DEX
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,355 
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Post by DEX on Aug 3, 2023 21:26:58 GMT
It is finally the season for fresh, summer, homegrown fruits and vegetables where I live.
I love fresh strawberries from the farm stand. I refuse to buy strawberries out of season (especially Driscoll's) because they are hard and might as well be apples with no flavor.
When I go to visit my brother outside of Seattle annually I always get farm stand cherries. They seem to be nothing like the ones I buy at at the grocery store here. I look forward to getting them in Washington every year. My brother lives in a rural farm community and last year, I had to delay my trip due to Covid. I was too late for cherries. He has a blueberry farm down the road. I was able to get delicious blueberries to bring home.
Sweet corn here in MN is the best (sorry Iowa). I buy as much as I can and then cut it off the cob and freeze it. No comparison to even frozen corn. It is so sweet.
Tomatoes. I try to grow my own but haven't had much luck on my deck. I end up going to the farmer's market and buying tons of fresh homegrown tomatoes to make peach salsa and bruschetta. I can the salsa and bruschetta to give as gifts at Christmas.
Anyone else?
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Post by roundtwo on Aug 3, 2023 21:39:27 GMT
I am not big on fruits or vegetables but I do like corn on the cob and I finally had my first of the season last night. We did it in the microwave in the husk and after it had cooked for 5 minutes and rested for another 5, I cut off the end and the cob just slid out of the husk with no threads at all. Game changer!!
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snyder
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,952
Location: Colorado
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Post by snyder on Aug 3, 2023 21:41:04 GMT
Yummy!
In Colorado, We have some of the best peaches and tastes so yummy picked ripe off the tree that have been warmed a little by the sun. Melts in your mouth.
We have excellent cantaloupe and chiles.
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Post by katlady on Aug 3, 2023 21:46:22 GMT
Strawberry season ended here in early June. The local stands are all closed up. But there all kinds of vegetables grown locally, and of course, avocados.
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milocat
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,436
Location: 55 degrees north in Alberta, Canada
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Post by milocat on Aug 3, 2023 21:50:37 GMT
Garden fresh, peas, carrots, tomatoes that are acutally red, new potatoes, raspberries, lettuce, dill all the yummy dill. Local strawberries, saskatoons, corn. It all is so delicious since they pick and ship things so underripe.
We are lucky we have a fruit truck that comes from southern BC to here in northern Alberta, bringing their fruit straight from their orchard. Cherries, apricots, nectarines, peaches, pears. It's in our town once a week, and many of the other towns around us, so I can make more than one trip a week if needed.
My favourite would be raw peas and nectarines.
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maryannscraps
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,731
Aug 28, 2017 12:51:28 GMT
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Post by maryannscraps on Aug 3, 2023 21:51:03 GMT
I’m a fan of all the fruits I get from the farmstand — peaches, blueberries, and raspberries are in season now. Plus, zucchini, beans, cukes, corn on the cob, eggplant, and peppers are in season here. Yum, Yum, Yum.
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Post by deekaye on Aug 3, 2023 22:15:10 GMT
DH grows bushels of tomatoes for me (he's not a fan). They should be ripening up in the next few weeks. Love 'em!
We have a farm stand down the road that has the very best fruit. Strawberries are done for the season but I have a couple of gallons in the freezer. Blueberries, Marionberries and Raspberries are available now.
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Post by gar on Aug 3, 2023 22:18:59 GMT
Pick your own strawberries 😊
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Post by mollycoddle on Aug 3, 2023 22:30:04 GMT
Those flat green beans.
Strawberries
I feel very lucky that local farms are less than 30 minutes away.
How could I have forgotten corn? 👀
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Aug 3, 2023 22:34:43 GMT
Strawberry season is early here in the south. It’s been over for months.
Peaches are at their peak now. Despite Georgia being The Peach State, we actually grow more here.
My husband and I vacuum sealed and froze about a hundred ears of sweet corn last week.
