Ripe Now! Strawberries | Market Expansion

Ripe Now! Strawberries

Strawberries are the first of the spring fruit to arrive at market. It always feels like they come just in time, as the winter season of citrus, apples, and pears are start to fade from farmers' tables. There's no denying the burst of flavor, sweetness, and texture you experience when you bite into a fresh, just picked strawberry from the farmers' market. The large strawberries that can be found year-round at supermarkets are picked unripe and shipped. By the time they make it to the supermarket, they may look red, but they are pale inside, mushy, and disappointingly flavorless. Picked just when ripe, flavorful little crimson beauties now dot the farmers' markets.

You can find varieties such as Albion, Chandler, and Seascape strawberries. Lucero Organic Farms, Dirty Girl Produce, Oya Organics, Golden Rule Organics, Avalos Farm, and Green Thumb Organics, Full Belly Farm all grow strawberries.

Easy Eating:

This strawberry breakfast cake recipe will give you a sweet start to your day. For lunch, pair some spinach with your strawberries in this spinach strawberry salad with balsamic poppy seed dressing. You can come by market and grab all the ingredients for this in season strawberry, basil chicken recipe. Finally for dessert, you need to try this strawberry cobbler recipe!

Storage Tips:

Store in a paper bag in the fridge for up to a week. They don't like to be wet, so check the bag for moisture every other day. Alternatively, lay berries in a shallow bowl or plate lined with a towel, to avoid squishing.

Zero Waste:

Too many strawberries? Since strawberries are highly perishable you can quickly preserve them in the freezer for later use. To freeze this sweet bounty of spring and summer, rinse and lay them flat on a sheet tray. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer safe container or bag.

Recipe: Strawberry Sorbet

Adapted from Alice Water's Chez Panisse Fruit Cookbook

2 pints of strawberries, rinsed, dried, and stems removed.

3 /4 cup water

3 /4 cup sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

Dissolve the sugar in the water and let cool. Blend all ingredients until smooth. Taste and adjust flavor, if needed. Freeze in an ice cream maker or pour mixture into a shallow dish and freeze, stirring occasionally, to create a smooth texture and break up ice crystals.

Optional: Steep herbs, like mint or lemon verbena, in your sugar syrup! Simply add 1/2 cup fresh, washed herb leaves after the sugar is dissolved and let it steep while the syrup cools. Strain the syrup before use.

*You can purchase Chez Panisse Fruit Cookbook by Alice Waters at the Ecology Center Store!

Berkeley Farmers' Markets Expanding Again!

The full bloom of the California poppies and mustard flowers around the Bay Area herald the return of our beloved seasonal vendors with their gorgeous seasonal offerings. Tomorrow, Blue Heron Farm s and Triple Delight Blueberries will both be making their long-awaited entrance at the Downtown Berkeley Farmers' Market.

Next Saturday, April 24th, Vang Family Farm will be returning with their incredible seasonal produce and wide variety of Asian veggies. On that same day, the market will be once again expanding across Civic Center park to Allston Way in order to maintain enough space for safe distancing as our seasonal farmers return and our perennial farmers' stands grow to fit the spring's abundance.

We will also be welcoming the return of spring fruits and veggies at our Tuesday South Berkeley and Thursdays North Berkeley markets, so make sure to bring extra bags ;)

Keep your eyes on the weekly vendor list (updated every Friday) on our website and our Instagram and Facebook to see what's popping at the Berkeley Farmers' Markets.

Donate to help keep our farmers' markets going strong!

Our partner Seasonal Bay Area tracks down each vendor every week to get an up-to-date list of what will be for sale at our Tuesday South Berkeley and Saturday Downtown Berkeley markets.

What are our vendors bringing this week?

Returning vendors this week:

Steadfast Herbs (Downtown Berkeley)

Blue Heron Farm (South Berkeley)

This Week's Vendors

Tuesday South Berkeley	Thursday North Berkeley	Saturday Downtown Berkeley
Kaki Farms Massa Organics Oya Organics Brokaw Ranch Lou Vue Avalos Farm Full Belly Farm Flying Disc Ranch Good Faith Farm Blue Heron Blossom Bluff Orchards Solano Mushroom Dirty Girl Produce Lucero Organic Farms Kashiwase Farm Stepladder Creamery Riverdog Farm Blossom Bluff Smit Farms Frog Hollow Farm Little Fish Co. Queen of Sheeba Honey Phoenix Pastificio Three Stone Hearth Soul Flower Farm Base Camp Bakery Bolani Fruit Tree Smoothies Tamales La Oaxaquena Andy's Thai Donna's Tamales	Hudson Fish Happy Boy Farms Green Thumb Organics Massa Organics Triple Delight Blueberries Golden Rule Organics E&H Mushroom Farm Riverdog Farm Frog Hollow Farm Phoenix Pastificio Big Little Bowl Donna's Tamales All Things Sharp Morell's Bread Upland Apiary Blossom Bluff	Brokaw Ranch Avalos Farm Kaki Farm Good Faith Farm Guru Ram Das Orchards Golden Rule Organics Lifefood Gardens Flying Disc Ranch Achadinha Cheese Co. Hudson Fish Kashiwase Farm Stepladder Creamery Happy Boy Farms True Grass Farm Vang Family Farm Solano Mushroom Riverdog Farm Smit Farms Gattonelli Frog Hollow Farm Bariani Olive Oil Blue Heron Triple Delight Blueberries Steadfast Herbs Pomo Tierra Orchard Higher Land Coffee Tony's Kettle Corn + Crepes Andy's Thai Tamales La Oaxaqueña Cafe Zambala All Things Sharp Picnic Beber Almond Milk Big Little Bowl Your Way to Life Granola Laguna Garden Bakery Cultured Pickle Shop Morell's Bread Obour Hummus Phoenix Pastificio Bolani Coracao Primavera Tamales Bun Bao

