Farmers Market Harvests Rave Reviews : Downtown: Hundreds of customers flock to the opening day, drawn by garden-fresh scents and produce fresh from the field.

The sweet aroma of juicy strawberries mingled with the odor of smoke from the Los Angeles riots during the opening last week of Glendale’s first farmers market.

Hundreds of office workers, shoppers and passersby were enticed to the open-air market by an array of colorful canopies, balloons and garden-fresh scents carried by the breeze.

“We enjoy our customers,” said vendor Sunny Yasuda, 68, a former computer operator. She and her husband, Joe, 71, grow vegetables, fruit and herbs on three lots in Glassell Park. Joe Yasuda was a produce buyer for 25 years before he retired.

Together, the couple offered the fruits of their labor, sprinkled with a healthy dose of information and advice. The baby Swiss chard in season now, for instance, is delicious chopped and cooked in olive oil with garlic, Sunny Yasuda said.

Mugwort is cooked like spinach and “good for the stomach,” she said; chicory “is good for the liver.”

Maggie Wolfe’s honey stand was farther down the block. The Glendale native and her husband, Bob, an engineer, operate a small company out of their La Habra home based on their beekeeping hobby. Bob Wolfe tends the hives; Maggie Wolfe, the mother of three toddlers, markets the products “to try to keep even,” she said.

“All of our honey is raw and unfiltered,” she said, explaining the differences in taste among the orange blossom, avocado, light and dark wildflower honeys displayed at her stand.

A 40-year veteran of home farming, Jim Tamai of Oxnard branched out years ago from strawberries to vegetables. He and his six children do most of their business in farmers markets, said daughter Beverly Tamai, 24, hoisting giant cabbages over her shoulders for amazed buyers.

“Seventy-five cents, marked down from $1,” she said as the family packed up the remaining produce at the close of the market.

Among the new shoppers who ventured into The Exchange last week was June Dougherty of La Canada Flintridge, who said it was her first foray into Glendale’s revitalized shopping district, which opened more than a year ago with upscale shops, restaurants and entertainment.

“It’s great; it’s really amazing for Glendale,” Dougherty said. She went home with eggs from Ontario, figs, carrots (“I have a juicer”) and broccoli from Camarillo.

“I usually do my shopping at Mrs. Gooch’s,” an upscale health food chain, said Ann Lewis, an executive secretary from a nearby office tower. “But this is even better. I will be here every week.” Lewis’ first haul included fresh cabbage, turnips, spinach and broccoli.

The market was started by the Glendale Redevelopment Agency to attract more shoppers to the downtown area. A budget of $40,500 was set aside to promote and run the market in its first year.

About 25 farmers participated in the inauguration of the market last week, said Betty Hamilton of Certified Farmers’ Markets, a Pasadena partnership that operates the Glendale market along with five others in Burbank and the San Gabriel Valley.

City officials called the market an instant success. “We’re very pleased,” said Redevelopment Director Jeanne Armstrong, noting the packed crowd along the sidewalk. Vendors will pay 6% of their sales to the city, but officials said it is too early to determine what the city will take in.

The market will be open from 9:30 a.m to 1:30 p.m. today and every Thursday in front of The Exchange in the 100 block of North Brand Boulevard. Parking is available in the Urban Garage on Maryland Avenue, just south of Wilson Avenue.