Edible Paradise celebrates the year-round abundance of the highest quality, freshest food grown on the Central Coast by our family farmers at the Monterey Bay Certified Farmers Markets. If you enjoy preparing and eating locally grown food, this blog is for you!
Market find at Prevedelli Farms: QUINCE!
Here’s something you definitely don’t find every day.
Quince is one of those wonderful old-fashioned fruits that has nearly disappeared from the modern produce aisle — but it’s well worth rediscovering.
At first glance, quince looks a little like a lumpy golden apple or pear. Pick one up and you may notice its extraordinary perfume: floral, fruity, almost tropical. But don’t take a bite! Unlike its apple and pear cousins, quince is generally too hard, tart, and astringent to enjoy raw.
Cook it, though, and something rather magical happens.
Slowly poached or simmered with a little sugar, quince softens, becomes beautifully fragrant, and can deepen from pale gold to a gorgeous rosy color. Its flavor is distinctive — floral, aromatic, slightly tart, and unlike any other fruit.
Quince has been treasured for centuries throughout Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. It’s famously used to make Spanish membrillo, a firm quince paste traditionally served with Manchego cheese. It also makes wonderful preserves, jams, poached desserts, tarts, and savory accompaniments for meats and cheeses.
If you’ve never cooked with quince, consider this your invitation to try something new! Pick up a few from Prevedelli Farms at the farmers market — and then visit Edible Paradise, where we have quince recipes and ideas to help you turn this unusual fruit into something delicious.
Sometimes the most interesting things at the farmers market are the ones you’ve never tried before. 💛
#Quince #PrevedelliFarms #FarmersMarketFinds #EdibleParadise #HeritageFruit
Good morning from the Monterey Farmers Market! 🧑🏽🌾
Brrr…where did summer go? It may be a little drizzly and chilly this morning, but the farmers are here with a glorious bounty of late-summer produce.
KT Farms has a beautiful selection today, including several varieties of eggplant, pickling cucumbers, lemon and Thai basil, tomatoes — and jicama!
If you haven’t tried fresh jicama, you’re in for a treat. It’s wonderfully crisp, juicy, and refreshing, with a mild flavor that’s a little like a cross between an apple and a potato. Slice it into sticks and serve with your favorite dip, toss it into salads or slaws for extra crunch, or add a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of chile.
Don’t let a few clouds keep you away — grab a sweater and come enjoy the late-summer harvest with us!
The Monterey Farmers Market is open until noon today. Come on by!
#MontereyFarmersMarket #FarmersMarket #Jicama #delmonteshoppingcenter #ktfarms
Dinner made easy!
Stop by Fogline Farm at the Monterey Farmers Market and pick up some of their flavorful marinated chicken. Made with organic, pasture-raised chicken and available in several delicious marinades, they’re ready to take home and put straight on the grill.
Add some grilled farmers market vegetables, a crisp salad, or fresh corn on the cob, and you’ve got an easy late-summer dinner with very little prep.
Good ingredients + a hot grill = dinner solved! 👍
#MontereyFarmersMarket #FoglineFarm #PastureRaised #OrganicChicken #farmersmarketdinner
Stop by Fernandez Farms and try a sample of this season’s beautiful sun-dried fruit!
Naturally sweet and bursting with concentrated fruit flavor, dried fruit is one of the simplest ways to enjoy the harvest long after the season has passed.
Tuck it into lunchboxes for an easy snack, add it to a cheese or charcuterie board, chop it into oatmeal or granola, or keep some on hand for fall baking—quick breads, muffins, scones, cookies, and more.
Come taste a few varieties and discover a new favorite at the Monterey Farmers Market! The market is open until noon.
#MontereyFarmersMarket #FernandezFarms #SunDriedFruit #DriedFruit #CaliforniaGrown
Good morning from the Monterey Farmers Market! ☀️🐝
First stop is a visit with our lovely Bee Lady, Lynne of Amen Bee Products.
Have you discovered Meadowfoam honey yet? It comes from the tiny white blossoms of the meadowfoam plant, a wildflower native to the Pacific Northwest. When meadowfoam blooms en masse, its creamy-white flowers can make a field look as though it’s covered in sea foam—hence the name.
And the honey is just as unusual! It has a rich, creamy flavor with notes of vanilla, toasted marshmallow, and caramel—almost dessert-like.
Try it drizzled over warm toast or biscuits, stirred into tea or coffee, spooned over yogurt, or paired with a good cheese. And, of course, it’s pretty wonderful straight from the spoon. 🍯
Stop by Amen Bee Products this morning and ask Lynne about this very special honey!
#MontereyFarmersMarket #AmenBeeProducts #MeadowfoamHoney #LocalHoney #CaliforniaHoney
Think your apple pie deserves a blue ribbon?
Or maybe you’re the one everyone asks to bring the salsa. The cupcakes. The giant cookies. The jam. The pickles. The family recipe that disappears from the table before anything else.
This might be the year to enter it in the Santa Cruz County Fair! 🎡
The 2026 Santa Cruz County Fair is coming up September 16–20, and there are all kinds of opportunities for local home cooks, bakers, gardeners, makers, and preservers to join in the fun.
Entering the fair isn’t just for seasoned competitors, either. If you have a favorite recipe you’re proud of, give it a try! You might come home with a ribbon — and at the very least, you’ll become part of one of our community’s favorite traditions.
🥧 Apple pie
🌶️ Salsa
🧁 Cupcakes
🍪 Giant cookies
🍓 Preserves, pickles & more
Ready to enter? Visit the link in our bio for the Santa Cruz County Fair Entry Guide, where you can enter online or find a local location to pick up a printed entry form.
