Hi friends! I’m so excited to be visiting Allie today! I’m Christina from the sugary blog Dessert For Two. You might have seen some of my desserts here before because Allie links to me quite a bit—such a sweetheart she is!
I had the pleasure of meeting Allie at a food blog conference in San Francisco last year and we instantly connected. It was from our immediate bond that I really learned that women are women no matter where you go—supportive, giving, and gracious. Women like Allie make the world a sweeter place.
In San Francisco, I could feel Allie’s passion for all the fresh produce surrounding us. And since I’ve been drooling over her posts about local farmer’s markets and farm stands lately, I thought I would share some photos of my local farmer’s market.
I live in a county in northern California called Yolo. If you think you’ve never heard of us, you might be surprised to learn that just about every can of tomatoes you open comes from here. We are the canning tomato capital of the country. This time of year, every field is bursting with red tomatoes, and the trucks work ‘round the clock to haul them to the canneries across town. In fact, if you venture into downtown, you can smell all those ripe tomatoes being canned into pasta sauce, tomato soup, or just plain diced tomatoes. It smells like Italy around here for a few weeks every summer. And we don’t mind it one bit. I have a feeling a Jersey-tomato lover like Allie would be very happy here.
If we aren’t growing tomatoes for canning (yes, certain varieties are grown specifically for canning and certain companies even own their own varieties: Heinz 1350, Campbell 33, etc.), you will find fields full of heirloom tomatoes. If I can, I would like to claim that these flavorful tomatoes are the driving force behind the grow-your-own-food and ‘eat local’ movement. One bite of an heirloom tomato will make you slow down and realize this is the good stuff in life. I promise.
Because of our Mediterranean-like climate (an average summer day has a wide temperature range of 90s during the day and 60s after sunset), we can grow a decent amount of cooler season crops year-round. I’m loving these onions and cauliflower.
I’m thankful for the people who bring products to the market other than just produce. Local olive oil, local cheese, freshly baked bread, eggs, grass-fed beef, pasture-raised chickens, fresh pork, and even seafood from San Francisco Bay make it to our market. It’s nice to be able to pick up everything you need for a quick dinner.
My favorite stall would have to be from the Good Humus Farm. That’s humus, as in the organic matter in top soil, not hummus made from chickpeas. Did you know I work in agriculture and I’m a bit of a soil science nerd? Anyway, I arrived at the market early this morning to take photos, and watched silently while the ladies of the farm stand debated the best way to display their produce. With a clear pride for their ingredients, they artfully arranged each basket, hand-wrote each sign, and took a few steps back to admire their work. This stall opens at 8am and sells out of fresh eggs by 8:30. Their golden orange yolks have quite the following!
I was especially enamored of the way they used a pick-up truck to display their recent melon harvest. No melon over $5? Sign me up!
Finally, I want to leave you with a gorgeous display of zucchini blossoms, serpent-like cucumbers, and an artists’ pallet of squash. Oh, and some flowers, just for Allie.
Lots of love to ya, girl!
‘tina
Thanks Tina for sharing a beautiful post! Just a last little taste of Farm Fresh Friday! And yes, I would love to come and try some of the tomatoes or anything in sunny California!
Tags: dessert for two, farm market, guest post
