Movable Feast at Aziza ~ July 7

Aziza's Mourad Lahlou and James Syhabout of the soon-to-open Commis pair up to make a delectable feast with produce from Marin Roots Farm (all three are pictured at right in the Marin Roots van). The summery menu will include:

• Confit of Morro Bay cod with bacalao, English pea porridge and perfumed herbs
• "Goatchetta" with couscous and summer squash
• Cucumber granita with watermelon on yogurt sorbet
  
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Help us win 5k to jump start our farmer micro-grant program

Beginning today, you now have two ways to vote for the Ferry Plaza as your favorite farmers' market. This one, sponsored by American Farmland Trust and this one sponsored by Care2 and Local Harvest. The latter earns the winning market $5,000 and if CUESA wins we will use the funds to start a micro-grant program for farmers in our market looking to make their practices more sustainable. How's that for an incentive?

CUESA’s Second Annual Iron Chef Grill-Off ~ June 27

Four local chefs will be battling it out on the grills: Mark Sullivan of Spruce, Andrew Swallow of Mixt Greens, Taylor Boetticher of Fatted Calf, and Elizabeth Falkner of Orson. Chefs will use grass-fed beef and other meats from Marin Sun Farms to concoct their best burgers, and each will create a surprise side dish with ingredients from the market. A limited number of mini-burgers will be available for a $2 donation. The judges will be H. Joseph Ehrmann of Elixir, Jessica Battilana of 7x7 Magazine, and market shopper/drawing winner Marjanne Pearson. Gabriel Cole and Nate Keller of Gastronaut will MC the event, which will take place in the south driveway, across from Roli Roti.

Sign on to change school lunches

As a lead up to the national day of action to get real food in schools, Slow Food USA wants your support. As the issue heats up in Washington and Michele Obama deepens her level of involvement (video), you too can help make history. After all, "by giving schools the resources to serve real food, we can teach 30 million children healthy eating habits that will last throughout their lives," says Slow Food's Jerusha Klemperer. The Time for Lunch campaign also has tools to help you organize a Labor Day eat-in and contact your legislators.

Reduced July 4th hours

Planning your July 4th weekend and wondering where you might get last- minute corn, ground beef and watermelon? You might like to know that the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market will be open that Saturday from 8 am to noon.

Saturday, June 27 ~ Iron Chef Grill-Off

11:00 am - 12:30 pm - Local chefs vie for the best burger-maker title in the south driveway. Sustainable mini-burgers available for $2 donation. (More details above.)

11:00 am - 1:00 pm Chef Marc Vogel will have a grilling advice booth set up and will be available to answer all your grilling questions.

Tuesday, June 30 ~ Food Wise Booth

12:00 - 1:00 pm - Sarah Henkin, CUESA's market chef, will be giving out recipe cards and samples of a simple meal made with market ingredients. She'll also be available to offer advice on all your seasonal meal planning.

Thursday, July 2nd ~ The Thursday market returns!

10am - 2pm - Come join us for the first of many delicious Thursday lunchtime markets and pick up a handmade pizza from Pizza Politana, a Korean BBQ taco from Namu, a scoop of sorbet from Scream, or any one of the other delicious options. Oh yeah, and we'll have produce too!

Saturday, July 4 ~ no demos

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

This week's feature article was written by volunteer Carolyn Hauck.

The farmers at MyFarm believe sustainable agriculture can start in your own backyard—literally. Established just over a year ago, MyFarm is “a decentralized urban farm” or rather a piecemeal farm made up of San Francisco backyards.

The collective acreage those backyards create is not just one big garden, it’s a farm. As Chris Burley, Director of Operations and wearer of many hats, sees it, “a garden in the traditional sense [includes] a gardener who goes back and tends flowers and a couple of vegetables. We’re actually producing food… I wouldn’t call our employees urban gardeners; they’re urban farmers.”

