How prevalent are farmer's markets or organic food markets?

[sdurbanite]

I've heard the Solana Beach Farmer's Market is good because it's mostly fruits and veggies. Can anyone verify?

[bloom]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

There are many farmer's markets around San Diego but (with the exception of Hillcrest and Ocean Beach) many are a little bit too light on the farmers and heavy on the trinkets as Skeke said. You can certainly get what you need for fruits and veggies at them, but I agree that many are not worth a special trip. We recently went to both Liberty Station's and Normal Heights' farmers market and were decidedly underwhelmed. There is definitely more of a focus on selling coffee and prepared food, which I think makes sense given the clientele.

There are places like Henry's, Windmill Farms, North Park Produce and Specialty Produce that have the same / better stuff and are a lot more convenient. Another very nice option is to buy a CSA share or split one with a friend.

Mission Hills is a new one on Friday. Smaller but everything from veges/fruits to eggs to baked bread w/o trinkets. Hope it continues...

[ARAH]

Little Italy has a great one on the weekend. That is right in the down town area, very cool place to live too if you can afford it.

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by ARAH

Little Italy has a great one on the weekend. That is right in the down town area, very cool place to live too if you can afford it.

Little Italy Farmers Market is also offering 2 hours of free parking at Washington Elementary. Makes a HUGE difference.

For fresh veggies, Hillcrest (Sunday) Escondido (Tuesday) Ocean Beach (Wednesday) and Little Italy (Saturday) are probably the best. The Adams (Wednesday) and North Park (Thursday) markets are pretty good- North Park in particular has improved greatly over the past 6 months.

I wouldn't bother with the Mission Valley or Liberty station markets at all.

There's a new one in Mission Hills which I haven't been to yet.

Stuff to know:

Hillcrest *can* be a pain to park at. The best thing to do is just look for parking starting on University and work your way farther away- you can usually find something within a few blocks, but circling around the market trying to find something *really close* is frustrating.
I've also had MUCH better luck with parking if I wait until after 12:30 or so to get there.

The othersI mentioned usually have no problem parking- with the possible exception of Ocean Beach- I haven't been to that one in a long while.

[Ditka69]

The Little Italy Mercato "Farmers Market" is awesome. Everything from organic meats to the freshest veggies and fruits. Poppa's has some really good seafood including live uni.

They do have a trinket area and they have prepared foods throughout the market as well.

It is by far my favorite farmers market in town. Other good markets are the Ocean Beach and Hillcrest markets. The Hillcrest market is not very convenient and too many trinket vendors.

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by Ditka69

The Little Italy Mercato "Farmers Market" is awesome. Everything from organic meats to the freshest veggies and fruits. Poppa's has some really good seafood including live uni.

They do have a trinket area and they have prepared foods throughout the market as well.

It is by far my favorite farmers market in town. Other good markets are the Ocean Beach and Hillcrest markets. The Hillcrest market is not very convenient and too many trinket vendors.

Just for perspective, I only think there's "too many trinket vendors" when they either outnumber the produce/food folks, or there's just not enough of the fresh food and the space that the trinket vendors are occupying could be better used.

Hillcrest has a *ton* of fresh produce, with lots of variety. If they want to keep adding trinket vendors, so be it, so long as they don't cut back on the good stuff.. Plus, while they *do* have a few of the same trinket vendors as the other markets/street fairs (hippie skirts- does anyone actually buy those?), they also have some that are unique to that location- the guy who makes the little wire sculptures, for example, and the guy who makes the hanging glass vases. Point is, I think that particular market has a good balance.

A couple of markets that could use more produce and less "things", IMO, are North Park and Adams Avenue.

P.S. The lady that sells vintage cowboy boots/shoes/Westernwear on the sidewalk facing the DMV (at Hillcrest) is AWESOME.

[bloom]

Originally Posted by jenkay

just for perspective, i only think there's "too many trinket vendors" when they either outnumber the produce/food folks, or there's just not enough of the fresh food and the space that the trinket vendors are occupying could be better used.

Hillcrest has a *ton* of fresh produce, with lots of variety. If they want to keep adding trinket vendors, so be it, so long as they don't cut back on the good stuff.. Plus, while they *do* have a few of the same trinket vendors as the other markets/street fairs (hippie skirts- does anyone actually buy those?), they also have some that are unique to that location- the guy who makes the little wire sculptures, for example, and the guy who makes the hanging glass vases. Point is, i think that particular market has a good balance.

A couple of markets that could use more produce and less "things", imo, are north park and adams avenue.

P.s. The lady that sells vintage cowboy boots/shoes/westernwear on the sidewalk facing the dmv (at hillcrest) is awesome.

+1

[phillip2]

Went to the Solana Beach one today. Was very impressed with the range of fruit and veggies, really friendly store owners often manned by folks from the farms where the stuff is picked. All had tasters so you could try before buying.

We only arrived in SD this week from South Africa so cant compare this market to the others but we'll be back next Sunday.