Visit farms this summer!

What better way to learn more about your food than to get up close and personal with the land and people that produce it? Join us for one or all of three farm tours happening this summer! All tours cost $25 and depart from the Ferry Building in comfortable buses. We thank our sponsor Coach 21 for providing a generous discount on the bus charter fee.

Sunday, July 22, 9 am to 6pm - Coastal Harvest Tour
Visit Far West Fungi and Yerena Farms >

Sunday, August 26, 9 am to 5 pm - Valley Orchard Tour
Visit Lagier Ranches and Hidden Star Orchards >

Sunday, September 16, 8:30 am to 5 pm - Milk and Honey Tour
Visit Spring Hill Jersey Cheese Co. and Marshall's Farm Natural Honey >

Farmers and authors on the radio

Tomorrow, June 30, Greg Massa of Massa Organics and Dan Imhoff, author of Food Fight: The Citizens Guide to a Food and Farm Bill, will be guests on the nationally syndicated radio variety show West Coast Live. West Coast Live will be broadcasting from the Ferry Building every Saturday for the next two weeks from 10 am to 12 pm, and you can be part of the live audience and see some of your favorite farmers and other inspiring guests. Tune in by radio to KALW 91.7. More information is at www.wcl.org.

New reduced-rate Saturday parking option

Our neighbors across the street at the Embarcadero Center are changing their weekend parking garage fee structure to provide better rates for Saturday shoppers. Beginning Saturday, June 30, Embarcadero Center fees will be $3/hr beginning at 7 am, with up to 4 hours free after 10 am with a minimum $5 validated purchase at any Embarcadero Center business (this does not include the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market). Find maps and specific lot locations by clicking here.

Save the date for our fifth annual Sunday Supper fundraiser!

On September 30, 2007, join us for a sumptuous five-course meal in the Ferry Building's Grand Hall. This year, we are offering reception-only tickets in addition to seats at the Supper. Stay tuned for more information!

Saturday, June 30 ~ Berry Festival

10:30 am - Meet the Farmer
Joe Schirmer of Dirty Girl Produce will tell about his experience growing strawberries and vegetables organically.

11 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Samin Nosrat of Eccolo Restaurant will share recipes for two simple desserts that highlight the intense flavors of summer berries.

11 am to 1 pm - Berry discovery station
Can you tell a tayberry from an olallieberry? Stretch your mind with our berry quiz and treat your palate to a tasting of the diverse berries grown by our region’s farms. Visit our education table for berry recipes, cultivation information, sustainability issues and fun facts. (South Driveway, near Eatwell Farm)

Saturday, July 7 ~ Market to Table events

10:30 am - Meet the Farmer
Kirsten Olson of Hunter Orchards

11 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Mari Takahashi of Mari's Catering

All events take place in our Dacor teaching kitchen in the arcade north of the Ferry Building's clock tower unless otherwise noted.

Tuesday, July 10 ~ Easy Market Meals

11:45 am, 12:15 pm, 12:45 pm & 1:15 pm - Chef Sarah Henkin will demonstrate a recipe for Gazpacho using the seasonal, regional ingredients that can be found at the Tuesday market. Every attendee leaves with a sample, a recipe and a suggested shopping list.

Since January, the media has been abuzz with stories about a mysterious phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Beekeepers in 23 states have been finding their hives empty, with no evidence of why their colonies disappeared. The cause of CCD is still unknown. Explanations about what is causing these disappearances vary widely; leading theories blame pesticides, unknown pathogens, and genetically modified plant pollen. Some suggest the disease may not be new. Regardless, the scare has brought attention to the important role that insects play in our food system as vehicles for pollen to travel from one flower to another.

More than 30% of food crops depend upon insect pollination, among them blueberries, summer and winter squash, melons, cucumbers, peaches, almonds, cherries, plums, apples, and pears. While farmers once relied heavily upon some of the over 4,000 species of native bees and other insects for pollination, European honeybees became the predominant pollinator after the advent of industrial agriculture. Wild populations are not nearly as manageable as domesticated honeybees; they often nest in the ground or in trees and cannot be easily transported—nor do they provide an abundant honey harvest.

Much like migrant farm workers, honeybees often come from afar and travel (by truck) from farm to farm (“following the bloom”) to perform their critical role in our agricultural system. Beehives are shipped across the United States in semis and from other countries on cargo boats. Over half of the commercial hives in the United States are in California’s Great Central Valley from mid-February to March. It’s no wonder that the sudden disappearance of 25% of our country’s honeybee population is cause for concern; no honeybees means a poor harvest.

The current honeybee crisis, which is just the latest step in the continual decline of populations of honeybees and other pollinators in North America, has provided the impetus for the introduction of two pieces of legislation to Congress. The Pollinator Protection Act, if passed, would provide funding for research and protection of European honeybees. The Pollinator Habitat Protection Act is an amendment to the Farm Bill to include money for pollinator habitat protection in the Conservation Reserve, Conservation Security, and Environmental Quality Incentives Programs. Without healthy pollinator populations, politicians are recognizing, America’s agricultural industry and food security are threatened.

Though most growers at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market whose crops need insect pollination rent or keep hives of European honeybees, some have come to depend on native insects. John and Armen Carlon of Sierra Cascade Blueberry Farm haven’t rented hives for five years. Instead, they rely on a native and more effective blueberry pollinator—bumblebees. Four different species of bumblebees feed on the nectar and pollen of the farm’s blueberry crop, and they provide all the pollination necessary for a healthy harvest. The Carlons have about 1,100 plants on each of their 8 1/2 acres, and during pollinating season, there are 2 to 4 bumble bees on each plant—that’s 18,000 to 37,000 bumblebees buzzing in their fields during flowering time.  The bees nest on the Carlons’ 50 acres of uncultivated land, many colonies making their homes in abandoned gopher holes. John laughs as he tells how their reliance on bumblebees as pollinators has transformed their attitude towards gophers. Once viewed as pests, gophers are now regarded as important habitat creators.

As the Carlons have done, farmers can encourage native pollinators by leaving land wild so that insects have a place to nest and year-round forage. Some researches estimate that if farmers left just 10% of their most marginal soils uncultivated, they could achieve 40% pollination by native insects. On Eatwell Farm, researchers from UC Davis are currently looking at the unusually high populations of native bees and other beneficial insects. Diverse farms like Eatwell attract diverse pollinators, and pollinator polycultures, like crop polycultures, provide insurance against diseases and other contingencies.

Learn more:
The Pollinator Partnership
The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign

This is the most up-to-date information about which sellers will and won't be attending the market as of Friday, when we send this letter. If there are no changes to a seller's status, they will not be listed. To find out which farmers regularly attend each market, click here. Please understand that there are often last minute changes--it's the nature of farming!

Please note: The Tuesday market will be OPEN on July 3!

Saturday, June 30

In/Returning: Bernard Ranches, The Apple Farm, Little Organic Farm, Bodega and Yerba Santa Goat Cheese
Out: Triple Delight Blueberries (for the season), Candycot Fruit Co. (for the season)

Tuesday, July 3

In/Returning: Happy Quail Farms, Ella Bella Farm, Critical Edge Knife Sharpening