Where Surfers Shop for Arugula

The Huntington Beach farmers market enjoys the most beautiful location of any market in the Southland--right along the beach. It’s a colorful scene in summer as tourists and surfers looking for a snack rub shoulders with local homemakers.

Vegetables are the market’s strong suit. Sean Sullivan, a young organic grower from Valley Center, north of Escondido, has gorgeous chartreuse tomatillos encased in parchment-like husks, begging to be pureed into salsa verde with onion, garlic, cilantro and hot pepper, all available at the market. This Friday, Sullivan says, he’ll bring his first tomatoes, including flavorful Brandywine and Moskvich, a Siberian heirloom.

Mike Almond, who calls himself “Farmer Mike,” brings fresh romaine, red oak and greenleaf lettuces, along with arugula, spinach and leeks, all grown under the power lines in north Long Beach.

Tanaka Farms of Irvine sells gold and green zucchini, mild Anaheim hot peppers and small heads of broccoflower, a greenish form of cauliflower (not, as the name and popular wisdom would have it, a hybrid with broccoli) with a nubbly texture and nutty flavor.

Valdivia Farms of Carlsbad offers Romano flat beans and their gorgeously speckled cousins, Dragon Tongue beans, which taste similar, though they lose their dramatic violet splashes when cooked. Smith Farms of Irvine and Fountain Valley has nice snow peas, grape tomatoes and jalapenos, along with sweet organic cantaloupes.

The market lacks top-notch stone-fruit vendors; it’s hard to persuade the best growers from the Central Valley to fight the traffic into Orange County, says market manager Jennifer Griffiths. The Yasukochi stand, however, has tender, sweet Chandler strawberries from Oceanside, as well as pretty good raspberries.

Huntington Beach farmers market, Pier Plaza, Pacific Coast Highway and 6th Street, Fridays, 1 to 5:30 p.m. in summer; 1 p.m. to sunset in winter.