Mod Apron

Modern homemaking for the frugal urban mama.

Posts tagged farmers' market

Jun 17

Such loveliness.

With mom and dad in town, we celebrated this Father’s Day in authentic San Franciscan style: We hiked the steepest hills across town and went to the farmers’ market!

I’d never been to the market at Fort Mason before, so this was a new experience for all of us. And wow, I think it ranks right up there at the top of my list of favorite farmers’ markets in SF. It was truly incredible!

It’s a smaller market than the one I usually frequent, but this one is very special. The quality and selection is outstanding. And for being such a small market, they still seemed to have everything - fruit, veg, cheese, eggs, bread, pastries, soap, oils, herbs, flowers and lots of prepared food vendors, including coffee! There were tons of samples. Maya ate more fruit and vegetables than I’ve ever seen. Thank you for that, farmers’ market!

Oh man, the berries. Especially the strawberries. No words. I feel bad for you if you don’t live in Cali. Because there is absolutely nothing, nothing like a freshly picked Cali strawberry. Good lord.

Fort Mason was also boasting a crystal and gem fair today and the hippie flower child in me really wanted to check it out. Unfortunately, my little Henster was getting cranky so we didn’t stick around after the market. Oh well.

Such incredible food. Such a hilly walk. Such a great day! 


May 30

Oh, farmers’ market. How I have missed you.

Folks, it was even better than I remembered. Cherries, berries, citrus, peaches, nectarines, herbs, nuts…glorious fresh food.

Kendall, Maya, Hen and I spent this lovely sunny day strolling the market from booth to booth. Wandering around. Tasting all kinds of samples. Chatting with the farmers. The Cali strawberries were so fresh and ripe, they perfumed the air all over the market. I have no doubt you could smell them from blocks away.

This was the only photo Maya would let me take of her today. I think she’s getting tired of me taking so many pictures of her all the time. “No mama, no camera today!”

Beautiful Maya

When we got home, we were so ready to dig into our market haul. We made huge overstuffed hummus-tomato-cucumber sandwiches and dove into the berries head first. 

Here’s what I bought today:

Market Haul

  • giant box of HUGE blueberries (see photo below)
  • purple cabbage
  • roughly 3 pounds of cherries (no joke)
  • broccoli
  • 4 cukes
  • 2 plums
  • bag of oyster mushrooms
  • 3 baskets of strawberries
  • 3 baskets of raspberries
  • container of cilantro & jalapeño hummus
I would have loved more veggies and greens, but I think I was so excited by my berries and cherries, I kinda forgot about the practical stuff. Everything cost me exactly $23, which means I’ve gone over my budget by 69 cents. But I could seriously care less. I mean, c’mon. Just look at these blueberries!

Huge blueberries

So worth it. Viva la berries!


May 29
You might notice that there isn’t much produce in the photo above. That’s because tomorrow, I’m very excited to report, I’ll be stocking up at the farmers’ market! I used to go twice a week when we lived on Nob Hill. But now that we’re across town, I haven’t been going. And oh, how I’ve missed it.
My dear friend Kendall is joining me and I’ve just charged up my camera battery for the big day. I’m even keeping Maya home from school tomorrow so she can come along on (although if you know me IRL or if you’ve read this blog with any regularity, you know it doesn’t take much arm twisting to get me to let Maya play hooky and stay with me for the day…I just enjoy that kid’s company like none other.)
So tomorrow morning, when the golden sun rises over the hill, we shall set off to the farmers’ market to collect our worldly fare. Or maybe at around 10:30am.
Cannot wait.
Even Trader Joe’s can’t beat farmers’ market prices. And speaking of Trader Joe’s, let’s talk about what I bought this afternoon:
bag of sunflower seeds
bag of peanuts (I realized this afternoon that Maya has never tried an actual peanut. Peanut butter, oh heck yes, but nary a peanut. I gave her one, she ate it and looked at me thoughtfully for a moment before proclaiming, “These taste like they’ve got peanut butter inside, mama!”)
bag of small organic gala apples (I prefer a small apple; larger ones just seem like such a commitment.)
bag of frozen peas
bag of frozen mixed veg (Sure, why not?)
a six-pack of organic eggs
stone ground mustard
half gallon of organic milk
large container of organic whole milk yogurt (Hi, yogurt? I’d like to introduce you to my granola. I think you guys will get along swimmingly.)
organic raspberry jam (I could make my own, and I’m still kinda flirting with the idea. But TJ’s has great, all fruit jam for much cheaper than I could ever make at home.)
bottle of Cali-grown EVOO (Love that peppery kick in the back of the throat!)
2 cans of organic garbanzos (I’m pretty sure chana masala will be making an appearance on my stove sometime next week.)
bag of whole wheat flour
5 bananas (Gah, we’re already down 2 bananas between buying them and typing this post. This won’t even be close to enough bananas. No, this will never do. Why didn’t I buy more?)
2 sweet potatoes
box of Yogi Green Tea Super Antioxidant (Free radicals, be gone!)
And there you have it!
Total cost = $27.69. And that leaves me just over $22 for the market tomorrow!

You might notice that there isn’t much produce in the photo above. That’s because tomorrow, I’m very excited to report, I’ll be stocking up at the farmers’ market! I used to go twice a week when we lived on Nob Hill. But now that we’re across town, I haven’t been going. And oh, how I’ve missed it.

My dear friend Kendall is joining me and I’ve just charged up my camera battery for the big day. I’m even keeping Maya home from school tomorrow so she can come along on (although if you know me IRL or if you’ve read this blog with any regularity, you know it doesn’t take much arm twisting to get me to let Maya play hooky and stay with me for the day…I just enjoy that kid’s company like none other.)

So tomorrow morning, when the golden sun rises over the hill, we shall set off to the farmers’ market to collect our worldly fare. Or maybe at around 10:30am.

Cannot wait.

Even Trader Joe’s can’t beat farmers’ market prices. And speaking of Trader Joe’s, let’s talk about what I bought this afternoon:

  • bag of sunflower seeds
  • bag of peanuts (I realized this afternoon that Maya has never tried an actual peanut. Peanut butter, oh heck yes, but nary a peanut. I gave her one, she ate it and looked at me thoughtfully for a moment before proclaiming, “These taste like they’ve got peanut butter inside, mama!”)
  • bag of small organic gala apples (I prefer a small apple; larger ones just seem like such a commitment.)
  • bag of frozen peas
  • bag of frozen mixed veg (Sure, why not?)
  • a six-pack of organic eggs
  • stone ground mustard
  • half gallon of organic milk
  • large container of organic whole milk yogurt (Hi, yogurt? I’d like to introduce you to my granola. I think you guys will get along swimmingly.)
  • organic raspberry jam (I could make my own, and I’m still kinda flirting with the idea. But TJ’s has great, all fruit jam for much cheaper than I could ever make at home.)
  • bottle of Cali-grown EVOO (Love that peppery kick in the back of the throat!)
  • 2 cans of organic garbanzos (I’m pretty sure chana masala will be making an appearance on my stove sometime next week.)
  • bag of whole wheat flour
  • 5 bananas (Gah, we’re already down 2 bananas between buying them and typing this post. This won’t even be close to enough bananas. No, this will never do. Why didn’t I buy more?)
  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • box of Yogi Green Tea Super Antioxidant (Free radicals, be gone!)

And there you have it!

Total cost = $27.69. And that leaves me just over $22 for the market tomorrow!