By Jessica Gunn
California State Fair
Celebrate the California State Fair’s 164th anniversary with a ton of foodie fun. The fair has FREE (yes, you read that right…free) samples of honey from Sola Bee Farms, cheese tastings from Point Reyes Farmstead, cornbread and bbq sauce from Burgess Brothers and ice cream samples from Gunther’s Ice Cream. The CA State Fair has everything your fair-going heart could desire, including the highly-anticipated wiener dog races. End your State Fair experience with a cooking demo from official fair chef, Keith Breedlove. He will be showcasing all the best farm-to-fork ingredients available. Nothing says summer like the State Fair!
July 14-20, 2017
1600 Exposition Blvd Sacramento, CA, 95815
Tickets are $10.00 for adults and $6.00 for children if you purchase in advance.
Off the Grid @ The Barn
Do food trucks, live music, interactive art and dancing pique your interest? If so, you should head over to West Sac for this week’s Off the Grid at The Barn, where food trucks from Sacramento and San Francisco gather to share their delicious bites. This Saturday, the Drake’s Brewing Co. crew will be in attendance to host an interactive beer brewing (and tasting) experience. This event is held every Saturday through the end of August, so you have plenty of time to get your foodie groove on!
July 15, 2017
5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
The Barn 985 Riverfront St.
West Sacramento, CA, 95691
More information here.
Rio Linda Farmers Market
Get out of the city and take a drive into the country for Rio Linda Farmers Market. They have everything foodies need to make fresh & healthy meals for the week. This week’s market features berries, cage-free eggs, local honey, and fresh Central Valley tomatoes from local vendors. Don’t forget to stop by the High 5 Homemade Pet Treats booth for healthy treats for your 4-legged friends. Fresh country air and fresh produce? Sounds good to us!
Every Saturday through September 30, 2017 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Dry Creek Ranch House 6852 Dry Creek Rd Rio Linda, CA 95673
More information here.
Soil Born Farms – Field Days
Experience a day in the life of a farmer with Field Days at Soil Born Farms. Help the farm staff weed, harvest, and care for their fruit and vegetable farm. Pre-registration is necessary to participate. If farming isn’t your style, hang out and listen to music from Millington Strings, taste pastries from Magpie Cafe, or experience a veggie centric cooking demo. Before you leave, don’t forget to purchase some of the fresh produce you helped harvest! Working hard has never tasted so good.
Every Saturday through November 18, 2017 8:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
2140 Chase Drive Drive Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
More information here.
Midtown Farmers Market
For those who want to stay a little closer to home, stroll on over to the weekly Midtown Farmers Market. Venders flock to midtown every Saturday morning to show off the best of the best products from California, including Dragon Gourmet Mushrooms, Wheel Lemonade, and The Pasta Queen. The Midtown Farmers Market is the ideal place to shop, gather as a community, and explore the neighborhood.
Saturdays all year 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
20th St between J and L streets Midtown Sacramento, CA 95816
More information here.
Soil Born Farms' Sunday Supper, Sacramento
This past Sunday, my friend Jamie and I volunteered as chefs at Soil Born Farms for their monthly fundraising dinner, Sunday Supper.
We worked under the direction of Dominic Mogavero, the Kitchen & Demo Coordinator for Soil Born Farms, who created the AMAZING menu and organized much of the day. The menu consisted of herbed lentil and kale soup with rosemary, cheese crostini; marinated purple and green cabbage salad with a spicy citrus dressing, topped with matchstick watermelon Diakon radish; stuffed portabella mushrooms with almond scented quinoa, topped with a medallion of goat cheese and a dusting of Parmesan Reggiano; roasted winter vegetables with fennel; brined roasted chicken with a creamy green garlic and leek sauce and homemade carrot cake. All of this for $25!
This family style dinner was a great way to showcase the Farm’s fresh produce and the talent they employ. If you are interested in learning more about the Farm or would like to volunteer, please click here!
The Soil Born Farms Urban Agriculture & Education Project is a non-profit urban farm located in Sacramento, CA. They focus on promoting health and providing experiential learning opportunities for youth and adults, producing healthy food, improving access to healthy food for all and modeling land and environmental stewardship.
These monthly fundraisers are hosted at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op Community Learning Center, where they also provide a cooking class program as well as health and well-being seminars to a variety of lectures and panel discussions with the overarching goal of educating the community about important food, family, health and environmental issues.