Sunday at the Marin Farmers' Market

by Jack & Joanne

Joanne, Trent and I got on the road at 9am (an amazing early start for us!) to drive the 40 minutes to the Marin Sunday Farmers' Market in San Rafael. We scored a parking spot easily - we usually get there too late for this to happen.

Wow, this Farmers' Market is really rocking in late May! Except for chicken, milk/cream, dried beans, rice and flour, you can get probably buy everything you want to eat for the next week. Really! This is in sharp contrast to locales where the Farmers' Market doesn't even open until June or July. The people in Marin have no idea how good they have it.

Even Valencia oranges, early peaches and heirloom tomatoes with taste (from Bruins Farms in Winters, CA). The only disappointment was that we didn't spot any small farmer organic asparagus. But a big plus was that there were some new vendors there!

We scored organic ice cream from Three Twins (Madagascar Vanilla, Strawberry-Je ne sais quoi, and Bittersweet Chocolate), strawberries (Swanton Berry Farm), St Benoit Yogurt (including their new flavor, Meyer Lemon!), Marin Root Farms lettuces (gorgeous, perfect-looking lettuces - hopefully a top restaurant doesn't discover them), Local Salmon, Prather Ranch steaks (who also had lamb, pork and humanely raised veal), Marin Sun Farms eggs (there were actually at least 4 purveyors selling eggs today), Iacopi Farms peas and artichokes (at least 4 sellers had artichokes today), Barhi dates, Brickmaiden Bread and Cookies (Breadvine Baking Company in Point Reyes Station), Full Circle Baking Bread, Blueberries (Sorensen's), Raspberries, sugar snap peas, snow peas, early sno peaches, another kind of peach, and some other items. Quite a few plants were for sale, too, including non-organic tomato plants and peonies.

This is the fifth different farmer's market we've been to during the Eat Local Challenge and it's easily the star. Unfortunately, with so many farmers and vendors there, it's difficult to get to know them – and know which ones you can rely on. – Jack

Jack & Joanne live in Sonoma County – not just wine country, but food country! Their website Fork & Bottle focuses on artisan food, wine and cheese but also offers information on organic and heirloom seed sources, what to feed kids, US Cheesemakers, local foods, etc., etc.

Comments

[Birdsong]

What a fun and productive outing! I do get a bit envious, though. My two kids over in Chico want me to come to the Thursday night market and check out the local wares still within my 100 mile radius.

[SuzanneM]

When I lived in Marin I didn't take advantage of the Farmer's Market nearly enough. Now that my cooking has evolved, I know how to cook veggies and I'm focusing on local food, I miss that big Farmer's Market. I think Marin is a mecca for local organic food.

On the plus side, in Davis I have gotten to know the vendors. The guy from Bledsoe Pork pulls out a rash of bacon as soon as he sees me. Heh.

[cookiecrumb]

J&J: If you're OK with whole-wheat flour, Full Belly Farms sells it in manageable-sized bags for $2 at the Marin market.
There was a raw-milk vendor there a while back, but... Eh.
Spring Hill sells blocks of butter.
You can pre-order a chicken from Marin Sun Farms and they will hold it for pick-up on Sundays (not all Sundays; their growing cycle is about 4-5 weeks).
So yes, we're wallowing in the bounty.
Alas, as you noted, the bean guy stopped coming.
Also, Prather Ranch is more than 300 miles away. Just sayin'! :D Try Black Sheep or Marin Sun Farms.
I'm so glad you are giving props to the Marin market. Sometimes we feel like the ugly step-sister to Ferry Plaza's Saturday market.
But we're keepin' it real!

[Tana]

What beautiful greens!

[Jack]

Tana - Those greens were incredibly beautiful; reminded me of Forni-Brown's in Calistoga. I was so surprised to see such from a new vendor to the market.

CC - First - Joanne posted/commented about the chicken's from Marin Sun Farms on another post. Second - Yeah, you're right about Prather. We've been buying from them for so long I sometimes forget they're out near Mt. Shasta. We've tried Black Sheep - not enough fat on their meats - then again, we've now had the steaks and Prather's came up short on the fat too. :(

[Tea]

Cookiecrumb--did you just say Marin is keeping it real? Wow, that's a first:-)

I love the Marin FM. Definitely one of the best.

[Liz]

Ice cream? Wild salmon? Artichokes? You people are making this Mainer seriously jealous. Well, I didn't hear you mention one thing that we have in abundance: rhubarb. Don't all rush our market at once, ok? ;)

[Jack]

There was rhubarb - but a little scrawny compared to what we buy regularly from Middleton Farm in Healdsburg.

btw: I was talking to one of the artichoke growers and he said the rains really devasted his artichoke crop this year; he'd have to sell what he has at $10 and $5 (large/small) to recoup - instead of the $2/$1 he was charging.

[cookiecrumb]

(Sekrit messij to Tea: No, Marin's not keepin' it real. I meant the Marin market, vis-a-vis the SFFP... Now if only we could lose the troubadors.)
Back to you, J&J.
:D

[alianna]

do you know of a farm right near Mt. Shasta that has raw milk??? THanks for responding Alianna