It's August at Los Angeles farmers markets, which means tomatoes, early apples, late stone fruit (peaches, pluots), avocados and squash and melons — and more tomatoes. It also means that it's seriously hot, and thus it's best to hit the markets early in the morning (or in the evening if your local market goes late) and to get your produce home early. Unless you like wilted herbs and greens and hot fruit. Tomatoes actually hold up extremely well in this sort of weather: The warmth brings out their flavors, making it that much more logical to cut up your toms and throw them into a salad bowl as soon as you get through the door. Or slice them onto bread with a bit of olive oil and Maldon salt. Or just eat the damn things like apples. Check out our virtual grocery list, taken at the Thursday afternoon South Pasadena farmers market. And yes, it tastes as good as it looks.

For more farmers market coverage, check out our archives and our L.A. farmers market map.

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