Market Watch: The latest farmers market news by David Karp

November 25, 2009

MARKET WATCH

At the Burbank market: Salad greens, Brussels sprouts, apples, grapes, persimmons and pepinos

The Burbank farmers market, now held in the parking lot next to City Hall, has occupied several locations since its founding in 1983 but has always maintained high standards. It continues to feature many more produce vendors than prepared foods and crafts, 25 of 33 stands. Much of the credit belongs to the longtime manager, Carolyn Hill, who retired in July 2008 but trained her successor, Sarah Dornbos, to continue the market's style. The event provides more than $50,000 yearly to its sponsor, the Providence St. Joseph Medical Foundation, to subsidize medical expenses for needy patients.

November 18, 2009

MARKET WATCH

Laguna Beach: Purple Queen beans, Pink Lady apples, satsuma mandarins

The Laguna Beach farmers market, held in a city parking lot below a huge bluff, has remained a stable, successful venue for the past decade. It features about 20 produce vendors, including three Orange County vegetable growers, Smith Farms and two branches of the Berumen family.

November 6, 2009

MARKET WATCH

This week: Mexican limes, Arkansas Black apples, Autumn Lady peaches

California's season for limes is much earlier than for most other citrus. Some limes show up at farmers markets through the winter, and a very few year-round, but September to December is the time of plenty for locally grown fruit.

November 4, 2009

MARKET WATCH

At Playa Vista: Fuji apples, Fuyu-type persimmons, minutina mini-greens

Playa Vista is not far from several established farmers markets, but a nearby market is a coveted amenity, and residents of this new neighborhood were delighted when their own venue opened in June. Since it's hard to see from nearby main streets, it draws mostly local customers, and perhaps as a result, vendors say that business has been just so-so. The market is modest in size, with 28 stands, half produce, half prepared foods, but the manager, Mark Anderson -- a co-owner of Lark Farms, which grows vegetables in Fillmore -- has assembled a well-chosen roster of respected farms.

October 28, 2009

MARKET WATCH

Introducing . . . Buddha's Hand

Shoppers usually stop in their tracks, jaws hanging down, the first time they see a Buddha's Hand citron, which looks like a cross between a lemon and a squid. Its ancestor, the ordinary citron, is one of the three original species of citrus and looks like a large, lumpy lemon; in the Buddha's Hand, the fruit splits at the end opposite the stem into segments that look somewhat like human fingers - whence the fruit's other name, fingered citron. This prodigy is a genetic mutation that arose many centuries ago somewhere in the citron's homeland, southwestern China and northeastern India. (Occasionally similar-looking fruits will develop on a normal lemon tree, but these are caused by mite damage to the buds.)

October 16, 2009

MARKET WATCH

Sweet and spicy: Chocolate persimmon and GoldRush apples

The so-called Tsurunoko or Chocolate persimmon is a most mysterious, elusive and alluring fruit. Technically speaking, it belongs to the obscure class of "pollination-variant, nonastringent" persimmons, in which small quantities of alcohol exuded from the seeds cause the tannins in the flesh to clump together, turning the pulp brown, softening the astringency and developing a rich, distinctive flavor.

October 9, 2009

MARKET WATCH

Ashmead's Kernel apples are deliciously ugly

Small, russet brown, and dotted with pockmarks, the Ashmead's Kernel apples grown organically by Windrose Farm in Paso Robles definitely won't win any beauty prizes. They do, however, have the most intense, complex flavor of any fruit in the world, strong and sharply sweet, with an aroma that reminds Britons of the traditional candies called pear drops -- derived, say chemists, from the amyl acetate ester.

October 2, 2009

MARKET WATCH

In Claremont: Cucumbers, watermelon, jicama, mushrooms and eggplant

Quite a few farmers markets have opened in the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire over the last decade, but many of them have never really taken off, or feature mostly prepared foods and crafts. The medium-size Claremont market does emphasize produce and draws appreciative customers from around the region.

September 25, 2009

MARKET WATCH

This week: Fresh bamboo shoots, habanero peppers, lychees, peaches, apples

Fresh, domestically grown bamboo shoots are hard to find in California, but Yao Cheng Farm grows an acre of them near Camarillo and sells at the Monterey Park, Alhambra, Irvine and Thousand Oaks farmers markets.

September 23, 2009

Health authorities act to contain bacterial threat to citrus trees

A month after the discovery of Asian citrus psyllids in Santa Ana and Echo Park, state and county plant health authorities are scrambling to implement new regulations for citrus growers who sell at farmers markets in affected areas.

September 23, 2009

MARKET WATCH

New Moorpark farmers market: top muscat grapes, quality olive oil

By most counts, the new farmers market in Moorpark is pretty nondescript. Brand new (it only opened in June), it is modest in size, with about a dozen certified producers, and has been relatively quiet so far. But against all odds, this one small market features two vendors that sell one of the scarcest and greatest grape varieties you'll ever taste.

September 16, 2009

FOOD

Farmers markets fear Los Angeles' fees

Farmers market managers in Los Angeles are in a tizzy over a proposed city ordinance that would charge more than 20 markets tens of thousands of dollars to recoup the city's costs of enabling their events, which could force them to close or move if new ways to cover the costs can't be found.

September 16, 2009

MARKET WATCH

Long Beach Southeast farmers market: mushrooms, wild bitter melon, grapes and pears

Favored by a pleasant location at the Alamitos Bay Marina and by its proximity to several affluent areas, the Long Beach Southeast farmers market has grown steadily since its founding in 1997. It's now the largest farmers market in the Long Beach area, and one of the best mid-size markets in Southern California.

