May 5, 2015 – If you throw a stone around here in the Monterey Bay region, you are likely to hit a farmer or gardener in the head. So it makes sense that our farmers’ market schedule is loaded, with every day of the week showcasing the folks that toil away to bring us our locally grown food.
The Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Markets (SCCFM) has been very good at bringing farmers to consumers for twenty-five years. They work diligently at promoting seasonal, regional, and healthy eating for all through food education programs and events, the latest of which is a collaboration between SCCFM and Mountain Feed & Farm Supply to present a free class series all summer long.
If you have been living under one of those aforementioned stones, and haven’t yet heard about Mountain Feed, then you wouldn’t know that the “homesteader’s convenience store” in Ben Lomond is teeming with experts on food, farming, fermenting, and more. They take pride in employing a staff that doles out this knowledge, spreading a wealth of information for anyone interested in learning more, while hoping to empower the public in all things do-it-yourself. They even take the show on the road, setting up shop at various festivals and expos to reach a wider audience.
That is why the SCCFM and Mountain Feed partnership is so exciting. We get the opportunity to attend 14, hour-long, FREE classes on food preparation and cooking, showing us the best ways to utilize the products and produce we pick up from the market. The class topics hit a wide range, veering from just the basics, like yogurt making, to making your own pectin for jam.
Long time Mountain Feed queen bee Karla DeLong—a recent graduate in Therapeutic Nutrition from Bauman College—is a major force behind the class series. She has been tailoring topics to best fit the Farmers’ Market format and is especially excited to present her Nourishing Fats class on June 27, which will include how to make your own lard and ghee. She hopes that the class series can impart “the building blocks for other things, to really teach people the fundamentals of nourishing food.”
Fellow instructor, Jessica Tunis, another Mountain Feed star, will be kicking things off in Downtown Santa Cruz with “Artisanal Probiotic Beverages: Kombucha and Water Kefir” on May 13th. She plans to include some guidance on making a Ginger Bug—which is a way of harnessing the wild yeast on the ginger. “It’s kind of like making a sourdough starter, and it makes the best ginger beer,” she says.
The ladies will be busy all summer long, hitting the Downtown Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley and Westside markets until wrapping up in the fall on October 7th with “Homemade Hard Apple Cider”. Jessica says, “We travel all around, to reach the greatest number of folks, but it’s extra gratifying to be able to share this with our friends and neighbors right in our own backyard.” See the full class schedule below:
May 16th 10-11:00am Sauerkraut/Fermented Vegetables
May 30th 10-11:00am Sprouting/Soaking Grains and Legumes
June 20th 10-11:00am Homemade Yogurt
June 27th 10-11:00am LARD! Nourishing Fats
July 11th 10-11:00am Homemade Pectin for Jam
July 25th 10-11:00am Preserving with Dehydration
August 15th 10-11:00am Homemade Ketchup & Mustard
August 29th 10-11:00am Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar
June 13th 10-11:00am Simple Cheesemaking
August 8th 10-11:00am Artisanal Probiotic Beverages: Kombucha and Water Kefir
May 13th 3-4:00pm Artisanal Probiotic Beverages: Kombucha and Water Kefir
June 24th 3-4:00pm Simple Cheesemaking
August 26th 3-4:00pm Homemade Yogurt
October 7th 3-4:00pm Homemade Hard Apple Cider
About the author
Amber Turpin is a freelance food and travel writer based in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
