Harvest Hills Markets San Francisco, CA

We have several big projects coming. Much of the concrete around the store will be pulled up by the city. We asked for a second wheelchair ramp on the north side when we saw them marking the bad concrete. They said yes and that corner will get removed in favor of a ramp so Mom's and handicapped don't need to go on the busier Folsom St to get up on our curb. 

If you've noticed us putting vents in the building that is for the newer more efficient compressors that will power our newer more efficient coolers. These coolers have been in storage waiting for all the proper changes. Much of that has been done and we hope to move them in during the coming weeks. The existing compressors and condensers will also move up and over to this area and the hot air will be pushed out while pulling cold air in the store. The prior owners had just made quick fixes without thinking through the changes. Heat was circulated over a electricity wasted cooling hot air that stayed in the store. Now the whole system will be much more efficient and a lower carbon footprint. We'll have invested well over $30,000 for this project but with electrical bills that can get above $3,000 a month it should pay back in a few years. We'll also get much more space for products in the store as the newer coolers have 35% more space.

 The Bessie side of our store will also change with an outdoor produce area. Special produce carts will be fabricated to move in and out during the height of the produce growing season. We will also add awnings to shade the produce from sun and rain.


The parklet plans were stopped because of a couple neighbors that don't shop at our store that had threatened to file suit against us and the city because they felt parklets are unsafe. We disagreed but did not feel like investing in legal defense just to add a park area that the city had asked us to consider. We'll do the best that we can with the outdoor produce area.

The poles inside and outside the store need to have years of paint removed from them. We'll sand that off in a few hours and then recoat them. A little at a time we are making this a corner store you can be proud to call your own. Your dedication to our store has helped us grow and we want you to know that we are still investing to make it better. Thank you so much for your support.

The weather has been incredible if you like sun. But for great produce we need rain. Some field are fed by water and others are naturally nourished. The big worry is that many trees are flowering months ahead of schedule. If the weather holds we may be ok but odds are that the rain will come and affect the fruit. We are seeing Napa wines go up dramatically in price because the grape harvest was so short with the bad weather. We purchased a few hundred cases this week ahead of the price increase. 

The good news is that things like broccoli have dropped to almost one third normal price. Last years weather was so bad that it drove up prices. Farmers made more profit and put it into greater planting. The good weather has caused an oversupply of things like romaine hearts. They are regularly $2.75  for three organic hearts and now they are down to about a $1. Some stores kept their price up and just take the profit but we pass it on to you our neighbors.

The avocado season has been good too. Insiders tell us that it runs ever other year for some reason. Last year we couldn't get organic avocados for under 99 cents, they were almost $2 for our cost. Now we have small organic avocados for 65 cents and large ones for 75 cents.

Yes it is true, our website is powered by wind power. The servers are maintained by a company that uses only solar or wind to power them.

We applied for this right after we took over ownership. Many people requested it because they are part of Americorp or wanted to use this program at our store. After 7 tries we did eventually get it done and are now accepting EBT as a form of payment.

She's having her tailpipe moved and made more quiet. Friday we took her heart down to the doctor and had him put some new valves, plungers and gaskets in the carburetor. She'll get it back on Monday and maybe by Wednesday she'll wanna go out for a stroll. We want to get a load of hay bails and a pallet of pumpkins soon for the fall season so I hope she runs.

We have another new arrival coming this week. Her name is Old Betty. She's big, she's yellow and a few other colors too. She's a 1952 flatbed farm truck that we rescued. We had a choice to get a big white box truck like everyone else, to bring in produce and products or to be a little different. We aren't your average neighborhood store and you aren't average neighbors. Bernal is a fun and hopefully the neighborhood children will have some great memories with her. She'll be great for parades and hay bail rides. She's got a big air horn and lots of patina.  


Now our plan is to fix her body up too and paint her white. Then she won't be old looking anymore, she'll be Betty white. She's getting a manifold gasket replaced, a new starter and a quieter muffler. She blew her intake manifold gasket while coming across the bay bridge at 7pm on Friday night. A fast lane change and a dashboard choke lever allowed me to keep her going and not stop on the bridge at a really bad time. I had to laugh when she showed pause coming into the city. What country girl wouldn't take a gasp when she saw the big SF? 


She did save me the embarrassment and got me to the produce market where she spent the night. The produce guys got tired of her being in the way at 4AM and moved her with some forklifts. Since then she went to a bayshore shop and got new tires and an engine make over. Look for her soon and we'll put a new solid bed on her, then she'll ferry more produce to the store. An interesting note is that the store now sells more produce than it sold in total products before we purchased it.  Cigarettes, beer and potato chips were eclipsed by organic romas, avocados and bananas. Our goal is four times more produce than we have today so the best is yet to come and hopefully Old Betty will help us get that done.

At Harvest Hills we get up early to go learn. We ask the experts about vegetables, fruits, meats, cheeses, beer and the grape harvesters, the wine makers. Each day new questions and new answers. Its fun and we enjoy it. Our passion is your dinner and drink.
The weather plays such a big role in what and when we eat. Our goal is to find the answers and bring the experts products to you.  We partner with people that have been bringing wine and produce to San Francisco for decades.  If you have questions or special request please contact us. You can send requests or feedback to us at info@toharvest.com

For those that are tech savvy twitter can help you get produce at a great price. Spring is here and when the fruit comes it arrives in different quantities. When it rains the delivery can be short and price goes up, but when it shines thing ripen. When the fruit is ripe it comes to market, it's only good for a few days. Supply and demand will drive the price down. We hover around the market from midnight to 9am looking for what is in great supply and negotiate the price down for you. When we get these deals we will tweet them at www.twitter.com/toharvesthills 


Examples of great deals: Organic blueberries 50 cent a box, huge artichokes 75 cents each, red bell peppers 75 cents a pound. You just never know what they'll have too much of and we pride ourselves on finding great deals for you. The early bird gets the worm. We don't just order produce and have it delivered we use our eagle eyes to find the best deals, tune in to our twitter and get here before they are gone.

You can follow Harvest Hills Markets new products by linking to our twitter account. www.twitter.com/toharvesthills  
We will announce special buys on produce, sales on products we are overstocked on and give you insight into what is coming in season soon.

Reach us at harvesthillsmarkets@gmail.com with suggestions and any questions.