Half Moon Bay Farmers Market

Absolute 5 star. We took our yummy organics back to our camp spot and had a feast. Fantastic fruit & veggie selection with some unique booths in between. Got some amazing breads & dipping sauces. A pleasant acoustic band playing in the background. Friendly folks & plenty to sample before you buy!

This is a great little FM to stumble upon but not one worth traveling a great distance for. I ran into this Farmer’s Market on the way to get some salt water taffy and decided to get some earth candy too. It seems like a nice place for locals to get in touch with Farmers and their products but not a market that I would seek out.

This farmers market is the must place to visit
in Half moon bay for fruit lovers.
Berry’s are the best we have ever tasted. Small place with delicious food, nice people and wonderful vegetable stands.

The market is in the back of the plaza. It’s rather small, and the low-​volume farmers seem to be represented well.
There isn’t a whole lot of difference between this and other markets besides the size. There is a lot less selection here, but everyone seemed to be very passionate about their products.
We did buy starwberries, since it’s hard to get the really juicy sweet ones at our local grocer. This is the second best place for delicious strawberries in all of the farmer’s markets we’ve been to so far.

A Great but small farmers market with some very nice and friendly sellers. The produce is excellent and largely organic. There is good parking. It is a bit difficult to spot from 101.

This is a quaint mom and pop environment. The quality is exceptional, I would absolutely come out and check it out as a date, and the freshness of the items were great!
I had fun window-​shopping and salivating upon the sight of bell peppers, onions, garlic, and other delicious veggies.

This is a small scale farmers market, but I don’t care about size, it’s what’s inside. My favorite booth is the tamale stand, $ 2.50 each. I am born raised from San Jose, CA, and love, LOVE TAMALES!!! This family have a really great recipe, no messing around!
Next great booth is a coffee stand, Mi Abulito (my grandpa). This family shade grows their coffee beans out of Nicaragua, and roasts the beans in Half Moon Bay. If you are an avid coffee drinker, this is a great treat for your palate. $ 12 per bag.
Last favorite booth and main reason we finally drove over the hill for this market is the Coastside Farm eggs $ 6 per dozen. Rumor had it these eggs are so good! Answer is, they are pretty great. We love the color of the yolk, shines a golden yellow.
Overall, will go back to this market, but unfortunately when we finally make it, is the time of year they will close the market until next spring. At least we know that this is a worthy market.

Beautiful, delicious, accessible and friendly. Such a gem. True local flavor.

This farmers market is really wonderful and is full of good food & nice people. The guy with the carrot stand, who was proclaiming he loved ‘being the boss of [himself]’, let us fill a plastic bag with whatever would fit for $ 5. We got cauliflower, orange & other colored carrots, and tons of onions from him. Also picked up some leeks, tomatoes, strawberries, potatoes, and grabbed a scone + little breakfast quiche to eat at one of the baked good stands. Tamales were also delicious!
We can walk here so I don’t know what it’s like to park except that it looked like some people were circling around to find spots. Made me feel lucky that we’re so close. The guys playing music were cool and the sunflowers got me excited. I ended up buying a pack of seeds at the local hardware store so I can grow my own! The only thing I didn’t really see for sale here that was at our old farmers market in Hollywood was little plants to grow. I think it must be because there are so many great nuseries around here though.
Excited about the fresh meat they had at the market too– I think we might try the CSA on that one and get deliveries each week. The HMB Farmers Market is a gem!

