Toluca Lake Farmer’s Market Offers the Pick of the Crop

My neighborhood farmer’s market can’t compare to the huge Santa Monica or Hollywood weekend markets with over 100 vendors, but it does offer a closer (walkable!) option to purchase farm fresh produce.

Stroll around the small open-air market, housed behind the Wells Fargo/Keller Williams building between Forman and Sancola streets, and you’ll find leafy green lettuces, local honey, red tomatoes and strawberries, crisp juicy Fuji apples and a variety of cheeses and nuts. In addition to food, the market also offers art, clothing, and a palm reader.

That’s right, Carmela the palm reader offers tarot card and palm readings amidst the produce stands. Next to Carmela, Tatevik Mkrtchyan sells sage and wild organic honey at Isabell’s Honey Farm Stand.  lendale Chiro Care and Keller Williams folks also man booths in between the fruit and flower stands.

“We’ve been running the market for about three years,” said Linda Czingula, who organizes the weekly market with her husband, Steve. Vendors pay a fee, ranging from $10 to $35 dollars to sell their goods every Sunday morning from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

The big draw is just-harvested, direct-from-the-grower produce that is invariably fresher than store-bought counterparts. Many Tolucans don’t know the market exists. The location had to move recently from Sancola Street right off of Riverside Drive to the adjoining alley due to a hike in city fees.  

“Residents have an opportunity to talk to the farmers, learn how the food is grown and glean cooking tips from vendors,” said Czingula.

You might think that prices would be steeper than the local Ralphs or Trader Joe’s, but I found a bunch of orange organic carrots and beets that were only $1.50 each, as well as a huge bouquet of lilies for $9 and three large baskets of strawberries for $5. What a deal.

My produce shopping spree inspired me to cook a healthy Sunday chicken dinner with roasted root vegetables. Hopefully more of my neighbors will start supporting our small local farmer’s market so I can enjoy the spring’s fresh bounty of asparagus, avocados, plums, lemons and other organic fruit and produce.