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Early Morning Beat-the-Heat Market Run Revealed New-in-Season News
- Bob Benenson
- Jul 25
- 2 min read
Field Tomatoes and Melons Have Arrived!
Probably most local food lovers have a seasonal crop for which they wait in eager anticipation. For you field tomato aficionados, I bring glad tidings: my early morning visit to Chicago's Green City Market on Wednesday (July 23) brought my first 2025 sighting of field tomatoes (these at the stand of Nichols Farm and Orchard of Marengo, Illinois).
Or maybe you'd been getting meloncholy waiting for your favorite fruit. Well, good news for you too! Nichols also had first-of-season cantaloupes as well as Asian and French melon varieties.
Melons love hot weather, and we've had a lot of it. Nichols' Steve Freeman, aka Steve the Market Guy, predicted that this could just the best melon season he's experienced in more than 20 years of working for Nichols (the largest diversified produce farm in the Chicago region).
Steve said the season is off to a great start. He noted that he often doesn't highlight the earliest melons because they are short of their peak, but he was there on Wednesday cutting samples for shoppers. I can testify from my own purchase (photo above) that he wasn't kidding.
Peak growing season is not only delicious... it's beautiful too. Nutrition experts advise that the different colors of fruit and vegetables signify different phytonutrients that are essential for good health, which has generated the slogan "Eat the Rainbow." I'm almost certain that you can eat the rainbow just by visiting the stand of Mick Klug Farm (St. Joseph, Michigan).
The Saturday Green City Market in its Lincoln Park flagship location is a destination market that draws thousands of visitors. If you're like me, the Wednesday market — which is a bit more laidback — may be your preference. Nonetheless, there was a healthy flow of customers for my pre-8 a.m. Wednesday visit.
My market haul: melon, tomatoes and potatoes from Nichols, apricots, peaches, blackberries and blueberries from Mick Klug Farm.
Don't it make you wanna go to a market this weekend? Click below to call up Local Food Forum's Chicago region Farmers Market Tracker and make your plans.
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