Fresh artichokes are among the produce for sale from Green Farms of Lompoc at the Thousand Oaks Certified Farmers Market at its temporary site on a hill overlooking the The Oaks mall.

Photos by Karen Quincy Loberg / Star staff Chauncey Walker carries flowers with his brother Elwood right behind him at the farmers market in Thousand Oaks.

When the Conejo Valley farmers market moved from The Oaks shopping center 13 months ago, it was anticipating a smoother transition than it got, and officials weren't sure whether the market would last through 2007.

Now, though, the Thousand Oaks Certified Farmers Market is settled in at its temporary site, 1.2 miles away on a hill overlooking the mall, and is "doing nicely," said market representative Karen Schott.

Construction and renovations still under way at the mall forced the market out of its usual spot in the mall's east parking lot each Thursday afternoon. Officials say they expect the farmers market to return to the mall lot this fall.

Schott said "we haven't lost anyone" in the move. The summertime vendor count was up to 50 when fruits peaked and dropped to about 33 to 35 vendors in winter months, "which is usual," she said.

However, she acknowledged there was a change in patrons with some veterans taking the time to find the location and new customers who found the market because of its current site.

The biggest sticking point turned out to be unanticipated.

"We had no real appreciation for how many access points there were when we were at the mall," she said.

With vendor tents and trucks visible from the adjacent Highway 101, the location at the east end of the shopping center was a handy reminder it was Thursday afternoon and time to pick up fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers. There also were many entrances to the big paved lot.

However, after the market moved to 403 W. Hillcrest Drive, "we only had one access road in, one access road out," Schott said. "It impacted us highly, while people were waiting for a parking spot."

During the summer, cars were stacked up, sometimes for as long as an hour, on the driveway leading up to the hilltop. "It caught us unprepared," she said.

So she hired attendants who by radio served as spotters and could direct customers into just-vacated parking spots.

Initially some visitors to the Hillcrest Drive property — home of the National Park Service and Conejo Recreation and Park District offices — were inadvertently caught in the one-way traffic loop.

Also, people with disabilities who parked on the second tier of parking couldn't negotiate steps down to reach the prime level, so the number of slots for the disabled, closer to vendor trucks and tents, was increased. Barricades are set up the night before to preserve spaces for vendors and people with disabilities.

"But our customers learned," she said, and began spacing their arrivals out during operating hours instead of arriving all at once. Also, non-market visitors learned to come at other times, she said.

Schott's attendance numbers show 500 weekly customers, climbing to about 1,500 for a holiday weekend.

Another impact turned out to be the hilltop venue.

"Our vendors and customers love the view across the valley, but it makes us more vulnerable to extremes," such as winds and very cold or very hot temperatures, she said. Since the Thousand Oaks market opened in 1991, it has been forced by construction to move from the Janss Marketplace (it was held where a parking garage now stands) and Moorpark Road (where Mimi's Cafe is situated). The Oaks site drew what Schott characterized as the most diverse of her certified markets: young families and professionals on their way home.

Although at one point last year Schott wondered whether the market would have to close until it could return to its old site at the mall, she feels differently today. The market has weathered all of its storms, she said.

She said the city of Thousand Oaks and Conejo Recreation and Park District officials have been "really good" to work with.