Fresh finds

June Casagrande

The oranges are red inside. The lemons are so sweet and mild you can

eat them. The strawberries were picked just four hours earlier and

sometimes approach the size of tennis balls. The eggs are fresher at

room temperature than refrigerated ones at the store. And the

potatoes that are purple on the outside are purple on the inside,

too.

No, it’s not a parallel produce universe. It’s just a typical

Thursday at the Costa Mesa farmers market.

Costa Mesa has the oldest certified farmers market in the county

by just a day. The market opened in 1981 just one day before the

Fullerton market opened and takes place at the fairgrounds every

Thursday morning. Also, contrary to popular confusion, it’s unrelated

to the food sellers at the weekend Orange County Market Place, which

is not a certified farmers market.

Certified farmers markets are unusual because, as their name gives

away, they involve certification and actual farmers. To sell at any

of the Orange County Farm Bureau’s seven certified farmers markets,

vendors must all be farmers who grow in California or employees of

the farmers -- no resellers or middlemen involved. Also, they must be

certified by the agriculture commissioner for the county where their

produce is grown.

“That’s the difference,” explained market manager Trish Harrison.

“The farmers get it to market much faster than a supermarket can --

it doesn’t sit in storage -- so it’s much fresher.”

Like many local farmers markets, the Costa Mesa market is divided

into “ag” and “non-ag,” sections. The “ag” section has vendors

selling farm-grown foods from California, such as the strawberries

from Fresno and asparagus from Irvine. The “non-ag” section sells the

extras such as bakery goods, specialty sauces and marinades, imported

olives, cheeses and coffees -- an eclectic selection of gourmet foods

and staples to help save market shoppers from having to make a second

trip for say bread or oil.

Despite its longevity and selection, the Costa Mesa market must

deal with some difficult realities. For one thing, the weekday

markets are never as popular as the weekend markets the bureau holds

in Irvine and other places. Also, the seasonal nature of the business

doesn’t just apply to the produce. Customers can be seasonal as well,

leaning more toward outdoor shopping experiences in the warm months

than in wet weather or winter.

And the Costa Mesa Certified Farmers Market has one problem to

contend with that other local markets do not: The Orange County Fair.

“We have to close down for a few weeks every year just as business

is picking up for the season we have to close down for the fair,”

Harrison said. “It throws people off.”

The best season for the market is just around the corner; cherry

season starts at the end of April and ends around the beginning of

June.

At different times during the year, the biggest sellers can

sometimes gross $1,000 in a day, but three-figure receipts are the

rule. And with the costs of farmland, labor and transportation,

profit margins can be tight.

Still, Harrison said the market continues to maintain a steady

customer base from year to year by with fresh offerings that are

difficult or impossible to find anywhere else.

For example, at Consuelo’s, Conseulo herself begins selling at 9

a.m. strawberries picked in Westminster at about 6 a.m.

“There isn’t much agriculture left in Orange County,” she said.

“Not many farms left.”

But as long as farmers can grow fresh produce anywhere in the

state, shoppers like Pat Schwennesen of Costa Mesa will keep coming.

“The fish here is excellent and I get a lot of fresh produce here,

too,” said Schwennesen while picking out a piece of fresh salmon from

Charlotte’s. “It’s close to home and it’s very good.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.