By Nate Seltenrich

The summer farmers’ market season is upon us. How does that make you feel?

It’s exciting and overwhelming at the same time. The bulk of our markets are seasonal, so it's kind of like, okay, we got over the first hump with Walnut Park opening in May, and then June is Cotati and Rohnert Park, and we have one in Hamilton down in Novato. So those will be the next ones, and then we have Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa in mid-July. 

With Walnut Park opening, you do feel like, okay, we're starting to get all the really yummy fruit, the cherries, apricots, peaches, and that's really the driving force of the market. You can really feel the energy around that fruit showing up, and then when tomatoes come – they're usually in June, July – it’s like, time to put on shorts and grill and hang out, go to the beach, all the things that we love about summer.

What are some of your favorite summer fruits and vegetables?

I’m a big cherry fan. I love the cherries, because it’s such a short season, usually six weeks. I just read with the wind and the late rains that cherries will be short again this year. Usually they end right around the Fourth of July, so we’ll see if they can get to that point. I always forget to eat the peaches, but when I do, I’m like, oh yeah! Strawberries, when they show up in April, I’m like, okay, now we’re getting somewhere. I love sugar snap peas; jalapenos, which I use to make salsa. And then later in tomato season I like to make and jar up sauce. 

Anything new this year at the Saturday market?

Sonoma Portworks has joined us. They’re doing wine tasting, so you can come and taste wine and port. And then we have Shane’s Coffee, which is a coffee cart that has a work program built in, for people who are trying to re-enter the workforce. It’s a really cool business model that is worth supporting. And we have a local fisherman who will have local halibut when the season opens up. 

Also, Petaluma Farmers’ Markets will be the first Blue Zone-approved farmers’ markets in America. Blue Zones is about healthy living, longevity, all the things we’re striving for. They looked at our farmers’ markets as meeting all the criteria of Blue Zones. 

What about more broadly – any other plans or aspirations?

One of my future goals is creating a central farmers’ market under a permanent overhead structure at the fairgrounds. It’s so close to SMART, it’s centrally located, it would be protected from wind and rain and run, and would just expand the ability to have more agriculture showcased in Petaluma. We had a lot of rainy Tuesdays this year, so it'd be nice to have something that could protect us from all the elements. If we had a more centralized location, we could expand hours, and we could do so many other things. It would be something for Petaluma to be really proud of. I mean, they're already proud of their farmers. I have to say the Petaluma community is unlike any other. All the vendors really love coming to Petaluma, if they're not already from there.

What’s something people don’t know about you?

I live in Kenwood. We were fortunate to be able to buy the property that we were renting. We have our own little farm, and we grow wine grapes, which were already here, but that has been really fun to be a part of. Our landlord used to sell off the grapes or use them to make their own wine. We make our own wine with a friend, and we get about 12 to 15 cases a year. We drink it at home and give it to friends and neighbors. And since we’ve owned the property, we’ve planted apple trees, a fig, an orange, a couple lemons, and then we just built garden beds this year. I did become a certified producer last year, to sell some of the stuff I was growing. I just was at Walnut Park last week as a farmer, with my sweet peas and lemons, and I have lemongrass. It’s fun for the vendors, because they see me differently. 

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and readability.