Certified Fresh: Shop under the sun. Find...

Certified Fresh: Shop under the sun. Find fresh produce at reasonable prices. Maybe even talk to the farmers. Where else but a farmers’ market? It’s the closest many city folk ever come to farm life. “We are so distant from our farmers and how our food comes to us,” said Carolyn Olney of the Southland Farmers’ Market Assn. “We lose out a lot not having that connection.” Certification assures that produce meets government standards.

Room for More: Leslie Starus, owner of Sproutime farm in Canoga Park, has supplied the Valley and other areas with “gourmet greens,” sunflower greens, wheatgrass, pea greens and daikon for 17 years. Compared with other areas where markets are more plentiful, the Valley is virgin land, Starus said. “Farmers’ markets work well when there’s community support and when the community is involved.”

To Market: A shopper looks for flowers at the Burbank market at 3rd Street and Orange Grove Avenue, open Saturdays, 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Others are in Encino: 17400 Victory Blvd., Sundays, 8 a.m.-noon. Calabasas: Calabasas Road and El Canon Avenue, Saturdays, 8 a.m.-noon. Santa Clarita: Rockwell Canyon Road and Valencia Boulevard, Sundays, 8:30 a.m.-noon. Palmdale: Sierra Highway at Avenue Q-6, Saturdays, 8 a.m.-noon.

Cyber Farm: For shopping from home, visit: https://members.aol.com/marketfarm/farmer-market/index.html. You can buy produce and arts and crafts and catch up on farm and gardening news. You can even get a dose of farmer humor.