Quick Take
Celebrating 50 years, the Aptos farmers market – held Saturdays at Cabrillo College – captures not just the bounty and hard work of dozens of vendors but also comes with a wealth of stories from those manning the stands and working behind the scenes.
The fog along the Pacific Coast Highway was heavy before dawn as the Gatanaga sisters wound their way north from Salinas, contemplating the hustle ahead setting up tented tables and dozens of buckets of bursting flowers at the Aptos farmers market.
It’s a trek they make every Saturday, every season of the year, and have for decades – a pilgrimage, of sorts, mirrored by 90 other California farm families and artisan crafters to the original and largest of the Monterey Bay Certified Farmers Markets.
Second only to San Francisco’s as the oldest in Northern California, the Aptos market – celebrating its 50th year – at Cabrillo College is a godsend to growers from Santa Cruz to Monterey, San Joaquin to San Luis Obispo, who rely on this event and its three sister markets for much of their annual income.
“They have a four-hour window four times a week to make money. For most of the farmers, that’s it,” Catherine Barr, executive director, said of the markets held Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in Carmel, Monterey, Aptos and again in Monterey, respectively.
Though the Gatanaga Nursery used to sell flowers to national distributors, that business faded after the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, which eliminated most tariffs and trade barriers among the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“NAFTA killed us. We couldn’t compete with imports because labor costs were cheaper elsewhere,” June Gatanaga Uemure said of the nursery opened by her Japanese-born father about the time she was born in the mid-1960s. “We started at the farmers market because we had to find another source of income.”
“We feel fortunate we can be here,” she added as she wrapped several bouquets in newspaper for a customer. “But it’s hard work. It keeps us busy.”
Like the Gatanagas, the multitude of farm families who comprise the Aptos market tell the story of immigrant America drawn to the rich fields of central and coastal California.
There are Hakouya miso pastes, Pulido Farms Blenheim apricots, Zena Foods Tunisian hummus and cheeses from the Schoch Family Farmstead, opened in 1944 by the owner’s Swiss grandfather.
Sweet Elena’s Artisan Bakery began after the French-born pastry chef arrived here speaking little English but fluent in the arts of brioche, tart and yeast doughs. And queen of them all is the market’s longest-serving vendor, Lynn Bottazzo, an Italian opera singer who gave up Verdi and Puccini arias to raise bees producing exotic pine and star-thistle honeys after moving to the U.S. nearly 60 years ago.
“When I was living in Italy, I became infatuated with bees because honey is good for the immune system,” she said. “My late husband, he was an opera singer too. He couldn’t eat before a performance, so I would give him honey for energy on stage.”
Bottazzo opened Amen Bee Products not long after the market’s original cluster of farmers outgrew their spot in Live Oak and moved to Cabrillo College in Aptos, which features ocean glimpses from its expansive outdoor parking decks that host the farmers.
Initially, the vendors rotated running the market. But planting, irrigating, harvesting and balancing accounts left no time for market management duties. Thus Barr came on board – and immediately grew the market from a seasonal to a year-round event.
“To be honest, I’d never been to a farmers market even though I’m married to a farmer,” Barr mused. “But I can wrestle people.”
Wrestle she did in those early days of bickering over stand size, signage and permit requirements to qualify as a California Certified Market emphasizing sustainable growing methods and family-operated farms. Along with an 11-member board, Barr crafted policies governing an undertaking that now generates seven-figure sums in collective farmers’ revenues annually.
“We have to meet federal, state and local rules and regulations. Here in California, you can only sell what you grow,” Barr said of the certification. “We also must deal with the county health department, city business licenses and the state agricultural department. It happens to have inspectors here today.”
The market’s 75 conventional and organic farm stands must each purchase from their home counties a “producers certificate” for $175 to $350 annually. Market permits are also required for the other 25% of vendors selling services and homemade crafts, from knife sharpening to custom jewelry to personal care potions.
“I have a waiting list for the next 10 years,” Barr said of the demand for market stands. “If you arrive later than 7 a.m., or you’re rude or you sell non-California products – we don’t invite you back.”
The nonprofit Monterey Bay Certified Farmers Markets, unlike hundreds of less-regulated ones across the state, requires three-quarters of its vendors to “practice the arts of farming,” which, in addition to growing vegetables, nuts and fruits, includes raising egg-bearing chickens, butchering meats and selling Pacific-caught fish.
The market also emphasizes culinary arts through its own Edible Paradise recipe stand, and take-home gourmet operations such as chef Jody Lombardo’s, who, on a “good Saturday,” says she sells 74 chicken pot pies and 22 gallons of pint-sized packages of zesty turkey chili, Thai curry and creamy New England clam chowder.
Strolling the three-level market any Saturday is a festival of free tastings and seasonal delights.
“Two of the duck, if you have it,” Linda James orders at Wildstag Provisions, known for free-roaming cheddar & jalapeño elk and cranberry wild boar meats.
Serving up steaming Fiji Wild Coffee is River Coleman – “I’m 5 and one-half and three-quarters,” she boasts – while her father, Seth, explains his small-batch company’s roasting of coffee cherries picked on the remote island where he lived after college.
Past Cortez Farms berries, New Natives microgreens and Living Swell Kombucha is Cabrillo College’s horticulture program stand, offering 45 types of produce and ornamental plants grown via hydroponic, aquaponic and substrate methods.
“We’re one of the only community colleges that has an organically certified farm where students learn about organic production systems,” said Mercy Olmstead, the horticulture center coordinator.
Food trucks such as La Marea of the Sea shucking Tomales Bay oysters and grilling shrimp tacos spawn socializing, though they are few by design.
“We’re a farmers market – not a food court,” Barr said. “We want people to buy here and then cook with their kids. That’s how you get the next generation coming to the market.”
Ruth S. Intress, a retired East Coast news and investigative reporter, is a frequent marketgoer who resides in Santa Cruz.
