52 South Bay Accent
Here, we have strawberries from April to
Thanksgiving. In Canada, they have them
for 12 weeks.”
During her eight years with the state
agriculture department, Hayden not only
launched dozens of new farmers markets
but expanded the portfolio of goods available.
“Little by little, we added things,” she
says. “Bakery items, fresh pasta, bread. That
was a lot of work, regulation-wise. Adding
honey, eggs and flour took us seven years to
get into the markets.” In the mid-’90s after
a trip to the United Kingdom, “I saw what
they were doing with grass-fed animals and I
wanted to do that here. So we worked with
U.S. growers on how to get through all the
USDA bureaucracy to bring grass-fed meat
to the markets,” recalls Hayden.
In the midst of all her efforts with the
state agency, she earned her master’s degree
in business administration. “My thesis was
on food marketing,” she explains. “Why
were people buying tortilla chips instead
of corn or buying canned salsa rather than
mashing up a tomato and putting in some
onion and garlic?”
Having become a walking encyclopedia
of farmers market operation, Hayden next
was hired to set up the Pacific Coast Farmers
Market Association, launching 11 markets
for the organization in the region. This
position began in 1987 and demonstrated
a trend that was to grow exponentially. Explains
Hayden: “We saw early on that the
Silicon Valley was ideal for farmers markets.
A third of the residents are foreign born and
went to markets in their home countries and
they like to access products they can’t get
at Costco.” The opportunity was obvious,
she says, when combined with the region’s
higher education levels.
This farmers market pioneer established
her own organization in 1994, where she
still remains. Called the California Farmers
Market Association (CFMA), it launched
two markets a year until recently, with the
current total approximately 36 markets in
the Bay Area. However, many of them—
such as the phenomenal market at San
Francisco’s Ferry Plaza—were eventually
turned over to other nonprofit organizations
to run and CFMA now directly operates 14
regional markets, including thriving South
Bay operations in Los Gatos, Saratoga, San
Jose/Oakridge, San Jose/Santana Row, Los
Altos, Mountain View and Morgan Hill.
“An average of 26,000 people a week go
through our 14 markets in peak season,”
she reports.
Hayden’s institutional knowledge of the
3 tablespoons extra virgin
olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic
vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Toss all ingredients together,
season and serve
immediately. Serves 4.
Asparagus Quinoa
with Green Garlic
and Almonds
Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra virgin
olive oil
1 pound cooked quinoa
1 cup vegetable or chicken
stock, heated
1 pound trimmed asparagus,
sliced in half-inch
pieces
4 stalks of green garlic,
cleaned and sliced
1 cup sliced toasted
almonds
6 ounces parmesan
cheese
Salt and freshly ground
pepper
Directions
In a sauté pan, heat oil,
green garlic and sauté for
about three minutes. Add
fresh asparagus and sauté
for three to four more
minutes. Add a cup of
stock and let it come to
a boil. Simmer for a few
minutes until asparagus
turns bright green. Add
Spring is a wonderful
season for fresh produce
as favorites like asparagus,
peas, sweet onions,
watercress, artichokes,
fava beans and exotics
like green garlic, ramps
and fiddlehead ferns
show up in farmers
markets. These simple
recipes from the California
Farmers Market Association
make the most
of this early-season
bounty.
Spring
Strawberry Salad
Ingredients
2-plus cups or more lettuce,
baby spinach or
other greens, cleaned
and roughly chopped
1 basket fresh strawberries,
cleaned and sliced
½ cup crumbled or
cubed feta cheese (optional)
¼ cup chopped toasted
almonds or walnuts
1 small red onion, thinly
sliced
quinoa and heat through.
Season with salt and pepper.
Garnish with grated
parmesan. Serves 4.
Springtime
Market Sangria
This tasty beverage is
particularly great with
the first cherries of the
season, which arrive in
mid-spring.
Ingredients
½ cup brandy
¼ cup lemon juice
⅓ cup lemonade
concentrate
⅓ cup fresh orange juice
1 bottle dry red wine
½ cup triple sec liqueur
1 lemon sliced into
rounds
1 orange sliced into
rounds
1 lime sliced into rounds
Soda water or seltzer
Handful of fresh market
cherries, pitted
Directions
In a large bowl or a
pitcher, mix together all
the ingredients except
the soda water. For best
flavor let sit a few hours
or overnight. Just before
serving, float each glass
with a little soda water.
Add your favorite springtime
seasonal fruits like
cherries and apricots. Refreshingly
serves six.
FARMERS
MARKET
SPRING
RECIPES