In Season: Honey, Melons and Figs at the Hollywood Farmers' Market

Summer is a time at the farmers' market to enjoy the sweet life. The spring rains and cooler temperatures may have decreased honey production, but the summer harvest of nature’s golden honey, stone fruits and melons are still a healthier option than eating items laced with processed sugar.

“This is the time of year to buy our honey because the bees have been busy with all of the spring flowers,” said Francisco Martinez, the owner of Martinez Apiaries, a family farm based in Ventura County.

Martinez also said production was off because of cool spring temperatures, but his bee colonies further south in Palos Verdes were less effected due to warmer weather. This week his table was filled with honey flavors of sage, eucalyptus and wild flowers.

“The rain was good, but the cold temperatures and frost hurt our fruit orchards,” said Tony Thacher, the owner of Friend’s Ranches, a collective of citrus orchards in Ojai County. “I only have eight percent of the honey production that I had last year."

Thacher also said that this year’s batch of orange blossom honey, the most prized variety at the market, is much darker because of the additional input of wildflower pollen the bees collected.

Honey Pacifica, another producer of honey that’s based in Long Beach, was also affected by the weather, but it also was a victim of what scientists have called honey bee colony collapse disorder.

“We’ve also had a loss of production this year because we’ve lost our hives,” said Gabriel Acevas, who operates Honey Pacifica at the Hollywood Farmers' Market.

According to the Reuters news agency, 30 percent of American bee hives have been affected by this mysterious disorder where bees are dying or simply not returning to their hives.

Honey is a great natural way to satisfy a sweet tooth summer and so are stone fruits and melons that are bursting with natural sugars. This week Ha’s Apple Orchard arrived at the market with a variety of melons.

“Everybody loves watermelon on a hot summer day,” said David Ha, the owner of the Oxnard orchard.

At Ha’s farm stand, shoppers were picking up melons such as Ivory Gaya, a Japanese variety that has a soft sweet white flesh and Gold Yellow, a Chinese variety that has a sweet honeydew-like texture. The watermelons at the Ha’s stand are also a Japanese variety that is much smaller than the traditional melon.

“These watermelons only have a few seeds and have a concentrated flavor,” Ha said. “They’re also much easier to carry to the car.”

Of all of the items at the market this week, the fresh figs gave me the ultimate natural sugar rush. While Black Mission figs are the most popular, you can also find heirloom varieties such as Brown Turkey and Calimyrna.

“They have a nutty flavor with crunchy seeds,” said Ruth Smith, the owner of Mudd Creek Ranch, a desert farm that grows Calimyrna figs.

Calimyrna figs usually don’t appear at a farmers' market because they’re hard to grow and quite perishable. They have a very thin skin that is easy to crack open, but its thick sweet flesh is rich with intense flavor. Calimyrna figs are used to make the popular fig Newton cookies. I’m in fig heaven!

Please feel free to share stories and recipes of the items you find interesting at the market.

If you see me strolling about, please say hello.

See you next week at the market!

The Hollywood Farmers Market is located at the intersection of Ivar and Selma avenues, between Sunset and Hollywood boulevards. Rain or shine, it is open every Sunday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The market is a certified open-air street market with approximately 100 farmers, 30 local artisans and 40 baked-goods and prepared-food vendors who sell their products every Sunday. It is a direct-to-consumer marketplace with all produce and products from local, California vendors and growers.

Parking: Cinerama Dome: $2 for first two hours with validation available at the information booth at Ivar and DeLongpre avenues. Metered parking: Check parking enforcement signs. Some meters free until 11 a.m. on Sundays.

Dog Sitting: Only tagged assistance dogs are allowed at the market, but this shouldn’t stop others from walking their dogs to the public event. There’s a dog sitting service provided at the corner of Ivar and Vine streets. Your prized pooch will get to socialize with other dogs while you do your shopping at the market. It charges a small fee of $5 per 20 minutes.