New Farmers Market in King City

King City in the southern end of Monterey County started up a certified farmers market this year. A couple months ago I had a chance to meet and be inspired by the woman who’s the driving force behind it. She said that she was tired of seeing kids eating “orange food”, e.g., nachos, soda, Doritos, etc. and wanted to bring more locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables to town.

The market is held downtown on Wednesday from 3pm to 7pm. I had a chance to check it out on Cinco de Mayo. Three farms had booths at the market: two produce growers from Watsonville and one flower grower.

VB Farms from Watsonville,
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Transitional and certified organic strawberries from Vasquez Farms in Watsonville,
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The market also quite a few prepared food vendors. Frutas Frescas Barajas from Salinas was selling aguas frescas and fruit cocktails. I had a piña agua. Made with fresh fruit, not syrup, and not too sweet, this hit the spot on a sunny afternoon.
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A bacon-wrapped hot dog grilled on site was not bad. I would have liked a grilled bun and some mayonesa as a condiment, but the freshly cooked bacon almost made up for that.
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Another booth had several items made with fresh masa. I tried a tlacoyo filled with cheese and nopales, topped with two different salsas.
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The season is young. I’d love to hear more reports from others as the market develops.

More photos of vendors and scenes from Cinco de Mayo at the King City farmers market,
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