Farmers markets and farm stands from Santa Barbara to Oxnard

Shopping · Santa Barbara

How do you shop the farmers markets from Santa Barbara to Oxnard?

The coast from Santa Barbara through Carpinteria to Ventura and Oxnard is one of the most productive farming regions in the country, and the markets show it. Almost every town along Highway 101 holds a weekly farmers market, and the roadside farm stands run year-round. On a stay of a month or more this becomes your grocery routine rather than an outing.

Understanding the geography helps. Oxnard sits on a flat coastal plain of open fields growing strawberries, celery, leafy greens and herbs, and the Carpinteria valley floor grows flowers, avocados and citrus right under the mountains. The produce at these markets often comes from fields you can see from the road rather than from another state, and it shows in how long it lasts in your refrigerator. Santa Barbara's downtown market is the biggest and best known. The smaller town markets in Carpinteria, Ventura and Oxnard are quieter, cheaper and much easier to shop properly.

There is a real calendar to it. Strawberries start in late winter and run hard through spring into early summer. Citrus is a winter crop here and is at its best from December through March. Avocados peak in spring and summer. Stone fruit, tomatoes and peppers arrive from inland growers in summer. Leafy greens and herbs run essentially all year, because this coast never gets cold enough to stop them. Winter markets are smaller, but they are not empty, which is not true of most of the country.

The visitor version of a farmers market is a paper bag of nice things and a photograph. The resident version is different. You go early, you go with a plan, you buy whatever is obviously at its peak in volume, and you cook from it for the week. Bring your own bags and bring cash as well as a card. Ask what is best right now, because people selling their own crop will tell you honestly and the answer changes every two weeks. The farm stands on the smaller roads inland from Oxnard and Carpinteria are worth adding to the rotation: cheaper than the markets, and open most days.

One honest limitation. These are open-air markets on a cool, often damp coast. A May or June morning market can be gray and cold enough for a real jacket, and the winter ones occasionally get rained out or thinned right down. Take a layer you do not mind getting damp, go early anyway, and accept that some weeks the selection is short. It is still better than the produce aisle.

If you're here for a month or more

The markets only pay off if you cook, and cooking is where a stay of a month or more separates itself from a hotel room. Set one market as your weekly anchor, ideally a smaller town market on a weekday rather than the big weekend one, and let the farm stands cover the gaps in between. Every MidStays home has a full kitchen and a refrigerator with room for a real week of food, and your local manager can point you to the nearest market and the closest full supermarket for everything the market does not sell.