Shopping and cooking from the farmers market helps you to reconnect with the seasons. As you look forward to asparagus in spring, savor sweet corn in summer, bake pumpkins in autumn, or delight in a variety of citrus in the winter, you reconnect with the earth, the weather, and the turning of the year.

Spring

March 20-June 21

Leafy greens like chard, arugula, and stinging nettles should each be in the market by the time spring begins. Winter citrus such as grapefruits, pomelos, and oranges will still be abundant though winding down as the weather gets warmer.

Asparagus will be over by the end of the season, with artichoke harvests dwindling—just a few coastal growers continue to have them leading into the summer.

Spring marks the first sign of summer produce—cherries and strawberries all begin as early as April, with a very brief apricot harvest following in May, and ending by June. Plums, apriums, and pluots all begin their harvest in May and June as well. Blueberries will make their way to the market by the very end of spring.

In June, hothouse and cherry tomatoes segue into their beefier summer counterparts, alongside beans, summer squash, lettuce, and basil harvests. The Allium family of onions, garlic, shallots, and leeks spring up at the beginning of the season, with garlic scapes and sweet Stockton red onions by late April. Dried onions are available year-round, but spring is the opportunity to get a hold of fresh ones right out of the ground. 

New potatoes begin to crop up around this time as well. Freshly dug from the field, these young taters have thinner skins than matured potatoes harvested later in the year. 

Fresh pastured eggs should become more plentiful, since hens unexposed to artificial light will produce more eggs as the days lengthen. Milk production will also increase, and some of the artisan cheese producers will reenter the market as milk supplies become more abundant. Local fish such as sardines, sand dabs, halibut, calamari, and black cod begin to become available.

Lamb meat arrives beginning in April/May, and extends until January/February.

Summer

June 22–September 21

Summer includes the explosion of over 75 different varieties of plums, peaches, and nectarines from our farmers, the sad end to the all-too-brief blueberry season, and the continuation of strawberry harvests into autumn. Other delectable summer fruit such as figs and melons begin in July, while autumn begins to creep into the season with apple, pear, and quince harvests beginning in August and September. Grapes will begin to replace the stone fruit harvest towards the end of summer as well.

All the herbs your heart desires will be available, running the gamut from anise hyssop, cilantro, sage, sorrel, chives, parsley, mint, lavender, and basil, to lemongrass and lemon verbena.

Just a few of the summer specialty vegetables entering the market include a variety of summer squash, cucumbers, bell peppers, green beans, and other members of the Nightshade family (potatoes, eggplant, and tomatillos). Corn begins in early June and will be available through September, while the barrage of Early Girl, Roma, and heirloom tomatoes quickly becomes delightfully inescapable early on in the season. 

Need meat for a barbeque? Available at the market are ground lamb and beef, tri-tip, London broil, and ribs.

Autumn

September 22–December 21

Lucky for those of us in California, as harvests peak, much of what was available during summer’s bounty will also bleed into most of fall. Tomatoes are still readily available until mid-November, as are potatoes and eggplants.

Melons will wind down soon, so get them while still available; and sadly, stone fruit is all but finished. Replacing them will be over 30 varieties of apples, such as Black Twigs, Pippins, Pink Ladies, Fujis, and Red Delicious. Related fruit—pears, Asian pears, and quince—will begin to make their appearance at the market; don’t miss the sweet pineapple guavas, also known as feijoas. Persimmons and pomegranates start in late September and pick up in October and November, when juicy citrus begins to dominate the market. 

Hard squash, a delicious harbinger of winter, will appear soon – Butternut, Kabocha, Pumpkin, Delicata, and Red Kuri are just a few of the varieties that will be abundant with cooler weather. Root vegetables such as parsnips, radishes, sweet potatoes, and beets will continue the march into winter, accompanied by broccoli, kale, collards, and cauliflower. 

Fall nut harvests mean the market will see fresh raw nuts in their shells, while the olive harvest in November will bring olio nuovo, a fresh, intense green olive oil available in the first few weeks after pressing. Chestnut harvests begin in October and last through the end of the year.

Petrale sole and halibut are in the market, with crab season opening mid November.

Winter

December 20–March 20

Winter is a well-deserved respite for many farmers, yet it holds just as much delicious produce as the rest of the seasons. 

Citrus in the form of kumquats, grapefruits, lemons, mandarins, and navel oranges dominate the fruit scene; supplemented by subtropical fruits from Southern California, like cherimoya, white guava, and kiwi. Though apples and Asian pears are no longer in their harvest season, they are available through winter thanks to cold storage. And of course, vendors will have dried versions of your favorite summer produce available year round.

Root vegetables like carrots, turnips, and rutabagas turn sweeter as the cold weather encourages starch to convert to sugar. Roast them up with winter squash or potatoes, which should also be available through the winter via cold storage. 

Cruciferous crops such as cauliflower, kohlrabi, romanesco, broccoli, and collards, thrive in the cool, wet, Californian winter, and are plentiful throughout the season.
Leafy salad greens, chicory, and arugula are milder in the winter months, and asparagus begins its run in the market by mid-February. 

Dungeness crab should still be available, but in limited quantities depending on how long the catch lasts. Eggs will be available throughout the season, but pastured hens lay fewer during the shorter days. Milk production also slows, so some vendors may not be at the market, though the aged cheese selection will still be diverse. 

Bulb flowers will begin to bloom in January. Look for narcissus, daffodils, tulips, and irises from our flower producers. 

Towards the end of winter, February’s green garlic and spring onions in March will begin the market’s transition back into spring.