The San Jose area now has a new way to buy locally grown fruits and vegetables. My neighbor, Paige Bayer (the local organizer of the wildly successful Bakesale for Japan last year), launched an “online farmer’s market” called SV Local Market just a few weeks ago.

SV Local Market operates somewhat like a community supported agriculture (CSA) co-op, with different pre-selected baskets of fruits and vegetables available by subscription. But they also offer the option to select exactly the items you’re interested in. Choices include the basic fruits and vegetables as well as extras like “sweet treats”, jams and jellies, and loose leaf tea. All of the source farms appear to be located in the Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and San Juan Batista counties, and many are certified organic.

SV Local Market has 5 pick-up locations, two near downtown San Jose, two in south San Jose, and one each in Los Gatos, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara. Pick-ups are available on Wednesday afternoons.

San Pedro Square Market launched a new weekly farmer’s market this morning. I was able to be there and I was pretty impressed. They had a strong selection of vendors, including produce, ready-to-eat foods, and a few crafts booths. The organic farm choices were strong, although the lack of “not-so-organic” choices seems likely to keep prices up and make this a market for the more well-off. (Hint: if reasonable prices for just-picked fresh veggies is more important to you than strict organic processes, check out Japantown’s farmers market every Sunday morning).

The San Pedro Square Market Farmer’s Market will be held every Saturday morning, year-round, from 10 am to 2 pm. It’s located on St. John Street, between San Pedro and Almaden Ave.

San Pedro Square Market’s second building, the Lusardi building, was also open, although the retail space is only partially occupied. There were a couple of craft and clothing spaces. Aptos’s excellent California native nursery, Native Revival, has a booth. An every-day produce market called Veggie Box had opened.

There’s also a bar in the new space. This one has a clean, sharp-edged looked, a complete counter-point to the San Pedro Market Bar in the first building.

Veggielution Community Farm is now selling at the Downtown Farmers Market every Friday from 10-2 until December 14 (closed the day after Thanksgiving). This means we now have access to the most local and sustainable produce in San Jose. For two dollars you can buy a beautiful bunch of basil that was picked just two hours before you bought it.

In addition to heirloom tomatoes, Veggielution has a variety of unusual and heritage vegetables which means you may find something you’ve never seen or tried before.

The proceeds from Veggielution’s farmers market stand go to support programs such as Veggie Youth and Family Day. So look for their colorful display of approximately 100 pounds of freshly picked produce that has travelled a total of 3.5 miles to the market.

These satisfied customers are walking away with a Sugar Baby watermelon.

The new Willow Glen Lions Club will have a table on opening day of the Willow Glen Community Farmers’ Market on Saturday, 8 May 2010 at The Garden Theater building, 1165 Lincoln Avenue, in the heart of Willow Glen. Please come visit – we welcome new members!

The Willow Glen Lions Club is looking for a regular meeting location in or near downtown Willow Glen. The service club meets at 6 pm on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays monthly, currently at the Hobee’s in the Pruneyard, Campbell. Willow Glen Lions Officers are checking out a number of new location possibilities. Club Webmaster and Historian John Plocher was recently seen wearing his club shirt visiting fellow lions in Memphis and Giza, Egypt:

Images Copyright 2010 by Katy Dickinson

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted (3 to 2) to ban the toys which are included in fast-food kid meals. I doubt that the measure, presented by Supervisor Ken Yeager, will keep children from becoming obese. There are many other reasons why a child might become overweight. Turning off a child’s want of fast food by denial will not solve the problem. Education is the solution for learning good eating habits, and that is where DooF can help.

DooF (F-o-o-d spelled backwards) is a program designed to help kids make healthful food choices. Kids learn by preparing some of their own meals and snacks while having fun. Parents take the responsibility for setting the food budget, buying ingredients, and supervising the younger chefs.

I attended two DooF-a-Palooza events held at Google in 2007 and 2008. Cooking stations were set up where kids could experience hands on food preparation. Oh, the joy on their faces – and without a toy!

