I went to the Brentwood Farmer's Market on Saturday. I was so excited to see it open. I have been on a quest to see if I could find a lot of my food locally. And I scored at the farmer's market.
- Fresh eggs from Shelly's Garden in Brentwood-my hometown
- Zuchini and cucumbers from Arata in Byron-next town over
- Lettuce, broccoli, carrots and potatoes from Garcia Farm in Hollister-about 111 miles away but still considered close to me
- Blueberries from Alpine Blue in Vacaville-56 miles north of me
- And sweet potato pie from Gran'ma Lillie's in downtown Brentwood
I also bought oranges which I forgot exactly where they came from. I believe they were from Allard farms in Westley, which is 45 miles southwest of me. Oh, the asparagus is of unknown origin to me also, but looking at the list of farmers on the market's website it was local also.
I am blessed to live here in the far East County of the Bay Area because we are very close to the main farming belt of California in the Central Valley. And Brentwood is known in the Bay Area as a farming community (well, after the SF Chronicle this weekend, we will be known as foreclosure central. I don't care, I enjoy raising my children here.) In July we will be up to our "ears" in corn and we will get a huge influx of Bay Area people coming for u-pick cherries, apricots, peaches and nectarines. Besides the heat, and I mean hot dry heat, I believe I live in a great place.
I am still looking for local cheese and meats. I will ask around to see if those exist within my area. But I live about 1 1/2 hours from Sonoma and Napa areas. I am going to look there for cheese. Where else would I look but in wine country for cheese. Actually Brentwood has a couple of wineries now. Come to think of it, we also have our own olive oil. Am I set or what? Now where can I find grain? I may have to just resort to the bulk section at Raley's.
3 comments:
Yum. My mouth is watering.
Oh how wonderful that you can enjoy local food all year. We have such a short growing season here. It stinks!
Farmer's Markets rock.
I did get some ground beef last Saturday at ours, and my family raved about the burgers I made from it. Unfortunately, we started our boys out on fast food when they were young, and even though we don't buy it anymore, they still compare every burger they eat to McD's. So when my five year old said his burger was better than a fast food burger, that was a big deal.
If you can find someone locally for some of your meat, it's a good thing.
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