Spring brings Sweet Peas back to Montara

Spring has brought Sweet Peas Organic Produce back to Montara.  Their stand re-opened for the season a few weeks ago with new signs, a park bench, a sandbox for the kids, and a renovated stand.

There’s a new owner, Kerry Tate, who bought the stand from Noreen Hacker who had it for ten years.

We stopped by last Sunday afternoon and chatted with Kerry and bought a big bag of fruit and vegetables.  We got to try some delightful apples, daikon radish, blood oranges, and other produce that they were sampling. Our three-year-old loved the apples we bought, much more than the ones we’ve been getting at the supermarket. And she loved Sweet Peas’ sandbox as well.

In addition to food that tastes like food, when you shop Sweet Peas or Cunha’s market, instead of the supermarket, you get a different kind of experience.  It took me too long to realize that the phony choices that you get in a supermarket (Sixteen kinds of toothpaste! Eight kinds of Oreos!) make shopping an ordeal that requires too much time and energy.  I come out feeling tired and frayed. I feel happy and refreshed when I leave Cunha’s or Sweat Peas. And more of your money stays here on the Coastside.

Kerry says that more local produce will show up in a couple of weeks, and that a couple of weeks after that the stone fruits will begin to appear, and tomatoes are just around the corner as well.

Sweet Peas is located on Highway 1 in Montara. They’re open Thursday through Sunday from 1pm to 7pm.