Farmers Market Update: Santa Fe
One of my favorite Summer Tomato contributors recently took a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and visited the farmers market there.
Virginia Griffey is an editor in Oakland. She spends her time running, snowboarding, cooking, and hanging out with her friends and dog, Pebbles. Virginia is currently training for her third marathon while trying to raise $1,500 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Donations of any size are greatly appreciated.
Follow her on Twitter @virginiagriffey.
Farmers Market Update: Santa Fe
by Virginia Griffey
I am lucky enough to have some wonderful friends, Henry and Kristin, living in Santa Fe, the unique and beautiful 400-year-old city that is the capital of New Mexico. I went there at the end of May for a visit, but I didn’t get a chance to go to the Santa Fe Farmers Market. When I went back again this month, I made visiting the market a top priority.
First I visited the Santa Fe market’s website to find out what to expect. The market operates year-round with four markets a week during the summer (two Tuesday, one Thursday, one Saturday). The agricultural products sold at the market are grown in a 15-county region of northern New Mexico. Crafts and processed items are made with agricultural products from that region. The market accepts WIC and food stamps. As is the norm at farmers markets, no dogs are allowed (besides service dogs), but there is a free dog-sitting service.
I also examined the website to see what kinds of products to expect. Santa Fe is at an elevation above 7,000 feet, so I thought there might be some interesting vegetables that aren’t available in the Bay Area, but I didn’t see any fruit or vegetable vendors offering anything that stood out much. I did, however, notice that there was a vendor selling yak meat, and I was very excited about trying some. Yaks are high-elevation animals, so it seemed to make sense that someone might raise them in the area.
I headed to the market on a Tuesday morning. I wasn’t going to be in town for the Saturday market, so I was crossing my fingers that Tuesday’s market would have a good showing of vendors. It did. There was a lot of squash, corn and stone fruit available, but Henry and Kristin have squash in their garden, and we’d just bought corn and peaches the day before at a fruit stand in Velarde, about 40 miles north of Santa Fe. So I looked around for what else was available.
Following Darya’s farmers market suggestions, I made sure to walk around the market, check out all the vendors and try a few samples before buying anything. I tried white and yellow peaches and honeycrisp apples at Freshies of New Mexico. I admired the lovely allium offerings at Funnel Farm’s booth — leeks, shallots, early bosque garlic and onions. I ate some yellow carrots at Tina’s Farm. To me, they seemed milder and less sweet than the orange carrots that I’ve had.
After walking the length of the market, I came to Jacona Farm, which had a colorful selection of heirloom tomatoes as well as baskets of padron and shishito peppers. Best of all, they had samples of their tomatoes. Trying these tomatoes was my first true “Summer Tomato” experience. They were the best tomatoes I’d ever tasted: pure tomato flavor, the perfect soft but not mealy texture. Though each tasted like a tomato, they all tasted different from the others. I couldn’t help but think that this amazing variety of flavors is one of the things we risk losing by buying off-season “notional tomatoes” at supermarkets rather than supporting these amazing local farmers.
I ate some grilled shishito peppers from Monte Vista Farm. Kristin had told me about these mild peppers, which often are fried, so I sought them out. Monte Vista also was selling garlic scape powder, so I bought a packet to bring home. I stopped by South Mountain Dairy’s booth to sample a few goat’s milk products. The dairy’s motto is, “It’s all about the girls.” I tried apricot chèvre, green chile chèvre and queso fresco. The vendor was selling goat’s milk but didn’t have any samples, but I did get to try some blackberry-flavored goat’s milk yogurt.
Next, I headed to the Taos Mountain Yak booth. The vendor said the meat is lower in fat and cholesterol than beef but high in omega-3s and stays very tender when cooked. Henry and I were planning a barbecue for later in the week, so I picked up a couple of yak tenderloin steaks to grill up. I also grabbed a bag of yak jerky milk bones for Henry and Kristin’s dogs.
That Friday, Henry threw the steaks on the grill. They were small, and generally I like my steaks about medium rare, so I was worried it would be very easy to overdo it, especially since neither of us had any experience with yak meat. Henry flipped the steaks over a few times as I became increasingly concerned that they were getting overcooked. Finally, I just couldn’t watch anymore. I went inside to get something to drink, came back out, and Henry finally had taken them off the grill. I looked at my steak, thinking about all the money I’d spent for it to end up overdone, and took a bite. It was the most tender meat I’ve ever tasted. I think Henry could have cooked them a lot longer without any problem. As far as taste and tenderness, I give yak meat two thumbs up!
Purchases:
- striped German tomato – Jacona Farm
- rainbow chard – Santa Cruz Farm
- blackberries – Santa Cruz Farm
- yellow carrots – Tina’s Farm
- honeycrisp apples – Freshies of New Mexico
- inchelium red garlic – One Straw Farm
- shallot – Funnel Farm
- pinto beans – Shirley Martinez
- shishito peppers – Monte Vista Orchard
- garlic scape powder – Monte Vista Orchard
- green chile chèvre – South Mountain Dairy
- yak tenderloin steaks – Taos Mountain Yak
- jerky milk bones for dogs – Taos Mountain Yak[link:
- baguette – Cloud Cliff Bakery