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Lots more apple varieties, first grapes and... strawberries?
It has been a marvelous growing season for produce farmers in most of the Chicago region, and those beautiful peak season crops are still in abundance.
Yet, even though we're still only in mid-August, we are starting to see some of the overlaps with the rising tide of fall crops.
For example, I got my first glimpse of local grapes this year at Green City Market in Chicago's Lincoln Park on Saturday. The grapes in the photo above were at the stand of Mick Klug Farms (St. Joseph, Michigan).
Nichols Farm and Orchard (Marengo, Illinois) — which produces the widest variety of apples in the region, including some relatively rare artisan types — has gone almost overnight from a few bins of strictly summer apple varieties to a long double row that includes Honey Crisp, quite possibly the most popular fall apple variety in this area.
Mick Klug Farms also has rolled out these strawberries. Wait, what the food? Strawberries in August? Yep, these are a variety that enables fruit farmers to grow a second crop in the summer to supplement the already tapped-out spring variety.
Here's my market haul, from the left: shishito peppers from Froggy Meadow Farm (Beloit, Wisconsin); cremini mushrooms from River Valley Ranch (Burlington, Wisconsin); humongous scallions, Cox's Orange Pippin apples and a jalapeño from Nichols Farm and Orchard; basil from Frillman Farms (Berrien Springs, Michigan); smoked salmon paté from Massey Fish Co. via Jake's Country Meats (Cassopolis, Michigan); English muffins from Dorothy's Bakery (Chicago); and peaches and strawberries from Mick Klug Farms.
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