Calling all Home Chefs! ~ Register by June 9

The Urban Eats cooking and gardening contest deadline is fast approaching! Enter your homegrown garden basket, eggs, honey, preserved foods, seasonal fruit pies, or a whole picnic lunch. If you're in the market tomorrow, stop by the contest sign-up booth. We'll have registration forms on hand and some surprise incentives. Read the rules or download the contest application form here. Keep up with Urban Eats on Facebook.

Sustainable Sausage and Beer Party ~ June 24

Kick off grill season with an evening of locally made sausage and beer. Taste grill-worthy sausages from seven local chefs and sip an assortment of beers paired by members of the San Francisco Brewers Guild. CUESA will host an “Ask the Butcher” booth with Dave “The Butcher” Budworth of Avedano’s and Marina Meats, who’ll be on hand all evening to answer questions about sausage making.  Doug Stonebreaker of Prather Ranch Meat Company will also be in an “Ask the Rancher” booth to share behind-the-scenes stories form the ranch.  Proceeds from this event will go to the CUESA Seller Scholarship Fund. See the full chef and brewery line up or buy tickets.

Dine Out for the Gulf Coast ~ June 10-12

The following restaurants will be donating a portion of their proceeds to the communities affected by the Gulf Coast oil spill: Delfina, Hog Island Oyster Bar, Bottega, Maverick, Incanto, Front Porch, RN74, The Slanted Door, Heaven's Dog, Bi-Rite Market, Ozumo, Nombe, Boulettes Larder, Wexler’s, Contigo and Bix, Chez Panisse, Tra Vigne, Bottega, and The Pasta Shop. Contact the participating restaurants for details.

Shopping with Chefs: Scott Youkilis

Over at 7x7 Magazine, CUESA Market Manager Lulu Meyer writes about shopping with some of the chefs who frequent the market. This week, she tours around with Scott Youkilis Of Maverick. Read her post.

Tierra Vegetables Celebrates 30 Years ~
June 6

Tierra Vegetables will celebrate the big 3-0 this weekend at their farm, just north of Santa Rosa. The event includes a potluck, games, a piñata full of farm goodies, a strawberry toss, a fava bean shelling contest, hay wagon farm tours, a farm animal or two, and lots of fun! Learn more

Frog Hollow Harvest Fest ~ Sunday

Celebrate the arrival of Frog Hollow summer fruit! Tour the orchard with Farmer Al and go cherry picking. There will also be plenty of kids' activities. Lunch will provided by Curt Clingman and Mary Jo Thorneson from Jojo! Learn more.

Slow Food SF Presents Golden Glass ~
June 12

The 2010 Golden Glass event will celebrate the efforts of over 100 international wine producers who strive to protect, nurture, and revive the indigenous and classic varieties of their regions. The wines will be complemented by culinary delights from the Bay Area's top restaurants and artisan producers. Proceeds will benefit Slow Food SF's Slow Food in School programs as well as Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste program. Learn more.

Veggie Valet Changes for June 12

Due to the Giants Race on June 12, the Embarcadero roadway in front of the Ferry Building will be closed to traffic from 8 am until 10:30 am. Items may be left at Veggie Valet, but curbside pickup will not be available until 10:30 am on this day. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Say No to Methyl Iodide on Your Strawberries

California is on the verge of approving a potent carcinogenic gas for use on strawberry fields and other food crops. The chemical — methyl iodide — is so toxic that scientists in labs use it only in small amounts and with special protective equipment, yet agricultural applications would release it directly into the air and water. But it's not too late. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation is accepting comments until June 29. Tell them what you think. Or read more about methyl iodide on SF Gate.

Special Thanks

CUESA's 10th annual Spring Breakfast was a wild success! Thanks to all those of you who attended. We also want to say a special thanks to our volunteers from the California Culinary Academy. We couldn't have done it without you!

Saturday, June 5 ~ Market to Table

11:45 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration and book signing
Ani Phyo, author of Ani's Raw Food Essentials (note: time changed from 11:00 am)

Tuesday, June 8 ~ Food Wise Booth

12:30 - 1:30 pm - Nutrition & Lifestyle Counselor Jamie Greenwood Dougherty, will give out recipe cards and samples of a simple meal made with market ingredients. She'll also be on hand to offer advice for all your seasonal meal planning.

Saturday, June 12 ~ Market to Table

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration and book signing
Linda Carucci, Chef Director at the International Culinary School at the Art Institute and author of Cooking School Secrets for Real World Cooks

11:45 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration and book signing
Anne Gingrass, Brix

All programs take place in CUESA's Dacor teaching kitchen, in front of the Ferry Building on the north side.

Note: this week's feature is by Brie Mazurek, a former apprentice at Green Gulch Farm

All summer long, folks line up at the Green Gulch Farm stand to have their pick of big, bountiful, “enlightened” greens. The stand has a loyal fan base, but not everyone knows exactly what to make of the little Zen farm. What does Buddhism have to do with organic produce?

Before living at Green Gulch, I imagined bald monks mindfully hoeing baby lettuces, whispering sutras over Brassica seedlings, and strolling meditatively through apple orchards. As a farm apprentice last summer, I awakened to the realities of farming at the meditation center.

