Farmers Market Cocktail Night: Summer Savory ~ July 7

Beyond the Bloody Mary and the dirty martini, we rarely find savory flavors in our cocktails. Yet with the market bursting at the seams with tomatoes, corn, and peppers, we'll be dedicating our next farmers' market cocktail event to the savory flavors of summer. For $33, guests will enjoy two full-sized signature cocktails, taste eight sample-sized drinks and snack on bites from local restaurants. Buy tickets.

Shopping with Bartender

Over at 7x7 Magazine, CUESA Market Manager Lulu Meyer writes about shopping with market regulars who are known for what they make with seasonal ingredients. This week, she tours around with Michael Callahan of Gitane, who is putting together a cocktail designed to push the savory limits (hint: it involved something called a "fat wash"). Read more.

Market Loss

It was recently brought to our attention that Short Night Farm's Patrick Arthur McAravy passed away last April. In 1979, Patrick and brother Jeff started Short Night Farm in Dunnigan, one of the early organic farms in Yolo County. A lifelong advocate for farmland preservation, Patrick or "Pat" will be missed around the market. Read the obituary.

Vote for the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

The American Farmland Trust is hosting its America’s Favorite Farmers Markets contest again. Why not take 10 seconds and give the Ferry Plaza some love? It will love you back, three days a week, 52 weeks a year.

Basic Food Gardening Classes at Hayes Valley Farm

Antonio Roman-Alcala will be teaching Food Gardening Basics classes on July 15th, 22nd, and 29th. Come with questions and experiences to share about small scale vegetable production. Students will check up on the development of Hayes Valley Farm's first vegetable beds. Learn more.

Kitchen Table Talks: The Farmer and the Fisherman Talk Water ~ July 20

Some portray California’s water problems as a farmer vs. fisher battle, but this is a simplistic, inaccurate depiction. Many farmers are just as concerned about the ecological health of the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta as the fishermen and women whose livelihoods have been devastated by the reduction in fish populations over the past several years. At the next Kitchen Table Talk, you'll hear from Mike Hudson, the president of the Small Boat Commercial Salmon Fishermen’s Association and former executive director of SalmonAid, and Brett Baker, a sixth generation pear farmer, biologist, and former agricultural policy analyst. Learn more or RSVP.

Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate the Thursday market's first birthday. A grand time was had by all.

Saturday, July 3 ~ Market to Table

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration and book signing
Pauli Halstead, author of Cuisine for Whole Health

11:45 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Victoria Wise, author of Sausage and American Charcuterie

Tuesday, July 6 ~ Food Wise Booth

12:30 - 1:30 pm - CUESA's Market Chef, Sarah Henkin, 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, July 10 ~ Market to Table

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
John Toulze, Estate

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

By Jess Goldman

Choosing seafood that is both healthy and sustainable can seem more and more challenging every day. Oysters, on the other hand, are an easy choice.  

Alongside farmed mussels, Pacific sardines, and rainbow trout, these bivalves just made the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Super Green List, meaning they are good for the environment and, because they contain relatively few harmful toxins by comparison, equally beneficial to your health.

We asked Terry Sawyer (pictured above), the chief biologist and co-founder of Hog Island Oyster Company, a few questions about the oysters he raises — and about what makes these summer treats a super green choice.

CUESA: What makes oyster farming sustainable?

Terry Sawyer:  First, oysters are considered a keystone species, which means they naturally benefit from and support the environment where they grow. Like clams and mussels, they’re filter feeders and can filter up to 50 gallons of seawater a day. This action helps keep the Bay water clean and allows other marine life to thrive.

[While a great deal of farmed seafood relies on wild seafood and other animal-based protein as feed], Hog Island farmers do not use any added food to boost oyster production. Farmed oysters feed on plankton and micronutrients that exist naturally in the marine environment and no man-made nutrients are added.

Finally, oyster farmers, by trade, are invested in protecting the environments where the oysters are raised. At Hog Island, staff constantly monitors the water quality and conditions of Tomales Bay and we’re actively involved in efforts to protect and restore the surrounding watershed.

CUESA: What do you say to people who still subscribe to the rule: ”only eat oysters in months with an R in them”?

TS: Wild oysters harvested on the East Coast were often shipped across the U.S. (via train, packed in wooden barrels, and kept on ice).  It was difficult to keep fresh oysters cold and alive during the summer months. Thus, for health and safety, it became a “best practice” to refrain from eating them from May through August.

Wild oysters also spawn, or reproduce, during the warmer summer months and for conservation reasons, oyster harvesting would cease during these times. But today, farmed oysters are safe to eat all year long and they account for 95 percent of the world’s total oyster consumption.

CUESA: What oysters are best to eat during the summer months?

TS: We recommend grilling our small or medium Sweetwaters. They’re Pacific oysters, which means they’ll begin to spawn during the warmer water months, and that makes them fat and creamy, which is less appealing for a raw bar but phenomenally sweet and delicious for cooking. Because we farm in three distinct areas within Tomales Bay, we can always find some Pacific oysters that are great for eating raw in the summer, too — it just takes a little more work.

We are also beginning to harvest Kumamoto and Atlantic varieties, which we grow specifically because they are great to eat raw on the half shell all summer long.

CUESA: How do you like to eat your oysters?

TS: I enjoy the fresh simple flavors of Hog Island Oysters grilled “Farm Style” (from The Hog Island Oyster Lover's Cookbook: A Guide to Choosing and Savoring Oysters, Ten Speed Press, 2007).

 

Jess Goldman blogs at Sodium Girl.

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, July 3

Returning: The Apple Farm, Hunter Orchards, Critical Edge Knife Sharpening
Out: Arlequin, Lagier Ranches, Paoletti Farm (out for the year)

Tuesday, July 6

Returning: Shelly's Garden

Thursday, July 8

Out: Arlequin, G&S Farms

Returning and plentiful this month (weather willing):
Cherry tomatoes, peaches, nectarines, raspberries, ollalieberries, okra, figs, plums, field grown tomatoes, melons, dahlias, new potatoes, peanuts, romano beans, tomatillos, crabapples, grapes, summer squash, pluots, radishes, basil, sunflowers, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, Rocambole garlic, onions, lettuces, french and green beans, heirloom roses, corn
 
Winding down/limited supply:
Blueberries, hot house tomatoes, apricots, cherries, dates (new crop expected in early September), rhubarb

Value-added and vendor items not to be missed:
Red Cloud apricots in rose geranium syrup from June Taylor, honeycomb from Snyders Honey, cheddar andouille sausage from 4505 Meats, Rosa de Castillo beans from Rancho Gordo

Farms/fendors that may be returning this month (weather willing):
Woodleaf Farm, Hunter Orchards, Payne Family Farm

Featured Recipes for July:
Baked Pesto Zucchini with Squash Blossoms from Anne Gingrass of Brix Restaurant.

Fresh-Stretched Mozzarella With Marinated Summer Vegetables from Craig Stoll, Delfina

Tomato Peach Salad from Joyce Goldstein Author, Mediterranean Fresh (W.W. Norton, 2008)

Carlon Family Blueberry Pie from John Carlon, Sierra Cascade Blueberry Farm (June 14, 2008)

Cocktail ~ Midsummer Dream from Erick Castro, Chicago Fire (May 14, 2008)