Welcome to Food Talk Central. Let me give you too much information.
Good questions and maybe other food talkers will chime in. I think folks like Arnett Farms and Ken’s Top Notch for citrus and apples in the fall.
The big farmers markets with every vendor are in Santa Monica (various locations) and Hollywood (Ivar). I prefer the smaller farmers markets - Bev Hills, Culver City and occasionally Larchmont in a pinch. Because I have a tendency to over-shop the big markets are overwhelming for me.
Here’s info on my spots:
Beverly Hills FM (Sunday) is my fave. It’s a convenient drive from my ‘hood. And it has everything for one-stop shopping - excellent vegetable, fruit, meat, seafood, dairy and prepared food vendors with enough of what I call the designer vendors (tenerelli, harry’s berries, weiser, jyan isaac bread, lodge and more). With the fall season starting I’m still discovering who has the best apples and citrus.
Culver City (Tuesday) comes in 2nd. They don’t have Tenerelli’s (maybe now?) & Harry’s Berries but they have Arnett Farms and quite a few chef favorites like Underwood (Manzke is a regular), Tamai, Murray Family Farms. A plus is CC has more vendors who sell herbs, peppers and produce for Asian cooking than BH & Larchmont (see ramones family farm). If CC wasn’t on Tuesday I’d frequent it more.
I put Larchmont (weds & Sunday) at 3rd. It’s nice, organic and my favorite seafood vendor (Dry Dock) is there on Sundays. But it’s really small and has few of the popular vendors of other markets.
@TheCookie this is it! This is why I signed up for FTC! Done Thank you so much! I’ve recently moved to LA and often get disappointed about the produce quality at convenient chain grocery stores around here. Still on the quest to discover all the possible grocery adventures
Wednesday Santa Monica along with Hollywood Sunday are the big ones. See Canyon right now has great Apples at the SMFM. Mud Creek Ranch has great citrus and the largest variety including Sudachi and Yuzu in season. Garcia Organic citrus isn’t as well known as some of the others but they have consistently good stuff.
@TheCookie listed a lot of the great farmers and vendors we’re lucky to have in the LA/OC area. We used to live near Beverly Hills and this was a very convenient market with good number of vendors but on the smaller side. Harry Berrys and Weiser for the best potatoes, melons and sunchokes.
If you are near Torrance I think the Saturday market is very good. Good selection of produce and a lot of prepared food vendors. Parking is a nightmare.
@js76wisco I visited the Saturday Torrance FM a few times, love it a lot but it’s so far from DTLA. I went to Hollywood FM mostly to eat oysters because it’s so overwhelming with too many vendors. I like to walk around the SMFM the most (for fruits) so far. It’s also nice to stroll around LACMA after to get more steps in lol
@aaqjr I’ll check out Mud Creek Ranch this weekend!
Btw, to add to your reply to @Armillaria Culver City FM had Tenerelli in 2020 when I last visited, and they’re listed on the link you posted. Culver City also had (still has?) JFC the Japanese ramen crust fried chicken, which got a nice report from @Ns1
@Yodaa I ran into Mar Vista quickly for Magical Grapes this year but didn’t have a chance to browse around yet. It was so nice, I must come back. Still need to check out the East side FM for fun! I’ll look into the fried chicken, apparently besides fruits, that’s the next thing I’m into
Good news about Tenerelli at CC! I saw them on the list but wasn’t sure it was correct because they weren’t there before the pandemic or when they reopened during the lockdown. But now I’m remembering someone else posted a while back that they were at CC and I had the same surprised reaction. The memory is fading. Tenerelli might be gone by next week but I need to get over to CC to see all the offerings… and get some ramen crusted fried chicken!
Adding to the Culver City FM info - they also have a vendor who sells a large selection of herbs, vegetables, peppers & fruit plants for the garden. I’m not sure what the man’s name is but his spot is in the middle of the market and hard to miss.
I call this Passing Seasons Fruit Salad… okay not really, but I only make it a certain time of the year because the window for pomegranate (stehly farms), blueberries (cortez farms) and mangos (?) to be in season at the same time is small.
Tossed w/juice from the mango & squirt of lime juice.
Agreed. I remember one year grabbing them too early and they were not nearly as good as I remembered. Tried again a few weeks later and they were great.
I got delicious organic camarosa strawberries from smith farms at Torrance farmers market on Saturday. Maybe not peak summer ripe but the sweetest and ripest off-season strawberry ive tasted.
Talked to the farmer and he said they get strawberry plants from high altitudes in Oregon and wait for them to freeze and hibernate in the winter. Then they ship them and plant them in socal, with the warm temp change it tricks the plants into thinking it’s spring. He says his best crops will be probably in a couple weeks as these are early batches.
Check ‘em out at your local fm. He gives free samples so you can try before you buy!
Thank you so much! I’ve recently moved to LA and often get disappointed about the produce quality at convenient chain grocery stores around here. Still on the quest to discover all the possible grocery adventures 
unfortunately didn’t have any ice cream
