Ferry Plaza Market

Of all the farmers' markets I attend regularly, Ferry Plaza has got to be the very highest in quality. The vendors seem to save their best produce for this market. How do I know? Many of them also sell at other markets in the immediate area and sell at lower prices reflecting the grade of the produce. I've seen them and made purchases.

But for the most part Ferry Plaza attracts small producers that are content to sell exclusively at the Saturday or Thursday market. The Thursday market is much smaller than the one on Saturday, and it's seasonal, not year round. New vendors are allowed to sell on Thursdays until they graduate to the Saturday market.

Some of the small producers sell specialty produce, much of it organic, not usually seen elsewhere.

But the market is not limited to fresh produce. There are meat and poultry producers

Bakeries

Several dairy operations providing yogurt, cheese, and butter

Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar producers

Flower growers and pizza vendors

Ranchers marketing preserves, nuts, candies and dried fruit

Smoked fish producers who also sell sandwiches

There are vendors selling fresh and dried herbs as well as flavored salt

The list goes on and on, but since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll be posting a slide show of Ferry Plaza Farmers Market soon.

San Francisco Civic Center Farmer's Market

While there are many cross over vendors at all 3 of the major farmer's markets in San Francisco, Civic Center has a larger Asian presence and influence with a broader selection of Asian foods including fish and even live poultry. Some of the vendors sell very good quality produce, and some sell, what appears to my personal aesthetics to be, inferior quality produce, yet every stand has clients making purchases. I probably edit more photos at this market than at Alemany or Ferry Plaza, due to a less formal approach by the vendors in setting up their "wares", yet some are very engaged in their activity and set up their stands in such a way, I believe they are true works of art. I only wish I could take credit for the arrangement in my photo shown here.

Except for the smoked fish vendors at Ferry Plaza and Alemany Farmers' Markets, there is no other fish being sold at our outdoor markets unless you come here to Civic Center. the selection changes from week to week with some staples like tuna, prawns, smelt, and large squid. I've only seen the green lipped mussels once in 3 months.

It isn't hard to identify the catfish, but without signs, it's a guessing game for some of the fish being sold here. Admittedly, seeing the fish frozen and thawing out in the sun poses a few concerns about food safety at this stand, but it's still tempting to purchase something when the prices are better than what you'd pay at a supermarket.

If you click on the 1st photo you'll see about 20 people standing in line. The 2nd photo shows the back side of a live chicken being held by its legs so it can be shoved into a paper bag that will be stapled closed. Is this legal? Seems like animal cruelty to me, and yet there is a large market for these birds. So are these birds being adopted or will they be home slaughtered? It seems "a chicken in every pot" comes in a bag at Civic Center.

The market also has vendors selling garden plants, dairy products, mushrooms, honey, preserves, bakery goods and flowers. There are many more items that grace this market along with vendors selling prepared foods, although not as many as at the other major San Francisco markets. These photos show a bit of the diversity.

After having made a point of going to the markets for several consecutive months, there is one trend that has caught my attention and that is price increases. They fluctuate as does the freshness and quality of the produce. The $4 flats of eggs are now $5 several months later and 5# of almonds went from $12 last November to $15 last month. I inquired about that change and the vendor told me that when the product becomes more scarce at the end of the season, the prices go up. Fair enough.

Wednesdays and Sundays on Market St between 7th and 8th

Alemany, the Grandfather of SF Farmers' Markets

Not knowing the exact history of this market, its year of origin is unknown to me, but my grandparents bought produce here in at least the late 1950's. It predates all other open air markets in the city in recent memory. After visiting many of the other markets, I can say with certainty that Alemany is one of the largest and one of the best. Prices are lower than Ferry Plaza because vendors who trade at both places have admitted to saving their best quality produce for the rarefied atmosphere of FPFM. The quality of the produce here is generally better than that being sold at Civic Center, but it varies from vendor to vendor, so this assessment can turn on a dime, or the date when visiting the markets. All in all, the produce at Alemany is plentiful and reasonably priced.


The selection of fruits and vegetables is broad and items other than fresh produce are also in great supply. For example, there are extra virgin olive oils from 2 and sometimes 3 vendors, honey, beeswax candles; duck, chicken and quail eggs, handmade soaps, bakery goods; Indian and Afghani condiments, spreads and flat breads; and vendors selling prepared foods. In Spring you may also find a vendor selling seedlings for your own home grown produce.


Exotic fruits like cherimoya can be found and although they are not grown locally, it's nice to have someone willing to drive them up from Southern California. Ordinary fruits like Granny Smith apples, citrus, grapes, peaches, plums and berries are carried in season, but some have been put in cold storage too, such as the grapes I saw in January. It's a good idea to ask if you want truly seasonal produce.


I've also seen Fava Beans in January, but discovered that they had been grown locally in a greenhouse. Most other vegetables are truly seasonal and ethnically diverse from Asian eggplants, mustard greens and melons to Italian specialties like cardoons, artichokes, and flat leaf parsley


As is evidenced by the photographs, this is a very colorful market and it is impossible for me to shop there without my camera. The lower right photo is of the most colorful walnuts I have ever seen. The skins of this nutmeat are reddish burgundy and the flavor is classic walnut. They are on the top of my grocery list when they appear again at Alemany Farmers' Market. Nash's Olive Oils set up the next photo for me. Besides the oils, they also sell cured olives by the pint and have agreed to sell me raw olives in November, so that I might try my hand at salt curing them. You meet the nicest people at the markets.

100 Alemany Blvd
San Francisco CA 94110-6221
Phone: (415) 647-9423