Josh Edelson

Drakes Bay Oyster Company workers hang racks of baby oysters from planks in the water.

I wrote a long feature for this week's paper on the fight over the future of Drakes Bay Oyster Company, a small, family-owned oyster farm in Marin that happens to be on federally protected land. The case was heard in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Tuesday, and it's unknown if the farm's operating days are numbered. We captured so many great photos from our day in the oyster boat with the crew that we made a slideshow of the oyster-harvesting process.

See also: Shuck and Jive: Drakes Bay Oyster Company Forces a Redefinition of Environmentalism
Slideshow: Drakes Bay Oyster Co. at Work

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Good Eggs Delivery Bag

Contrary to decades of economic thought, putting all your eggs in one basket may actually be a phenomenal idea.

With their recent re-launch last week, Good Eggs now gives Bay Area residents the ability to shop from local farms and food makers in the comfort of their own homes. Some of the updates include nearly doubling their vendors, laying out a new web store, and offering delivery straight to your door. Before the official launch, Good Eggs offered us a complementary crack at the new and improved shopping and delivery system.

See also: Four Subscription Services That Bring Local, Sustainable Groceries to Your Door
Mission Community Market's Chef Box

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Local Mission Eatery

With talk of a one-year ban on new restaurants along Valencia Street, San Franciscans may be forced to take such drastic measures as buying and cooking their own food when they find themselves at a loss for a new restaurant to try around the corner. Grocery shopping may become a horrifying reality.

Fortunately, Local Mission Eatery and Local's Corner owner Yaron Milgrom has plans to open a new market on Harrison between 22nd and 23rd streets later this year (which, if we had to take a stab, will most likely be deemed Local's Market). SFoodie had the chance to chat with him about his vision for the future of marketing in the Mission.

See also: Local: Mission Eatery is on a local mission

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Even if you don't have a green thumb, the Baker Creek Seed Catalog is a fascinating read. Bear with me. Now in its 15th year, the catalog contains listings for 1,450 seeds for vegetables, flowers, and herbs from more than 70 countries, many of them with super-interesting backstories. For a food history nerd such as myself, just reading entries at random is enough transport you to the markets of nineteenth century Paris or Thomas Jefferson's gardens at Monticello, emphasizing the way food acts as a through-line between present and past civilizations.

See also: Revisiting My Side of the Mountain in the Locavore Era
Re-Visiting the Hangtown Fry, the Dish That Epitomizes Gold Rush California

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Andria Lo

If you have always wanted to pluck that mushroom in the forest or nibble wild herbs in the backyard but have been afraid to try (or too lazy to cook), ForageSF's Wild Kitchen dinners provide a safe, gourmet introduction to locally foraged foods. Founded by Iso Rabins, the creator of the Underground Market, the Wild Kitchen dinners are an "underground supper club" featuring an 8-course meal made from local, seasonal, foraged ingredients. The next series of Wild Kitchen dinners are on December 6, 7 and 8 in San Francisco (final location will be announced the week of the dinners). And as the rains are here, the next menu focuses on one of the greatest foraged foods: wild mushrooms.

See also:
- ForageSF Tries to Stay Alive with Mystery Dinners
- Wild Foods Advocate forageSF Announces Two Urban Edible Walks
- Forage Kitchen Well on Its Way to Becoming Reality

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Stewart Putney

Even as winter closes in, late-season fruits brighten the landscape of the farmer's market. Persimmons and pomegranates dot the stalls, but no fruit fits the holiday season like pears. Whether fresh or dried, European or Asian, or for baking, canning or eating out of hand, pears feature sweet, honeyed flavors that match beautifully with holiday spices. And with more than 2,000 types of pears grown worldwide, there is a pear for almost any occasion. Pears come into season in late summer and some will keep well into January and beyond. Here are a few still available at local farmers' markets:

See also:
- Go Apple Crazy at Local Farmers' Markets

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Christina Spittler

As tomato season comes to an end and sweet potatoes and winter squashes usher us into the final months of the year, the modest and always-appealing apple is in full swing at your local Farmers Market. Because different varieties ripen at different stages in the season, the time for the early birds, like best all-around-baker the Gravenstein and trendy, pink-fleshed Pink Pearls, has come and gone. But at any farmers' market in the city, you are bound to find a tasty apple variety to keep that pesky doctor away (not sure why he was after you in the first place, but that's really none of our business).

See also:
- Heart of the City Farmers' Market Finds
- Slow Food's Gravenstein Apple Promotion: Make a Pie, Save a Tree
- Drinking at Upcider, S.F.'s First Cider Bar

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Learn to be a cheese-master at these classes.

If you have an itch to drive out of the city learn more about the country life, then Markegard family of Half Moon Bay have a workshop series that might be for you. The Markegards run a large grass-fed farm and ranch in Half Moon bay and raise beef, lamb, eggs and pastured pork, all available via CSA or purchase at the ranch. And in addition to regular ranch tours, the Markegards feature detailed workshops for the aspiring, or simply curious, urban farmer.

See also:
- Class Alert! Master Vanilla Tasting, Cooking Fundamentals, and Mead Making
- Two Cheese Plates That Educate
- The New Cheese Lady

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Bay Ewald

What: Heart of the City Farmers' Market
When: Weds., 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Fri., 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m., & Sun., 7 a.m.-5 p.m.
Where: UN Plaza (above the Civic Center Bart station)

Heart of the City Farmers' Market started 30 years ago with just 15 farmers present, and has since grown into a large independent non-profit organization that has donated more than $50,000 to the community since its conception. When I ventured to the market last Wednesday, I expected to find primarily inexpensive produce. What I found instead was a hoard of overly eager new farmers excited to share their unique creations.

See Also:
-Farmers Market Cocktails
-Five-Course Heirloom Tomato Dinner
-Sunset Vegan Hemp Smoothie

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Stewart Putney

As we move into fall and the Great Pumpkin spreads its magic, pumpkin patches pop up all over the Bay Area. For both kids and foodies, Farmer John's Pumpkin Farm in Half Moon Bay is a good first stop. As owners John and Eda Muller note, "We are a pumpkin farm, not a pumpkin patch." And Farmer John's does forgo some of the touristy trappings of pumpkin patches, and instead features one of the largest selections of pumpkins, squash, and ornamental gourds in the Bay Area.

See Also:
- Tasting Blind, Great Pumpkin Edition

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