The San Mateo coastal cookbook, vol. 1: Saturday mid-​summer shopping excursion.
When the temperatures in the Santa Clara valley start to rise, the best way to escape the heat while still getting your weekend errands done is to hit the San Mateo coast and redwood ridgelines. But shopping doesn’t have to be a chore involving crowded parklng lots and endless credit card transactions. Instead, it can be part of an amazing coastside adventure, if you plan it that way. Here’s my latest recipe for a near-​perfect 8-​hour Saturday excursion, in which a stop at the Shoreline Station farmers’ market in Half Moon Bay plays an essential part.
Start time: 8 am
End time: 4 pm
(a) Begin the day at New Leaf Community Market, which opens at 8. Stock up on all the staples for the week — in our case (1) a week’s fresh supply of coffee (Outland Java’s Costa Rica organic fair trade medium roast), (2) local wines for enjoyable everyday consumption (Ahlgren Vineyard Livermore Valley AVA Semillon, Morgan Winery «Cotes du Crows» Monterey County AVA Syrah/​Grenache, Thomas Fogarty Winery «Skyline Red» Santa Cruz Mountain AVA Merlot/​Cab/​Cab Franc — all less than $ 15 plus a 10% store discount for purchases of 6 bottles of more), and bulk items for replenishing the pantry (organic corn meal, flour, lentils, raisins, Medjool dates, loose tea, dark chocolate, etc.)
(b) Spend quality time at the Coastside farmers’ market, which opens at 9: live music, too! Start with the top shelf Pescadero microgrowers, Guillermo B. and Arielle L., first (Del Sur, Fly Girl Farm) and stuff whatever you can fit into your bags: padron peppers, lemon cucumbers, fresh strawberries (Seascape or Albion), lacinato kale, red romaine (yes, it exists!), baby carrots, chives, mesclun, broccoli … Each week it’s a different mix, and always enticingly good and aesthecially presented. Edible art, really. Even their names are awesome!
Grab Giusti’s Purisima Creek artichokes with gusto. A bag of babies for a mid-​week sauté and a few jumbos for the weekend grill. Simply outstanding and quintessential San Mateo coast. Collect Bear Gulch eggs from Ben’s if you’re out, and then select a piece of California king salmon (for Sunday cedar-​plank grilling with microgreens and polenta), which may just have been line-​caught by Captain Dan Stuckey on the Sea Bird. Yes, it’s THAT local around here!
Round out your purchases with heirloom tomatoes, raw unpasturized almonds, celery, leeks, etc. from organic growers who are market regulars, then pack things up (in a cooler if necessary) and head for the beach! It’s time to celebrate!
© Cowell Ranch Beach embodies all that makes the San Mateo coast so special: it’s rugged, it’s in balance with the environment, it’s secluded yet accessible, and it makes for the perfect post-​market transition away from the world of commerce to something akin to communing with nature. You’ll see harbor seals in the surf, feel the granularity of shifting sands beneath your feet, and watch as pelicans and gulls pass above your head. When you’ve had your fill of the mighty Pacific, walk back to the car and continue on down Highway One to your next destination:
(d) Tacos and beer at the Mercado de los Amigos in Pescadero (via San Gregorio and Old Stage Road for the best backroads). Always an exceptional stop after shopping in HMB, the farm fresh taqueria flavors are just what you need to recharge for the next stage of the journey:
(e) Wine tasting at Thomas Fogarty — after driving to Skyline via Pescadero Creek and Alpine Road. Nothing beats Santa Cruz Mountain wines when the views of the Bay Area are this nice. Work your way through an estate tasting of 5 wines, from Chardonnay to Pinot to their Gist Ranch Bordeaux varietals. After you’ve driven from sea level at Pescadero up 2000 vertical feet to the Skyline, it’s like feeling on top of the world!
(f) Homeward bound! By this point, it’s getting into the early afternoon, and you’ll want to be using some of that farmers’ market bounty in your next meal. We whipped up a padron pepper and Fontina cheese omelette with a salad of heirloom tomatoes and greens, plus a healthy glass or two of Skyline Red followed by coffee, strawberries, Islay Scotch, and dark chocolate for dessert. And then we rested in blissful contentment while the sun slowly sank into the approaching fog that swept in from the Pacific.
Make the HMB farmers’ market part of your next San Mateo coastside adventure! You’ll be in good company, and your weekend shopping routine will never be routine again.

Great location for a Farmers Market… I just wish it was all year!
The vendors that frequent this Coastal Framers Market are great, they are all very friendly, the produce is fresh and always a good selection of local and seasonal items.
You can pretty much pick up anything from your typical fruits and veggie’s to even freshly baked breads, hand made pasta’s, fresh fish, home made hummus and nan, goat cheeses, honey, raw and flavored nuts, cookies, and other baked goods. Sometimes you can even pick up flavored olive oil or balsamic vinegars. They always have fresh flowers out and most weekends even live music. I’m sure I’m missing a ton of products too…
We normally get to the market early so we never have to worry about parking but I can imagine in the late morning it can be a pain, but we like to have the first pick of the crop. We typically walk the whole market first, it’s small enough to allow you to do that, but we check prices and quality, than split up and buy our items, I know its kind of cheezy but it works for us.
We love this Market and when it is the off season we hit up the San Mateo one, which is Year Around and just over 92.

