Tomato-Palooza/Mariquita Farm Event Schedule
Piennolo tomatoes make fabulous dried tomatoes. Here are some fresh Piennolos getting ready for their trip thru the dehydrator.2. We dry-farm our Piennolo crop so they start out firm and flavorful even before the drying process concentrates the flavor.
Hi All: After a longer wait and a later season than we usually experience, we are happy to announce that our 2024 tomato crop is finally coming on. It’s not too late to plan for your canning and sauce making. Besides our Dry-farmed Early Girls, San Marzanos and Piennolo tomatoes we will also be picking mixed heirlooms and cherry toms. The potato crop is out of the ground and our hard squash crop is ripening too, so we can bring a range of gourds, winter squash, and pumpkins to our pop-up events, along with our seasonal citrus. All of our dried herbs, herbal infusions and herbal salts are on the menu too, along with olive oil from our friends at Belle Farms in Watsonville, California. Here’s a tentative schedule of tomato sales for you to consider. Other dates and places may be added as time, harvests, and opportunities allow:
Saturday, Sept. 28- We “pop up” in front of the Jett & Rose Boutique at 2905a Freedom Blvd, Watsonville.
Sunday, Sept 29 – Come meet up with us in front of Piccino Restaurant in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood.
Sunday, Oct. 6- We are tentatively set to return to our home away from home in the East Bay on 9th Street in Berkeley.
Monday, Oct. 14 – Palo Alto hosts us Ross Road off the Oregon Expressway.
Friday, Oct. 18- We return to the annual 10th Avenue Earthquake Block Party in San Francisco’s Inner Richmond neighborhood.
Sunday, Oct. 20 – We’re back at Piccino in Dogpatch.
Tuesday, Oct. 29- Visit us at Happy Girl Kitchen at 173 Central Ave, Pacific Grove. They are a great brunch/lunch spot!
Dry-farmed Early Girls on the left, Green Zebras in the middle, and Black Prince tomatoes on the right. The Green Zebras have the brightest acid to sugar balance in this trio. The Black Prince are a good bet for people who want a less acidic fruit, and everybody loves the Early Girls.
Along with our traveling “Tomatopaloozas,” Mariquita Farm will be hosting a series of on-farm events this coming fall, including:
1. U-Pick Marigold/Cempasuchil opportunities, dates TBD depending on the weather, but we’re hoping to host harvest days most Wednesdays or Fridays thru October. Keep an eye on the events page here at mariquita.com.
2. Sunday, October 13th. We host visitors from the Santa Cruz County 2024 Open Farm Tour. Tickets are available thru eventbrite @
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/open-farm-tours-sunday-oct-13-tickets-1007901619877
3. Saturday, November 2nd. Join us for an evening of celebration and remembrance as
Esther Vasquez, Jodi Louderback, and Nikki Kasprian, share
the rich traditions of El Dia De Los Muertos. Chefs Gus Trejo & Greg Karjala from the Jack O’Neal restaurant at the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz will be partnering with us to present a season Mexican inspired meal in the gardens that will be both traditional AND innovative! It will be a colorful and flavorful gathering and I’m looking forward to it.
When I say “Everybody” loves Early Girls I mean EVERYBODY! Here’s Mr. Bull enjoying his share of the harvest. He’s not too particular about bruised or sunburned fruit so he gets the culls.
Besides tomatoes, we’re growing a lot of cut flowers these days and I’m sure we will bring bouquets for casual sale.
I’ll pick a bunch of Lisbon lemons to bring as well, along with any other specialty citrus we have that is ripe. Over the last few years we’ve planted over 200 citrus trees!
Heirloom Rugosa Butternut squash are not the only kinds of hard squash that we will bring to the pop-ups, but they’re my favorite because of their excellent flavor, texture, and keeping qualities.
The pumpkins are getting ready for their big day!
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