In this Issue What`s in Season - Pacific Coast Farmers` Market

A Publication of Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association
May 2015
Market Thymes
In This Issue
•
May Days at the Market
•
Sweet California Cherries
•
Fava Beans
•
Spring Flavors in a Jar
•
May Recipes
•
Baby Root Vegetables
•
California Avocados
•
A New Vision for PCFMA
Cherries from Lujan Farms
May Days at the Market
What’s in Season
Cherries, blueberries, fava beans, peas, and other late spring fruits
and vegetables are now at your farmers’ market. Even with the
continuing California drought, the produce is still amazing.
Fruit: Apricots, cherries,
blackberries, blueberries,
nectarines, oranges, peaches,
raspberries, strawberries.
•
Right now, avocados are at their best, from Sir Prize and Fuerte
to Hass and other varieties. Spring baby vegetable are here, full
of flavor and texture. Berries are plentiful - plump blueberries,
strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. Fava beans, English
peas, snap peas, spring onions, artichokes, and lettuce cover the
farmers’ market tables in green. Fresh herbs like basil, cilantro,
and rosemary are appearing.
•
Capture the flavors of spring by canning some pickled
asparagus or baby onions; make some cherry or berry jam; or
even make your own giardiniera (pickled carrots, cauliflower,
celery). You’ll enjoy spring all over in the coming months.
•
A new mission and vision statement sustains PCFMA’s core
commitment to California farmers and their ultimate success.
Find out more on the back page.
Vegetables: Artichokes,
asparagus, beets, bok choy,
broccoli, cabbage, carrots,
cauliflower, celery, celeriac,
chard, garlic, endive, fava
beans, herbs, kale, kohlrabi,
leeks, lettuce, mushrooms,
onions, parsnips, peas, potatoes,
radishes, spinach, summer
squash, sweet potatoes, turnips.
Other Market Products: Cut
flowers, dried fruits and nuts,
pure local honey, olive oils and
balsamic vinegars, bakery items,
hot gourmet foods.
Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association
Our Mission: We empower California farmers to be enormously
successful in Bay Area communities.
Sweet California Cherries
Fresh sweet cherries have come to the farmers’ market. The season is typically very short, early May to the
end of June, so enjoy them now while they’re in season. California is home to over 600 cherry growers,
farming over 26,000 acres throughout the state where nutrient-rich soil, sunny days and mild nights.
California grows mostly sweet cherries as opposed to tart or sour cherries grown in Michigan and the Pacific
Northwest states, with Bing cherries having the most acreage. But small farmers grow a nice variety of other
cherries with subtle taste differences, varieties that you won’t see in any supermarket! They come from
Brentwood, Lodi, Stockton, Linden, down towards Gilroy and Hollister, and other northern California valleys.
Try a bag of each and see which ones you like the best!
Bing cherries are the leading sweet cherry. They are firm,
juicy, large, and a deep mahogany red when ripe. They have
a distinctive heart shape. Bings are intensely sweet, with a
vibrant flavor.
Rainier cherries are yellow inside and out, with just a bit of red
blush on them, quite large, sweet and firm.
Burlat cherries are an early variety, arriving in the markets in
May, and have a mild sweet flavor. It is a large, meaty cherry,
great for snacking.
Brooks cherries are a large, uniform, dark red fruit. Flesh is
firm and crisp with variable shades of red and pink. The stone
is nearly free. This cherry works well for canning and baking.
Fava Beans
Spring Flavors in a Jar
Young fava beans are perfect right now. Shelling
them can be time consuming but worth the
effort for the delicious beans inside.
This is a great time of year to do a little canning
and preserving. Get out the big canning pot,
some jars, and lots of fresh spring produce and
you’re ready to preserve some of spring’s best
fruits and vegetables.
First, bring a pot of water to a boil before you
start opening the pods. Break open the bean
pods. Sometimes you can slide your finger along
one side, opening the seam as you would a
zipper, but other times you just have to break
the pod apart in pieces.
Once the water is boiling, blanch the favas in the
boiling water for one minute, then scoop them
out and plunge them into a bowl of ice water.
This will loosen the skins for easier removal.