I hit up HMB Farmer’s Market twice a month… just a great little market, with most of the things I typically buy (with the distinct absence of hot peppers… but you kinda expect that on this stretch of the coast).
GREAT corn, in season. GREAT blueberries all the time. GREAT strawberries in season. GREAT tamales (mmmmmmm!). Every once in a while, there’s a guy selling carnivorous plants — I’ve got a nice small garden growing (in HMB, no less!) thanks to him (there’s also another seller of same at Pastorino’s on the weekend). There’s a GREAT potter (Wild Women Pottery) always selling there. There’s always music, locals abound, and there’s many interesting sites and sounds.
Just be forewarned, parking can be a bit tough later in the morning. Go early, or plan on circling…
Would I recommend driving over the hill for it? God no… the Farmer’s Market (at the same time) at San Mateo College definitely beats this one hands down for diversity. But for locals? This is the bom.

I love that this farmers market is right near my house — yay, instant access to fresh produce! There’s a whole bunch of stuff here to peruse… bread, honey, vegetables (mini squash is in season!), fruits, fresh fish, cheeses, baked goods, flowers… yeah pretty rad. Every time I’ve been here, they’ve had a live musician performing as well. It’s smaller than other FMs I’ve been to, but you can still get pretty much anything you need. Parking can be a pain in the ass so if you drive here, do yourself a favor and enter from Rte. 1 and park in the portion of the lot facing that road.

I loved this market of fresh vegetables, fruits, deli and other groceries they had. I found by accident and loved the variety they offered. You gotta love all the farms out that way.

Small but so cute!
They have a great variety of homemade treats as well as a nice selection of fresh fruits and veggies.
The vendors are all incredibly nice, friendly and funny. So glad I checked this out and will definitely go back when I’m in the neighborhood.
Parking is easy (got their around opening time @ 9am). Just keep your eye open for the Farmer’s Market sign off of Hwy 1 because you can’t see the tents from the street. It’s in the back of a shopping center.

The Half Moon Bay Farmer’s Market may be smaller than most, but the offerings are diverse. In fact, the only thing you might miss is Kettle Corn, if you’re into that.
The best of the best: tasty breads and pastries, Harley Farms goat cheese, ultra-​fresh local fruits and veggies, and eggs in a variety of pretty colors.
The produce sellers are all very nice, but my favorite is the man who runs the fruit stand on the northeast corner of the market. When you find him, you’ll understand why. He sings about his wares and greets customers with a friendly smile. I guarantee you’ll want to take him home with you!

I think what makes a farmer’s market special is being able to find amazing local specialties and meeting the farmers who create them. The Coastside Farmer’s market in Half Moon Bay is exactly that kind of place.
We found the best organic strawberries we’ve had all year. They were so sweet they tasted like strawberry jam.
We also found some truly farm fresh eggs from Green Oaks Creek Farm. The farmers told us that they put together an assortment of eggs from seven varieties of chickens, including one blue egg. I haven’t had eggs like this since I ate at Ubuntu (
).
It’s true that this is a small farmer’s market where you won’t find the same selection as you might over the hill, but there’s a chance that might find a few things here that you wouldn’t find elsewhere.

— Small but Great Vibe —
We dropped by last weekend (in early June). Glorious sunshine with fluffy clouds in the sky so that may have something to do with the four stars. ;-)
On to the pros and cons
+ Nice live music, played at a good level. Background and doesn’t make it impossible to hear anything else.
+ Everyone seems to know each other. There was a lot of greeting each other. And as newcomers, we were greeted by several folks running booths. People were really friendly.
+ Plenty of parking very close by.
+ Beautiful location. In one direction, you see a row of tall, windbreaking trees and the mountains beyond; in another direction, you see out to the ocean sky with only low buildings in the way of seeing the ocean.
— Small compared to the Farmer’s Markets at Mountain View and San Francisco (which are both admittedly pretty large). It’s about two rows, both sides, for approximately 30 – 40 booths.
— At least when we were there, there aren’t ready-​made food options. But if you’re buying produce and eating that, problem solved.
Note: there was a sign about no pets being allowed, regardless of how small they are. It wasn’t an issue for us either way, but in case you’re thinking about going with a pet.
Location: It’s located behind the buildings on the northeast corner of Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) and Kelly Street. Coming south on Highway 1, take a left at Kelly Street. The second or third driveway on the left should be marked with a sign. Drive a ways in and you’ll see the white tents.
Time: Runs from May until December.

This is a small Farmer’s Market so you won’t find the wide variety that you get at some of the larger ones. What I do like about it is the emphasis on local produce that actually comes from the farms you drive past to get here.