Category — South Bay

With the sunny weather now in season, it’s a great time to start growing some organic plants and vegetables. I was inspired by the farms I had seen in Uganda especitlly their ability to do so much with very little AND using organic practices. Try to buy organic seeds and fertilizers for your garden. If you live in an urban area, here are some local community gardens you can use:

• Brisbane Community Garden, Brisbane
• Hayward Community Garden, Hayward
• Oakland Community Gardens, Oakland
• Garden for the Environment garden list or San Francisco Park Department Community gardens, San Francisco
• San Jose Community Gardens, San Jose

One of my favorite places in the Bay Area is a small community farm and environmental education center for children called Hidden Villa. I took my parents one day to go hiking in their public trails, and we first started by looking at their wonderful vegetable garden where we ran into Hidden Villa’s cat. We then walked by their farms and pasture and then at the start of the trailhead from the creek. We saw beautiful leaves of different colors as we strolled by the creekside. We then hiked up the mountain where we saw the skyline view of neighboring San Antonio Park. Better yet, you can stay at their quaint hostel, which interestingly is the oldest hostel in California. You can also participate in their CSA program where you can buy a share of their produce. Don’t miss this oasis! Hidden Villa is located in 26870 Moody Road in Los Altos Hills.

Yesterday, I got my CSA box for the month from Capay Farms’ Farm Fresh to You program. All the produce is organic and locally grown through Capay or one of their partners. I’ve been with them for about half a year and so far I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit. You just let them know what box size you want, and whether you want the mix of veggies/fruits. They come and deliver straight to your door each month or week depending on your preference.

For $21.50 a box (I get the smaller box), you get 4 veggies and 2 fruits. This week I got about 1 lb of heirloom tomatoes, 2 lbs of star frinson red pears (see picture to the left), 1.5 lbs of organic grapes, 2 lemon cucumbers (never seen this before!), and organic bok choy. In the picture below, I stir fried the bok choy for dinner today in fresh ground garlic and ginger and then tossed some salt, soy sauce and sesame oil to complete the dish. Give this CSA program a try! They deliver to most of the Bay Area.

I usually throw out junk mail right away. But today I started looking at the grocery ads from my mail and was surprised at Mollie Stone’s insert. It seems like they’ve finally caught on to the buy organic, buy local campaign. In their ad for this week, they’re selling organic produce from local California farms and labeling some of the sources. $1.99/lb organic heirloom tomatoes seems like very good price (compare to Whole Foods at $3.99/lb). Although Mollie Stone’s is not my top choice of supermarkets, this is a great step and it makes me to consider stopping there. Mollie Stone’s has seven locations in the Bay Area.

Yesterday, my family and I went to a secret orchard in Cupertino where we picked fresh apples and heirloom tomatoes. This orchard is not open to the public but you can find their apples sold by Irene at the Palo Alto Farmer’s Market. Their Macintosh apples and heirloom tomatoes were delicious and much cheaper. Plus, it’s a fun and more fulfilling experience to see where the food comes from.

Here are some other locations to pick organic produce in the Bay Area:

• Gabriel Farm, Sebastopol (apples), must make reservations in advance
• Mariquita Farm, Hollister (heirloom tomatoes), Saturday, September 16
• Nicasio Valley Farms Pumpkin Patch, Nicasio Square (pumpkins, strawberries) Sunday, October 8
• Web Ranch Farm, Menlo Park (berries, flowers, apples, corn)
• Swanton Berry Farm, Davenport (strawberries, olallieberries, kiwi, Christmas trees). California certified Organic Farm.