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The Market:
Fortuna Certified Farmers Market
12th Street & L.
Fortuna, Calif.
Tuesday, 3-6 p.m., May-Oct.
(707) 722-4330
Market-Goer: Mark
Thompson
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This morning, as I drove in intermittent
rain through the towering redwoods from Klamath, where I
stayed last night, towards Fortuna (a few miles south of
Eureka), the local public radio station I
was listening to was in the midst of a pledge drive. One
listener who had just contributed challenged "all
other farmers who are going to skip the Fortuna farmers
market today because of the rain" to kick in, as
well.
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farmers
market purchases on display in
Redwoods National Park, north of Eureka |
Here, on the rugged north coast of California,
about 100 miles south of the Oregon border, it rains a
lot in winter. With that season about to begin, the
market will be winding down in the next several
weeks. I don't know how many farmers stayed away
from the market today, fearing rain. But it was mostly
sunny by this afternoon -- a fine day for a market for
the half a dozen or so farmers who showed up. |
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What I Bought:
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(clockwise
from top left) Nellis Pear, gala apple,
unnamed red apple, Asian pear
Is that a weird, prehistoric-looking
pear variety or what? I thought the farmer who sold it
to me called it an Ellis. But I searched the Internet for
information on a variety with that name and came up with nothing.
I did, however, find the Nellis variety. None of the
photos of the Nellis that I saw looked quite like this
one, but they were close. If this is a Nellis, it's
known as a winter variety that grows well in the
Pacific Northwest. Skip Parodi, manager of Jelich
Ranch in the San Francisco Bay Area, calls
it one of his favorite varieties. "It's the
ugliest pear you've ever seen, but it's like eating
candy," he says. Personally, I wouldn't rank it among the best of
the eating pears. This pear was very firm and crunchy, with
a grainy texture and a slightly astringent taste. I'd
guess that you could make a good, spicy pear cider
with this variety. The Nellis is also said to be good
for baking. Anybody out their know if this is, in
fact, a Nellis? Let me know, at markthomp@yahoo.com.
Price: $2/lb.
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purple
cabbage, artichoke, brussel sprouts
Price: $1/lb. cabbage
$.75/each for artichokes
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(left
to right) tomatoes, Walla Walla sweet onion,
garlic, snacking pepper
Price: $2/lb. for
tomatoes
$.25/each snacking peppers
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lettuce,
arugula, salad mix
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