Tomato festival ~ Saturday, August 2

Colorful, versatile, robust—what's not to love about the tomato? Come celebrate this summer favorite at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market. Programs include an interview with tomato grower Karen Lucero of Lucero Organic Farms (10:30 am); a demonstration of two tomato-centric salad recipes by Joyce Goldstein, acclaimed author of Mediterranean Fresh and other cookbooks (11 am); and a tasting booth where you can compare diverse tomato varieties side by side (10 to 1).

Epicurious.com at the market

Epicurious.com, the website for people who love to eat, will be our special guest at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market on Tuesday, July 22 and Saturday, July 26. San Francisco is the first stop on thir cross-country tour of 5 leading farmers' markets. They will host a special educational display in our market where visitors can browse online menus and recipes that showcase seasonal fruits and vegetables. They will also have recipes created especially for our region featuring products from growers in our markets. Stop by and register at www.epicurious.com to get a free tote bag filled with recipe cards.

Market tapas cooking class this Wednesday evening

Learn to shop and cook with the seasons in a festive atmosphere. The first in our series of hands-on farmers’ market cooking classes, produced in partnership with Parties That Cook, is set for Wednesday, July 23 from 6-8 pm. The menu for this class includes: Shrimp Quesadillas with Tomatillo Salsa; Cornbread Tartlets with Ricotta and Heirloom Tomatoes; Moroccan Bisteeya Baskets Filled with Chicken, Raisins and Cinnamon; Crostini of Goat Cheese, Avocado and Lemon; and Mini Sliders with Smoky Cheddar. Visit the Parties that Cook website > to register for this class ($45 per person) and preview the menus for the remaining classes. All classes take place in CUESA's Dacor kitchen.

Waste Wise tip of the week #9

If you do take a plastic bag, get as many uses out of it possible; for example: 1) wash and reuse it at next week's market 2) use it to line your home waste basket or 3) use it to pick up pet waste.
Suggest a Waste Wise tip >

Waste Wise volunteers are needed every Tuesday and Saturday at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. E-mail ashleigh@cuesa.org for details.

Saturday, July 19 ~ Market to Table

10:30 am - Farmhouse cooks
Nancy Gammons of Four Sisters Farm will be interviewed about her farm by CUESA volunteer Moe Beitiks. She will also demonstrate a favorite recipe. Nancy and her husband purchased a plot of land in Aromas and began farming in 1977. Their approach to farming has always been organic and ecological...MORE >

Saturday, July 26 ~ Market to Table

10:30 am - Meet the producer

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Mauro Pando of Grand Café

10:00 am - 1:00 pm - Culinary information station
Featured food: aromatic herbs

11:45 am - Cooking demonstration and book signing
Dana Jacobi, author of The Essential Best Foods Cookbook

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

Melons, stone fruit, shell beans, basil. And who could forget the tomatoes? July might just be the hardest time of year to pick a favorite farmers' market food. But it is the best time to start a job at CUESA.

As the new Visual and Virtual Education Manager, I am thrilled by the opportunity to create this weekly e-letter and continue making our website an important tool for understanding sustainable agriculture. It’s an honor and a responsibility I’m proud to accept and one that feels a bit like a homecoming.

My first name, Twilight, hints at my family story. I was raised by back-to-the-lander parents who set off in the 1970s to grow their own food. Many of my early years were spent on a tiny organic coffee farm in Kona, Hawaii. Weeding the vegetable garden and picking coffee were non-negotiables in our household. It was hard work, but it instilled in me a deep curiosity about the precise origins of everything I eat. Today, over three decades later, I identify with the larger movement to connect the lessons of my parents’ time to today’s complex world of peak oil, climate change, and rising food costs.

My path to CUESA started with a journalism degree from Antioch College in Yellow Spring, OH. Then I spent a decade working as a web editor and publications manager for several nonprofit and independent media organizations here in the Bay Area. Recently, I’ve turned my attention back to food, with an eye toward larger cultural and environmental trends, as a writer for sources such as Culinate.com, Meatpaper, and Edible San Francisco.

I see my role at CUESA as an important one as the quest for safe, just, and environmentally sound food becomes one of the most vital issues of our time. I’m excited to be addressing readers rising to the challenge to create a more sustainable food system. In other words, you know that what we eat is precious. Not necessarily scarce or costly (although some of it can be those things too), but well worth our time and attention. Something to bring home, savor and share, just like the month of July.

Sincerely,
Twilight Greenaway

Do you have an idea for a story you’d like to see in the e-letter? Send it to me here >

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 19

In/returning: Apple Farm, Juniper Ridge
Out: Bernard Ranches, Knoll Farms

Tuesday, July 22

Out: Critical Edge

Returning this month (weather willing): Okra, figs, plums, field-grown tomatoes, melons, dahlias, new potatoes, peanuts, shelling and Romano beans, tomatillos, crabapples, grapes

Plentiful: Summer squash, nectarines, peaches, pluots, radishes, basil, sunflowers, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, garlic, onions, lettuces, French and green beans

Winding down/limited supply: Hot house tomatoes, apricots, cherries, blueberries, dates (they will return in September), rhubarb

Farms that may be coming in this month (weather willing): Little Organic Farm, Hunter Orchards, Short Night Farm, Payne Family Farm

Seasonal vendor items not to be missed: Albacore tuna lox sandwiches from Cap’n Mike’s, strawberry rhubarb fruit turnovers from Downtown Bakery, picnic hams from Fatted Calf, fresh boysenberry yogurt from St. Benoit Yogurt

Recipes for July

Cocktail ~ Midsummer Dream from Erick Castro, Chicago Fire

Fresh Fig and Green Tomato Salad with Basil from cookbook author Marie Simmons

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

Peach Melba from cookbook author Jeff Cox