No need to cross a bridge to go holiday shopping, all you lucky folk in Marin: you've got lots of great gifts right here at your local farmers' markets. Here's a few favorite seasonal treats for sale at the Sebastopol and Marin Civic Center markets this week.
Newcomers Joel and Carleen Weirauch of Weirauch Farm & Creamery are already generating a buzz about their small-batch cow's-milk cheeses. Now, you can serve them in style on the handmade, one-of-a-kind oak cheeseboards they're selling this month. The boards are made from oak salvaged from a 100-year-old Kentucky tobacco barn, finished satiny-smooth with olive oil and beeswax ($35-55). Get to the market early enough, and you might be lucky enough to pick up a block or two of their flower-embossed soap, made from sheep's milk and local olive oil in scents like rose geranium, lemongrass, lavender, and star anise. The Weirauchs are raising a herd of dairy sheep in Petaluma; come next spring, once lambing starts, they'll be making their own farmstead sheep's milk cheeses, too. Find them on Sunday at Sebastopol and Thursday at Marin Civic Center.
Also at the sweet Sebastopol market: Terra Savia's bright, peppery new-crop olive oil, made from organic olives grown along the Mendocino/Sonoma border and pressed just last month at Terra Savia's olive press in Hopland. This luscious olio nuovo is a Tuscan-style treat that's perfect for dipping into with a chunk of fresh, crusty bread. Terra Salvia also offers several single-varietal olive oils as well as wildflower honey, olive-oil soaps and a soothing botanical salve for moisturizing winter-dry skin.