We love summer fruits and vegetables! Your farmers’ market has all your favorites like luscious tomatoes, sweet corn, peaches, colorful bell peppers, summer squash, succulent berries and big juicy melons. You’ll also find them in varieties that can’t be found elsewhere.
This year the sweet corn is amazing. At the Concord farmers’ market, you’ll find G&S Farms out of Brentwood with white, yellow, and bicolor corn. Thy’re famous for their quality “Peaches and Cream” bicolor variety, so pick up a bag for summer grilling. Dwelley Farms, also from Brentwood, has some fine-looking corn as well.
We also crave sunny vine-ripened tomatoes — no tasteless tomatoes allowed here! Salsa and caprese salads are on our list of must-haves for these beauties. Area markets have a wide variety of tomatoes, such as sweet little cherry and pear tomatoes, big colorful — and absolutely delicious — heirloom tomatoes like Cherokee Purple, Green Zebras, yellow Brandywines and more.
Check out the Shady Lady, the cherry and the heirloom tomatoes at J&M Farms from Reedley. First Generation Farmers from Brentwood will have heirlooms, San Marzanos (a roma variety) and cherry tomatoes. Swank Farms out of Hollister offers their prize tomatoes in a variety of forms, including heirlooms, romas and green tomatillos.
And berries — ah, berries, one of summer’s favorite fruits — are at markets as well right now. Sweet strawberries, blackberries, and red and golden raspberries are awaiting your recipes. Pick up all three types from Rodriguez Farms out of Watsonville. They’re amazingly sweet. Or visit Vasquez Farms from Moss Landing for their luscious plump strawberries — we hear the call for a chilled strawberry pie! And from the Central Coast in Santa Maria, Anguianos Farms offers them all — red and gold raspberries, blackberries and strawberries.
Don’t forget to include summer squash, bell peppers, green beans, cucumbers, eggplant and stone fruit on your list of must-haves for summer recipes. Farmers’ tables are weighed down this year with this delectable produce.
The list of summer produce is endless in California. Every year we are lucky enough to enjoy vegetables grown year-round and fruit that arrives with the warm weather like clockwork. Thanks to our ever-vigilant farmers who till the soil and encourage seeds to grow, we will continue to savor a variety of delicious fruits and vegetables made possible by their hard work. We thank you for supporting the farmers’ markets and the farmers and producers who bring their quality products to you each week.
Debra Morris is a promotions coordinator for the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association and writes the Time Is Ripe column. Contact her at debramorris@pcfma.com.
Recipe: Fresh Pico de Gallo Salsa
ingredients
2 medium tomatoes
1 jalapeño pepper, trimmed, seeded, finely diced
1 red or yellow onion, diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 green onion, sliced
1 tablespoon lime juice
½ teaspoon chili powder or chipotle powder, more or less to taste
salt and pepper to taste
instructions
Mix all the ingredients together and serve with tortilla chips. It also makes a great topping for bruschetta or burgers.
source: “Cookin’ the Market” by the Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association
