Warm temperatures and sunny skies mean that farmers market shoppers are in for a treat: the perfect weather for shopping and, thanks to good growing conditions, a relatively wide variety of produce early in the season.
“We’re able to offer more this April compared to the last two because of the dry weather,” said Joey Smith, owner of Let’s Go Farm, which sells produce at the Windsor Certified Farmers Market on Sundays.
As always, farmers markets in May will be filled with fresh greens. Shoppers can expect to find spinach, arugula, lettuce, mizuna, mustard, kale, chard, as well as a variety of micro-greens and baby greens.
“We’ve got some baby beets, some beautiful mizuna. We’ve got some stir fry mix, spinach, mustard greens, and tatsoi. I guess someone could call all those things baby greens. We will have favas, we will have some beautiful green garlic, and we will have baby turnips,” Smith said.
Smith, who enjoys cooking his stir fry mix at home, warned customers not to overcook the tender leaves.
“I’ve been eating the stir fry mix all week. I did feel people were intimidated by it last week [at the market], and my main advice to customers is stay away from steaming it. These are delicate tender greens. It’s just quick: high heat, a little olive oil, a little salt, the lemon juice thing, I always do. And it goes so well with our green garlic… that with rice, that with bread, that with pasta,” Smith said.
“If you’ve got a winter squash sticking around, start that a little earlier in the pan, throw in your greens or do them separate.”
Other seasonal springtime treats to be found at the markets include fava beans, asparagus, artichokes, and even early strawberries.
“Customers can expect to see a very full and vibrant market, thanks to the ingenuity of the farmers who have extended their seasons with the use of row covers and hoop houses,” said Healdsburg Farmers Market Manager Mary Kelley.
“We will have lots of greens — kale, chard, spinach, green garlic, green onions, spring onions, favas, asparagus, artichokes, so many wonderful eggs from pastured raised hens, and new this year, duck eggs from Wayside Farm, who will also bring raw almonds.”
Healdsburg farmer Ed Miller of Carrot Top Farm is locally famous for his lettuce, and he plans to bring many different varieties to the first market.
“Not Little Gems, I grow those in the summer, but I have maybe 10 varieties… Panisse is one, Oscarde, Freckles, and I grow red and green salad bowls,” Miller said.
“I’ll thin some beets and have some beet greens too.”
At the Sebastopol Farm Market, Paul Kaiser of Singing Frogs Farm is already bringing his customers the first taste of summer: Genovese basil and summer squash have already populated his market stand.
“We’ve been taking Genovese basil, and boy that sold out fast,” Kaiser said.
“Last week we also had our first harvest of zucchini and summer squash. We’ve always got some beautiful white cauliflower — those are some of the unique things that we have. And boy, we’ve got frisee, endive, and escarole and green and red butterhead lettuces, scallions and parsley… we have tatsoi and baby bok choy,” Kaiser said.
Farmers noted that the warm, dry spring weather has had its challenges as well as benefits. While dry soil enables early, consistent planting, the heat has led to quick growth — sometimes too fast, Kaiser noted.
“It’s going to make it harder in May to have these things, and so much is going to flower now,” Kaiser said.
But Carrot Top Farm owner Ed Miller, who sells at the Healdsburg Farmers Market, appreciated the dry weather.
“The lettuce got a real burst of growth with the heat of course, and it took me a day or two to water enough, to adjust to the weather. But overall, it’s pretty dry, so you could plant regularly almost weekly in the spring. That’s a good thing because when it’s too wet I can’t plant,” Miller said.
While the Sebastopol market runs year round, farmers and customers in Healdsburg and Windsor were excited for the start of a new season — or at least as excited as one can be, given the circumstances.
“I’m too old to get excited,” Miller said with a laugh.
“But of course it’s a very pleasant experience to sell at the market and to see old friends you haven’t seen in six months.”
The Windsor Certified Farmers Market season began on April 21. The Healdsburg Farmers Market will open May 4. The Sebastopol Farm Market will continue to run year round.
Healdsburg Farmers Market
Hours: Saturdays 9 a.m. to noon and Wednesdays 3:30 to 6 p.m.
Locations: Parking lot at North and Vine streets (Saturday); Purity/Cerri lot on North Street (Wednesday).
Dates: Saturdays May through November; Wednesdays June through October.
Sebastopol Farm Market
Hours: Sundays 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Location: Sebastopol Plaza
Dates: Year-Round
Windsor Certified Farmers Market
Hours: Sundays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Thursdays 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Location: Windsor Town Green
Dates: Sundays April 21 through December; Thursdays June through August.
