Soul Food Farm)
What did you find at the market this week?
I’ve been obsessed with your blog for months now, but for some reason I think this is my first comment! So glad you’re posting again 🙂 I went to a farmer’s market in Fremont today, and picked up some Chinese bittermelon which I found out tastes amazing in chicken soup. I love asking people how they eat their veggies, especially veggies that I’m unfamiliar with.
I want to make it a goal to visit farmer’s markets all around the bay! So much new stuff to discover and try!
Awesome, thanks for popping in to say hi 🙂 I will be traveling a bit for the next few months so have some more guests scheduled, but it should all be good stuff. Hopefully I’ll get to cover some new cities on my own as well.
Great looking blog and love the name. We have lots of farmers markets in Sydney and I love the fresh produce they sell. It’s spring here now so lots of good quality produce coming through in next month, great summer fruits like mangoes. Thanks, hope to read more soon and good luck on your travels. 🙂
So jealous for the fresh figs – not too many of those here in Colorado.
Did you happen to notice what varieties of honey they have at the farmer’s market?
Hey Darya!
I am curious, do you have a budget when going to the farmers market?
And related, is there a ballpark figure you could provide for the price of items or total spent/week? I’d love to know how they compare to other markets and shops.
-Laura
My spending varies a lot. If I stick to veggies and avoid eggs, meats, cheese and fruit, I can keep it under $30. Shopping for 2 for a special occasion can easily climb to $50. The price difference between fruits and veggies is huge, and to be honest meats are outside of my budget most of the time.