SLO HomeStore: The Buyers' Resource

Fran Lebowitz opined, “vegetables are interesting but lack a sense of purpose when unaccompanied by a good cut of meat. “ Personally, I enjoy almost every form of produce prepared most any way with or without a side of animal protein. This makes the central coast, with its year-round growing and harvest seasons, the perfect place for me.

Almost every known fruit and vegetable is grown somewhere in the region and most are available directly from the farm. Except for a few items such as bananas, we never eat produce picked green, stored then transported great distances. Most of the edible plant products on our table come from a small pesticide-free farm a couple of blocks from our house as well as from our back yard. When we need something more there is even more variety at the myriad of farmers markets held throughout the region.

Our vegetable mainstay is our weekly produce box from Rutiz Farms in the Halcyon area of south San Luis Obispo County. One of the best features of the weekly box is that it contains whatever is in season and Jerry grows many things I didn’t even know existed. It’s kind of interesting eating stuff we’ve never tried before. There are many similar direct-to-consumer farms around the area, including the seasonal boxes sold by the Cal Poly organic farm.

Then there are the farmers markets where local and some not-so-local small growers get together to offer produce, flowers, bottled and canned goods and such fresh from the farm. The granddaddy of them all is the Thursday night farmers market in downtown San Luis Obispo which attracts tourists from all over the country. But there are also similar such markets of varying size and scope in virtually every town in the county.

Several markets are under the auspices of the San Luis Obispo County Farmers’ Market organization. These include: Wednesday morning in Arroyo Grande (note that the location has moved from the K-Mart to the Spencers Market parking lot on Grand Avenue), Thursday afternoon in Morro Bay, Thursday evening in San Luis Obispo, Saturday morning in San Luis Obispo and Saturday afternoon in Arroyo Grande.

Others include: Wednesday afternoon in Atascadero, Friday afternoon in Cambria, Friday morning in Cayucos, Monday afternoon in Los Osos, Saturday afternoon in Morro Bay, Tuesday afternoon in Paso Robles, Friday morning in Paso Robles,Sunday morning in San Miguel and Saturday morning in Templeton, Friday afternoon in Avila Beach and Saturday mornings in Shell Beach.

One thing that can definitely be said about we locals is that we eat very well.