Always fresh fruits and vegetables, my favorite salt water taffy!!!! Staff is friendly and helpful…read more When I asked how to pick out a watermelon one of staff took me to the watermelons and showed us what to look for and I learned something useful. I love this place and hope it never goes away. It's Iconic! I live downtown but drive out River Rd., so pretty, it's my secret "treat" myself and ME time. I also would rather buy my groceries here when he's open as I am really shopping locally owned businesses. PLEASE SHOP LOCALLY IF POSSIBLE.

I'm lucky enough to live nearby Mike's and have been stopping by weekly for their fresh, delicious…read morefruits and veggies that are always top quality! I usually take a look around, and leave with my bags full because Mike's also carries a wide selection of other goods we enjoy like local honey, dried fruit, cold drinks, and home-style canned pickles, olives, etc. that do not disappoint. This is also where I purchase our bread because I have not found this level of softness AND freshness in any supermarket. Mike's is a come-as-you-are kind of establishment who's employees leave you alone to shop, but are there if you have a burning question. A typical stop here is around $30-43 for a family of two. Hot tip: Plan ahead, there is NO restroom.

Unexpected find full of goodies! The had wonderful Christmas…read morecandies and decorations. They happen to also be one of the only retailers of Millers Beef Corndogs! The best frozen ones on the market!

The absolute best produce. Peaches. Apples. You name it. We also got salsa and chips. So good!read more

This is such a hidden gem along Petaluma Hill Rd close to the college area. It's not just a farm…read morestand they have a huge play area for kids a bunch of friendly animals you could pet, if the farmer or the workers are free they'll sometimes grab an animal and bring it out for the kids to pet. Right now there's the cutest little baby piglets. They always have fresh veggies grown on site sometimes they have fresh local meat every now and then they'll have some sort of blankets or crafts from a local artist. It's all just a very large area plenty of space for everyone. During the holidays they have a little xmas tree stand. Right now they have some homemade benches like plain wooden benches but they're really cute. I would definitely recommend it for the farm stand produce and local items but if you have children I definitely would stop by it's just an awesome place for kids to play and meet farm animals.

I haven't been here in a while and wanted to check it out before the farm trails weekend. Picked up…read moresome eggs and a little treat for myself.

While we were targeting u-pick apples, many of the places were closed. Hale's is really an apple…read morestand. They had apples, apple juice, and pumpkins. The people were very friendly, they had a good variety of apples, and the apples were delicious. It's also conveniently located with easy road access. I recommend Hale's as a great source for apples.

It's harvest-time! What could be better than tasting specialty varieties of freshly picked apples…read morein the countryside? While Dear Hubby and I were in Sonoma County for a quick trip, we had free time on Sunday to get out into the backroads and check out a few apple farms. Hale's is close to Santa Rosa, which made it convenient. They were decked out for Halloween, with various areas sporting giant spider figures, scarecrows, skeletons, and much more. Autumn décor, including pumpkins and apples were definitely part of the scene. Adjacent to their barn they had a station set up with very helpful staff offering samples of various varieties of apples. I loved that they had a number of the favorites I've experienced in SoCal's apple haven of Oak Glen (near Yucaipa). Yes, to Mutsu! Cameo! They also had others that I hadn't heard of, and already can't recall their names. Oh good, I found a chart online - Northern Spy is one I tried and bought. Sundance, maybe? Yikes! Hale's claims to grow 30 different varieties, and good for them. Good for you! An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the old saying goes. No doctors for me for now - I'm enjoying usually one apple for breakfast and one for lunch. Hale's has kept me going for two weeks now. We especially enjoyed taking in their ambiance with my brother and sister-in-law, who live nearby, but hadn't been before. A great place to visit with family! If you're in the area, stop on by and enjoy the fresh air, the friendly folks helping you taste and purchase the goodness of Sonoma County fruit.

Fast and consistent way to get fresh produce in a variety and not wasting time wandering to finish…read morefor your shopping list!

Local healthy sustainable. Everything modern man has forgotten about…read more Places like this is how we reduce climate emissions. As well as keep your hard-earned dollar providing improvements around local communities rather than being outsourced or given to huge companies like Amazon.

