Market for Show and Tell
Ask Martin Berghuis “What is it?” when you walk by his stand of exotic fruit trees at the Huntington Beach farmers’ market, and you’ll be hanging around a while if you want the full explanation.
You’ll hear about his dozen or so trees anchored in containers and also a little about himself.
The small tree with the big leaves is a citrius hystrix variety of fig, he explains. He crushes a leaf, holds it up for a good sniff of lemon-orange aromas, then notes that it is used in Thai cooking.
Want to see his Java plum tree or tiger fig whose fruit tastes like a strawberry? They’re all grown in his Laguna Hills back yard, he says. Some, such as the Panache variety, are sold for half the $50 they would garner at a local nursery.
Berghuis will tell you he grew up in Java, where he thought he’d seen all manner of exotic fruit. But since coming to California, he has discovered varieties he never knew existed. Now he even grows some of them to sell here.
Hearing arcane tidbits about the plants, produce, fish or fowl sold at this outdoor market is half the fun of being there. You’ll meet local vendors who sell such things as pumpkins, pistachios, corn and tomatoes. Some, such as a young woman selling apple pies and blackberry jams, come from as far as Julian in eastern San Diego County.
The Huntington Beach farmers’ market, at Orange Avenue and Main Street in a parking lot a few blocks from the ocean, is every Friday afternoon from 2 to 6 p.m.
The market is sanctioned by the county farm bureau--meaning that all the vendors are certified and grow their own products. With 27 vendors, it is among the smallest sanctioned markets in the county.
It’s something of a laid-back affair, with the familiarity of a family reunion. Shoppers cruise the stalls, chatting with vendors, tasting samples or discussing nutrition.
If small talk while shopping doesn’t appeal to you, the prices might. Some of the produce costs half of what you would pay in a chain supermarket. On a recent Friday afternoon, a 10-pound bag of oranges plucked from a Riverside County orchard was going for $1. Vine-ripened tomatoes were averaging 50 cents a pound, and a half-dozen ears of the How-Sweet-It-Is variety of white corn grown in an Irvine field were selling for about $2.
If price isn’t a concern, then consider the freshness of the products. Buying here is probably the next best thing to walking into your own garden. For instance, Michael Almond’s basil, chives, beets and carrots were pulled from his Seal Beach acreage before the sun rose that morning. Huge double-yolk eggs from Riverside were plucked only hours earlier from the chicken coop. And the fish vendor assured me his catch off the coast of Santa Barbara was no more than 14 hours old.
Be forewarned that the present location is surrounded by torn-up streets, so getting there means maneuvering an obstacle course. But this situation is only temporary; the Huntington Beach farmers’ market is scheduled to get a permanent location sometime around Thanksgiving.
