Holiday pie party ~ November 22

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, CUESA will be hosting a pie extravaganza. There will be two pie-making demos; mini pies for sale (lemon, apple and date-pecan); and a crust display with handy how-to directions. We will also be collecting favorite pie recipes from the farmers in our market to share.

Give thanks for food grown nearby

Planning to make your special meal as local as possible? Check out the 100 Mile Diet local Thanksgiving page for inspiration. The Consumers Union is also asking sustainability-conscious cooks to pledge to make at least one of their T-day meals with local ingredients. They've also collected recipes for local holiday dishes by celebrity chefs Alice Waters, Dan Barber and Mario Batali here. If you're in th emarket for a local heritage turkey, Prather Ranch still has some of their smaller birds available for order.

Swanton Berry Farm benefit for Farms Not Arms ~ November 15

Enjoy a special dinner at Swanton Berry Farm benefiting Farms not Arms and the Farmer Veteran Coalition. All funds raised will go to help recent Iraq and Afghanistan war vets become organic farmers. Tickets are $75 and seating is limited so reserve your spot today.

Local food panel discussion ~ November 20

A free panel discussion at UC Berkeley, Closer to Home: Eating from Local Foodsheds will investigate the opportunities and challenges of eating locally grown food from the perspectives of public health, food access, school food service, and regional farmland vitality. Speakers include: Ann Cooper, Director of Nutrition Services, Berkeley Unified School District; Paula Jones, Director of San Francisco Food Systems, San Francisco Department of Public Health; Jeremy Madsen, Executive Director of Greenbelt Alliance; Kimi Watkins-Tartt, Director of Community Health Services, Alameda County Public Health Department. Learn more >

Food safety teach-in ~ November 20

The Wild Farm Alliance presents Food Safety Gone Astray: The Misguided War on Wildlife, an all day teach-in for media, decision makers, and stakeholders. Speakers will present the latest research on critical US food safety issues since the 2006 E.coli outbreak in spinach. They will also reveal how agribusiness practices conducted in the name of “food safety” may in fact be counterproductive to keeping our food safe. Guests include Robert S. Lawrence, MD, Director of the Center for a Livable Future/Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Andrew Kimbrell, Director of the Center for Food Safety; and Dave Runsten, Director of Community Alliance with Family Farmers. Learn more or register here >

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

Saturday, November 15 ~ Market to Table

10:30 am - Meet the seller
Thomas Odermatt of Roli Roti Interviewed by Jennifer Maiser of the Eat Local Challenge and Life Begins at 30.

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Carlo Middione of Vivande Porte Via and author of Panini and Pasta

11:45 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Mark Gordon of Terzo

Saturday, November 22 ~ Holiday Pie Party

10 am - 1 pm - Pies for sale and crust-making display.

10:30 am - Meet the farmer
John Lagier, Lagier Ranches

11:15 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Laura Werlin, author of Laura Werlin's Cheese Esssentials

12:00 pm - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Marc Vogel, chef and author of The Perfect Holiday Meals

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

David Retsky is in rare company these days. The greens grower, whose farm County Line Harvest began selling in the Tuesday market this week, is young but by no means is he green. He started his farm in 2000, at the age of 29, after attending the UC Santa Cruz Farm and Garden Apprenticeship Program and working for various organic farmers around the country.  

From the beginning, County Line Harvest has been in prime greens territory. “The salty air and cool nights seem to make the lettuce sweeter.” says Retsky. The original farm property sat on the line between Marin and Sonoma Counties (the inspiration for the farm’s name), but Retsky moved the operation a few miles south two years ago.

In the summer, County Line specializes in crops like salad greens, baby summer squash and basils; in the winter, it’s known for its chicories, braising mixes, fennel, and cippolini onions, to name a few. The farm is in year-round production, and to ensure the health of the soil Retsky says that around 25 percent of its 28 acres tends to be in cover crops at any given point. Restky has a crew of permanent part-time workers and he takes on a rotating series of young interns, whom he hopes to inspire to begin farming one day themselves. But doing so is much easier said than done, he says, when interns rarely stay for longer than 2-3 months.

“A lot of folks in our generation were not raised to do physical manual labor,” says Retsky. “It’s one thing to sit in a classroom and learn about sustainable agriculture, and it’s a whole other thing to be in the moment and do it in the heat or at 5:30 in the morning when your fingers are cold, your clothes are getting wet and you’re hungry.” For this farmer, however, the rewards are as clear as the blue Marin sky.  

“I always remember a saying that went something like ‘the best fertilizer in the field is the footsteps of the farmer.’ I believe that and I just walk through my fields whenever I can; I’m still amazed when I see things germinate!”

Like many farms started within the last decade, County Line Harvest relies on leased land. The Petaluma property was just put into an easement with the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, which means that the landowner has agreed not to develop it in residential or commercial ways that would lower its agricultural value. As a renter, Retsky is at least somewhat reassured by the easement. "I like knowing that the business could go on in 10 years, and I’ll have some security," he says. "Or if I want to do something else at that point, I could pass it along to someone who wants to farm here.” 

County Line sells produce at the Marin Farmers’ Market, the Berkeley Farmers' Market, and the Oakland Grand Lake Market and Retsky says he’s excited to begin reaching San Francisco shoppers. “It’s encouraging to get into the Ferry Plaza,” he adds. "I’ve wanted to sell here for eight years.”     

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, November 15

In/returning: Capay Canyon Ranch, Elston Family Farm, Hunter Orchards, Olsen Organic Farm
Out (for the season): Brokaw Nursery, Flatland Flower Farm, White Crane Springs Ranch

Tuesday, November 18

In: County Line Harvest
Out: Happy Quail Farms

Returning, Plentiful and/or at their peak this month (weather willing): raw olives, chestnuts, rutabagas, dates, apples, turnips, winter squash, artichokes, pomegranates, carrots, Meyer lemons, grapefruit, oranges, radishes, Brussels sprouts, grapes, broccoli, rapini, persimmons, limes, lettuces, potatoes, cardoons, puntarella, radicchio, sweet potatoes, leeks, fennel, cabbage, kiwi, chicories, Christmas trees, salsify, mushrooms, walnuts, clementines

Winding down/limited supply: basil, berries, tomatoes, plums, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, dahlias, pastured eggs (production will be slowing down), pears and apples (many varieties of both these fruits will still be available from cold storage throughout the winter)

Farms/Vendors that may be returning this month (weather willing): Olsen Organic Farms, Double K Christmas Tree Farms

Vendor and value added farm products not to be missed: Smoked cider-brined pork chops from Fatted Calf; French plum, mustard seed and onion chutney from The Apple Farm; organic almond butter from Massa Organics

Featured recipes for November:

Potato Cress Soup from Sarah Henkin, CUESA’s Market Chef

Roasted Leg of Lamb With Garlic, Anchovies and Rosemary from Fabrice Marcon, Mistral Rotisserie

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, adapted from Recipes from Bon Appetit-Too Busy to Cook, Volume Two (Knapp, 1981)

Featured cocktail recipe:
Kentucky Pilgrim, H. Joseph Ehrmann, Square One Vodka