Favas have one wider, slightly flattened end with
a scar where it was attached to the shell. Grasp
the fava between your fingers with the scar
facing up, and with the thumbnail of your other
hand, tear into the scar end and peel back. Pinch
gently and the fava will slide out.
These early spring favas do not need the skin
surrounding the bean removed. Later in the
season you will want to
peel off the membrane
from older favas for a
milder flavor.
How about a nice
chianti with your favas?
You can make yummy cherry jam, but how about
a twist on the old jam recipe and make some
blueberry coriander jam? Or strawberry peach
spread? Or apricot basil jam? Preserve fresh
Blenheim apricot halves or can some cherry pie
filling.
Pickling is an easy way to preserve spring
veggies. Asparagus lends itself well to pickling.
Make your own pickled pearl onions or garlicky
mushrooms. Pickling cucumbers should be
arriving soon for your own dill pickles. Green
beans are easy to pickle, too.
PCFMA will be offering canning demonstrations
this summer. Sara Haston of PCFMA’s Cookin’
the Market will be at the following locations with
interesting canning recipes, tips and tricks:
May 5th:
Concord
Farmers’ Market.
June 7th &
July 5th: Jack
London Square
Farmers’ Market.
New Year Ahead
May Recipes
Roasted Baby Spring
Vegetables
Braised Young Favas
• 1 large bunch baby carrots,
cleaned, trimmed, and cut
lengthwise
• 12 to 14 pearl onions, peeled, left
whole
• 6 baby zucchini, trimmed and
sliced lengthwise
• 6 baby yellow squash, trimmed
and sliced lengthwise
• 6 fingerling potatoes, washed,
cut lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin
olive oil
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400°F. Clean,
trim and cut all vegetables. In a
large bowl toss all vegetables with
olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Line a baking sheet with foil. Add
vegetables and spread into single
layer. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes,
or until vegetables are tender and
slightly browned.
•2
tablespoons quality olive oil
• 2 whole cloves of garlic, crushed
and with its jacket still on
(prevents burning.)
• 1 pound young small favas,
cleaned of stems and stringy
pieces
• Kosher salt and freshly ground
black pepper to taste
• Lemon juice to taste
• Cup of water
Starting with a cold sauté pan,
slowly bloom the garlic gloves in
olive oil. Add salt and sauté the
garlic, until fragrant. Add fava
pods, a splash of lemon juice,
water, and season to taste with
salt and pepper. Bring to a
simmer, cover and cook for 2030 minutes.
Check for done-ness after 15
minutes. Add additional lemon
juice and zest if you’d like.
Transfer to a warmed plate.
Recipe: Cookin’ the Market Chef Mario Ishii Hernandez
Recipe: Debra Morris, PCFMA
The PCFMA Garden is Growing Again
In mid-April we began growing our spring-into-summer PCFMA Garden.
Gophers were a problem this past winter so we built planter boxes and
filled them with good organic soil.
Seed trays were started with peas and radishes. Starter herbs like
basil, purslane, thyme, sage, and cilantro were transplanted to one box.
Lettuce, mizuna, and arugula took over the other box. And droughtresistant flowers like lavender and salvias were planted around the
edges to add color. Tomatoes, squash,
and peppers will be planted as the
season progresses.
Keeping California’s Category 4
drought in mind, usable waste water is
used whenever possible and mulch will
be used to hold moisture. We’ll keep
you updated on our garden project
throughout the year.
Baby Vegetables
Baby vegetables from
artichokes to zucchinis are
adorable, delicate in texture
and bursting in flavor. Crazy
sweet and delicious raw
baby carrots from Happy
Boy Farms easily double in
size within a few weeks. The
crunchy, super mild baby
French breakfast radishes
from Fifth Crow Farm turn
slightly hotter as the season
goes by. Also, the thumb size
yellow summer squash will
grow to be the size of a small
baseball bat in the span of a
month or so. Nature moves
fast, real fast.
We at Cookin’ the Market
enjoy and respect the subtle
changes in taste, texture and
size that the season brings
and we are thrilled to see
this wonderful produce at
our local farmers’ markets,
courtesy of all the hard
working farms who bring to
us the best California has to
offer.
