A Press Democrat Blog

Eat this now

Seasonal Pantry at your fingertips

Fresh From Our Farmers: Sonoma’s The Patch

Friday, at 11:44 by

For years, The Patch has been the first local farm with tomatoes. Lazaro Calderon’s booths at local farmers markets appear sometime in April, when he has some of the best-tasting Nantes carrots around, and the race is on. By mid-May, customers are asking when he expects to have the first of his widely praised tomatoes. “Soon,” he says with a smile, “maybe in a couple of weeks.” The first usually appear sometime in June. Calderon typically has tomatoes longer than… Read More »

Drinking Beauty: Dehlinger ’94

Thursday, at 9:42 by

Last night, I cooked dinner for a friend, a long-promised birthday present. I planned the meal around bone-in ribeye steaks from Salmon Creek Ranch, as I’d been telling my friend how good they are for quite some time. He was eager to see for himself. Dinner began with chilled tomato-cilantro soup topped with Strauss whole milk yogurt, jalapeno hot sauce and a splash of Hawaiian chile water, with fried Padrons alongside. The tomatoes were from The Patch, the Padrons from… Read More »

What are you eating today?

Wednesday, at 12:17 by

In today’s Seasonal Pantry, which you can read here, I invite readers to share what will be on the table today. So, here’s your chance, tell us what’s on the menu and where you got the ingredients. I’ll start: I’ve made a salad of green beans, potatoes, radishes, cucumbers, red onions and hard boiled eggs and dressed it with lemon-parsley vinaigrette. Alongside, I’ll have Pepper Road Ranch chicken, with Santa Rosa plums for dessert. Green beans are from The Patch,… Read More »

Fresh From Our Farmers: Ripe Tomatoes at the Wednesday Night Market!

Wednesday, at 2:25 by

If you live downtown or within easy walking or biking distance of downtown, the Wednesday Night Market includes a farmers market that is good for mid-week restocking or general produce shopping if you can’t attend any of the city’s morning markets. There are about sixteen vendors, located along E St. between Rosie the Trolley at Third St. and Kid’s Corner at Fifth St. Farmers and other growers share the space with about half a dozen food vendors offerings things to… Read More »

Fresh From Our Farmers: Petaluma Saturday Market Opens For Its 26th Season

Tuesday, at 2:48 by

The Petaluma Farmers Market, located in Walnut Park a few blocks south of downtown, opens for its 26th season this Saturday, May 19. There will be about 50 vendors, most of them returning, a few new. Many of the vendors attend several markets a week. Among them are Hector Alvarez, with honey, honey products, eggs, garlic, chiles and other vegetables. The Patch starts its 2012 season here; you can expect early zucchini, onions, potatoes and such from this Sonoma farm,… Read More »

Fresh From Our Farmers: Sebastopol in late November

Tuesday, at 2:32 by

To my thinking, if farmers show up at the market in the rain, the least I can do is the same. But at the Sebastopol farmers market on Sunday, neither vendors nor shoppers seemed deterred by the weather. … Read More »

Fresh From Our Farmers: Sonoma Valley

Tuesday, at 8:19 by

The Sonoma Valley Certified Farmers Market is one of the county’s year-long markets. In mid-Autumn, it offers a glorious way to shop for nearly everything you need to feed yourself and your family. … Read More »

Fresh From Our Farmers: Final Wednesday Night Market of the Season

Tuesday, at 7:30 by

The Wednesday Downtown Market, with its certified farmers market at the east end, has one night to go, September 14, making it the last opportunity of the season to attend an evening market in Santa Rosa. … Read More »

Fresh From Our Farmers: Petaluma in August

Friday, at 4:45 by

As harvest kicks into high gear, the Petaluma Farmers Market offers great quality and diversity.… Read More »