peppers

Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

preserved food in jars

The arrival of earlier sunsets, cooler mornings, and early fall produce at farmers markets all signify the official beginning of fall this coming week! At markets you’ll find many fall staples including sweet potatoes, winter squashes, apples, onions, and more! While we’re excited about the return of some of our favorite fruits and vegetables, it

Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

peppers at farmers market

Markets are heating up this week with plenty of new pepper varieties to spice up your cooking! This pepper cornucopia includes shishito, jalapeño, Anaheim, poblano, bell, and sweet peppers. Look for peppers from Sleight Family Farm (West, North, and Asheville City markets), Thatchmore Farm (West and North Asheville markets), Ten Mile Farm (Asheville City Market),

Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

corn

Farmers markets are becoming more and more colorful each week! This week, plums made their way to market, as well as the very first harvests of corn and peppers. Find plums from Smallholding Farm at East Asheville Tailgate Market, as well as Creasman Farms, which is selling at West Asheville Tailgate Market and Asheville City

Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

Assorted Peppers

Late summer and early autumn produce continues to mingle on farmers tailgate market tables, giving shoppers a panoply of options. You can get ripe tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, okra, beans, and potatoes alongside winter squash, apples, the earliest sweet potatoes, and hardy greens like kale, collards, arugula, chard, and mustard. With this abundance, you might be thinking about preserving a little bit for later. Not sure where to start? DIY hot sauce is one of the easiest ways to savor local flavor all winter.

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Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

shishito peppers

We’ll have dry weather in the mountains for Labor Day, which means it’s safe to plan a few leisurely outdoor meals for the long weekend (or week). And just because we’re celebrating labor, doesn’t mean you should work too hard! Get everything you need at farmers tailgate markets to pull together a simple meal for sharing.

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Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

mixed bell peppers

Melding summer’s produce into a single simmered dish gives you a satisfying vegetarian meal and celebrates the height of the farmers tailgate market season. We’re thinking about recipes like French ratatouille, Spanish piperade, and Middle Eastern shakshuka. These similar dishes all start with tomatoes, sweet peppers, onions, and garlic, with additions of eggplant, summer squash, potatoes, or eggs. All of these recipes adapt easily to accommodate market purchases or what you have leftover in your fridge.

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Plant-Based Tacos

purple cabbage

As part of ASAP’s Farm Fresh for Health initiative, we partnered with community health professionals to bring you virtual demos to inspire cooking for yourself and your family. Dr. Brian Asbill of Ruckus Health demos a family favorite recipe. Ingredients Taco filling: Cashew cream: Directions

Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

pozole

Did you dry peppers earlier in the season? Or are you still finding fresh ones at farmers tailgate markets? Many farms will continue have them, probably until the first frost. Try making red or green pozole. This simple-but-satisfying Mexican soup showcases local peppers, as well as peak fall produce and local meats. 

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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. 

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Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

Tomatillos from Gaining Ground Farm

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.

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