Petaluma East Side Farmers' Market

Petaluma's East Side Farmers' Market runs every Tuesday of the year, 9:30am to 1:30pm, in the parking lot at Lucchesi Park on North McDowell Boulevard. Agricultural Community Events manages it, and it is built for regular shopping: local growers with the season's produce and flowers, bakers, artisan cheese, canned goods and hot food, plus handmade goods from soaps to crafts.

It is the town's weekday market, and it keeps going through winter, when many seasonal markets close.

This is where Petaluma does its weekday shopping, which makes it a good look at the town as it actually eats. A Tuesday visit is unhurried, with time to talk with growers about what is coming in, and the year-round schedule means there is a market here in January as well as July.

For visitors on a midweek trip it fits neatly between a morning outing and an afternoon of tasting in the Petaluma Gap, and it is a practical stop for anyone staying in a rental with a kitchen.