Felicia Friesema

Steinbeck once opined that summer's warmth -- or for our purposes, fruit -- wouldn't achieve its sweetness without the cold of winter. Truth is revealed in the harvests; without a decent chill time and hibernation, stone fruit trees don't yield their best. Last year's first cherry harvests were amazing, thanks......

There are a few people who would argue against calling loquats the first stone fruit of the season. It does have giant pit-like seeds -- anywhere from one to 10 -- enveloped in juicy, peach-colored flesh with a thin, slightly fuzzy and edible skin. Sound familiar? Plant classification is an......

Linda Mark, the Farmers Market Fairy, is every L.A. market's resident produce gossip. Her celebrities are generally the sessile sort -- piles of citrus or stone fruits depending on the season or farmers trapped behind scales and tables helping customers. Her enthusiasm for both is infectious and refreshing. Her big......

For the first time in the 14-year history of the Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition, a Best of Show has been awarded to a L.A. County-produced olive oil. Even more fascinating is that it wasn't an established olive farm but rather a local college that won. Were......

Radishes metamorphose from seed to plant in a handful of days and, with some varieties, are ready to harvest in a few weeks. This swift seed-to-salad trait is what makes them so ideal for short-attention-span gardeners -- great for kids and kids-at-heart -- and market farmers. Limited land equals careful......

The buzz from the official arrival of spring this week was summarily squashed when a sage marketgoer clucked her teeth at a friend and said, "Please, I've been eating spring for two weeks. Have you seen Zimmerman's asparagus?" She had a point. Seasonal eating around here has a slightly different......

It's probably telling that when asked how he likes to cook cardoons, Flora Bella Farm's James Birch immediately says, "By finding someone else to do it." Birch says he does like the flavor -- it's nearly identical to its thistle cousin, artichoke -- it just takes a bit of work......

Lompoc is an agricultural Brigadoon, a place of eternal springtime where it's never too cold or too hot, and where a rich, loamy soil mixes with sand from the coastline's protected dunes to create a near perfect spongey and fertile substrate for the valley's lucky farmers. It makes perfect, delicious......

It's March. Everything is flowering, or at least starting to. The zen duet of "warm sun, cool breeze," is manifesting every time you step out the door. The only thing that would tip the spring meter into the red would be a taste of fresh green garlic and parsley pesto,......

Brassica oleracea started as wild cabbage native to many parts of Europe. Natural (and a little careful unnatural) selection eventually shaped it into all the modern types of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts and ultimately, nature's sculptural coup -- the oddly-formed kohlrabi. The name comes from the German Kohl......