FARM GOODNESS COMES TO TOWN JUST-PICKED QUALITY AWAITS CUSTOMERS AT VALLEY VENUES.

Years ago, when the San Fernando Valley was home to citrus groves and huge farms, fruits and vegetables fresh off the vine were available to many residents - often just a few blocks from home.

While suburban sprawl wiped out most of those farms, residents can still get produce with that "just off the farm" freshness at local farmers markets.

At the Encino Farmers Market, Harry Vickman, a volunteer board member for One Generation, the nonprofit organization that operates the market, said the market went from an idea to fruition in four months.

Vickman was instrumental in getting it started. "I didn't know what a farmers market was," Vickman said. He's certainly learned. Twelve years later, the market is thriving.

Complete story on Page 8

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(color) Harry Vickman, a volunteer with the nonprofit organization that operates the Encino Farmers Market, enjoys talking with the farmers such as citrus grower, Eugene Etheridge.

Rick Coca/Valley News