The South Bay’s latest farmers’ market: A fruitful idea keeps growing.

Although Pat Holter’s son works in a local supermarket, the Redondo Beach resident shops at a farmers’ market in Torrance for her household’s produce. “Ever see the string beans in (the supermarket)? They’re not worth taking home,” Holter said while sampling raspberries at an open-air booth.

Being able to bite before you buy is just advantage to shopping for produce at a farmers’ market, an increasingly popular choice in the South Bay.

The area’s fifth market is scheduled to open in Hermosa Beach this afternoon with a watermelon-cutting ceremony and a country music concert. “Instead of cutting a ribbon, we substituted fruit,” said Mary Lou Weiss, manager of the market, which will be held Fridays between 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. at 13th Street and Hermosa Avenue.

At the local state-certified farmers’ markets, growers from as far as Stockton and as close as Carson sell goods directly to consumers. Prices are generally lower and the produce fresher, said Holter after buying a basket of raspberries at Torrance’s weekly market, held 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays at Charles Wilson Park on Crenshaw Boulevard.

Produce sold in the supermarket is usually picked before it is fully ripe, allowing sellers time to pack and ship the product, said Richard Sager, who brings produce to Torrance from his farm in Arroyo Grande. However, if the produce is going to be sold the day after it is picked, as is the case in a farmers’ market, the fruit can sit on the tree or vine longer and sweeten more than it would in a truck, Sager added.

The state established a program in 1977 allowing farmers to sell produce directly to consumers. There are now 47 such markets in Southern California, according to the Southland Farmers’ Market Assn.

The South Bay markets are sprinkled throughout the week, and shoppers and farmers frequently attend more than one.

Wes Bush, executive director of Hermosa Beach’s Chamber of Commerce, said he hoped the new market will not compete with others but will “bring more people into the farmers’ market habit.”

For shoppers who can’t steal away during the workweek, Gardena’s market is open on Saturdays from 6:30 a.m. to noon at the Hollypark Methodist Church on Van Ness Avenue. Mike Cluster, manager of the Gardena market, said it was the first state-certified farmers’ market in the Southland, founded in 1979.

Cluster said farmers’ markets free the growers from being “slaves to the wholesaler.” Buyers for markets demand fruit and vegetables with uniform size, shape, color and shine, which often requires the use of chemicals and waxing, Cluster added.

Because of the chance to sell direct, farmers sell their products for up to twice what they could get from the shipper, which they said makes the long hauls to the South Bay worth the trouble.

Part of that savings is passed on to the consumer. Prices in the market usually run 20% to 30% below supermarket prices, according to the Southland Farmers’ Market Assn. However, shoppers said price differences vary greatly from one product to another.

Selling directly to the customer is more satisfying than selling to the wholesaler, farmers said.

“The brokers are just looking for negative things to say about your fruit, to slash your price,” said Alex Weiss, who sells his produce at several of the area markets. “Here my customers come back and tell me how good last week’s food was.”

The popular items now are melons and apples, which are just starting to appear at the markets, and sweet corn, always a summer favorite, growers said. For those wishing to stray from the beaten culinary path, the markets offer off-beat vegetables such as Armenian cucumbers and a cornucopia of nuts and dried fruit.

Host cities have supported the markets because they bring potential shoppers into the communities’ commercial areas, farmers said. Weiss said the market in Hermosa Beach was partly inspired by one held in neighboring Redondo Beach, on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Veterans Park on Torrance Boulevard. “We hope it will also generate business in the downtown district,” she added.

Another city that encouraged establishing a farmers’ market was San Pedro, where a market is held Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 3rd Street between Centre and Mesa streets.