SOUTH BERKELEY MARKET MAP

NORTH BERKELEY MARKET MAP

DOWNTOWN BERKELEY MARKET MAP

김치. Kimchi: a Korean fermented, seasoned, and salted cabbage dish, traditionally a side, to other scrumptious and nutrient rich dishes.

We are excited to share that the Ecology Center is a host for the Kala Art Institute San Pablo Seed Project, which houses free Chinese Cabbage (beka santoh) seed packets, until supplies run out. Drop by the Ecology Center Store and grab your seeds today!

And while you're at the Ecology Center Store, pick up any fermentation supplies you may need. These are plastic free!

Learn more about the art of fermentation and the fundamentals of curating your favorite pickled dishes at our upcoming classes: Adventures in Pickling on 5/22 and Fantastic Fermentation (kimchi-focused) on 6/26.

Adventures in Pickling

Sat, May 22, 2021, 11:00 AM

In this online workshop streamed directly from her kitchen, Ends and Stems Chef Alison Mountford takes you on a hands-on pickling adventure. Follow her step by step instructions as she demonstrates how to make pickles out of seasonal fruits and vegetable scraps. Chef Alison will talk about a basic brine and how to spice up your pickles with salt and sugar, and by adding whole spices including bay, peppercorn, coriander, cumin, pepper flakes, caraway, garlic or even ginger.

Click Here to Register

Looking for a way to give back to your community in this challenging time?

Become a volunteer at the Berkeley Farmers' Markets! As an essential service, the Berkeley Farmers' Markets continue to provide fresh, healthy food for the community and a livelihood for small and mid-scale farmers. We have implemented extensive operational changes to protect customers, farmers, and staff, and to mitigate the spread of disease, and so volunteers are needed more than ever to help support staff in implementing these.

If you are healthy, not in the high risk category, and not living with high risk people, please consider volunteering at our three weekly farmers' markets.

Volunteer tasks include:

Supporting the development and execution of a curbside pickup or box-style produce pick-up program (in development)
Greeting customers at market entrance and providing them with info on the social distancing requirement
If needed, supporting staff in queueing customers at the market entrance, if the number of customers already in the market exceeds our maximum crowd count.
Hanging signage in the market
Monitoring vendor lines, helping customers know where to wait, and thanking customers for adhering to the social distancing guidelines

A short, virtual volunteer training will be scheduled prior to working at the market. Shifts start 30 minutes prior to market opening time, and length can be flexible depending on availability. Our three markets operate year-round, rain or shine:

Downtown Berkeley | Center Street @ M. L. King, Jr. Way, Saturdays 10 am - 3 pm
North Berkeley | Shattuck Avenue @ Vine Street, Thursdays 3 pm - 7 pm
South Berkeley | Adeline Street and 63rd Street, Tuesdays 2 pm - 6:30 pm

In addition to supporting the community in accessing healthy, farm-fresh food, the benefits of volunteering 5+ hours include an Ecology Center Membership. Contact [email protected] to sign up!

Staying Safe

Wearing a face mask and social distancing are required to shop at the Berkeley Farmers' Markets per City of Berkeley COVID-19 safety guidelines. We enforce a limit on the maximum amount of customers in market at one time in order to ensure space for social distancing. This means we may have a line to get into our market at the entrances. If you are feeling sick or may have been exposed to COVID-19, please stay home.

Farmers' Market Hours & Locations

EBT and WIC Fruit & Vegetable checks gladly accepted and Market Match incentives distributed at all markets.

South Berkeley

Tuesdays, 2 - 6:30 pm

Adeline St. at 63rd St.,

Berkeley

North Berkeley

Thursdays, 3 - 7 pm

Shattuck Ave. at Rose St., Berkeley

Downtown Berkeley

Saturdays, 10 am - 3 pm

Center St. at MLK Jr. Way, Berkeley

510.548.3333 | [email protected] | ecologycenter.org/fm

[Photo credit: Berkeley Farmers' Market Staff]