Castro Valley Farmers' Market

Occasionally when I go grocery shopping at TJs down the street, ill stop by here. When I visit on Saturdays around 11AM, it's not very busy. The parking lot is not full and there's a lot of space. There are approximately 3 veggies stands, 2 fruits stands, hummus stand, 2 bread stand, meat/fish stand, cheesecake stand, flower stand, and a few food stands. I've found that while this farmers market is small, it usually has what you need. I do find that the produce can be quite pricey! I primarily choose to visit, due to the exceptionally sweet fruit. I rarely find oranges, Asian pears, and apples as sweet. So when I feel like dishing out a few extra bucks for some delicious fruit, I'll treat myself. With that said, holy gosh are the prices expensive! $5/lb for Asian pairs and other citrus fruits. $2.50/lb for napa cabbage(that is usually $.69/lb at the grocery store. Yeah, I get that it's a farmer's market, however, it's no longer what it used to be. We used to solely buy produce at farmers markets, now it's not possible unless you're making a solid income to afford $5/lb oranges. Overall, clean and tidy farmers markets!

Wanted to add, idk if they had this before but they do have a place for ebt now!Cant edit my previous review for some reason so just adding fluff words to make it to the minimum characters to post this

My first time here today even though I have been living in this area for almost 3 years. now. I like how this is close by and right next to bart so lots of parking. It seemed quiet and peaceful.I came a bit before 12pm and I see people already packing things up. So that was a bit upsetting since I saw it is supposed to be open till 1pm. There were lots of fresh vegetables and fruits stands. A couple of stands of hummus and sweets. There were no ready to eat foods. Like hot foods to eat. Maybe some food trucks? I got some bell peppers, carrot, cucumbers, cilantro, green onion, lettuce from one booth. And I got some hummus from another booth. They should have had more garbage cans around.

This is my Saturday routine! I absolutely love this place. It has everything I need. I get my fresh vegetables, acorn squash, Romaine lettuce, sweet potatoes, onions and everything. Right around this time of Mayish/June they have the best cherries from Stockton area - Gotelli farm. is the best! Occasionally I get my flowers from here, pot pies, tamales and the best baked goods from starter bakery. I highly recommend this farmers market. It's where I was three days after giving birth and every subsequent Saturday sense.

First time to be here and love the selection of vendors-- fruits, veggies, pastries, coffee, chips, pork buns, cheesecakes. Size of the market is just right for me. Parking is a non issue since it is in the CV Bart station parking lot. Best to bring cash though most vendors take credit cards but payment process takes time. Everyone was nice. Cool crowd too.

For a smaller sized farmers market, it has all the essentials that I typically get. I can always count on finding beautiful fresh flower and sweet smell strawberries (when in season) as well as season fruits. During the summer for the few weeks that cherries are perfect, especially Bing cherries, I can easily leave with 10+lbs of cherries!There's always coffee and baked goods. Love the flat breads from Beckman's Bakery. What I'm always so excited about is that Bolani; I had my first sample of the Bolani flatbread with the sweet jalapeno sauce back in 2012 or so in Davis. Ever since then, I've been hook and would actually want to drive back to Davis for more until I realized there are many places in the Bay that I can get my fix from. To this day, I will still say that the sweet jalapeno sauce is the best dip I've ever had.Parking is always plentiful as it's set up in the Bart station parking lot and Saturdays are usually empty.Final Thoughts: With social distancing, everyone's very respectful and guidelines have been placed around. Got all the essentials and no complaints from me :)

Today I bought Tamales from 'Oaxacan Tamale' and they were worth the price. Regular tamale $3 each and $15 for half dozen and they have 3 kinds of special tamale which costs $7. So many filling to choose from both regular and special but I went there late today so there was only 1 special tamale left. I bought chicken, pork, veggie&cheese and spinach&cheese regular tamales and 1 Chile Relleno special tamale. They tasted so good not dry at all and they were filled with meat and other filling unlike other places that had meat only in the middle.I will definitely go back and try other filling.

This is a small Farmers Market, so it's not super crowded. It's not too hard to social distance while shopping for produce and etc. They also have 2 of my favorite vendors--Starter Bakery and Gotelli Farms. Starter has a nice selection of pastries here. I've gotten their Kouign Amann and Twice Baked Almond Croissant in the past. They only accept cash in this spot, so make sure you have enough cash. I didn't get a pastry last time but it looks like they had a nice selection upon opening. It's cherry season and I love Gotelli's Cherries. I got three pounds of their cherries--one pound each of their Index, Rainier and Brooks Cherries. I wanted to can cherries for winter, so I bought 3 lbs. I only do small batch canning, so I only got a few lbs. I follow them on Instagram and they said they were gonna have Index Cherries. They have a very limited supply of Index Cherries, so I was really looking forward to trying it. They were $9.75 a pound, but Cherries are my favorite fruit and they said these were super sweet, so I decided to get them. They are super sweet! Sweeter even than their Brooks. I can't wait to get more next weekend. I will probably make jam with them. Last year I canned Cherry and Blueberry jams and they were fantastic. I saw some really good strawberries at the market as well. I still have some strawberries from my CSA box and I don't have time this weekend to make jam with them, so I will come back next weekend to get a flat for canning.I love this time of the year. Farmers Markets are the place to get fruit for canning! Buying fruit when they're in season is the best. I will be back next weekend for more cherries and strawberries!

I've been loving coming here when I need extra veggies! If you get here early enough, you can get a bunch of really fresh organic tomatoes that have an incredibly juicy flavor. Not to mention, there's always great bakeries and light bites to grab as you head out.My only con is that you can't bring your dog, which is definitely a selfish , yes I am aware LOL I just love my dog! But I totally understand why, safety and food hygiene comes first.

Sorry but no organic produce, a real deal breaker. Big disappointment. Some vendors didn't even know what variety their produce was. Plus, overpriced. You can buy the same stuff at Safeway for less any day of the week, so why bother? I don't buy prepared food either, but they do have that.