The Campbell Farmers market is one of three year-round farmers markets operated by the Urban Village Farmers Market Association. In the past, Campbell was the center of Santa Clara County’s fruit-growing activities, and at one time boasted three major canneries and a 17-acre fruit-drying yard. Today high-tech industry has supplanted the valley’s orchards, and Campbell is now an affluent Silicon Valley bedroom community with a median family income of $80,000.

The market seems to be a destination for recreational food-shopping rather than a place where people would buy the necessities of life. So, in addition to produce, the market offered gourmet doggie treats, giant flower bulbs, a raw oyster bar, knife and scissors sharpening, and live music. Campbell is proud of the market, which is set up right down the middle of the city’s main shopping street, and banners celebrating the market hang from nearby light poles. About 30 different vendors were at the market that day, with a mixture that was about 50 percent produce, 25 percent other food, and 25 percent crafts.

The Sunday I shopped at the market was the first clear day after a rainy and cold week. After so much rain in Northern California, I was surprised to see that some vendors still had field-grown tomatoes.

Jeff Rhodes from Rhodes Family Farms of Kingsburg brought both hachiya and fuyu persimmons for $1 per pound. He said that earlier in the year, he also had some of the unusual, squarish tamopon variety, but was already sold out. Some of his hachiya persimmons—the long, pointed variety—were soft and ripe, perfect for baking into breads, cookies, and pies. Rhodes, who sells at a number of farmers markets in northern California, offers many different persimmon recipes on his website, including an unlikely sounding recipe for persimmon fudge. 

Avila Farm from San Juan Batista was awash with greens, including red and green lettuce for $1 per head, spinach at $1 per bunch, young small beets with greens attached at $1.50 per head, fennel for $1 per bulb, and broccoli at $2 a bunch.

Avila also sold kohlrabi for $1.50 a bunch, but most market-goers appeared to be too unfamiliar with this winter vegetable to take a chance and buy any. No one seems to know that Kohlrabi can be stuffed, pickled, cooked in a microwave oven or even eaten raw.

Castroville, Calif., is the artichoke capitol of the nation, so it was no surprise that Northridge Farms from Castroville brought three different sizes of artichokes to the market. Baby artichokes were $3 a bag, with each bag containing about five or six. Regular supermarket-size artichokes were four for $5, and the jumbo size were two for $5. Northridge farms also had Brussels sprouts for $3 a bag, and broccoli at $1.50 a bunch.

Twin Girls Farm of Reedley, California had the busiest stall. Twin Girls is a certified organic farm, and everyone was lining up for the sweet seedless, zipper-skinned Satsuma oranges at $2 per pound. Organic Valencia oranges were $1 per pound, with a 10-pound sack selling for $4. Large pomegranates were selling for two for $1, and organic fuyu persimmons for $2 per pound. Orange juice was $2 per pint, and Pomegranate juice sold for $3 per pint. Neither juice was pasteurized and both bore the required warning labels to that effect.

Jack Ramsden sold high-end organic doggy snacks, including doggy pizza, and rawhide candy canes, chicken liver pretzels, and chuck-roast teddy bears. Besides his farmers market appearances, Ramsden also sells dog treats through a website. The various crackers and cookies are so appealing looking that Ramsden displays a sign at the booth that says “no sampling unless you have four legs and see a veterinarian for all your medical needs.”

Intertidal Aquafarms, Inc. was the newest food vendor at the market. Two oyster-openers were constantly busy opening miyagi oysters and selling them for $1 apiece to shoppers who would stand at the booth and slurp down as many as a dozen at a time.

Overripe Hachiya Persimmons

I deliberately selected these overripe hachiya persimmons from Rhodes Family Farms. I wanted them to be nice and smooshy because I plan to experiment with making persimmon leather, and persimmon bread. But I will probably give a pass to Rhodes’ recipe for persimmon fudge.

Price: $1/lb.

Chard

I bought this chard from Avila Farm. It went into my erbazzone, an unusual sweet pie made with chard, almonds, raisins and ricotta cheese. Erbazzone is a traditional dish from Bologna, in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region.

Price: $1.50/bunch

Tomatoes and Italian Flat-Leaf Parsley

The tomatoes, from Borba Farms, were definitely on the firm side and no longer had the sunny taste of full summer tomatoes. I used half of them in a batch of jambalaya, and chopped the rest and mixed them up with the flat-leaf Italian parsley from Full Belly Farm into some Very Veggie Tabouli.

Price: $2/lb. for tomatoes
$1/bunch for parsley

Assorted Sweet Peppers Including Gogoscar (far left and far right),
and Corno di Toro (red pepper in middle) 

I bought an assortment of sweet peppers from Borba Farms and used them in my Farmers Market Jambalaya.

Price: $1.50/lb.