Winter is the season when the Sacramento region keeps more farmers markets open than most people expect, and the produce is better than the weather suggests.
Nothing packs up in November. The markets here run through the cold months because the growing does not fully stop, and a Saturday morning in January still gets you citrus, greens, and carrots that were in the ground on Thursday. I put this together the way I would hand it to someone who just moved here and has not found their market yet.
THE PART THAT SURPRISES PEOPLE WHO MOVE HERE FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE
Sacramento calls itself the Farm to Fork Capital, and the markets are the part of that identity you can actually use on a Saturday. Someone arriving from a colder state expects a season where the produce aisle thins out and the stalls go quiet. That is not what happens here. The region grows through the winter, so the markets follow the growing rather than the calendar.
WHAT IS ACTUALLY IN SEASON WHEN NOTHING LOOKS IN SEASON
Late winter and early spring are narrower than July, but they are not empty. What I look for:
- Citrus. Placer County is known for mandarins, with more than a dozen farms growing them, many of them around Newcastle. Navel and Valencia oranges, lemons and Meyer lemons, limes, kumquats, and grapefruit all come through in this window.
- Leafy greens. Kale, chard, and spinach hold up in the cold.
- Root vegetables. Carrots, beets, and radishes are at their peak.
- Broccoli and cauliflower. Available all year, best in winter.
- Asparagus and artichokes. The early spring arrivals, with asparagus first and artichokes usually by March.
That list is the whole argument for a winter market. It is not a consolation prize for the summer one.
THE SATURDAY MARKETS, AND THE ONE ON TUESDAY
Most of the region lands on Saturday morning, which is convenient right up until it is the only morning you have free.
- Midtown, Sacramento. Saturdays, 9 to 1. One section is prepared food, one is handmade crafts, and there is live music.
- Davis. Saturdays, 8 to 1. One of the largest and longest running markets in the state, and the one people drive in for.
- Sunrise Station, Rancho Cordova. Saturdays, 8 to noon, at the light rail station at Folsom and Sunrise. Close to three dozen growers.
- Sunrise Mall, Citrus Heights. Saturdays, 8 to 1. Well over eighty regular vendors, including prepared food and nursery stock.
- Historic Folsom. Saturdays, 8 to 1, with bread, juice, spice blends, and lunch to go.
- Laguna Gateway, Elk Grove. Saturdays, 8 to noon. Smaller, with eggs, honey, flowers, and veggie starts alongside the produce.
- Old Town Auburn. Saturdays, 8 to noon, with growers from Placer County and local crafts.
If Saturday is spoken for, The Fountains in Roseville runs on Tuesday mornings from 8:30 to 1, with fish, eggs, flowers, microgreens, and cheese next to the produce.
THE SUNDAY MARKETS, INCLUDING THE BIG ONE DOWNTOWN
Sunday carries the market most people mean when they say they are going to the farmers market.
- Sacramento Certified Farmers Market. Sundays, 8 to noon, under the W-X freeway at Southside Park. The largest and most popular in the city, with eggs, wine, cheese, mushrooms, meat, seafood, flowers, and pastries.
- Carmichael. Sundays, 9 to 2, in Carmichael Park, every week, rain or shine.
- Mahaney Park, Roseville. Sundays, 9 to 1, with organic produce, baked goods, sauces, and live entertainment.
- Fowler Ranch, Lincoln. Sundays, 9 to 1. Produce, plus fruit and nut trees if you want to plant your own, and a farm brewery on site.
- Town Center, El Dorado Hills. Sundays, 9 to 1, with flowers, meats, bread, and local artwork.
THE COMPARISON I REACH FOR, AND WHERE IT STOPS WORKING
The closest ordinary thing I can think of is a front porch.
A porch is where a neighborhood becomes visible. You see who is out, who stops to talk, what people are carrying home. A market does that in one morning and adds groceries to the bargain. Where it stops working is the sitting. Nobody lingers on a porch in January, and nobody at a market is performing neighborliness for your benefit, so the picture is rosier than the reality. It is also a poor guide to anything you cannot see from the stalls: the school, the commute, the insurance, the house itself. Treat a market as a good first impression, never as a survey.
WHAT I WOULD TELL A FIRST TIMER
- Bring small bills. Many vendors take cards now, but cash moves faster and not every stall keeps change.
- Leave the dog at home. Most markets prohibit pets for health code reasons.
- Bring your own bag. It carries better than three flimsy ones and you will need it.
- Dress for the morning, not the afternoon. These run outdoors in the cold, and they run anyway.
The honest trade is that a winter market is a smaller version of the summer one. Fewer stalls, a narrower selection, and a shorter window before the light goes. If what you want is a July sprawl with six kinds of tomatoes, you are four months early.
WHAT A MARKET CANNOT TELL YOU ABOUT A HOUSE
I represent buyers around the region, so people ask whether a good market is a reason to pick one city over another. It is a reason to spend a morning there. It is not a reason to skip the rest.
What a market tells you is texture. Whether the downtown has people in it on a weekend. Whether parking is workable. Whether the crowd looks like the life you are picturing. What it does not tell you is the school assignment, the commute at 7:40 on a Tuesday, the insurance cost, or the condition of the particular house you are considering. Those take a different morning, and usually a different conversation.
The twelve areas I work are mapped at the neighborhoods hub. If a market town is already on your list, Davis is the one with the market people drive in for. And when you are ready to look at actual houses rather than produce, the buying process is where I start with clients.
Question for you: which market in the region have you been going to for years, and what does it get right that the others do not?
Adapted from Winter Farmers Markets in Sacramento + A Guide to Seasonal Produce, originally published by Windermere Signature Properties at windermerecalocal.com.
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