It's Our Week! ~ August 1-7

National Farmers Market Week starts this Sunday. If you haven't been to the market recently, it's a great time to come down and get reacquainted! Even the bigwigs in Washington support farmers markets. Check out this year's National Farmers Market Week proclamation by Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Taste Catering Benefit for CUESA ~ August 11

Taste Catering is celebrating the unveiling of its own "Taste" tomato with a dinner benefiting CUESA. This flavorful new tomato is a combination of the Maglia Rosa and Zucchero varieties and will be served as part of a three-course meal at Macy's Cellar on Wednesday, August 11. See the menu.

Taste Catering Booth in the Market ~ Starts Thursday

Speaking of Taste Catering and tomatoes, the company's executive chef, Chris Borges, will be a serving a summery array of tomato-based lunch options in the Thursday market. Starting this week and running through September 2, the seasonal booth will feature chilled tomato soup with grilled cheese; a tomato, squash and chevre tart; and a fresh Greek salad with Knoll Farms grape leaf dolmas, among other tasty things.

 

Paul Greenberg, author of Four Fish at Book Passage ~ August 6

Award-winning journalist Paul Greenberg presents Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food. Greenberg takes us on a culinary journey from Norwegian mega fish farms to the South Pacific, exploring the history of the fish that dominate our menus—salmon, sea bass, cod, and tuna—and examines where each stands at this critical moment in time. The reading takes place at Book Passage in the Ferry Building at begins at 6:00 pm.

Alice Waters and Davia Nelson in Conversation ~ August 7

Join Marin Organic for a lively conversation between two luminaries of the food world. Alice Waters has been a champion of the sustainable, local cooking movement for decades and is the author of several books, including the latest, In the Green Kitchen: Techniques to Learn by Heart. Davia Nelson is part of the award winning NPR production duo The Kitchen Sisters and co-author of Hidden Kitchens: Stories, Recipes and More. There is also a pre-event dinner and reception at Toby's Feed Barn prepared by Osteria Stellina. Learn more.

Congratulations Devoto Gardens!

Last fall, we reported on Stan Devoto's transition to organic. This week, Devoto Gardens became a certified organic farm. Nice work, folks!

Peach Sale ~ August 14

On your marks, get set, can! Stop by the Bella Viva Orchards stand in the market on August 14th and you'll get a lot of yellow peaches for your dollars (twice as many, in fact). Be there or be... sad in January when you don't have home-canned local peaches to eat for breakfast!

Get 10% off admission to the Bioneers Conference

Bioneers—a leading source of breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet—presents its 21st annual conference on October 15-17, 2010. This premiere environmental conference features social and scientific innovators who share new ideas and tools that enable people to catalyze positive change in their own communities. This year's conference will feature farmer and author Michael Ableman, filmmaker Deborah Koons Garcia, and Stonyfield Farms "CE-Yo" Gary Hirshberg, among others. To save 10% off of nonmember prices, just use coupon code CUESA10 while registering. (Offer is valid on theater tickets for one, two, or three days and expires August 31.)

Reminder: Bike Valet is Up and Running

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition provides complimentary secure valet bike parking during the Saturday market in Harry Bridges Plaza across from the Ferry Building (off to the right, as you approach the Embarcadero from market Street). There are still many farmers market customers parking their bikes near the building. Theft is fairly common in the area, so we thought we'd remind everyone that the bike valet area has a staff person on site at all times, making it a safer place to park your wheels while you shop!

Saturday, July 31 ~ Market to Table

11:45 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration and book signing
Jennie Schacht, author of Farmers Market Desserts

Tuesday, August 3 ~ Food Wise Booth

12:30 - 'til whenever the food runs out - 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, August 7 ~ Market to Table

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration and book signing
Nan Chase, author of Eat Your Yard: Edible Trees, Shrubs, Vines, Herbs, and Flowers For Your Landscape

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

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, and test your stone fruit knowledge. Answers the following questions correctly and your name will be entered into a drawing for $10 in Ferry Plaza Farmers Market gift coins — enough to buy your own sampling of stone fruit from the market! We'll publish the answers in next week's e-letter. Send your answers here.

1. What is a “cling peach”?

1. a peach canned with syrup
2. a peach with a pit that clings to the flesh
3. a peach with extra fuzz, meaning it clings to other peaches easily
4. none of the above

2. Which of the following factors tend to make a peach bought at a farmers market taste so better than one from a grocery store?

1. It was picked ripe, not green
2. It traveled in more protective packaging
3. It is pesticide free
4. All of the above

3. A nectarine:

1. Comes from a different species of tree than a peach does, but is in the same family.
2. Is essentially a peach without fuzz
3. Is botanically unrelated to a peach
4. none of the above

4. Which of the following factors can make for a bland peach?

1. Too much irrigation at the time of harvest
2. Too much nitrogen in the soil
3. Soil that has too much weed cover
4. All of the above

5. Donut peaches are also known as:

1. Rings-of-Saturn peaches
2. Almond peaches
3. Saturn peaches
4. Flat Peaches

6. Apriums are bred from:

1. equal parts, plum, nectarine, and apricot
2. 50% plum and 50% apricot
3. 25% plum and 75% apricot
4. unrelated to other stone fruit, but similar in name

7. Which variety of pluot is also called a “Dinosaur Egg”?

1. Flavor Rosa
2. Flavor Supreme
3. Early Dapple
4. Dapple Dandy

8. Which state produces the most peaches?

1. California
2. Georgia
3. South Carolina
4. Tennessee

9. Which of the following is not made using plums?

1. Umeboshi
2. Li Hing Mui ("Crack Seed")
3. Lekvar
4. Sake

10. Name a vendor in the ferry Plaza Farmers market who sells French prune plums.

Extra credit: What is your favorite stone fruit variety?

Market Update

Seasonality Synopsis for July