Don't let the weather stop you: the Chapman Friday Market and the Chico Saturday Market are great places to purchase your Thanksgiving fixin's
My wife and I aren't going to let the fact that we're headed to the Bay Area stop us. Hmong-farmed jicama and Pyramid farm carrots and broccoli will be the vessels for faux-artichoke dip made with Mike's locally grown sunchokes.
Check your recipes. There are plenty of other great locally grown foods at the farmers market that will be snazzy as a part of the Thanksgiving menu, even if you are planning on traveling. All of these foods will have no problem staying delicious through Turkey Day:
-Potatoes (yellow or blue) from Red Bank Farms
-Local eggs from Chaffin Family Farm, Chris's Egg Farm or Red Bank Farms
-Onions and garlic from multiple growers
-Beets and other root crops--try adding thin slices of watermelon radish to a salad
-Fresh, seasonal fruit, including mandarins, apples, and persimmons
-I saw local fejoas at the market last week, I bet they would go great in most cranberry recipes
-Winter squash galore - Bruce at the corner of 2nd and Flume has an amazing selection
-Goat cheese from North Valley Farms
-A seasonal bouquet from Marc Kessler of California Organic Flowers (like the pumpkin pepper bouquet pictured above)
About Me: Jeremy wears many hats, including substitute teacher, school garden educator, hike leader, youth group advisor, Gardener's Swap Meet coordinator, husband, and father. His lifelong quests include the search for the perfect burrito, and more recently, how to sprout an avocado tree from a pit.
Hey Jeremy, I am not much for reaidng the blogs but just stumbed onto yours. It's great! I will keep checking. Thanks for your posts.
I wasn't aware that Chris' Egg Farm also sold over at the Chico Farmers Market (Saturdays). One year I went out to visit the actual Chris' Egg Farm...what a great place - we didn't want to leave. The hens out there literally rule the roost.....and were everywhere, up in and among the trees, out in the pastures everything was so very, very earth and eco-friendly. The people - especially the English owner, Chris - are characters and funny yet wise and knowledgeable. They made us stay for (free) lunch and loaded us up with fresh, just laid eggs that we picked ourselves. Chris' Egg Farm - GREAT PLACE!
Who grows feijoa "local" to Chico? AKA pineapple guava, I'm pretty sure feijoa are subtropical fruits (grown in California primarily on the Central Coast)
They may be a subtropical fruit, but they also tend to find their way into various landscaping projects around Chico where they are grown as hedges. A bowl of feijoa's made an appearance at a local potluck dinner last night, so they are certainly in season. Haven't seen them at the farmers market yet this year, but keep your eyes open.
Jeremy- just came back to apologize and eat my words! I met a farmer at the Davis market today from Butte County who was indeed selling feijoa! I told him about this blog post and my question, and he said the exact thing you did--their trees are primarily for landscaping. He said his wife was selling at the Chico market, so ... local indeed. Thanks for the lesson!