The Best Local Farmers Markets and What to Buy in Season Right Now

Summer hit the Bay Area hard and early this year, and the region's farmers markets are showing it. Blenheim apricots at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market were selling out before 10 a.m. most Saturdays in June, and at least three certified organic vendors from Brentwood reported their earliest-ever peach harvests — some coming in nearly two weeks ahead of the historical average. July 4th weekend is, by most growers' accounts, the single best week of the year to shop.

That matters right now because peak stone fruit season in Northern California is brutally short. Apricots go soft and disappear within six to eight weeks. The same is true for Elephant Heart plums and the White Lady peaches that Frog Hollow Farm — a fixture at both the Ferry Plaza and the Divisadero Farmers Market — has been growing in Brentwood since the 1990s. Miss the window and you're back to refrigerated Chilean imports until next June.

Where to Go and What to Grab

The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, run by the nonprofit Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) at the foot of Market Street along the Embarcadero, is the obvious anchor. Open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, it draws roughly 100 vendors on a full Saturday and functions as something close to a culinary research station for the city's restaurant industry. CUESA estimates the market processes more than $20 million in annual sales across all its market locations. Saturday mornings, arrive before 9 a.m. if you want first pick of the dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes from Dirty Girl Produce — those smaller, intensely flavored tomatoes that started appearing mid-June at around $4.50 a pound and are worth every cent.

For a less hectic experience, the Inner Sunset Farmers Market on Irving Street between 7th and 8th Avenues runs every Sunday year-round and has become a genuine neighborhood institution. Vendors there tend to be smaller operations — fewer celebrity farms, more variety in unusual greens like agretti and purslane, both of which are hitting their stride right now. The Outer Sunset Farmers Market on Noriega Street, operating the first and third Saturday of each month, skews younger and has a stronger prepared-food component, making it a decent option if you want to eat while you shop.

For Marin County regulars who ride the Bay Trail or hike out of the Marin Headlands on weekends, the Marin Civic Center Farmers Market in San Rafael — one of the oldest in the state, dating to 1983 — offers Thursday and Sunday hours and tends to stock strong selections of early-season corn and summer squash from Sonoma and Napa Valley producers.

What's Actually in Season

July in the Bay Area means stone fruit first, but the list goes deeper than peaches and plums. Look for Padron peppers — mild, blistered beautifully in a hot pan with olive oil and flaky salt, and going for around $5 to $7 per basket at most vendors right now. Fresh shelling beans, including borlotti and cranberry varieties, are showing up in serious quantity. Corn from Brentwood is two to three weeks out from peak, but early ears are already at a few stalls. Strawberries from Swanton Berry Farm in Davenport, a worker-owned operation and one of the first certified organic strawberry farms in California, remain a consistent summer buy at $5 to $6 per flat-rate basket.

The practical advice is simple: shop with a cooler bag, go early, and talk to the vendors. Most will tell you exactly what's about to peak and what's already past it. CUESA publishes a seasonal produce guide on its website, updated weekly, which takes the guesswork out of planning a list before you leave the house. If you're working with a new ingredient — purslane, say, or fresh borlotti beans — a quick conversation at the stall will get you further than any recipe app. These growers have been doing this a long time. As always, if you're making dietary changes for specific health reasons, loop in a UCSF primary care provider or a registered dietitian familiar with your situation before overhauling your plate.