The LOVE definitely shows! You can also find Nathan’s artisan sourdough breads at R&R Meats in Redding on Tuesdays and Fridays. His kitchen location is appropriate. Fall River Mills began as a water powered mill town. Nathan told me he has a website, but I can’t find much about his baking online. His phone number is 530 276 3717.
Highly recommended! Nathan’s sourdough is Really Redding.
The Redding Certified Farmer’s Market is reopening this Saturday April 4th. I’ve been looking forward to it. But I can’t help thinking about the year-round Mercat Central we saw in Valencia Spain last year. The beautiful structure contained an amazing array of vendors and produce. Here are a few images I captured.
“The Mercat Central de Valencia has always been known for the quality, variety and freshness of its products as well as the helpful, personalised service provided by its traders.
In addition to the market’s main activity, the innovative and business-like character of the traders has made the market grow and improve day by day. Nowadays, it is an important place for the sale of fresh products and a major cultural and tourist attraction not only for foreign visitors but also for the people of Valencia.
The Mercat Central de Valencia covers exactly 8,160 square metres divided into two areas or zones. The first one is an irregular shape with a surface area of 6,760 square metres and the other, which is octagonal and covers 1,400 square metres, houses the fish market. The basement, which has 7,690 square metres, was previously a fish auction and is now used as a car park.
The Mercat Central brings together almost 400 small traders and 1,500 people are involved in its daily activity. It is the largest centre of its kind in Europe specialising in fresh products and the first market in the world to rise to the challenge of computerising sales and offering home delivery, services which have been available since 2nd October 1996.”
I do like the new home for the Saturday Redding Farmers Market, behind City Hall. But some days, it would be nice to have some large, perhaps re-purposed building to keep out the elements. They seem to know a lot about indoor/outdoor beauty in Valencia.
Local residents in need of food assistance can buy fresh organic fruit and vegetables from local farmers using the EBT system at Redding’s Certified Organic Farmer’s Market. This capability allows folks with food assistance money to buy something other than the prepared foods available in retail outlets. Food which is often high in empty calories and low in nutrients.
When you consider how this economic activity ripples through the community, going directly from the families in need, and then straight into the hands of local small farmers, you can see the synergy. The EBT redemption system in Shasta County is available to patrons at the market, and so allows and encourages buying of healthy, organically grown food. Ian Long is ready to redeem EBT for shoppers.In my line of work as a REALTOR, I travel extensively in Shasta County, and I go inside many homes. I see how people really live here. My perception of government provided food assistance has evolved over the years. I started out with a pretty simplistic view about the reasons and results. I have lately come to see the issues involved are subtle and nuanced. No matter what your political view of food assistance might be, encouraging local families to buy fresh, locally grown produce is a benefit with no ideological downside. Its a good idea. It’s Really Redding. Lining up for peaches
“Red dirt and rocks,” is how Raymond Miller describes his 10 acre organic farm out off Bowman Road in Cottonwood.
For 28 years, Ray has found the hard row was the right road for him. Chard, onions, turnips, and squash of all sorts are for sale today. “I started out with kiwi, 28 years ago.” But kiwi was dicey, so he branched out into all the organic veggies we have seen them displaying every week at the Certified Organic Farmers Market next to Redding’s Civic Center every Saturday morning for years. Along with Salina, and son Ed, their truck is always a welcome fixture at the market. Not to be missed. It’s Really Redding.
Today’s sojourn to Redding’s Certified Organic Farmers Market next to our City Hall was fruitful in several ways. Here is some of our haul. I love those Thai Peppers, but a few go a long way. These few yellow onions represent the last of the Walla Walla onion season, we’re told.
We needed some Olive Oil, so we stopped at the Olinda Ridge guy’s booth. He insisted we try several varieties from tiny cups on bits of bread. To tell the truth, a lot of the subtlety was lost on me. Grassy, buttery, whatever. Its all good. We liked the idea of the Pomegranate Vinegar. A couple of funny parts: One variety of oil he said was Doni Greenberg’s favorite, and he asked if I’d heard of her. In fact I have. Who knew she was endorsing olive oil?
At one point, he turned to Karry and asked, “ So what do you think of that variety?” A bit of silence ensued. I looked at her face and realized she had swallowed it wrong or something, and temporarily couldn’t speak. That’s when 30+ years of marriage kicked in.
“That works great. I’ll take a half gallon of whatever she had.” 😉