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Soaring Temps Prompted an Early Morning SOAR Market Visit
- Bob Benenson
- 9 minutes ago
- 1 min read
As Peak Season Crops Filter In, Some Hardy Spring Crops are Hanging in
We're having a heat wave. You surely know this if you're in our Chicago region, and you've probably heard about it if you don't. Temperatures on Monday (June 23) pushed 100 in much of our foodshed.
That kind of blazing heat often signals a quick end to beloved spring crops such as asparagus and strawberries. So when I headed to downtown Chicago's SOAR Market on this morning (June 24), I was figuring that we'd probably moved on from those spring crops.
It was a pleasant surprise, then, when I visited the stand of my friends at Ellis Family Farms (Benton Harbor, Michigan) and witnessed the beautiful transitional season display in the photo above. There were big piles of asparagus, both green and purple, and abundant, hardy strawberries. Symbolizing our shift to summer were those big sweet cherries.
At the same time, the Nichols Farm and Orchard stand revealed that the summer squash season, both zucchini and yellow squash, is full on. Hopefully this early abundance signals a long zuke season.
I don't know about you, but I love zucchini. It is such a versatile vegetable, and it's a summer staple in the Benenson kitchen (aka Chez Bob).
Here's what followed me home from the market: asparagus, strawberries, and my year's first raspberries from Ellis; tomatoes, zucchini, fresh garlic and fresh shallots from Nichols; and Wisconsin blue and feta cheeses from Stamper Cheese (Chicago).
More adventures and what's-in-season news later this week.