Farmers' Market Holiday Cocktail Night ~ December 2

CUESA is teaming up with our local United States Bartenders' Guild (USBG) chapter again for a festive evening filled with seasonal farmers' market cocktails. $30 gets you two full-sized cocktails made with early winter produce and the distinctly American Jim Beam bourbon, along with samples of eight other holiday-inspired drinks featuring an array of specialty spirits. Bartenders from the following restaurants and bars will participate: 15 Romolo, Rickhouse, Bourbon & Branch, Butterfly, Lingba, Sauce, Jardinière, La Mar, Rose Pistola, and Seasons Bar at the Four Seasons San Francisco. Buy tickets >

Holiday Cocktail Class With Scott Beattie ~ December 5

Join Scott Beattie, author of Artisanal Cocktails, and Marko Karakasevics of Charbay Distillery for CUESA's next hands-on cocktail class. Beattie will talk about seasonal cocktails and teach the group how to make three winter citrus drinks from his book: the Meyer Beautiful (My, You’re Beautiful), the Pelo del Perro (Hair of the Dog), and the classic margarita. Instruction will include side recipes, garnish how-tos, foams, and rim sugars and salts. Drinks will feature Charbay’s small-batch spirits and fresh, seasonal fruit from the market. Scott’s acclaimed book will also be available to purchase. Buy tickets >

Bacon and Sausage Making Class ~ December 6

Learn to cure and smoke your own bacon and make three varieties of homemade sausage at Makin' Bacon2. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Slow Food Berkeley. Tastings will include several bacon recipes and a foursome of unique sausage recipes, including a special variety with ginger and sage. Learn more or buy tickets>

Farming and Climate Change Talk ~ December 3

This Marin Agricultural Land Trust discussion asks: Can farm and rangeland soils sequester greenhouse gasses and help stop global warming? The Marin Carbon Project is investigating whether certain management practices can make a difference. Lead scientist Dr. Whendee Silver of UC Berkeley will report on the results to date. MALT Executive Director Bob Berner will explain the value to local farmers. We’ll also hear from Project Director John Wick and rangeland expert Jeff Creque. Space is limited and pre-registration required. Location: Cavallo Point in Sausalito. Register here>

Complimentary Gift Wrapping at the Market ~ Dec 5-19

Every gift-giving season, we encourage our customers to do their holiday shopping at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Starting December 5, we're providing an extra motivation ― we'll wrap farmers' market gifts for you at no cost! Our gift-wrapping station will be set up at the information booth on December 5, 12 and 19 from 8:00 am to 12:30 pm. Volunteers will wrap your gifts in reusable brown paper bags or craft paper, and we'll provide gift tags as well as colorful ribbon to complete the festive look.

The Perfect Gift

The picky shopper, the market regular, the timid newbie: our farmers' market gift coins are just the thing for everyone on your list. For $25, you get 25 one-dollar tokens good at any seller's stand at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. They come pre-wrapped with a surprise treat from the market inside. Coins are available on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays all month at the information booth. Ferry Plaza Farmers Market tote bags and produce bags are also for sale at our information booth. Check out the Holiday Gifts section of our website for more farm fresh present ideas.

Saturday, November 28 ~ Market to Table

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Sarah Henkin, CUESA's market chef

Tuesday, December 1 ~ Food Wise Booth

12:00 - 1:00 pm - CUESA's market chef Sarah Henkin will be giving out recipe cards and samples of a simple meal made with market ingredients.

Saturday, December 5 ~ Market to Table

11:00 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Ivy Manning, author of The Adaptable Feast: Satisfying Meals for the Vegetarians, Vegans, and Omnivores at Your Table

11:45 am - Seasonal cooking demonstration
Amy Wisniewski & Christine Gallary of CHOW.com

A few years back, John Lagier and Casey Havre of Lagier Ranches were looking for a new way to control the weeds in their 20-acre organic cherry orchard. Fuel was getting expensive, and they had a problem with an invasive weed called Johnson grass.

After some research they arrived at surprising solution: geese. They learned that if they bought new goslings in the spring, they could keep them in the orchard throughout the summer and fall. The timing was perfect, because CCOF, the farm’s organic certifier, doesn't allow animals in the orchard for three months before the harvest. “We built a barn for them – and by the time they were old enough to go outside we were done picking the cherries,” says Casey.