Situated near the coast of Marin on an inholding of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Green Gulch Farm includes six acres of mixed vegetable fields, fruit trees, and a flower garden, all of which are open to visitors. Lovingly tended by Zen students for nearly 40 years, the deep, fertile clay loam, combined with mild summers and coastal fog, create the ideal conditions for lettuces and other cool-weather crops. There are about 15 residents who maintain the farm and garden, with the help of volunteers. Another 30 or so residents manage the practice center’s kitchen, guesthouse, and Zen training programs.

The farm offers produce from late May through October. The rest of the year, farmers spend the dark winter hours meditating, while the fields are put into cover crop to rest and renew.

During the apprenticeship, our day started at 4:30 a.m. with the wake-up bell. While other farmers are brewing their coffee, Green Gulch farmers head to the zendo, a meditation hall converted from an old barn. After zazen (seated meditation) and a round of chanting, we went to breakfast. The morning silence was broken by our daily meal verse, a Zen version of saying grace, which begins, “We reflect on the effort that brought us this food and consider how it comes to us.”

Working on the farm was a constant practice in such reflection — not passive reflection but hard, physical work. We became intimate with our food through this work, which means feeding the soil, caring for plants, and doing our best not to put extra stress on the watershed and creatures around us. The land returned this care and effort to us with beautiful vegetables.

Zen teachings emphasize the interdependence of all life, and all aspects of farming bring us in touch with this interconnectedness. For example, Green Gulch compost includes food scraps from the farm’s kitchen, San Francisco Zen Center, and Greens Restaurant. A horse stable down the road provides manure for the compost, and plant matter comes from the pond, which also irrigates the crops. This cycle of resources (work-produce-kitchen-compost) is a tangible loop that farmers experience every day.

During the height of the season, the farm and garden crew is joined once a week by the rest of the residential community, who support other parts of the practice center. In silence, everyone hoes rows of greens, pulls beets, or digs potatoes. This activity strengthens community, infuses our work with mindfulness, and makes lighter labors of some of the bigger tasks on the farm.

Service is another mission of the farm. Green Gulch partners with Marin Organic’s Glean Team, which delivers fresh vegetables to schools and underserved communities, and the Free Farm Stand in the Mission, which improves food access for people in need. The farm has also donated seedlings to schools and urban garden projects, including Edible Schoolyard, Koshland Park, Growing Home Community Garden, Hayes Valley Farm, and Glide Memorial.

Living at Green Gulch gave me immeasurable gratitude for the dynamic interconnection between growing, cooking, and eating food, and the web of life that supports this exchange. I’m not sure if that makes for Zen vegetables, but it does make my food feel closer to home.

Brie Mazurek (at the top left in the above photo) is a former cookbook editor. She now lives in San Francisco, where she explores urban food and sustainability, volunteers at Hayes Valley Farm, and connects Green Gulch with garden projects in the city.

Green Gulch Farm returns to the market tomorrow.

This is the most up-to-date information about which sellers will be attending the market as of Friday. If there are no changes to a seller's status, they will not be listed. You'll find a list of which farmers regularly attend each market here. Please understand that there are often last-minute changes—it's the nature of farming!

Saturday, June 6

Returning: Green Gulch Farm
Out: The Apple Farm, Critical Edge Knife Sharpening

Tuesday, June 8

Returning: Critical Edge Knife Sharpening
Out: Pizza Politana

Thursday, June 10

Returning: Achadinha Cheese Company, Lucero Organic Farms
Out for the season: Zuckerman's Farm

Returning and plentiful this month (weather willing): Nectarines, peaches, strawberries, raspberries, Armenian cucumbers, basil, corn, fresh shallots, Rocambole garlic, summer squash, Little Gem lettuce, haricots verts, snap peas, radishes, peppers, spinach, wax beans, cherries, cauliflower, beets, leeks, nopales, squash blossoms, artichokes, fresh herbs, pullet eggs, new potatoes, tomatillos, apricots, pickling cucumbers, fresh lavender, heirloom roses

Winding down/limited supply:
Blueberries, nettles, pastured eggs, hot house tomatoes, sour cherries

Value-added and vendor items not to be missed:
Heirloom tomato ketchup from June Taylor, leek and horseradish kraut from Farmhouse Culture, borage from Heirloom Organics, “DGC" cherries from K & J Orchards

Farms/vendors that may be returning this month (weather willing):
Green Gulch Farm (June 5), G & S Corn (June 19), Hunter Orchards, Candy Cot Fruit Company

New and returning Thursday Market Farmers and vendors:
Lucero Organic Farm, Farmhouse Culture, Hapa Ramen (June 17th)

Featured Recipes for June:

Radish Green Soup from Sarah Henkin, CUESA's market chef

Grilled Skirt Steak Sandwiches with Salsa Verde from Sara Deseran, 7x7 Magazine

Broccoli Rabe on Toast with Tapenade and Goat's Milk Cheese from Cookbook author Deborah Madison

Strawberry Tart with Mint & Frisée Salad from Louis Maldonado, formerly of Cortez (now at Aziza)