DooF-on-Wheels will be at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market – Look for a Creme Brulee – colored bio-diesel Mercedes with DooF on the side. There will be kids and a film crew near by. A citrus grower, Didar Sing, will ask questions like, “Do citrus fruits really have superpowers?”

Berkeley Farmers’ Market
Center Street @ M. L. King, Jr. Way
(510) 548-3333
Saturday, May 1
10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
DooF-on-Wheels there Noon to 3:00 PM

DooF will be visiting other locations throughout the Bay Area.

DooF the Blog
DooF on facebook
FoodBackwards on twitter

Before Santana Row, there was Town & Country Village, a sprawling one-level, Spanish-style buildings with stores and restaurants. Before Town & Country Village, there was a 65-acre pear orchard.

The festival includes chef demonstrations, wine tasting, live entertainment and samplings of pear-influenced recipes by Santana Row Chefs.

Wine tasting, $20 for six tastes with 20% of proceeds donated to Hospice of the Valley.

Food Network’s Giada De Laurentiis will appear at noon in Santana Row Park with a Q&A and book signing. Tickets for this event will be distributed in Sur La Table at Santana Row with the purchase of Giada’s Kitchen.

Santana Row
Winchester & Stevens Creek Boulevards, San Jose

Sunday, October 19, 2008
10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Free except for wine tasting and the Giada De Laurentiis event.

Just collecting a few random flyers around downtown and SJSU and passing the info on to you. This stuff ranges from comedy to theater to nightclub events to ballroom dance lessons to talent shows to… well, you’ll see. There’s got to be something here you’re interested in. I’m also splicing in some events I found here on the San Jose Downtowner e-mail newsletter, and a couple of gems I saw on Artsopolis.com. I wish I could do this more often. Alas, school.

Wednesday, Oct. 1

Comedy at the Improv: Komedy Kegger – San Jose Bar and Grill teams up with The Improv to supply top notch laughs and affordable drinks and appetizers.  Tickets are good for buy one get one drink at San Jose Bar and Grill after the show.  8 pm.  62 S. Second St.  $10, 280-7475 or www.symfonee.com/Improv/sanjose/home/index.aspx

Thursday, Oct. 2

Groove Suite — An Open Turnatble Gathering: Every first Thursday of the month. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. at SFB Lounge, 420 South First St. All styles and genres welcome. Featuring a heavy monthly line-up of local and international guest DJs, live art, vendors, billiards, arcade/gaming area, food and drink specials all night. All sets are recorded live and will be available free to download at http://www.groovesuite.podomatic.com/. Resident: ThatGirl. Guest list free all night: thatgirlmelanie@yahoo.com. Email for priority open turntable sign-up.

Ma’BOO’Hay Talent Showcase: In celebration of Pilpino History Month, Akbayan presents their 8th annual talent showcase. Pilipino artists from around the Bay Area perform for a night of great music and fun, with proceeeds going to Bantay Bata 163, a charity that serves sick and abused children. Sponsored by the Akbayan Filipino-American Organization of SJSU. Tickets are $8 presale and $12 at the door. Doors open 6:30 p.m., show starts at 7 p.m. Email maboohay2008@gmail.com for tickets or more information, or visit http://akbayansjsu.wordpress.com/.

Comedy at the Improv presents Henry Cho: (Thursday-Sunday) Cho is going to star in his own sitcom based on his life as a Korean-American born and raised in Tennessee.  He has also been featured on Comedy Central and several films like “Material Girls,” “Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation” and “Say It Isn’t So.”  8 pm Thurs; 8 pm and 10 pm Fri; 7 pm and 9 pm Sat; 7 pm Sun.  62 S. Second St. $16-$18, 280-7475 or www.symfonee.com/Improv/sanjose/home/index.aspx

