On Wednesday at noon, the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market ends its nearly four-decade long run in the east parking lot of the Santa Rosa Veterans Building, located at the corner of Brookwood and Maple Ave., across from the fairgrounds.
The Wednesday market opens, as it always has, at 8:30 a.m. Participating vendors include DeSantis Farms, with an array of familiar and rare citrus and other fruits; Schetelwitz Family Farm, which has the season’s first apricots, nectarines and plums; Bohemian Well Being Farm, with specialty mushrooms; Ortiz Farm, with a huge array of seasonal vegetables and flowers; Armstrong Valley Farm, with beautiful lettuces, eggs, potatoes and more; Hector Alvarez, with honey, garlic, dried chiles, fresh favas and more, and Ridgeview Farm, with delicate French breakfast radishes, beautiful lettuces, arugula and fresh bouquets.
Triple T Farm attends, too, and they currently have plant starts, fresh herbs, lettuce, favas and eggs.
Neufeld Farms has dried fruits and nuts.
Min-Hee Hill Farm of Sebastopol is harvesting gorgeous lettuces right now and may have other mid-spring crops, including plant starts.
Skyview Nursery has a lot of plant starts, including tomatoes.
Mi Fiesta has tamales, enchiladas, tortillas and salsas to take home and tamales to enjoy on the spot.
Full Circle Baking provides bread, Santa Rosa Seafood is the fish vendor, Edgeworks will sharpen your knives while you shop and if you need caffeine, there’s plenty to be had from Run Around Brew.
Each of the farmers attending this market will likely have more than I’ve been able to list here. Because of an early-morning all-day commitment, I was not able to attend the Saturday market and the season’s harvest is now coming on so fast that, when you miss a day, you often miss the start of yet another spring crop. We’ve gone over a watershed, harvest-wise. Even a few weeks ago, it felt like “c’mon, spring, hurry up.” Now it’s happening so fast it’s hard to keep up. This is a good thing: The abundant season has arrived.
As of this Saturday, May 19, the market has new digs in the southeast parking lot of the former Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, or LBC, as many locals still call the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts (50 Mark West Springs Rd., Santa Rosa). The hours, 8:30 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays and 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays, will remain the same, with market manager Paula Downing at the helm.
There’s a lot of conflicting information about the reasons for the change in location. Lesley Brabyn of Salmon Creek Ranch spoke about the issue on my radio show, Mouthful, on April 29. Lesley is the media spokesperson for the market and you can listen to my interview with her here.
Kathy
I’ve become excited about the move, even though at first I was quite downhearted about it. But there was a lot of buzz about it at the market last Saturday, and my quick survey of the vendors suggests nearly all are making the move. That’s a relief to me. I think, in a weird way, all this controversy is revitalizing the Original SR market I’ve been shopping there 22 years so I really count on my favorite vendors!
I know what you mean about the season coming on fast. I missed the previous week so was happily surprised to find peaches and apricots–small but flavorful. And cherries! That always signals summer has come when the cherries arrive.
May 15th, 2012 3:57 pm
Franco Dunn
Spring is here! I ate my first pound of cherries over this last weekend! Dominique should be making some great fruit pies about now. In less than two week it will be Memorial Day Weekend and the official opening of the Barbecue Season! Life is real good.
May 15th, 2012 4:01 pm
MicheleAnna.Jordan
I ate my first pound of cherries, too, Franco. Garrett variety, from the Sebastopol farmers market. So very good.
May 15th, 2012 4:05 pm
clark
I’m so looking forward to welcoming this wonderful market closer to the travel core. For those of us very West it’s a boon and I love that the new spot is welcoming to these hardworking and dear farmers. Can’t wait for this Saturday!
May 15th, 2012 7:10 pm
peggy songster
Michele – thanks for the link to your show with Leslie. It was good to get some clarification regarding the issues surrounding the move to WF.
There really was some excitement last Sat. at the market about the move this week. There will be some vendors I will miss but I can find them at other local farmer’s markets on a different day.
May 15th, 2012 11:28 pm
Nicolle
Thank you for the cherry announcement, Kathy. Although I am 2000 miles away, reading that comment made me (almost) able to feel the dry California sun on my skin and taste the sweet, tangy deliciousness of the first cherries of the season. I hope there will be some left when I get there in about a month!
