Nearing two years in operation, the Cardiff Certified Farmers’ Market hosts more than 80 vendors each week, including about 20 local farmers with fresh produce. Bakers, handmade crafters, artisans with home goods and lifestyle products, and those offering prepared foods and beverages also line the stalls sharing free samples and firsthand knowledge of their goods. One of the market’s biggest draws is also practical: ample parking.

Operated by Cardiff 101 Main Street, this easily accessible market is held on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm at the MiraCosta College San Elijo Campus, across from the scenic San Elijo Lagoon off Manchester Avenue. A kids’ play area and monthly Kids Day with activities like coloring, face painting, and bubbles make for a family-friendly outing. And dog adoptions are held each week with pups from Tijuana.

There’s no shortage of activity at the market. Live music is played near a seating area for noshing on market treats, and a yoga class is held on the last Saturday of each month at 11am. With a $5 advanced reservation, yogis get their money back in “market bucks,” which are redeemable for use at any market vendor.

Being a certified farmers’ market means farmers are certified through the county to sell their own products directly to the public. This distinction prevents vendors from selling produce obtained from somewhere outside of their farm like a grocery store.

“We hit $30,000 or more in sales each week within four hours,” said market manager Sherri Reynolds. “When I realized that, I knew we had a successful market going here that’s really helping the community. It’s money that’s staying in our community.”

Shop from these standout vendors on your next trip to the Cardiff Certified Farmers’ Market.

Heritage Family Farms

This Escondido farm specializes in several types of citrus, avocados, stone fruit, tomatoes, and other produce like dragon fruit, passion fruit, and persimmons. Heritage Family Farms was founded in 2008 by a prominent local farmer whose four-generation family farm dates back to 1893. Current owners had already been doing business with him for 25 years when the group decided to make Heritage Family Farms a partnership.

Today their goal is to deliver the freshest local produce directly to customers at farmers’ markets within San Diego County exclusively. Juan Martinez, part-owner of Heritage Family Farms, said they’ve been a vendor at the Cardiff Certified Farmers’ Market for about a year. Their most popular products are stone fruits such as peaches, nectarines, plums, and figs; avocados in many varieties including Hass, Fuerte, Bacon, and Reed; and heirloom tomatoes.

“We have great appreciation for all our customers for being a part of keeping agriculture going strong in San Diego,” Martinez said.

Maruketo Bakery

When Maruca Posadas started following the keto diet in 2020, she decided it was the perfect diet for her—except she missed tortillas and bread. She began looking for low-carb options and found the bread was horrible, expensive, and tasted like cardboard. Posadas began researching recipes for almond flour bread and thought it would be easy to make her own. Initially, it turned out as bad as what she found in stores, but through trial and error and lots of perseverance, Posadas kept baking and refining her recipes. Family members volunteered to be taste-testing guinea pigs and Maruketo Bakery was born.

“I thought that since there’s horrible gluten-free, low-carb bread out there, why don’t I sell [something better]?” Posadas said. “Almond flour behaves very differently from wheat. To bake with it, you really have to do alchemy so the bread will be similar to what we have been used to eating for decades.”

One of her best-selling products is a loaf made with almond and coconut flours and herbs; the baguette with a hint of onion and garlic is another hit. Her hamburger buns with only three carbs sell especially well during the January New Year’s resolution phase. “The difference between my products and others is the flavor of our bread—we are not sacrificing flavor for health,” Posadas said.

Uns Designs

Artist Jake Unsworth began as a tattooist before venturing into the fashion realm, where he now creates clothing and accessories that feature his designs. “Not everyone can commit to a tattoo, but they can enjoy a piece of my custom apparel,” he said. “As an artist, there are many ways to express [myself]. I think that fashion and my tattooing go hand in hand.”

Unsworth hand-draws his designs the “old-fashioned way,” never using computer-generated graphics. He uses eco-friendly inks and dyes and says he’s learned a lot about printing, drawing, sewing, and tie-dying throughout the clothing design process.

Uns Designs is inspired by nature and the outdoors, particularly oceans and mountains that showcase the “Earth’s wild side.” Many of Unsworth’s shirts, hats, and bags promote Leucadia and Encinitas with surf-related art—a nod to the community where he grew up hanging at the beach. His Ride or Sink collection has nautical designs with elements of surfing, fishing, and skateboarding. “I enjoy bringing my T-shirts and designs to the people at markets, art events, and street fairs,” Unsworth said. “I get to meet and talk to customers from all over and get their feedback about my artwork they’re stoked on wearing.”

» cardiff101.com/cardifffarmersmarket

Originally published in issue 77.