Fresh from Our Farmers: It’s berry season!

It is berry season! Last weekend, farmers markets were brimming with a rainbow of local berries, including yellow, orange, red, purple and black raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.

Sonoma Swamp Blues just began harvesting their organic blueberries a few days ago. Twelve varieties guarantee staggered ripening and an extended season, which should last through early August. The berries were offered at farmers markets last weekend and the farm stand opened this Monday. It will be open daily throughout the blueberry season and beyond.

The Sebastopol-based farm has been at several farmers markets since early spring, with selections that are new this year. They are growing twelve varieties of strawberries, which will continue to produce through fall, though plants take a couple of weeks off now and then throughout the summer. The farm also has sugar snap peas and a wide selection of both microgreens and sprouts, including chickpea sprouts and azuki bean sprouts, which we don’t see very often.

“I’ve been growing microgreens since 1986,” Mamta Landerman explained earlier this week, adding that microgreens contain up to 40 percent more nutrients than the plants do when allowed to grow to maturity.

“We are very committed to bringing high-quality foods to people,” she added.

As the season unfolds, sugar snap peas will gave way to other crops.

The farm’s entire harvest, not just blueberries, is available at both the farm stand and farmers markets.

Most of the farming takes place adjacent to the Laguna de Santa Rosa on Occidental Rd., where there are nine acres devoted to blueberries.

A second location, where the family lives, has greenhouses where plants are started and the microgreens are grown. The second location is not open to the public.

The farm is certified organic.

For recipes using blueberries, including blueberry chutney, blueberry shrubs and more, visit “Eat This Now” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com

Sonoma Swamp Blues, founded in 2008 and owned and operated by Mamta and Andy Landerman, is located at 7000 Occidental Road in Sebastopol. It is open daily in June from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; after the peak of the season, hours will be 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The farm also attends the Occidental Farmers Market, Sebastopol Farmers Market, West End Farmers Market, Santa Rosa Community Farmers Market, Windsor Farmers Market and the Healdsburg Farmers Market.

Michele Anna Jordan has written 21 books to date, including the new “Good Cook’s” series. Email Jordan at michele@saladdresser.com. You’ll find her blog, “Eat This Now,” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.