City Lights Theatre presents “Noises Off”: A funny story of an English acting ensemble that is touring a production of a farce called “Nothing On.”  Thursday-Saturday through October 19. 8 pm Wed-Sat; 7 pm Oct 5; 2 pm Oct 12 and Oct 19.  529 S.  Second St.  $15-$40, 295.4200 or www.cltc.org

Friday, Oct. 3

South First Fridays: Downtown art venues are free and open to the public late into the evening, every first Friday of the month. You can also ride the new rickshaw service between galleries. See highlights, read about the venues and download a map at http://www.southfirstfridays.com/

Ballroom Dance: Take lessons every Friday from now to Oct. 24. This Friday and Friday Oct. 10 both focus on the Bolero. Oct. 17 and 24 teaches Salsa, Nov. 7 is the Foxtrot and Nov. 14 and 21 are East Coast Swing. No dance experience necessary! Cost is $25 for a semester or $3 for drop-in. Beginning classes are at 7:30 p.m. and intermediate is at 8:30 p.m. Visit the Ballroon Dance Club’s website at http://studentorgs.sjsu.edu/sjsubdc.

SiliCon 2008: Through Oct. 5. The SiliCon 2008 Convention for Fans of Science, Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror features seminars covering hard science, science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. Some of the topics covered include astronomy, robotics, and other scientific areas, as well as writing, painting, costuming, singing, model making, computer graphics, and film studies, along with diabetes education and outreach. SiliCon is a non-profit organization devoted to science education and raising funds and awareness for diabetes education and research. Info: http://www.siliconventions.com/2008/

Death of a Salesman: October 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 at 7 p.m., University Theatre, SJSU. Tickets are $10 students/seniors, $20 general admission. For more info or to order tickets online, go to http://www.tvradiofilmtheatre.com/.

San Pedro Farmers’ Market: Fresh produce, food vendors and live music, takes place each Friday to Dec. 12 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. along San Pedro Street between Santa Clara and St. John streets. http://www.sjdowntown.com/eve_eve_far.html.

WAIT! There’s 7 more events behind the jump! (more…)

Before Santana Row, there was Town & Country Village, a sprawling one-level, Spanish-style buildings with stores and restaurants. Before Town & Country Village, there was a 65-acre pear orchard. This Sunday Santana Row celebrates its 5-year anniversary with its first annual Pear Festival.

Festival attendees will be able to meet pear farmers, taste the pear-influenced creations of chefs during the Santana Row Chef Challenge, attend a pear dessert demonstration, enjoy performances by local folk, country and jazz musicians, visit the farmer’s market, along with other activities.

Learn new pear recipes, growing techniques and more from the growers themselves; also, sample different types of pears from across the country. 10:00am. – 6:00pm

The Santana Row Chef Challenge with Chefs David Bastide (Left Bank), Vittal Shetty (Amber India), Michael Dunn (Yankee Pier), Stephen J. Romeo (Straits Café) and others compete using fresh ingredients from the Santana Row Farmers’ Market, as well as any spice or meat/fish they wish, the chefs must create a pear-themed dish in only 30 minutes. The lucky spectators get to be the judges. 11:00am, 2:00pm & 4:00pm

Bay Area chef and author of award-winning dessert cookbooks Alice Medrich will demonstrate her pastry techniques when she prepares a special pear dessert. Noon

Santana Row
Winchester & Stevens Creek Boulevards, San Jose
Sunday, Oct. 7
10:00am. – 6:00pm
Free

Driving Directions

Shivani requested, Joann goaded and as a result, today, I visited the Farmers’ Market at James Lick High School, my first in California.

The market is quite compact, occupying just two rows of the parking lot. The sellers reflect California’s racial diversity.
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If you want to get a dose of cherry blossoms, you don’t need to look very far. Not only is San Jose sprinkled with cherry blossom trees in general but you can find plenty lining the streets of Japantown. Or if you feel like more of a garden setting, head on down to the Japanese Friendship Garden in Kelly Park or to Hakone Gardens in Saratoga. These awesome spring days are great for heading out and about.
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