Profiles of Market Farmers

SEASONAL CHEF
Finding and using locally produced food

On the Farm

u Red Hook Community Farm, in the asphalt heart of Brooklyn, employs local youth to grow fresh vegetables for the neighborhood

uThese farmers grow more than 100 varieties of heirloom tomatoes each year in search of the very best.

uBoth consumers and market farmers benefit from the renaissance of tasty but fragile old varieties of peaches, plums and nectarines.

u An avocado farmer's adventures in the realm of the Bacon, Fuerte, Zutano and Hass.

u Home on a free-range chicken farm, where the Lackenvelders, Aracunas and Australorps play.

u Farming in the heart of Los Angeles presents unique challenges, but offers offsetting advantages to those who grow for farmers markets.

u With plenty of adventurous farmers -- and microclimates reminiscent of the Andean highlands in Peru -- North San Diego County is a haven for subtropical fruit.

u Small scale flower farmers are imperiled by competition from big growers, who in turn are hurt by flood of imports.

uHow two bee-keeping brothers saved one county's wild bees -- and how different types of blossoms produce distinctive flavors of honey.

u Small-scale mushroom growers find success with hard-to-cultivate exotic varieties.