It seems many San Franciscans are eager to be farm owners. In just over a year, MyFarm has grown to approximately 80 owner/supporters and 70 CSA members strong. Here’s how it works: As an owner/supporter offers a plot of land for farming. Then MyFarm assesses their backyard — including testing soil toxicity levels — to make sure it’s a good fit. After the evaluation, the yard owner pays the initial cost for the farm installation and MyFarm handles the maintenance thereafter cost-free. As an owner/supporter, you’ll also enjoy a weekly box of vegetables at a sliding-scale discounted rate, based on how much your backyard yields — usually around 2 ½ to 3 ½ boxes per week. As a CSA member, you receive a weekly box of fresh vegetables as you would with any other CSA, with the added benefit of picking up your box at the house where your veggies were grown!

In addition to growing food, the folks at MyFarm hope to grow communities that produce food for one another. As Chris says, “Right now, each one of the owners knows the people they’re growing for." The hope is that city dwellers can begin to see themselves as real farmers, too. Chris continues, “Everyone looks outside of an urban landscape to produce food, no one looks in their own backyards. And when you start talking about sustainability at a truly global level, you have to start looking at where is your circle of influence, where is your circle of potential action?”

Of course, tending farms and creating real, balanced communities in San Francisco comes with  challenges. For starters, not many S.F. residents own their own homes, let alone homes with spacious yards. And many of those who would most benefit from easy access to healthy local food are renters. But the farmers at MyFarm like to view challenges like this as opportunities. Currently they’re investigating various ways to involve volunteers at a grassroots level and are looking into land-share possibilities — making urban farming accessible to everyone.

Then there are the 17 different microclimates in San Francisco, and the microclimates within microclimates. Our mild climate and foggy summers pose a number of challenges, but there are some varieties of greens that grow well here year-round. Interestingly, Chris notes that not all food needs direct sunlight to grow. “Light reflecting off a window can completely change [how well] something grows in your garden.” he adds. “You may not ever see it, but the light reflecting off your neighbor’s window might be helping your strawberries grow.”

Given their optimism, hard work and a growing interest in what they do (there's a waiting list for backyard assessments), the people at MyFarm seem well on their way to achieving a goal that might have seemed absurd just five years ago. According to their website, MyFarm envisions having one farm within walking distance of every single citizen by 2010.

Carolyn Hauck is a CUESA volunteer and writer based in Albany, Ca. She hopes to have a backyard farm someday soon. 

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 27

In/returning: Apple Farm, Hunter Orchards, Juniper Ridge, Knoll Farms, Little Organic Farm, Ridgecut Gristmill (new), Short Night Farm, Tierra Vegetables

Tuesday, June 30

no changes

Thursday, 2 July

In: Dirty Girl Produce, Lagier Ranches, Lucero Organic Farm, Swanton Berry Farm and Tory Farms, plus seven prepared food vendors.
Out: 4505 Meats (starts July 9)

Returning and plentiful this month (weather willing):
Nectarines, strawberries, raspberries, Armenian cucumbers, basil, corn, garlic and leek scapes, 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:
Pastured chicken, hot house tomatoes, sweet pea flowers, blueberries (possibly gone by July), fava beans

Value Added and Vendor items not to be missed:
Fruit- and herb-infused syrups from June Taylor, almond milk from Lagier Ranches, Plant Crack fertilizer from Flatland Flower Farm

Farms/Vendors that may be returning this month (weather willing):
Green Gulch, G & S Corn, Candy Cot Fruit Co., Woodleaf Farm, Payne Farms, and Ridgecut Gristmills (new vendor).

Featured Recipes for June:

Bordeaux Spinach, Fava Bean, and Basil Salad with Egg Yolk Vinaigrette and Roasted Garlic Crouton from Sarah Henkin, CUESA Market Chef (May 26, 2009)

Zucchini and Mint-Stuffed Squash Blossoms from Brian Streeter, Cakebread Cellars

Sous Vide Duck Breast Cooked in a Crock-Pot with Star Route Spinach and Hamada Farms Bing Cherries from Bruce Hill of Picco and Bix Restaurants

Stone Fruit Bruschetta with Crème Fraîche Ice Cream from Elise Fineberg, formerly of Taste Catering