Ishibashi Farm Stand in Torrance

[heidih]

I love this farm stand in Torrance (24955 Crenshaw Blvd) adjacent to the Torrance airport. I understand they have been farming the land around the airport for over 60 years. I try to support them by buying their excellent produce. Strawberries have started. I was surprised to see the "OPEN" banner last week and stopped by. They had sweet pea flower bouquets and strawberries. A single "box" was $5. They were large, firm and had a nice early season strawberry flavor. These are not "swoon over" ripe or flavorful, but in the cold and rain they were a lovely harbinger of the spring goodness to come.

[Pierogi]

Oh, I used to love that stand when I worked over there. My office was off Lomita, between Crenshaw & Hawthorne, and Ishibashi was a regular stop for me in season. They had the best corn.....

If Torrance wasn't so totally inaccessible by freeway, I'd be there a lot more frequently.

[heidih]

It is a bit off the freeway. I could actually walk over in about 15 minutes or less. I probably will when the corn comes in so I can justify gorging on it. Their corn is the only corn I will eat. Yellow, not too sweet, plump kernels with a bit of bite -YES!

I was back for more berries today. It was so cold that the pickers did not go out till later in the morning so they were still sorting at 10 when they opened. The next crop will be "China peas". I will report as the season progresses.

[heidih]

I picked up some more strawberries today to take on a road trip to Santa Barbara and a huge fragrant Meyer lemon for 50 cents (should I hit La Super Rica?- never been). They also have snow peas that look really nice and the bouquets of sweet pea are nostalgically fragrant. Next up in a month or so they predict beets and carrots. I am going to get my beet recipes together and really work with them this year. As I recall they usually have just the standard red beets, but I love them and their greens.

[heidih]

They currently have strawberries and flowers (fragrant stock and sweet peas). BUT the revelation for me last week were the snow peas. They call them China peas. I have never been a huge fan. I will eat them but I certainly do not crave them. One of the ladies came out with a large bucket and dumped it into the tray on the counter. They looked so vigorous that I asked for 2 large handfuls. When I put them in the car I took one and munched it because I could actually smell it. Crisp with a sweet pea flavor along with a more vegetal note. I pulled over after a few minutes to grab some more from the back seat. This is a treat to be enjoyed right away. By the next day or so they were back to "boring old snow peas". I am dreaming about corn season.

[heidih]

Summer squash, green beans, Meyer lemons and beets are on offer right now along with the lovely berries

[AAQuesada]

I'll have to stop by and check it out, I usually go to north to santa monica (wed and Sat) Do you know what type of strawberries they have?

I like roasting red beets in a low oven overnight (roasing pan, covered) until they look black on the outside like lumps of charcoal. You can peel them and they do stay firm and it concentrates the flavor nicely.

[heidih]

Sorry not sure of the berry type. I am not a strawberry fiend. They are fairly firm, sweet and fragrant. In this cooler weather they can even stay on the counter all day without getting mushy.

I also like roasting the beets and plan to serve with a wasabi sour cream. The beet tops are nice as well. They were handing the tops out for free to customers who expressed interest yesterday.

As a caution, they do not open until 10am and I have seen the "sold out" sign as early as 1 pm.

And for your "tablescaping" purposes you can't beat these gorgeous babies at 3 for $5

[heidih]

The tomatoes and corn have arrived! Life is good

[heidih]

Sad sad news today. This is truly their last year with the season ending on Halloween. Where oh where am I going to find corny tasting corn next year!?! Plus they were my go-to tomatoes when my homegrown sources were sparse. Another little farmer bites the dust

ETA: Googling around I found that the reason for the closure is that Tom Ishibashi who ran the farm passed away in May at age 82.

[Pierogi]

That is truly a bummer Heidi. As I said, back in the day when I was working in that area, that was a regular haunt of mine....I am feeling your pain for sure ! So sad that we can't keep these wonderful "little" direct sources of produce around. I'm quite sure the family will get far more from the sale of that land than they could've made in another 100 years of farming it....

[heidih]

The sad day has come. They are open today, closed tomorrow (Sunday), and the truly final forever last day is Monday October 31st.

Mostly pumpkins and squash on offer along with sweet onions, green beans, and a few zucchini. Bushel baskets(empty) are $10. Some sizeable green tomatoes were also present. The young man behind the counter said he scoured the field this morning trying to find the largest "greenies". A few large buckets contained canes from the raspberries and young fig trees for sale.

They were also selling seed, including their corn (Supersweet Jubilee) at $10/bag for the corn and $5 for the others. I picked up a wooden strawberry basket with the farm name for $5 - it was apparently a "give away" at Tom's memorial party and contained a ziplock bag of soil from the ranch as well as a hefty packet of their sweet pea seeds. There is a notebook out for people to record their memories and thoughts. It took some effort for me not to drip tears on the page as I wrote.