A Heart of Gold in Westwood

The Thursday Westwood farmers market, 5 years old, bustles with UCLA students, hospital workers and tourists. Many snack and food vendors, selling popcorn, tamales, cheesecake and the like, are interspersed with the produce stands. (Conversely, the 2-month-old Sunday market has struggled to draw shoppers, perhaps because its block is deserted on Sunday mornings, so only a few farmers continue to participate.)

Last Thursday, Jerry Rutiz of Arroyo Grande displayed festive ristras of scarlet cayenne peppers, along with pristine leeks and intriguing Persian tarreh, “leek-chives,” bigger but more delicate than common chives, used in omelets, stews and rice dishes.

The Trevino stand, from Lompoc, had pasilla and poblano chiles and a display of Rainbow chard that a peacock would envy. McGrath Family Farms of Camarillo sold fresh lima beans, shelled and unshelled, and an array of winter squash: exotic 40-pound Moroccans, sold in slices, as were the bottle-shaped Tahitians, with sweet, deep-orange flesh; and oval, gray-green striped Chioggias, indigenous to Venice, where they’re cooked in risottos. Anyone “searchin’ for a Heart of Gold” could find acorn squash of that variety, looking like pumpkins in camouflage, at the Weiser stand from Lucerne Valley.

For flavor and crispness, David Ha’s mountain-grown apples, from Tehachapi, were second to none; he had aromatic Golden Delicious and full-bodied Winesaps. Gordon Wolf of Sanger had Shinseiki Asian pears, refreshingly chilled on a broiling afternoon. Ken Lee of Reedley sold Shinko Asian pears, crunchy Fuyu persimmons and experimental ultra-late-season blue plums, still sporting the delicate film on the skin called “bloom,” the fruit’s natural defense against sunburn and mold.

David Eakin had excellent Valencia oranges, including a few unusual specimens bearing green-striped rinds, giving them an intriguing harlequin appearance.

Westwood farmers markets, Weyburn Avenue between Westwood Boulevard and Tiverton Avenue, Thursdays, 2 to 7 p.m.; Broxton Avenue between Weyburn and Kinross avenues, Sundays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.