A New Vision for PCFMA
For over 25 years the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association has
been organizing farmers’ markets in the San Francisco Bay Area
to help California farmers sell their products and sustain their farm
businesses.
Pacific Coast
Farmers’ Market Association
5060 Commercial Circle, Suite A
Concord, CA 94520
925.825.9090, Fax 925.825.9101
www.pcfma.com
Board of Directors
Patrick Fabian
President
Shelly McMahon
Vice President
Mike Billigmeier
Secretary
Leonard Conniff
Treasurer
Narsai David
President Emeritus
John Paul Barbagelata
Al Courchesne
Steve Fernandes
Vidal M. Navarro
Les Portello
Phil Rhodes
PCFMA Staff
Allen Moy, Executive Director
Vanessa Bonilla
Chantal Boyer
Cody Brooks
Laura deTar
Jennifer Diggs
Thomas Dorn
Jessica Echols
Emily Finkel
Stephanie Hadsell
Dimitri Hagnéré
Sara Haston
Mario Hernandez
Maureen Hovda
Ron Jackson
Jeff Jelsma
Jessica Jenkins
Sarah Kagan
Pat Lane
Travis Lee
Shawn Lipetzky
AJ Mahon
Sarah Maze
Douglas Mena
Moises Mena
Jessica Millender
Debra Morris
Eden Olsen
Ben Palazzolo
Tomas Pascual
Michael Peterson
Alyssia Plata
Sameer Poudyal
Greg Pursley
Leah Ricci
Brian Roberts
Stefan Robinson
Maria Rodriguez
Laura Salcido
Leah Smith
Chong Thao
Ramiro Tovar
Ron Ulrici
Jorge Vega
Keith Wall
Eric Winkler
Editor: Debra J. Morris
Comments, suggestions:
debramorris@pcfma.com
When a small group of farmers first got together in 1988 to form
PCFMA they never imagined that one day their customers would
be able to order fresh produce through their computer for home
delivery, that major healthcare and educational institutions would
have an interest in buying locally-grown food, or that Central Valley
farmers would need to drill wells 100 feet down to have enough
water to sustain their crops.
Earlier this year the PCFMA Board of Directors challenged itself to
think creatively about how PCFMA can continue to evolve to meet
the changing needs of local farmers while adapting to the changing
local food system. Despite the evident challenges of the drought
and increasing agricultural imports to the state, the PCFMA Board
remains committed to an optimistic vision for California: “We
envision happy and successful California farmers providing locallygrown food in vibrant markets.”
To pursue this vision the Board also crafted a new mission
statement: “We empower California farmers to be enormously
successful in Bay Area communities.” The new mission statement,
while simpler than the previous one, sustains PCFMA’s core
commitment to California farmers and their ultimate success.
Over the coming months the PCFMA Board of Directors and staff
will continue to engage in a strategic planning process to ensure
that PCFMA is well-positioned to adapt to changes in the food
system, the regulatory environment, and the state’s growing
conditions. This strategic plan will ensure that PCFMA is able to
continue to be a leader in California’s agricultural direct marketing
system.
California Avocados
The California avocado harvest is well underway. Beginning in April,
the harvest brings us the creamy Hass avocado, while the Sir Prize
avocado is slowly tapering off.
There are hundreds of types of avocados, but seven avocado
varieties are grown commercially in California. The Hass variety
accounts for approximately 95 percent of the total crop each year
– which runs from Spring to Fall. The Hass avocado (yes, Hass,
not Haas) is named after Rudolph Hass, a California postman who
patented the Hass avocado in 1935. The Hass is the leading variety
of California Avocado and has an excellent shelf life.
Other varieties found in California are the Sir Prize, Fuerte, the
Bacon, the Pinkerton, and Gwen, and the Zutano.
Avocados are a “good fat” and provide nearly 20 essential nutrients,
including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E,
B-vitamins and folic acid. They also act as a
“nutrient booster” by enabling the body to
absorb more fat-soluble nutrients, such as
alpha and beta-carotene and lutein, in foods
that are eaten with the fruit.