It’s that time of year again—break out your canning jars and start preserving the end of the summer season! Mid-September is an ideal time to put up tomatoes, which are still abundant at markets now, but will start fading out over the next month. Remember, you can ask farmers if they have large volumes of tomatoes (or other produce) that you can purchase in bulk.
Fresh at Farmers Markets
Start your shopping list and get meal inspiration each week with ASAP’s roundup of what’s fresh at farmers markets. Although this report focuses on vendors at Buncombe County markets, many products mentioned can be found at markets throughout the region. Want to get this report in your inbox each week? Subscribe to ASAP’s Weekly Farmers Market Report newsletter. Looking for a yearlong view? Check out ASAP’s produce seasonality chart.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
With the long holiday weekend ended, the first few weeks of school gone by, and the days definitely getting a little shorter, it’s easy to feel especially pressed for time in September. You might be shopping at farmers tailgate markets with the best intentions, but time to prepare meals is elusive. With fall crops starting to mingle with the best of summer produce still available, though, now is a great time to try some grab-and-go produce, whether for snacking or tucking into school lunches.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Labor Day bookends the summer season (though technically we have three more weeks), and is often a last hurrah for a weekend of outdoor food and fun. If you’re firing up your grill, the farmers tailgate markets are packed with great options, including ground beef for burgers, steaks, pork chops, whole chickens, summer squash, eggplant, corn on the cob, and much more. But don’t stop there! Here are a few less-traditional items you might want to throw on the grill this season.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Peppers are really coming into their own at farmers tailgate markets right now. These bright nightshades can vary so much in flavor, heat, color, size, and texture. Asking the farmer about the varieties they’re growing is a great way to learn about new types and get tips on how you might prepare them.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Your favorite peak summer produce—tomatoes, corn, peppers, melons, peaches, blackberries, beans, okra, eggplant—is still filling the tables at farmers tailgate markets. We have a month or two more to enjoy these items. But there are hints of seasonal change in the air.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Is there a more quintessential summer experience than eating a popsicle in the sun, with sweet fruit juices dribbling down your chin? Farmers tailgate markets offer a wealth of popsicle ingredients, including some options for thinking outside the tried and true mold.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
There are many methods for shopping at farmers tailgate markets. There’s the make-a-list-in-advance tactic (we offer a weekly rundown here for that kind of shopper). There’s the do-a-lap-first-then-form-a-plan strategy. And then there’s the grab-everything-that-looks-good-and-figure-it-out-later approach. It’s after shopping excursions like the latter that we fully appreciate a dish like succotash.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Watermelons and cantaloupe are starting to come in at farmers tailgate markets, which lend themselves particularly well to no-cook meals for muggy mountain evenings. There are plenty of nights we might just slice up a melon and call it dinner, but if you’re ready to take it up a notch, try these chilled soup ideas.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Corn, tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos—it’s officially salsa season at farmers tailgate markets!
Two markets are offering special events capitalizing on salsa fever: West Asheville Tailgate Market’s Pepperpalooza will take place this Tuesday, July 23, featuring a hot pepper eating contest, hot sauce tasting, demonstrations of ristra (a traditional Spanish method for drying peppers), and more. Weaverville Tailgate Market’s salsa competition and fundraiser is the following week, on Wednesday, July 31. Register to enter via the market’s Facebook page—or just show up to taste the contenders and vote your picks.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Baskets of beans are starting to crowd farmers tailgate market tables. Common green beans, yellow wax beans, or deep purple burgundy beans are all great, versatile ingredients, whether you’re sautéeing a side dish, adding them to a salad, or preserving for later use. But here are a few specific varieties we’ve been excited to find in recent weeks.