Hip Hip Hooray! It is the season for local farmers markets! I had recently moved and needed to find a new market near my new house. I was able to do it with this site: http://www.localfarmersmarket.us I just put in my zip code and got a list of markets close by.

Hip Hip Hooray! It is the season for local farmers markets! I had recently moved and needed to find a new market near my new house. I was able to do it with this site: http://www.localfarmersmarket.us I just put in my zip code and got a list of markets close by.

It's helpful to ask neighbors, friends, colleagues, etc. about local farmers markets as websites don't tell the full story. Prices at one market may be higher than another even at the same farmer's table. What costs $3/lb. in Mountain View might end up being $3.25 or $3.50/lb. at California Avenue, and $4/lb. at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market in San Francisco. At some markets the same vendor might have a smaller range of offerings, based on the clientele, etc. Also, some markets have a wider variety of stands than others. The larger farmers markets have more space, so it is easier to accommodate vendors with more unusual offerings. This leads to some interesting price differences. This past weekend I've seen cherries between $4/lb. and $8/lb. at the same farmers market. And we can't ignore the parking situation. Some markets are simply easier to access by car. In SF, someone with a car living in the southern part of the City might be better off going to the Alemany market rather than Heart of the City or Ferry Plaza. Starbucks or McDonald's? Yeah, you can search for the closest location, the offerings are identical and pricing the same. It doesn't work the same way with farmers markets: the offerings, pricing and vendors all differ, sometimes significantly. The closest farmers market may not be the best and many of them are only seasonal. Several farmers markets on the Peninsula operate year round, so it might be better off going a little farther and getting to know the farmers at that market, rather than just going to a closer market that operates only half the year. Remember, the produce is being grown all year around, so it's just the market that's not there, not the food. If you only patronize seasonally-open farmers markets, you are missing out on a lot of great produce the rest of the year.