From tomatoes to tamales, pearls to persimmons, pomegranates to Pacific salmon – find it all in one place. Where else but the farmers’ market?
By Sher Hann
OAK PARK – This is a small, intimate neighborhood affair, like an over-grown fruit stand really (but alas, no sales by the peck or bushel, as I remember from my youth in Adams County, PA). It is held on Saturday mornings from 9:00 until 1:00 in the parking lot of the shopping center housing Starbuck’s and Beau Image.
This past weekend, to the tune of a folk-rock singer remembering “Yesterday,” I easily filed my way through the two aisles to find my favorites – a quick 20-minute trip. This market is small enough that I can survey all the stalls first, then return for my four or five chosen items.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE recently opened its farmers’ market in the parking lot by Bauducco’s and Yozen Frogurt. Much larger than Oak Park’s market, this affair holds court from 10 until 2 on Sundays. With my husband in tow this past Sunday, I lingered over strawberries, gluten-free chocolate almond pastry, roses for $7 a dozen, tomatoes, ears of corn and red bell peppers. The orchids, which I resisted this time, were freckled and speckled and yellow and peach and orchid (of course) and purple and white – amazing specimens for amazingly low prices.
The proliferation of farmer’s markets in the Conejo echoes a national trend. According to the Farmers Market Coalition’s web site, there were approximately 1,755 farmers markets in the United States in 1994. In 2009 there are almost 4,900, attracting more than 3 million consumers and more than 60,000 farmer-merchants annually. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates these neighborhood markets generate $1.2 billion in consumer spending a year.
So the next time you’re in the mood for John Dory or jujubu, drop by your local farmer’s market in Oak Park or Westlake Village. For more information visit, Best Farmer\’s Markets In LA
