A tale of two markets

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

There is something wonderful about almost every farmers market, but there is something especially grand about markets that are located in farming areas. Maybe it’s the special sense of connection when you’re buying from your neighbors. Maybe it’s just that the farmers are friendlier because they haven’t had to drive four hours to get there. Whatever the reason it’s true in spades at the Davis Farmers Market every Saturday morning, located in the heart of what is almost certainly the best-educated agricultural area in the state, if not the country. Not only is the Sacramento River valley rich in farmland, the University of California at Davis is one of the nation’s leading centers of agricultural research. (The ag joke is that if you want to study farming, go to Davis; if you want to farm, go someplace else: San Luis Obispo, Fresno State or UC Riverside.)

There are two weekly markets at the town square in Davis: the Wednesday evening market is a little slow right now but will pick up as the weather warms and it once again becomes a combination of farmers market and community picnic. The Saturday market is always great. Last weekend just happened to be National Pig Day. (Don’t ask … nobody involved seemed to know what that meant, but they celebrate it anyway.) And so in addition to the cool-weather crops you’d expect (this part of the state seems to be about two to three weeks behind Southern California in terms of seasonality), there was a wide range of things porcine — including pig suckers made by a local bakery. (Though the idea of bacon on a stick is certainly appealing, these were made of bread dough made to look like a piggy face.) There were also real little pigs for the kids to pet and lots of grownups dressed up in costumes. There’s not much room for sentiment in farm country, so there was still a line at pork farmers Dan and John Bledsoe’s stand. And floating over the crowd was the lovely scent of frying bacon from the pancake breakfast sponsored by the local food bank.

While Saturday’s Davis market is college town-bucolic, the Sunday market in Sacramento is anything but. In fact, to be perfectly honest, it more resembles a homeless encampment than a farmers market. Held underneath an overpass of the 5 Freeway, its scruffy appearance hides a heart of gold. Or, to be more literal, a heart of Mellogold and Oroblanco pomelos, all kinds of mandarins and Navel oranges, Sacramento Delta asparagus, Point Reyes oysters, Dungeness crab, native plants, Pedroza Dairy cheeses, Baridini olive oil and a wealth of Asian produce. (The market is very popular with Hmong farmers from the valley.) At this time of year, their harvest is pretty much limited to different kinds of mustards and other hardy greens, but one vendor had Thai bird chiles still on their stems, looking like a very spicy bouquet.

Davis farmers markets are held Wednesdays from 2 to 6 p.m. (changing to 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. this week) and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 4th and C streets.

There are 10 farmers markets in Sacramento; the freeway market is Sundays from 8 a.m. until noon at 8th and W streets.

-- Russ Parsons

Photos by Russ Parsons