Letters: Nice and Not So Nice

My mailbag has been very good to me lately, for the most part. The sweetest I will share with you, as you might have some ideas of your own.

Here is one from John:

I just found your blog, and have a strange question to ask: my fiancée and I are looking for a place to get married, and we really love the farmland along the coast between San Francisco and Monterey (we live in SF). We'd love to find a place that would let us rent a field -- and if possible a vacant barn -- next October for our wedding; problem is we don't know any farmers. Any ideas on farmers who might be willing to talk with us?

I recommended High Ground Farm in Watsonville, and perhaps Swanton Berry Farm in Davenport. What do you think?

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NEWS: A multi-story parking lot might endanger the downtown Santa Cruz farmers market. Read about it here.  From that piece:

The popular market, which convenes every Wednesday afternoon in the parking lot of Lincoln and Cedar streets, is as much an opportunity for locals to shop for fresh produce and food directly from small farmers as it is a thriving social scene for regulars; an open air market that is as fun-in-the-sun as it is functional.

“The Farmers’ Market provides a bridge between local agriculture and the community,” says Naish Dhillon, manager of the Downtown Farmers’ Market. “And the downtown market is a unique one—its energy and vibe are different from a lot of other markets.” [Emphasis mine: you can say that again, Naish!]

The flipside of this idyllic scene is the reality of a Santa Cruz that continues to grow and, as it does, its traffic, housing and parking steadily worsens.

Because of the increasing need for more parking, the city’s Downtown Commission has recently eyed the large, city-owned parking lot as a prime location for a six level mixed-use parking garage, in combination with 32 housing units and 1,400 sq. ft. of street level commercial space.

It would be a shame to lose this farmers market, but maybe it could just be relocated. Here's hoping for the best.

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MORE NEWS:

I designed a banner for a friend who has a food forum: perhaps you know Chef Farid Zadi from eGullet or MouthfulsFood.com? His blog, Book of Rai, is a multi-author, multi-cultural collaborative effort with some great writers (and lesser writers, like me). Anyway, Farid solicited me to help, and I used some of my own farm photos in the graphics. I get all nostalgic looking at it: that's one of Stephenie Caughlin's hens, and Ron Garthwaite's cows. Sniffle.

Speaking of Ron Garthwaite, stay tuned because there's big news coming from Claravale Dairy.

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Finally, not to be a downer, but I have been getting some disturbing anonymous comments on my blog.  I would like to ask the people who read my blog (and perhaps you who blog yourselves) if you can track down who is at IP address 68.173.222.109. Check your blog comments, or perhaps the extended headers of your e-mails. Spamcop says this is a NYC account. Please e-mail me if you can reveal this person's identity (tana at tanabutler dot com). Thanks in advance.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and you can fool all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool me, not even once."

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Thanks for visiting.

Comments

[Xanthippe]

Both your suggestions are great, Tana, and I recommend those sites as well. Coastways Ranch up in San Mateo County is another location that comes to mind; we've picked olallieberries in season there for so many years they were only $.59/lb. when we started! Anyhow, thank you for sharing what is truly a sweet letter.

And I intend to watch the downtown "parking lot vs farmers' market" issue closely. Like you, I hope for the best. They'll have to pry my market basket out of my cold, dead hands!!

Xanthippe

[Kalyn]

Sorry to hear about the anonymous comments. I just wanted to say I love the banner you designed for your friend.

[Tana]

Thanks, Xantippe, for the suggestions, which I will pass along.

Kalyn, thanks for the kind support. They are very happy with their banner, so that makes me happy, too. Hey, I just peeked at your blog...that Bittman book is sort of on my wish list, and I think you bumped it up a few notches.

Thank you both again, so much.