That first year they bought 40 geese, experimented with multiple varieties, and settled on the Toulouse, a gentle French breed known for the quality of their meat. During the second year, they expanded the flock to meet the minimum requirements for the local slaughterhouse. Now — three years in — their plan is working well. When the geese are very young, Casey feeds them Johnson grass, dandelions, and other weeds she wants them to develop a taste for. “It’s almost Pavlovian,” she laughs.

Once they're in the orchard, the geese are kept inside a movable fence that allows them to cover new terrain every few days. And because the geese worry (tear at) the grass' roots, stunting the growth of each plant, John and Casey have also seen an overall reduction in weeds from year to year.

Geese grow rapidly and mature within six months. When they’re young they need a lot of nourishment fast, but they eat fewer weeds as they age. So, by the time the holidays roll around, the geese are less useful as weeders and John and Casey are ready to sell them for meat.

“If we kept them around, they’d become pets,” says Casey. "This way, it’s a nice little loop. The money we make in December offsets what we spend on the goslings in the spring, and the cost of the grain we feed the birds in the fall." John and Casey buy local wheat from Nigel Walker at Eatwell Farm and supplement it with some home-grown polenta corn. Another source of food for the geese is bolted (or flowering) puntarella stalks from Annabelle at La Tercera Farm. “When I walk in with puntarella, the geese go nuts,” she says. They also eat the dried cherries that are left in the orchard after harvest — which Casey believes makes their meat taste sweet.

“They’re also very smart, beautiful creatures,” Casey adds. “There’s a lot to them. They’re pretty enjoyable livestock and I spend a lot of time with them.” So when it’s time for the flock to visit the big pasture in the sky, she and John send them to a small processor in Stockton whom they trust to do the slaughter humanely. The geese are then air-dried and chilled at 31 degrees. "They're fresh but they have a thin crust of ice, so they last longer." she says.

This December, Lagier Ranches will have 250 fresh geese to offer for holiday meals. Between the farmers' market and their restaurant clients — everyone from Chez Panisse to Roli Roti — Casey's not worried about moving them. She’s already gotten some repeat orders from people who enjoyed them last year.

They also keep a small number of their geese to eat over the winter. Casey says she uses a lot of cherries in the baking process – whether it’s cherry syrup or dried cherries in the stuffing. “I feel like since they grew up in a cherry orchard, it somehow demands it,” she says.

To order a goose, stop by the Lagier Ranches booth any of the next few Saturdays or Thursdays. The birds will be available for pick-up starting December 19th.

Casey's Goose-Roasting Tips

1. Place an apple or two in the cavity as well as at the other end; it helps to keep the stuffing in and imparts a subtle flavor.

2. If you want the goose to look glossy, spread a thin layer of honey on the surface (I use my quince jelly) for the last 15 minutes of roasting.

3. For an unusual stuffing, use rye bread pieces and add crushed juniper berries to the mixture.

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 28

In: Double K Christmas Trees

Out: Apple Farm, Bernard Ranch, Brooks & Daughters' Sprouts, Critical Edge, Everything Under the Sun, Fatted Calf, Flatland Flower Farm, Glashoff's Farms, Happy Quail Farms, Hog Island Oyster Company, Knoll Farms, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese, Shogun Seafood, Ridgecut Gristmills
Out for the Season: Balakian Farms, Peach Farm

Tuesday, December 1

No Changes

Thursday, December 3

No Changes

Returning and plentiful this month (weather willing):
Chicories, rutabagas, hard squash, persimmons, carrots, Meyer lemons, nettles, radishes, collard greens, sunchokes, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, rapini, baby lettuces, cardoons, puntarella, radicchio, sweet potatoes, leeks, fennel, cabbage, salsify, mushrooms, walnuts, citrus, potatoes, pastured chicken, braising greens, pomegranates, apples, pears, onions

Winding down/limited supply:
Dungeness crab, Christmas trees (end of November through mid December), berries, pastured eggs, tomatoes, peppers, grapes

Vendor and value-added items not to be missed:
Olive oil from Bariani, vegetarian mincemeat from June Taylor, celery salt from Allstar Organics

Featured recipes for November

Golden Beet Borscht with Dill Crème Fraîche from Cindy Pawlcyn of Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen, Go Fish, and Mustards Grill and author of Cindy Pawlcyn’s Appetizers

Persimmon, Arugula, Fennel, and Pecorino Salad inspired by Taylor Boetticher, of Fatted Calf

Capunet-Piemontese Cabbage Rolls from Staffan Terje of Perbacco

Croustade with Apples and Prunes in Armagnac from Paula Wolfert, author of The Cooking of Southwest France