St Helena Farmers Market (Napa Valley California)

Angwin resident Sheila Mannix often found her way to farms and orchards near St. Helena in search of the sweetest vine-ripened tomato and freshest greens. When she realized that other like-minded people in Napa Valley shared her passion for high-quality produce and her frustration at not being able to find it, she decided to organize a local farmers’ market. To find out what needed to be done, Sheila conducted town meetings and met with ranchers, farmers, and market managers. She had trouble getting growers to commit to the market in the beginning, but several of the farmers who participated in the first market on July 4, 1986 are still coming—Stan and Susan DeVoto (Devoto Gardens), the Vigil family (Sebastopol Berry Farm), and Cathy Curlee who grows fresh flowers. Bruins Vegetable Farm and Sam and Sun Hee Shin of Solano Mushrooms joined the second year. Hamada Farms arrived soon after that. The first St. Helena Farmers' Market was on Main Street, across from Merryvale Winery. It moved to its current location at Crane Park in 1996, where it continues to operate every Friday morning from May through October