Farmers and food purveyors are gearing up for the debut of the Mission Rock Farmers Market Pop-Up at The Yard from 10am–2pm Sunday, and they're eager to meet and talk with shoppers.
Of the 28 vendors at the market, more than half are new to the hosts, The Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA)—which organizes the popular Ferry Plaza Farmers Markets on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
So in addition to having an extra day to buy tomatoes from Dirty Girl Produce or pastries from Marla Bakery, newcomers such as Blue House Farm, Bini's Kitchen, Bluma Farm, Fruitilicious Farm, Girl Friday Zeppole and Oasis Date Gardens, among others, will truck in the season's bounty and ready-made goodies. (See the entire list here.)
The theme this month is "Preservation Celebration," and the day will include a hot sauce tasting at 10:30am, bread-and-butter pickles demo at 10:30am, fig conserva demo by 25 Lusk chef Matthew Dolan at 11:30am, and DIY pickled peppers at 12:30pm.
Photo: CUESA
One of the farmers attending, Robin Koda of Koda Farms, will sell heirloom rice. "Being at this market for me is largely an educational outreach effort," she said. "I do two other farmers market on a monthly basis. It’s not about my overall sales. The benefit for me of going to farmers markets ... is educating the public and to let people know that what we’re doing is sustainable, worthwhile and all in the cause of producing safe, clean food."
Koda said people often see a label that says, "organic," but it's not always raised or produced well—nor does it taste that great. Koda Farms' rice, she said, is "extremely flavorful and has excellent cooking qualities and has a really unique characteristics. That is because we developed this rice specifically in the 1950s for its climate and soil type."
Robin Koda. Photo: Hollywood Farmers' Market/Facebook
Most factory farms' priorities are to create fast growing, high-yield crops, she said, which hampers the flavor and texture. "We feel a lot of rice out there is very bland and doesn't have good eating qualities," she said. "It can be dry or bland or mushy or chalky or all of the above. Rice is not just a dull filler carb. It has merits on its own."
A third-generation farmer, Koda and her brother, Ross Koda, run the farm, which is the southernmost rice farm in California, located in the southwest corner of Merced County. Their grandfather began farming rice in 1910 in northern California and moved to the present day location in 1928. "I think people don’t realize rice has been growing in California since the late 1800s," Koda said.
Learn more about Koda Farms and the other growers and producers this Sunday and selected Sundays through the end of the year. CUESA is testing out the pop-up to see if the area can sustain a permanent market going forward, and the market will return on Oct. 25th for the Harvest Festival, Nov. 22nd for the Thanksgiving Market and Dec. 20th for the Holiday Hoedown.