I’m also loving the vine ripe tomatoes, zucchini, and yellow squash. I want to get my hands on more okra too. The last ‘mess’ I fried was damn good. (‘Mess’ is southern for a right good helping of something. Which is also a southern way to say it! Lol.)
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cakediva
Drama Llama
Making the world a sweeter place one cake at a time!
Posts: 7,440
Location: Fergus, Ontario
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Post by cakediva on Aug 3, 2023 22:40:11 GMT
I love when local corn is finally here! I could eat corn and nothing else for dinner. I have high hopes for our tomato crop this year we have a few already a nice size just waiting for them to ripen. But fresh tomatoes with mozzarella or buratta and balsamic glaze is also amazing.
Looking forward to fresh local beets too!
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Post by Delta Dawn on Aug 3, 2023 23:00:48 GMT
Fresh beets, peaches and cream corn, asparagus, broccoli and other stuff grows out where the Susxeses were staying (farmland and close to the water) and we get amazing cherries from the Okanagan.
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snyder
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,952
Location: Colorado
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Post by snyder on Aug 3, 2023 23:00:53 GMT
Strawberry season is early here in the south. It’s been over for months. Peaches are at their peak now. Despite Georgia being The Peach State, we actually grow more here. My husband and I vacuum sealed and froze about a hundred ears of sweet corn last week. I’m also loving the vine ripe tomatoes, zucchini, and yellow squash. I want to get my hands on more okra too. The last ‘mess’ I fried was damn good. (‘Mess’ is southern for a right good helping of something. Which is also a southern way to say it! Lol.) And that is what I call okra. As a kid, had to help mom put fruits and veggies up. I had to cut up the okra. It was both slimey amd stickery! A mess! lol |
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anniebeth24
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,546
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Post by anniebeth24 on Aug 3, 2023 23:03:27 GMT
BLUEBERRIES! I buy a five pound box every weekend during July and August from a local grower. Eat them by the handful all week long.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 3, 2023 23:17:27 GMT
Strawberries, sweet corn (especially the way they make it at the state fair: roast it, dip it in a giant vat of butter, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, YUM), blueberries and raspberries, tomatoes. We have two tomato plants in pots on our deck that look like we’ll be having some fresh ones soon. We also have some rhubarb plants that we need to move because they’re getting choked out by weeds.
My mom used to grow peppers, green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, zucchini, sweet peas, I can’t even remember all of it. She was a great gardener. Me, not so much. We tried to do a garden here a few different years and it just doesn’t work. We’re not committed enough to keep on top of the weeds and it turns into an overgrown mess way too fast.
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luckyjune
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,685
Location: In the rainy, rainy WA
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Post by luckyjune on Aug 3, 2023 23:23:58 GMT
Raspberries. The ones grown in WA, at the peak of the season, are phenomenal. I decided we need to plant some rows in our back yard when I went to the farmers' market for raspberries and they wanted $28 for a square flat of four berry boxes. And those running farmers' markets in our area are wondering why sales and attendance are down.
I was having lunch with friends and we were talking about Barbara Kingsolver's book about eating locally for a year. We all thought we could do it because of the variety of foods (fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy) grown and produced in WA. We decided we'd miss bananas, oranges, avocados, and coffee the most. We are lucky to have such variety so close by.
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Post by revirdsuba99 on Aug 3, 2023 23:48:50 GMT
Corn and tomatoes without a doubt!! Peaches too.
Too late for strawberries and blueberries...
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ellen
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,505
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Post by ellen on Aug 4, 2023 0:43:22 GMT
My cabin is a short walk from a large recently logged area that is full of blueberries. The last two summers have been unbelievable. My husband and I have picked enough that we’ll have enough for the entire year. I’ve made muffins, pies, coffee cake, and eat them with oatmeal almost daily. I stumbled upon a big patch of raspberries too and picked a couple quarts, but I’m done going out there. It’s too hot. I never turn down garden fresh tomatoes and cucumbers.
