Just like candy canes and cold weather herald the holiday
season, Hollister residents realized summer had arrived when they
sauntered through the first downtown Farmer’s Market of the season
and saw all the fresh produce Wednesday afternoon.
Just like candy canes and cold weather herald the holiday season, Hollister residents realized summer had arrived when they sauntered through the first downtown Farmer’s Market of the season and saw all the fresh produce Wednesday afternoon.
“Farmers is a great sign of summer,” Cattle Rancher Joe Morris said. “Harvest is on.”
Morris, and roughly 20 other vendors set up their tents and umbrellas and brought their freshest produce, baked goods, and straight-from-the-docks fish to sell to the community of Hollister.
Shopper Luz Bachofer had a bag full of vegetables in the first 30 minutes of the market.
“It’s so fresh and local,” she said. “And I love that you can sample and taste everything you buy.”
Controlling the corner of San Benito and Fourth Streets and offering samples of their wide varieties of cherries, locally owned Swank Farms was busy. Owner Dick Swank, who’s been bringing his crops to farmers since 1986, said the produce at farmers is “a heck of a lot better” than those found in the grocery store.
“It’s like having your own garden without all the weeds,” he said.
Just behind Swank Farms was a tent without colorful produce, but full of fresh-off-the-boat seafood. Papa Joe’s Fresh Fish from Wharf II in Monterey brought sea bass, halibut, sea scallops, jumbo prawns and much more to Hollister. Part owner Joe Aliotti Jr. said he could tell customers exactly what boat the fresh fish came off of that morning.
“The fish on Wednesdays have no miles,” he said. “They come straight off the boat to Hollister.”
As Aliotti was offering customers recipes and keeping shoppers’ fish on ice until they were ready to leave, Debbie Gonzalez, owner of Grandpa’s Gourmet Bakery wasn’t about to give away her secrets to the dozens of muffins, cakes and cookies she had on display. Although her bakery is located in San Jose, Gonzalez is from Hollister and decided to bring her products to the market and share with the local community.
“I’m trying to get more involved with the local market and this is a good opportunity for people to see and enjoy our product,” she said.
Just down the row, Ana Ruvalcaba’s flower booth looked as though it had been plucked off Portobello Road in London and transported to downtown. Ruvalcaba’s hundreds of blooms, in almost every color of the rainbow, came from her nursery in Royal Oaks. For $5 visitors could buy a dozen white roses, and Ruvalcaba’s assistant Carol Lacey said the nursery carries around 250 different varieties of flowers throughout the year.
“This is a family business and being at farmers gives community members an opportunity to meet local farmers and enjoy locally-grown produces,” she said.
Vendors from as far as Aromas and Paicines filled the grassy lot, representing all of the counties, aka “The Apricot Lady” of B&R Farms said it’s been this way since her family started coming in 1929.
“The first market was on Seventh Street, then it moved to Sixth Street and then here,” she said.
This is the first year the market has been held on grass, and Mari Rossi, also from B&R, said it makes a difference.
“We’re very happy,” she said. “It’s cooler for the vendors, for the customers and we’ve heard nothing but positive feedback just in the first half hour.”
Farmer’s Market will continue to run every Wednesday this summer from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the corners of San Benito and Fourth Streets. For more information, call the Hollister Downtown Association at 831-636-8406.
