For 50 years, Frog Hollow Farm has believed that good farming starts with relationships with the land and the people who eat the food we grow, and that belief found a natural home in the early farmers market movement.
Long before local food became more widely embraced, farmers markets were rebuilding a connection that had largely disappeared from the American food system: the direct relationship between farmers and their communities. As markets began resurging in the 1960s and continued growing through the 1980s and 1990s, consumers became increasingly interested in fresh, local food and the people growing it. By that time, Farmer Al was already deeply involved.
The first farmers market Frog Hollow Farm participated in was in Walnut Creek. For Farmer Al, the experience immediately felt different from conventional wholesale systems. “I liked it from the very beginning because I liked connecting directly with the customers,” he says. At the time, most growers depended on distributors and grocery buyers to move their fruit. Farmers markets offered another path: one where customers could taste the fruit, ask questions, and decide for themselves what quality meant.
“You could sell directly to the consumer and have control over the sale,” Al explains. “There was no middleman trying to make money off your hard work.” That direct exchange also created a level of honesty missing from the conventional food system. “What you taste is what you get,” Al says.
Growing the Farmers Market Movement
In 1988, the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association (PCFMA) was founded to help expand farmers markets across the Bay Area. Farmer Al was part of the original leadership team and served on the organization’s board of directors from the beginning. The mission was simple: connect farms directly with communities.
Over time, PCFMA helped establish dozens of markets throughout the Bay Area and became one of the largest farmers market associations on the West Coast. Markets became places where consumers learned about seasonality, farming practices, and flavor while farmers gained direct feedback from the people eating their food.
The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
One of the defining moments in Frog Hollow Farm’s farmers market journey came with the founding of the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market (FPFM) in San Francisco in 1993. The market emerged from a shared vision among farmers, chefs, planners, and food advocates who believed cities should have stronger ties to regional agriculture and sustainable food systems.
The market attracted chefs searching for ingredients harvested at peak ripeness, and visionaries like Alice Waters, whose restaurant Chez Panisse built its menus around relationships with farmers, became an early board member and champion of the market.
Sibella Kraus, the founding director of the San Francisco Public Market Collaborative and creator of its signature project, the Ferry Plaza Farmer Market, remembers the role Farmer Al played in those early years:
“Farmer Al was a great farmer’s market representative for a couple of reasons. The product he was selling was superb, and he was an incredible ambassador for light-touch education,” she said.
She also noted how naturally he spoke with customers about farming and caring for the land. Through educational activities at the market, Sibella brought many students and visitors to Frog Hollow’s stand and the farm over the years.
Today, Foodwise—the nonprofit operating the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market—continues that mission of connecting Bay Area communities with sustainable farms through education and farmers markets. Reflecting on Frog Hollow Farm’s long history at the market, Foodwise shared:
“Frog Hollow Farm is one of the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market's founding farms, having started with us at the very beginning in 1993. Since then, they have been one of the cornerstone farms that helped set the market's standard for sustainability and high-quality produce, attracting chefs, locals, and visitors alike.”
Learning From Customers
For Farmer Al, one of the greatest lessons of farmers markets has been learning directly from customers. Before selling at markets, growers rarely had opportunities to hear feedback from the people eating their fruit. Farmers markets changed that relationship entirely!
“By talking to your customers and getting their repeated business, they tell you exactly what they liked about your products,” Al says. That feedback shaped everything from varietal selection to farming practices at Frog Hollow Farm. “You’re learning which varieties to select and being taught how to farm based on customer feedback,” he explains. “It is a participatory design approach to farming.”
Markets also became places where farmers learned from one another, sharing growing techniques and supporting each other through the challenges of farming.
“All Food Should Taste This Good”
One memory from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market has stayed with Farmer Al for decades. A customer had purchased Frog Hollow Farm’s Cal Red peaches for two weekends in a row. The following Saturday, she rushed to the stand early in the morning, worried the peaches might be gone. When Al told her they still had them, she responded: “Oh thank god! All food should taste this good.”
For Farmer Al, that moment captured what farmers markets have always stood for. Too often, modern food systems reward appearance and shelf life over flavor and freshness. Farmers markets create space for a standard centered on taste, quality, and the connection between growers and eaters.
Fifty years into Frog Hollow Farm’s story, that mission remains unchanged. “There is no better way to connect with customers than putting the fruit in their hand and hearing their direct feedback,” Al says.
As Frog Hollow Farm looks toward the future, we remain committed to continuing those connections and sharing tree-ripened fruit directly with the communities that have supported us for the last five decades.
🍑✨ Bay Area friends, get ready! We're celebrating 50 years of Frog Hollow Farm, and we have a special Farmers Market surprise in store. Stay tuned for details! 🌱🎉