In the fall I buy so many Honeycrisp apples. The University of Minnesota did the world a favor with that apple.
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Post by scrapmaven on Aug 4, 2023 1:49:56 GMT
I used to love the sungold tomatoes that dh grows in the backyard. They're so sweet and I would eat them like candy.
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Post by fuji on Aug 4, 2023 1:57:37 GMT
Sweet corn here in MN is the best (sorry Iowa). I buy as much as I can and then cut it off the cob and freeze it. No comparison to even frozen corn. It is so sweet. I love sweet corn. My dad used to grow it for Green Giant, so we always had lots of corn during growing season. It was one of my favorite parts of summer. In the fall I buy so many Honeycrisp apples. The University of Minnesota did the world a favor with that apple. Honeycrisp are the absolute best!!! Tomatoes from the garden are the absolute best too. I could eat fresh tomatoes all day, every day. |
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Post by gillyp on Aug 4, 2023 2:25:47 GMT
Nothing can beat Scottish raspberries with strawberries a very close second. We have some great local potatoes too.
I do envy those with varieties of local produce. Much is imported here and tastes of nothing.
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Post by 5peanutsnana on Aug 4, 2023 3:05:04 GMT
It's not a vegetable, but sweet corn in Northern Ohio is absolutely delicious right now!
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Post by Merge on Aug 4, 2023 3:26:25 GMT
I miss Nebraska roadside stand corn.
It’s actually late in the season in Texas - tomatoes and such were out back in in late May/June. There’s always a good period of local berries and peaches around then, too. I love the Texas citrus, esp the rio red grapefruit, that come in late November.
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Post by peano on Aug 4, 2023 15:38:55 GMT
Of course I love the local tomatoes, but what I pine for are the local apples. I haunt the produce section starting the end of September anticipating the first Macouns. Last year we also found a stand with some rare varieties dating back to the 18th century. A type found at Monticello.
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Post by mellyw on Aug 4, 2023 16:20:49 GMT
Blueberries. I’m not a big fruit eater, love vegetables in every form. But fresh sweet/tart blueberries I wait for. Those and a glass of iced tea are what I’ll have for dinner when it’s really hot
I grew up in Michigan and lived in Washington state. Pick your own cherries are absolute heaven from both states!
And what may seem a strange one, potatoes in England. They’re just different than American ones and I know it’s part of the reason fish and chips aren’t the same here
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Post by Ramona on Aug 4, 2023 16:48:03 GMT
Watermelon is wonderful here (Indiana) right now!!
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RosieKat
Drama Llama
PeaJect #12
Posts: 5,396
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Post by RosieKat on Aug 4, 2023 17:42:28 GMT
Usually peaches, but this year we had late freezes and now droughts, so nothing much is growing at all.
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Post by lisae on Aug 4, 2023 23:07:22 GMT
I love cantaloupe. Mostly I've found good ones this year but have had a few like the one I bought today that could be better.
In the spring, we have a local strawberry farm that produces the most delicious berries. I finally had to stop myself from buying and freezing them, I was running out of space! I put up a lot of blueberries, strawberries and peaches for smoothies. I'm not doing as many peaches this year. People pick them way too green and there is no where to do a pick your own. DH has tried to grow them but the ones that survive the late freezes don't survive the squirrels.
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Post by femalebusiness on Aug 5, 2023 3:09:30 GMT
My neighbor grows and shares Honeynut Squash, yum! It looks like a baby Butternut (which is a veggie that I do not like) but it is sweet and delicious. They have been hard to find in stores. I wish they were more widely available.
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Post by chaosisapony on Aug 5, 2023 3:29:32 GMT
Definitely fresh strawberries and raspberries. I grow my own but they never grow as large as the ones the roadside fruit stands have. Luckily where I live there's a berry stand every few miles in the spring. In the summer I will buy watermelons, tomatoes, and corn at the stands (I grow my own too, but again it never grows well enough to make anything with). I really hate eating store bought produce in the off season.
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