Surrounded by hundreds of pots of assorted peppers Kevin McEnnis speaks fondly about his produce,…read moreand he displays an unmistakable passion in describing his New Mexican chiles and his Poblano chile peppers. He should. For these, his mixed sweet peppers and his Early Girl tomatoes are the crops that his Quetzal Farm are best known for. Kevin and his business partner, Keith Abeles, operate the 10 acre farm in Santa Rosa, and they recently took time out from their busy weekend schedules to offer our Berkeley-based group a tour of their farm. Kevin started the farm in 1999 and his farm has been certified organic since 2002. Kevin tells us he named the farm after the national bird of Guatemala for it was there where he planted his first farm. He is the core farmer at this site while Keith promotes sales and administrative duties. The location of the farm is key to the produce harvested here. Here they have the intense Santa Rosa heat coupled with a prominent marine layer to successfully produce warm weather crops such as tomatoes side by side with cold weather crops such as lettuce. Kevin tells us the unique weather helps his produce to mature slowly creating a more vibrant flavor. We took a walking tour into one of their greenhouses, and as soon as we entered the enclosure we noticed it was like walking into a sauna. Inside the greenhouse our group marveled at the specialty herbs, brightly colored radishes and a field full of green garlic with many of us stopping to take a photo or two. Two dozen in my case! Back outside Kevin described in detail some of their sustainable farming techniques and showed us why they use raised soil beds to take advantage of the unique climate and better drainage. Like many organic farms they create their own compost here and the farm grows cover crops to protect their soil as good soil is a vital part to any successful farm. While the farm is well known for only specific types of produce Keith told us that their recent trials with lemon cucumbers and English cucumbers have done exceptionally well. In addition the farm dries their own chiles and sells these and freshly made salsas at local farmers markets. Following our tour Kevin and Keith led us into the barn, broke out some tortilla chips and allowed our group to sample some of their tasty salsas. I loved both their Chipotle Salsa and Hot Salsa so much I purchased a pint of each along with some super fresh produce that was picked for our group that morning. Produce from Quetzal Farm can be found locally at the Thursday Berkeley Farmer's Market, the Saturday Berkeley Farmer's Market and the Sunday Marin Farmer's Market. In addition, their dried chiles are sold at Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco, Rockridge Market Hall in Oakland, the Santa Rosa Community Market and selected Whole Foods markets in the North Bay.

Wandering around the Berkeley Saturday Market a few weeks ago, my purchase of the day was the…read moreQuetzal Farm Chipotle Salsa. The label screams HOT! and almost scared me off but it's just the right combination of roasted sweet fresh tomatoes and spice. I just had the perfect low carb dinner: grilled salmon, fresh avocado both covered with Quetzal Chipotle Salsa. Delicious! I had to write this review.

Absolutely wonderful amazing melons. Lovely people. you can also pick up jams and tomatoes and…read moreother goodies. Probably best to call before you go

I have been waiting for them to open up and what a delightful surprise to support them on "small…read morebusiness Saturday". I truly loved the independent work and collections of folks there and it was lovely. The people at the register were very snarky and rude. Almost as if I was taking something but I had already provided the tag of the star I purchased. They were sure to get my items counted and paid for but did not get my bag to me until the kind blackberry Jam lady got it for me a minute later. Customer Service is important and you should work on this especially if you want to foster a spirit of community. Thank you for the Blackberry Jam and home made items I am grateful.

Oliver's is an employee owner chain that offers a lot of locally sourced produce, cheese, wines,…read morebaked goods. They offer a 10% Senior discount on Wednesdays and have a weekly ad plus specials that last for 3 months. They have an assortment of prepared food plus a deli, fish and meat counter. The staff is always friendly and helpful. They also have a large selection of vitamins, healthy alternatives for healing, etc. There is a large parking lot but it is usually pretty crowded on Wednesdays.

Here is a funny, tongue-in-cheek Yelp review for Oliver's Market (Montecito). I've incorporated the…read morespecific details you mentioned, plus a few "insider" positives (like the meat counter and local goods) This place is basically the clown car of grocery stores: tiny on the outside, but somehow contains an infinite universe of high-end cheese and local produce on the inside. The Good: If you need an obscure local goat cheese, a loaf of bread that sings to your soul, or produce that looks like it was polished by fairies, this is your spot. The prepared foods and hot bar are dangerous--I went in for milk and came out with a three-course dinner and a mortgage on a brisket. Also, the meat and seafood counter? Legitimately awesome. It's clean, well-stocked, and feels like a true neighborhood gem. The "Eh": Ah, the service. Classic Oliver's. It's that special brand of "meh" where they aren't mean, they're just... profoundly unbothered by your existence. They are employee-owners, which I guess means they own the right to not make eye contact. The Battle: Parking is technically "decent," which is code for "fine at 10 AM on a Tuesday, but a reenactment of Mad Max at 5 PM." The lot fills up faster than my cart in the wine aisle. Verdict: I will continue to fight for a parking spot and accept the indifferent service because the bread and cheese are just that good.