Spring Puts Bloom on Farmers Market




 

 

From delicious fruits and vegetables to exotic plants, the Ventura County Certified Farmers’ Markets have a wide variety of offerings this spring season.

Murray Family Farms brings seasonal fruits to the Saturday Downtown Ventura Market and on Sundays to the Santa Clarita Market.

The season starts with cherries, blackberries and blueberries arriving in May, followed by stone fruits including 17 varieties of pluots.

An abundance of sweet strawberries at the peak of the season can be found at the Rodriguez Brothers booth.

According to Lupe Rodriguez, the crop is very good this year and shoppers can choose from several different varieties, including the Albion, a crowd favorite. The strawberries are fresh picked daily and are delivered directly to the markets.

Rodriguez Brothers participates in the Thousand Oaks Market on Thursdays, the Wednesday Ventura Market, the Saturday Downtown Ventura Market and at Santa Clarita on Sundays.

Urban Vegetable Starts provides fresh veggies, including tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, corn and beans.

Besides vegetables, consumers will also find an assortment of edible flowers and fresh herbs. In addition, visitors can receive instruction on growing and planting methods.

Urban Vegetable Starts participates in the Thousand Oaks Farmers’ Market on Thursdays as well as Downtown Ventura on Saturdays and at the Santa Clarita Farmers’ Market on Sundays.

Specializing in drought tolerant plants, Worldwide Exotics grows more than 1,000 different varieties of plants ranging from perennials, to cactus, and succulents.

Worldwide Exotics provides seasonal plants and many from other countries. The collection consists of species from the dry, desolate deserts to the humid tropical rain forests.

In addition, Worldwide Exotics also provide residential and commercial landscape consulting.

Adding to their selections, Watkins Ranch now offers pasture raised and organically-fed chicken in addition to locally raised pork.

Watkins Ranch has its own cutting facility, allowing products to be sent directly from the ranch to the consumer in bulk or individual servings.

The ranch participates in the Wednesday Farmers’ Market at Pacific View Mall, the Downtown Ventura Saturday Market and the Santa Clarita Market on Sundays.

Ventura is served by two certifi ed farmers’ markets: Wednesdays at the Pacific View Mall, in the front west parking lot on Main Street, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and on Saturdays in Downtown Ventura at the corners of East Santa Clara and Palm streets from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

The Thousand Oaks Farmers’ Market is held Thursdays at The Oaks mall in the east end parking lot at Wilbur Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard, from 1:30 to 6 p.m.

The Santa Clarita Farmers’ Market is held on Sundays at the College of the Canyons, Parking Lot 8 on Valencia Boulevard, from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

For more information, call (805) 529-6266 or visit www.vccfarmersmarket.com.


 

 

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