Address: 1500 block of Ivar Ave between Hollywood and Sunset boulevards, Hollywood
Website: http://www.seela.org/
Small and unprepossessing they may be, Pixie mandarins are a farmers market favorite for their seedlessness, rich flavor — combining the best of mandarin and orange — and late season. In the last decade, Pixies grown in this picturesque valley in northwestern Ventura County have achieved cult status in Southern California because they're local, distinctive and delicious.
Friend's Ranches mostly brings netted bags of the small fruit to market, at Hollywood and Ojai (Sunday), Santa Barbara (Saturday) and Santa Monica (Wednesday), but accepts special orders for medium and larger sizes. It also has a farm stand at 15150 Maricopa Highway in Ojai ([805] 646-2871) and sells by mail order. Churchill Orchard sells certified organic Pixies at the Ojai market. Mike and Mary Shore of Timber Canyon Ranch offer both conventional and certified organic Pixies at the Ventura (Saturday and Wednesday), Santa Clarita (Sunday) and Thousand Oaks (Thursday) markets. And Ojai Pixies are sold at Gelson's, Bristol Farms and Whole Foods markets — a triumph of flavor over size and appearance.
Many shoppers at the Hollywood and Santa Monica farmers markets well remember Circle C Ranch for the outlandishly long lines that formed to buy its Persian mulberries. -- David Karp, for the L.A. Times