The Santa Rosa plum brew is a local fave, but other flavors emerge when regulars provide bulk produce like candy cap mushrooms or avocado for beermaking at Watsonville’s Fruition Brewing, where the tie that binds the brewery and local farmers is a strong one.
Farmers market coverage
Posted inFood & Drink
Thirty-nine years in the making, Billy Bob Orchards offers 22 apple varieties through fall and winter
How do you match your taste buds to the apples of the moment? Karen Peixoto and Watsonville’s Billy Bob Orchards, fixtures at several Santa Cruz County farmers markets, will help you find the perfect pairings.
Posted inLatest News
UPDATE: Downtown farmers market signs MOU with City of Santa Cruz to establish permanent home
The downtown farmers market has become something of a political hot potato in the politicking around Measure O. While that measure aims to “preserve” Lot 4 for the market, market director Nesh Dhillon has been working to find the best “permanent” home for the Santa Cruz institution. This MOU shows movement on that work.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Downtown farmers market’s move provides challenge to Measure O’s campaign
The 32-year-old downtown Santa Cruz market is almost ready to move to a new “permanent,” city-owned location a block and a half away from its current digs. Its new home offers a wider vision of the market anchoring a new community center — but seems to fly in the face of one of the arguments of Measure O proponents. How will the move — and its politics — play out?
Posted inFood & Drink
Hakouya spreads the word on miso
The mother-and-son team behind Hakouya has gone beyond their local favorite miso dressing to sell a wider array of traditional and not-so-traditional miso products — including their own take on amazake, a fermented rice drink.
Posted inFood & Drink
Seaquoia harvests the deep (under the bay) forests to produce captivating edible kelp
Seaquoia, a homegrown seaweed merchant, is one of the only of its kind around Monterey Bay, and sells a wide range of products made from wild kelp.
Posted inFood & Drink
A taste of El Salvador: Dos Hermanos Pupuseria
Dos Hermanos Pupuseria serves simple food that works — four types of pupusas served alongside curtido slaw and a fiery salsa that leaves you wanting more.
Posted inFood & Drink
‘We’re kind of a big family’: Inside the Aptos farmers market, Santa Cruz County’s first and biggest
For 30 years, Catherine Barr has managed the market, from its infancy hosting 15 scrappy farmers to now 70 and thriving each Saturday. As the pandemic ebbs, she outlines the market’s innovations, including a new cookbook exchange this year, a revived chef series and do-it-yourself crafts.
Posted inFood & Drink
Wellness in a bottle? La Vie offers on-the-go boosts
Raw foods, recombined: That’s what you’ll find with Watsonville-based La Vie’s probiotic mixtures of fruits, vegetables and nut milks that are good and good for you. You can find its products at five farmers market locations throughout Santa Cruz County.
Posted inFood & Drink
Building our green town squares: Nesh Dhillon talks growth, future of Santa Cruz farmers markets
Nesh Dhillon has managed Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Markets for more than 20 years. In that time, he has ushered in an expansion of five thriving markets from Felton to Live Oak and the inclusion of the global ready-to-eat food now satisfying our appetites.