September 4, 2009

MARKET WATCH

Pitahaya, or dragon fruit, finds a place at SoCal farmers markets

It's happening at farmers markets all over Los Angeles. A shopper stops short, agape, at a table of fruits that look like artichokes from Mars, and asks the vendor, "What on Earth are they?"

September 2, 2009

MARKET WATCH

Encino farmers market: grapes, plums, avocados, nopales, green beans and celery

The Encino farmers market remains the largest and best in the San Fernando Valley, with about 30 produce vendors. This count has held steady over the last decade, but the number of prepared foods and nonagricultural stands, selling everything from hot dogs to pet nail clippers, has almost tripled during that time, from 13 to 37. That trend is common these days, as the sponsors of farmers markets -- whether cities, charities or entrepreneurs -- find that craft and food stalls generate higher fees than farmers. In Encino's case it's for a good cause, to benefit the One Generation Daycare center for children and frail seniors.

August 26, 2009

MARKET WATCH

Penryn Orchard Specialties continues a tradition of 'mountain-grown' fruits

Jeff Rieger's commute each week to the Santa Monica farmers market from his farm in Placer County-- 924 miles round trip -- is probably the longest regularly undertaken by any vendor at a Southern California certified market. He is driven by a passion to grow and market rare and high-quality fruits, all the more remarkable since he got into farming almost by accident.

August 12, 2009

MARKET WATCH

Ripe time for mangoes from Wong Farms

Among the most eagerly awaited treats sold at farmers markets are the luscious mangoes grown by Wong Farms in Mecca, just north of the Salton Sea. When Deborah Wong Chamberlain started selling her crop last Wednesday at the Santa Monica farmers market, most of her truckload was already spoken for by customers who started calling her weeks ago, even though her mangoes are far more expensive, at $3.49 a pound, than the imported ones sold at supermarkets. Hers, however, are of matchless flavor and texture.

MARKET WATCH

Market Watch: Tomato growing with passion

"Windshield doctor and heirloom tomato grower." It sounds like one of those joke advertisements, but Darrell Elser juggles these two vocations with aplomb.

July 29, 2009

MARKET WATCH

At Santa Monica farmers market, peppers, flageolets, peaches and berries

At the Santa Monica Wednesday farmers market, growers, shoppers and chefs are always searching for new and extraordinary items.

July 22, 2009

MARKET WATCH

Beverly Hills farmers market: lima beans, pluots, lemon cucumbers

The Beverly Hills farmers market, which will celebrate its 15th anniversary Aug. 2, is one of the best mid-size markets in Southern California and is carefully supervised by its manager, Greta Dunlap.

July 15, 2009

MARKET WATCH

In Venice, salad greens, Asian vegetables, stone fruit and muskmelons

The Venice farmers market is modest in size but rich in high-quality stands with colorful characters behind them.

July 8, 2009

MARKET WATCH

In Ventura County, stone fruit, flame grapes, bicolor corn and black raspberries

Under the experienced direction of manager Karen Wetzel Schott, the Thousand Oaks farmers market is one of the two largest and best in Ventura County, along with Ventura Saturday. Vendors and customers are pleased that the market recently returned to its spacious original location in a shopping center parking lot, after two years of exile on a cramped rooftop.

July 1, 2009

MARKET WATCH

A fruitful time at the Irvine farmers market

The Irvine farmers market, the largest in Orange County, offers a wide selection and moderate prices. There are quite a few craft stalls, but produce is clearly the focus.

June 24, 2009

MARKET WATCH

Circle C Ranch's immigrant beginnings

Many shoppers at the Hollywood and Santa Monica farmers markets well remember Circle C Ranch for the outlandishly long lines that formed to buy its Persian mulberries. Others fondly recall the connoisseur-quality fruit -- jammy Adriatic figs, super-sweet Seckel pears and Indian blood peaches -- that conjured a virtual cult around the farm and its eccentric co-owner, Kim Blain, who died in 2003. Few people, however, have any idea of the family drama, worthy of Chekhov and Flannery O'Connor, behind the stand, which will resume selling at the Hollywood Farmers Market this Sunday.

June 17, 2009

MARKET WATCH

Torrance market featuring delicious pluots

It's about 10 days late, due to persistent mild weather, but peak season for stone fruit finally has arrived, with so many great choices that it's easy to go wild, especially at a large, vibrant market such as Torrance.

June 10, 2009

MARKET WATCH

The time is ripe for figs, apricots and peaches at Pasadena Victory Park

The Pasadena Victory Park farmers market, founded 25 years ago, continues to be large, well-run and focused on produce.

June 3, 2009

MARKET WATCH

This week at Riverside farmers market

The Riverside farmers market, one of the best in its region, emphasizes genuine small and local growers. For instance, Angelo and Adelina Filandrianos, a charming couple from Hinkley, near Barstow, have plump, sweet and flavorful Bing cherries, now in peak season.

May 27, 2009

MARKET WATCH

This week at Westwood Farmers' Market: Valencia oranges, Robada apricots, Flavorella plumcots

At its former location on Weyburn Avenue, the Westwood Farmers’ Market was big and lively. Forced to close in 2006, it reopened three months later at the Veterans Garden, north of Constitution Avenue, west of Sepulveda Boulevard. While this venue is beautiful and peaceful, with picnic tables under a large fig tree and even a nearby parrot sanctuary, it is isolated from Westwood Village pedestrians, so shoppers and vendors are few compared with the old market in its prime.

May 20, 2009

MARKET WATCH

Good this week: Brooks cherries, Pakistan mulberries, Apriums

The earliest varieties of any fruit are rarely the best, and it's easy to get impatient this year, when stone fruit harvests are running a week late. Discrimination in varieties is crucial.