Come on, farmers market friends — what would YOU enter? Tell us in the comments! 👇
#SantaCruzCountyFair #SantaCruzCounty #FarmersMarket #CountyFair #ApplePie
We had so much fun yesterday at the Edible Paradise booth at the Aptos Farmers Market — the fragrance of fresh basil was everywhere!
Fresh herbs are one of the easiest ways to make simple food taste extraordinary. Turn them into finishing salts, pesto, compound butter, infused vinegar, or honey, and suddenly everyday vegetables, pasta, bread, fish, chicken, and more have a whole new layer of flavor.
Our Fresh Herbs, Big Flavor recipe guides were so popular that we ran out of handouts at the booth. If you missed one, you can still get your FREE recipe guide, featuring the pestos, finishing salts, compound butters, and other herb ideas we shared at the market.
Download “Fresh Herbs, Big Flavor” here: https://edibleparadise.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Handout-Fresh-Herbs-Big-Flavor.pdf
And a special THANK YOU to the farmers who provided the amazing basil and heirloom tomatoes — KT Farms, Blue Heron Farm, Borba Family Farms, and Gatanaga Nursery for the gorgeous sunflowers!
Thank you to everyone who stopped by, tasted, chatted, and shared their love of herbs with us. We had a wonderful morning!
#EdibleParadise #AptosFarmersMarket #FreshHerbs #FarmersMarket #SeasonalCooking
Don’t miss these blooming begonia beauties at Cavanaugh Color Nursery today! 🌸
Potted and ready to hang, these lush, long-blooming begonias add an instant splash of color to a porch, patio, deck, or shady corner of the garden. With their cascading flowers and abundant blooms, they’re an easy way to brighten an outdoor space well into the season.
A few simple tips to keep them happy:
Begonias prefer bright, indirect light or partial shade and appreciate protection from the hottest afternoon sun. Keep the soil evenly moist, but not soggy, and make sure the pot drains well. During warm weather, check hanging baskets frequently — they can dry out faster than plants in the ground. Pinch off spent flowers and tired leaves to keep plants tidy and encourage continued blooming.
Stop by Cavanaugh Color Nursery at the farmers market today and pick out your favorite — choosing just one color may be the hardest part!
#MontereyFarmersMarket #MBCFM #CavanaughColorNursery #Begonias #HangingBaskets
Winter squash is making an early appearance at Prevedelli Farms — a little preview of fall tucked among all the wonderful summer produce! 🍂
One of our favorites is Red Kuri squash, a beautiful Japanese heirloom with brilliant red-orange skin and rich, velvety flesh. Its flavor is naturally sweet and slightly nutty, with a lovely chestnut-like quality — in fact, kuri means “chestnut” in Japanese.
Red Kuri is wonderfully versatile in the kitchen. Roast it in wedges with olive oil and herbs, add it to curries and grain bowls, purée it into a silky soup, or mash it with butter as an easy side dish. Its natural sweetness also makes it delicious in breads, muffins, pies, and other fall baking.
And here’s another reason to love it: the thin skin is edible when cooked, so there’s no need to peel it before roasting.
Look for Red Kuri winter squash at Prevedelli Farms at the farmers market this morning — and enjoy this first little taste of the season ahead!
#MontereyFarmersMarket #MBCFM #PrevedelliFarms #RedKuri #WinterSquash
Good morning from the Monterey Farmers Market at the Del Monte Shopping Center!
It’s hard to miss the mountain of fresh sweet corn at Pinnacle this morning! And if you’re anything like us, you simply can’t get your fill of summer corn while it’s at its sweet, juicy best.
Grill it and slather it with herb butter. Cut the kernels from the cob for salads, salsas, succotash, or pasta. Toss it into chowder, fold it into fritters, or simply boil or steam it and eat it straight from the cob with plenty of butter and a sprinkle of salt.
Need more ideas? Visit our companion website www.EdibleParadise.com for delicious corn recipes.
And don’t forget to tuck a few extra ears into your market bag — fresh corn freezes beautifully, so you can save a little taste of August for later.
Come see us this morning and enjoy the abundance of summer at the farmers market!
📍 Del Monte Shopping Center, Monterey
🕘 8 a.m.–12 p.m.
#MontereyFarmersMarket #MBCFM #MontereyBay #FarmersMarket #SweetCorn SummerProduce
Not your ordinary potatoes! We discovered two unusual potato varieties at Borba Family Farms today—and they’re almost too pretty to peel.
Masquerade potatoes certainly live up to their name. Their thin golden skin is splashed and mottled with purple and violet, making every potato look a little different. Inside, the flesh is pale gold with a creamy, buttery flavor. Try them roasted, boiled, or simply prepared so you can appreciate their flavor.
Then there are the gorgeous Purple Viking potatoes—dramatic deep purple skin on the outside with surprisingly bright, creamy-white flesh inside. They’re wonderfully versatile, with a tender texture and slightly sweet, earthy flavor. Roast them, mash them, bake them, or turn them into some very impressive-looking breakfast potatoes.
One of the best things about shopping at the farmers market is finding varieties you may never encounter anywhere else—true farmers market finds!
#BorbaFamilyFarms #MontereyFarmersMarket #MasqueradePotatoes #PurpleVikingPotatoes #cagrown
Have you ever seen safflowers up close? These colorful beauties are available today at Gatanaga Nursery’s booth at the farmers market. With their vivid orange petals tipped in golden yellow, safflowers bring an instant burst of sunshine to any room.
They’re also wonderfully long-lasting as cut flowers, making them perfect for a simple summer bouquet.
Think of them as summer in a vase! 🌞
Stop by Gatanaga Nursery today and take a bunch home!
#montereyfarmersmarket #GatanagaNursery #Safflower
