Hollywood’s Latest Premiere: the Media District

It took the new Hollywood Media District farmers market a bit longer than planned to open due to problems with permits, but it finally debuted with much hoopla and a strong roster of farmers Friday.

Perhaps the most intriguing stand was staffed by Sarah Cascante, an 11-year-old student at the nearby Hollywood Schoolhouse. She sold lettuce, radishes and cilantro from the school garden--a distant echo of times past when Hollywood farmers grew oranges, cherimoyas and even pineapples.

Santiago Morelos, a vendor for Maggie’s Farm of Agoura Hills, had tender, sweet mache, lemony sorrel and a new mix, winter mesclun, which included tarragon, mint, radicchio, frisee, arugula and spinach. From Lompoc, Suncoast Farms--as the former Green Farms is now called--sold small purple artichokes, broccoli, cauliflower and slender asparagus.

James Birch of Three Rivers displayed beautiful organic fennel, tender Savoy spinach, Red Rib dandelion greens and tasty cavalo nero, black kale. Givens Organic Farm of Goleta had fine leeks, carrots and sugar snap and English shelling peas. Jamie Gean of Harry’s Berries in Oxnard sold Seascape and Gaviota strawberries; on this occasion, the Gaviotas were sweeter.

David Ha of Tehachapi had small but crisp and sugary Fuji apples. Will Stehly of Sycamore Hill Ranch, from Fillmore, sold excellent organic Washington navel oranges, Eureka and Lisbon lemons and seedless Pixie mandarins. Vicki Bernard had Rio Red grapefruit, Oroblancos and Moro blood oranges, along with Washington navels from Riverside grown on sour orange rootstock, which were as sweet, flavorful and juicy as navels get.

Betty and Truman Kennedy of Dinuba had always wondered about the lumpy, sour citrus, which they called “ugly lemons,” from an unidentified tree that grew from rootstock. At Friday’s market, Reza Marashi, an L.A. County agricultural inspector of Persian descent, readily identified the fruits as sour oranges, used for flavoring rice dishes, and described a folk tradition: Just before their New Year (which falls on March 20 this year), Persians like to put a sour orange in water. Just as the new year starts, the orange is said to revolve.

The market is sponsored by the Media District business improvement organization and the organizers behind the big Sunday Hollywood market.

Hollywood (Media District) farmers market, Cole Avenue between Santa Monica Boulevard and Lexington Avenue, Fridays 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.