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
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 what’s in season.
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.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, summer squash, peaches, plums, nectarines, blueberries, broccoli, cabbage—farmers market tables are overflowing with summer superstars. You’re likely to walk away with a full market bag no matter what you’re looking for, but there a few delicacies we’re seeking out right now.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
As the summer season continues to bring its bounty (eggplant, okra, and shishito peppers are all starting to make their way to markets now), we want to introduce two farmers tailgate markets new to Buncombe County this year.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
Today marks the summer solstice, and farmers tailgate markets are reaching their summertime heights. You’ll find a panoply of produce, including tomatoes, summer squash, beans, spring onions, cucumbers, new potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, greens of all sorts, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, and much, much more.
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
The first tomatoes have arrived at farmers tailgate markets! If you acted quickly this past week, you may have snagged an early variety from Thatchmore Farm (North Asheville Tailgate Market, West Asheville Tailgate Market), Full Sun Farm (River Arts District Farmers Market, North Asheville Tailgate Market), Olivette Farm, or Headwaters Market Garden (both at Asheville City Market).
Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week
These are giddy days at farmers tailgate markets. New summer produce is popping up everywhere, and there is a joyful sense of abundance. (Or an overwhelming experience, if you’re trying to decide what to buy first!)
This past week saw the first pints of early-season blueberries, including from Gibson Berry Farm and Flying Cloud Farm (River Arts District Farmers Market, North Asheville Tailgate Market) and Ivy Creek Family Farm (Weaverville Tailgate Market, North Asheville Tailgate Market). Cherries, too, made their first appearance, from Lyda and Sons Orchard (Weaverville Tailgate Market) and Full Sun Farm (River Arts District Farmers Market, North Asheville Tailgate Market). Pies are certainly the iconic way to enjoy these summertime berries, but they can also pair extremely well with the vegetables sitting alongside them.