squash

Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

garlic scapes

Summer is right around the corner, and as temperatures rise, we’re seeing more and more warm weather produce at markets! This week, look for garlic scapes, summer squash, and some of the first cherries of the year!  If you’re not familiar with garlic scapes, they are the tender stem and bulb of hard-necked garlic plants. … Read more

Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

garlic scapes

June has arrived and with it an exciting spread of new produce on farmers market tables—summer squash, snap peas, cherries, kohlrabi, broccoli, garlic scapes, baby beets, and even a few greenhouse-grown tomatoes and peppers. There are more vendors, too, as some farms are returning to market after the slower spring season. Several markets have been able to adjust their layout to accommodate additional spaces while still maintaining social distancing precautions. And starting today, you have another market to visit in Asheville. East Asheville Tailgate Market reopens this afternoon from 3 to 6 p.m. at Groce Methodist Church, 954 Tunnel Rd.

Read more

Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

Winter squash is beginning to take center stage at area farmers tailgate markets, along with the cooler temperatures and crisp, fall-like weather.  There’s already a range of squash varieties. Kabocha, Delicata, Butternut, and Acorn are all here, ready to be roasted. These squashes have so much flavor, you need not add more than butter and … Read more

Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

There’s at least one hue of every color represented at area farmers tailgate markets. Farmers’ booths are vibrant and polychromatic. There’s a saying that goes: “Eat your colors.” Variety in the colors of your diet, may or may not live up to this advice, but it sure will make your fridge drawers look beautiful!

Read more

Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

Local Peppers

What’s fresh at area farmers tailgates now? Almost too much to fit into one report! After a wet season that impacted crops and even kept some farmers from markets, things are starting to turn around. Farmers are back with fall crops, and there’s an amazing variety of both summer and fall produce available.

Read more

Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

Sweet Corn

It’s a family affair at farmers markets these days! The Three Sisters—beans, corn, and squash—can be found now. Called sisters historically because they share a season and help each other grow and thrive, these three plants were the principal crops of Native American groups. Farmers still companion plant these crops today.

Read more

Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

The new kids on the block at area farmers tailgate markets now are far from wallflowers! A brand new tailgate has started out strong, new produce offerings can’t be missed, and new vendors are joining in and attracting crowds.
Last week, the newly formed Oakley Farmers Market hosted their soft opening; they will celebrate their official grand opening this Thursday with live music, baby goats, and a children’s activity. Vendor Gladheart Farm (also at East Asheville Tailgate Market and Asheville City Market South) offered up some of the very first zucchinis and cucumbers of the season from their high tunnels. Fiddlesticks Farm, in their first year and also vending at the East Asheville Tailgate Market, caught shoppers’ eyes with their not-often-seen French radish; the variety is GIANT for a radish—reaching almost softball size—and very spicy.

Read more

Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

You could say that the bases are loaded now at area farmers markets. And that the shift is on; the seasonal shift, that is. Summer’s heavy-hitters—tomatoes, eggplants, and more—remain, while fall’s rookies are being called up to play.
This week, McConnell Farms plans to have some of the last of summer’s peaches at Asheville City Market South (Wednesday) and downtown (Saturday). He should still have sweet corn, too. But the cobs are sure to go fast.

Read more

Fresh at Farmers Markets This Week

Myco Gardens Pioppini Mushrooms

Pioppinis! Reishis! Mushroom enthusiasts know we’re not speaking another language; we’re talking about two interesting and locally grown varieties. While you can usually find mushrooms at area farmers markets throughout the tailgate season, now is a great time to find varieties new to market (and maybe new to you)! Myco-Gardens offered up both varieties at North Asheville Tailgate Market last weekend, with Pioppinis new to their booth. Pioppinis pack a peppery flavor that’s perfect in pasta dishes or stir-fries. Myco’s Carol Dreiling says that Reishis are great for making tea, as they’re a medicinal, not culinary, mushroom. Rumored health benefits include blood pressure management and liver protection.

Read more

Sign Up for Our Newsletters