Healdsburg Farmers' Market Newsletter February 2021 SPECIAL EDITION!

Hello Market Friends! We were so fortunate to have been open throughout 2020, despite the pandemic. Many discovered us for the first time, and found farmers' market shopping to be an exciting new world. Those of you who are regulars we saw weekly; bags and baskets in hand and smiles beaming under masks. Our extended dates last year helped our bottom line in a big way, so we're extending even more this season...April 17th - December 18th for Saturday market and April 20 - October 26th for Tuesday. This newsletter, and subsequent ones throughout the season, are meant to give you some background on the vendors you'll find at our market. Each newsletter will feature four vendors. You might have been shopping at their booth for years, but know little or nothing about them. Or they may be brand new and yet to be discovered. We hope you enjoy their stories! Full market info will be sent in early April.

Front Porch Farm

A sprawling 110 acre farm, tucked into a pristine valley alongside the Russian River, at the south end of Healdsburg, Front Porch Farm grows a vast array of crops. Besides a wide variety of veggies and fruits, they're known for their exceptional flowers and excellent wine. They've been farming for ten years, and joined our market in 2017. Currently they employee twelve full time workers and sell year 'round at farmers' markets in Sonoma and Marin Counties. Front Porch founders, Peter and Mimi Buckley met when he was a partner/CEO in a fashion business in Europe and hired her as a creative director. "It took us about 10 minutes to fall in love...we still are," Peter says. Subsequently they founded an elementary school in Mill Valley (Greenwood School...which closed last year after 25 years)...and the Center For Ecoliteracy (http:www.ecoliteracy.org), built the David Brower Center (www.browercenter.org), in addition to other conservation and environmental activism work. "We started to farm because of the life-affirming regenerative nature of growing food...and we both like to work, design and solve problems. We did not know that our greatest joy would be the wonderful individuals that make the Front Porch Farm community." Susannah Ashkenas and Sarah Dublin showed me around the farm and gave a run-down of what's new this season. Look for green beans, dried beans, more radicchio, and some new lettuce varieties. More carrots are on the horizon, as well as artichokes and Walla Walla onions. They're excited to be launching a CSA this season and partnering with both Farm to Pantry and Corazon. Asparagus is in the future, though a few years off. They're adding more perennials, rhubarb and an herb garden going forward as well. And so much more...The creative spirit is alive and well on this beautiful farm, and we look forward to seeing what they bring to our market in the years to come.

Valley Ford Cheese For Karen Bianchi-Moreda, cheese-making is in her blood. Coming from a family with over one hundred years in dairy farming, it seemed logical to carry on the tradition by creating Swiss and Italian-style cheeses here in Sonoma County. Her son Joe studied cheese-making in college, and came home to help his mom and brother, who operates his own dairy farm and supplies Joe and Karen with the milk for all of their products. Begun in 2008, they began selling at our market in 2010. They opened their charming brick and mortar location in downtown Valley Ford two years ago, and it's going strong.

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Besides their ever-popular Estero Gold, Estero Gold Reserve, Highway One, Farmer's Cheese, and Gorgonzola, this coming season they plan to have a brie-like Robiola cheese, plus bottled fresh milk and chocolate milk, as well as three flavors of liquid kefirs. In the future they're looking to expand into a fully integrated dairy and production facility. They'd love to be able to give tours and share their cheese-making joy with the public.

Reyes Farm 6.8 acres is not a huge farm, so it's impressive the amount of produce Manuel Reyes grows on his land just outside Windsor. Being a chef for many years for restaurants and private families, Manuel wanted something of his own, and began the farm with the help of his wife and sons ten years ago. His first foray in farming was growing dahlias and selling them on street corners. He started doing markets the year after. At first he grew primarily tomatoes and strawberries, as well as having fresh eggs. He realized these two crops, though popular, were limiting his sales, since so many other vendors grew them.

Manuel's future dream is to have a "pick it yourself" farm and farm stand. Since he's located on Old Redwood Highway between Healdsburg and Windsor he's in a a prime spot for such a venture. What a wonderful way to educate and enlighten the public about small family farms.

More recently he's begun to experiment with other veggies, and has grown an array of squash, peppers, peaches, kale and other crops. Though he lost over a hundred chicks when the 2019 Kincade Fire singed the edge of his property, he now has more chickens and eggs than ever. He's excited to begin growing blueberries this season, with plants he got from the now-closed Sonoma Swamp Blues, and is experimenting with carrots, potatoes and lettuce. His son is raising goats and sheep and plans to sell both goat and lamb at future markets.

Tisza Bistro Though they've only done our market for two seasons, Krisztian Karkus and Alena Rebik of Tisza Bistro have managed to reach the hearts (and stomachs) of almost all market attendees and vendors. Their restaurant-in-a-booth serves varying breakfast fare made to order, like seasonal fruit pancakes or French toast, as well as quesadillas, schnitzel sandwiches, potato pancakes topped with smoked salmon, just to name a very few options they feature throughout the season. Krisztian's early years as a chef were spent working for luxury hotels around the world. He and Alena dreamed of a business of their own,originally thinking they'd open a bed and breakfast in Croatia. They decided to stay in the California and found a space inside the Holiday Inn off Old Redwood Highway in Windsor, opening Tisza Bistro in 2016. It took about a year to take off: going from the panic of no one finding them, to being swamped most nights. Sadly the pandemic ended their thriving endeavor, and they decided to close the middle of 2020.

Without having to run a restaurant full time they've put in a big garden and taken a breather from their once hectic life. This season they're excited to be raising chickens and growing much of their own produce for their market booth, buying the rest of it and other ingredients from market vendors.

They may venture into the restaurant world again when the pandemic dies down and it seems wise to do so. They're imagining a 40-50 seat venue somewhere in Healdsburg. Being part of the market has built a solid local clientele they hope will support them if they open here. Their popularity at the market makes that a pretty sure thing.

Healdsburg Farmers' Market www.healdsburgfarmersmarket.org

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