It looks like 2012 is quickly becoming the Year of the Farmers Market for many L.A.-area communities. Along with new markets opening at Griffith Park and the Sunset Strip, two more markets will be reopening this summer.

The Altadena Farmers Market, which had its grand reopening this past Wednesday at Loma Alta Park, had been closed more than a year while the county parks department worked to establish a certified market with help from Joseph Shuldiner, founder of the Institute of Domestic Technology and designer of the Eat: Los Angeles books. New features include (Sub)Urban Backyard Farmer Project, which is encouraging locals to incorporate their own home produce. The market will run 3-7 p.m. on Wednesdays and hosts such vendors as Bigmista's BBQ, Sqirl Preserves, Mother Moo Creamery and 15 community-based growers.

The Monterey Park Farmers Market, located at the Bruggemeyer Library parking lot on Ramona Avenue, is slated to open June 8 from 4 – 8 p.m. The market previously ran as a spring/summer operation in early 2008, but had all but disappeared by 2010. Thanks to Sprouts of Promise, a nonprofit that helped organize a new market, the MPFM now will run every Friday year-round. The new space has room for around 50 vendors, making it the largest in the San Gabriel Valley.

If a long drive is the only thing keeping you from loading up your post-consumer satchel with fresh, local and affordable fruits and veggies, be warned — there might be a market coming soon near you.

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