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The Alemany Farmers' Market in San Francisco, California
Other great links on the Alemany Farmer's Market
- alemany farmers market april 2003
Travelogue entry with links to plenty of pictures. A great read and great pictures! - Becks & Posh (local food blogger)
Becks's trip with a few pictures and commentary. - KQED (local PBS station) feature
Has a nice slideshow of the stands and patrons. - SFGov: Alemany Farmers Market
Explains the history of the market. One of the oldest farmer's markets in the U.S. First established in the 1940s.
2 families who have been selling at Alemany Farmers' Market for years
Driving directions, Hours, Prices - Practical Information
Practical info:
- Driving directions: Use the map above, or follow these directions:
Take 101 South to the Cesar Chavez exit. Bear Left for CC East/Bayshore, and then again bear right for Bayshore Blvd. Continue down to Alemany Blvd and turn right. You'll see the market on your right. - Parking: Either wait an eternity for parking to open up in the market (there are probably 20 spots in the market, and another 30 on the street in the immediate vicinity), or drive around the neighborhood for plenty of residential parking. I almost always drive up the hill and park on a residential street that's about a 3-minute walk downhill to the market.
- Hours: every Saturday, 6am - 5pm, year round
- Temperature: This is San Francisco, so even on sunny days, you might want to dress warm. For some reason it always seems chilly/windy here, even on relatively warm days.
- Types of produce: One stand has an excellent selection of common and exotic mushrooms (including pink "flamingo" oyster mushrooms). Several specialize in Asian vegetables like bitter melon and bok choy, and even some with Asian herbs like "hot mint" and Thai basil. Lots that have a large selection of Western vegetables and fruits. There were a couple of very popular Filipino stands with vegetables I didn't know. Also a few stands selling live seafood (crabs for $4.50/lb, shrimp) and a cheese stand. There are several that feature Mexican/Central American produce, too. I once bought a large bag of fresh flores de calabaza (zucchini flowers) for $2! (You can easily overpay for these at pricier markets in the area)
- Ready to eat stands: They have a couple of bakeries (bread & pastries), 1 Mexican brunch food stand (with tamales & chiliaquiles), 1 specializing in Afghan food, another in Indian food (with ready-to-eat samosas), and 1 crepe stand (see picture below at bottom). The crepes were $4-8 apiece, considerably cheaper than Ti Couz and freshly made.
- Prices: Vary based on season. We bought Swiss chard at $1/bunch, compared to $2.75/bunch at the Oakland Splash Pad Park market, but the quality wasn't as good. We bought 3 cartons of strawberries for $5--excellent quality but not organic (they sold out of those by 8am). We got beautiful portobello mushrooms for $4/lb. A GREAT salad stand was selling mixed greens, arugula, mizuna and others for $2/lb.
- Epicurious.com - Green (fresh) almonds
A short backgrounder on green almonds and what chefs are using them for.