Fresh from Our Farmers: Petaluma farmers market opens

The Petaluma Walnut Park Farmers Market opens for its 2015 season this Saturday at 2 p.m. The market wraps up at 5:30 p.m. and continues weekly through Nov. 21.

There are several local farms that you will find only at this market - vendors that contribute shape, character and sense of place. Tolay Valley Farm, which also operates a small CSA program, currently has fava beans, broccoli, arugula, parsley and basil.

Oasis, known for the enormous size of its vegetables, has cabbage, favas, kohlrabi, broccoli and lettuce. Graham Wheeler, formerly a part of Sebastopol’s Laguna Farm, has carrots, beets, arugula, lettuce and favas. Krout’s Sunset Ranch, which specializes in a wide variety of spicy garlics, also has delicious radishes and cilantro and should have Romanesco zucchini soon.

Coyote Family Farm of Penngrove, which also operates a CSA program, has a wide variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers, with melons coming later in the season. Mikel Edwards has fava beans and several varieties of lettuce. Petaluma Bounty Farm, GVM Farms and Ramon de la Herran have diverse harvests that evolve weekly.

The Patch of Sonoma will be at the market, likely with its delicious Nantes carrots, along with onions and possibly early zucchini. Soda Rock Farms has tomato and pepper starts. Gourmet Growers has white, cremini and oyster mushrooms.

Happy Hens Farm attends this market with its pastured and grass-fed meat and poultry raised on the southern flank of Sonoma Mountain; the farm has recently added rabbit to its selections.

Suchernova has pastured chicken, pork and beef, chicken and duck eggs, and microgreens.

Several vendors attend multiple weekly markets, among them Neufeld Farms, with fresh stone fruit, dried fruit and nuts, and Schletewitz Family Farms, which has some of the first apricots of the year. Chris Gertz of the Fruit Outlet attends, too, with his popular peaches and citrus fruit.

Zuckerman’s Asparagus will be at this market through June. Busalacchi Farms has cherries and, sometimes, avocados.

One Ocean Seafood sells fish and shellfish. Two Rock Goat Cheese attends the market. And there are three bakeries here, too: Panorama Bread, Revolution Bread and Red Bird Bakery. Bloomfield Bees has honey and honey products.

This market always has beautiful flowers and bouquets, all manner of plant starts and an array of things to eat on the spot or take home.

The Hummus Guy offers condiments, salads and flatbreads; Nana’s Gourmet Foods has flavored olive oils and vinegars; Sonoma Spice Queen has spice blends; and Victor’s Energy Bars are organic and vegan. There’s Indian food from Sukhi’s, tea from Tea and Trumpets, and Mexican fare from Tortillas de la Tierra.

Retrograde Coffee Roasters sells espresso and other coffee drinks.

The market is now under the umbrella of Agricultural Community Events, unifying the three markets in Petaluma. The Eastside market operates year-round on Tuesday mornings, and the Theater District market, which takes place on Wednesday evenings, opens June 3 and wraps up Aug. 26.

The Petaluma Walnut Park Farmers Market, founded in 1987 and currently managed by Kelly Smith and James Fenton, takes place on Saturdays from 2 to 5:30 p.m. at Walnut Park, located at Petaluma Boulevard South and D Street.

Michele Anna Jordan has written 19 books to date, including the new “More Than Meatballs.” Email Jordan at catsmilk@sonic.net. You’ll find her blog, “Eat This Now,” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.