For selfish reasons I regret the market’s move b/c it means driving further. I hope it doesn’t become inaccessible to the people in that Veterans Memorial neighborhood who have come to rely on it.
May 16th, 2012 10:18 am
Jennifer
There will be a new market at the Veteran’s Building on Saturday May 19th and every Saturday and Wednesday all year long. The Redwood Empire Farmers’ Markets will be there with many of the vendors who’ve been at this location for years: Triple T, Neufeld, Skyview, Santa Rosa Seafood, Bellwether Farms and Cook’s Spices. It would be great if in all the discussion about the SR market’s move to Wells Fargo that it could be acknowledged that Santa Rosa will now have TWO farmers’ markets which is a good thing. It gives more people access to fresh local food and in theory, provides more opportunities for farmers and producers to make a living.
May 16th, 2012 10:18 pm
MicheleAnna.Jordan
Santa Rosa will actually have four farmers markets now, one seasonal, the others year round. I don’t think it is necessary or even wise to discuss a new farmers market every time an existing one is discussed. That would imply that the older markets should be mentioned every time a new market is mentioned, which makes no sense. Each farmers market is mentioned on its own at an appropriate and noteworthy time.I’d like to add that what Santa Rosa really needs is a year-round afternoon market, one or two days a week, for those people who either need to restock or who cannot attend morning markets. Currently, the only afternoon farmers market is part of the Wednesday Downtown Market, which is more street fair than destination farmers market and has a short season.
May 17th, 2012 10:07 am
Rebecca
Your bias, Michele Anna, is so very apparent, it makes one wonder how the Press Democrat allows this kind of “reporting”. But I guess this isn’t considered “reporting”. To lament, and laud, the move of SRFM to the Wells Fargo Center WITHOUT EVEN A WORD MENTIONED that the Redwood Empire Farmers Market will be at the Vet’s Building is as irresponsible as it can get. That whole line of “don’t need to mention the other market whenever one is mentioned” wreaks of favoritism and partiality to the Nth degree. There is seldom any balance in your column – which is why I seldom look at it.
May 18th, 2012 9:51 am
MicheleAnna.Jordan
Rebecca, if you seldom look at my columns, how can you assess them? This particular post, like most blog posts, is about something very specific, a long-time market’s final day at its long-time location. If you read my columns, including today’s Mouthful, and my blog posts, including the most recent one, you will see information about the new market, seasonal market openings and other markets. History is important; I can’t say much yet about the Redwood Empire Farmers Market because it has no history–it hasn’t happened yet. I don’t know what it looks like, smells like or feels like. Once it is established and finds its sea legs, it will take its place in the rotation of markets I cover. I follow personal guidelines similar to those I used as a restaurant critic, when I liked to wait three months before reviewing a new restaurant. Any new venture needs time. Giving something new too much attention too soon can be disastrous for a wide variety of reasons.
May 18th, 2012 10:28 am
clark wolf
I really do hope we start hearing more consistantly positive words from the folks supporting the new market at the Vets building. I’m not really interested in all of the anger and angst infused in so much of what’s being expressed. It seems that some of the folks who didn’t like the way the long-time market was run – unlike many of us who did – have gotten their chance. Okay then, all best and go for it. Your work will be judged in the longer term and people will make their own healthy choices. I wish you the best and I hope you will all focus on what is happening that is good and productive and let go of the anger and resentment – real or imagined – and get on with life.
May 18th, 2012 4:52 pm
Nancy Prebilich
Clark, the folks supporting the new market having been nothing BUT positive… we find a way to pay the $75/hr. for the parking lot at the Vets, we invited ALL vendors to stay regardless of wherever else they may choose to sell, we kept all the vendors stall fees the same, and all the while have wished those moving on to the WFC nothing but the best. If anything, those of us supporting the new market should be HAILED for finding a way to make it all work and continuing a long-time tradition of a community farmers market at the Vets Hall. Neither you nor Michele have once reached out to talk with any of us. We would be more than happy to be a guest on one of your shows or on one of your forum panels. Call or write us…we’d LOVE to talk to you!
May 21st, 2012 10:07 am
MicheleAnna.Jordan
You might what to clarify the question of contact with other market founders and vendors as what is said here is not accurate.
May 21st, 2012 2:53 pm