Despite the whispers and hints of fall in the early mornings and evenings, it’s certainly still summer at area farmers tailgate markets. This means there’s plenty of summer goodies like peppers, melons, figs, grapes, and other warm weather favorites.
It’s been a great year for peppers, and now is the prime time of their season. There are so many colors and varieties available- everything from frying peppers — such as Shishitos & Jimmy Nardellos — to bells, to lunch box snacking peppers, to hot peppers. New Moon Herbs at Asheville City Market is a great stand to stop at for a wide range of peppers.
Late summer fruit options include delicious figs from Jake’s Farm and a late-producing variety of strawberries from Bear Necessities Farm (both at Asheville City Market). McConnell Farms has a variety of grapes right now called Cotton Candy — they’re super sweet and small with a hint of tartness to them. (Though McConnell Farms and other apple producers will be away from market this week because of the upcoming WNC AppleFest.) And, there are still watermelons in a dizzying array of sizes, colors, and sweetness.
Splendid alliums are gracing vendors’ booths now. So much beautiful garlic is coming in from farms such as Green Toe Ground Farm (Asheville City Market, North Asheville Tailgate Market), Paper Crane Farm (West Asheville Tailgate Market and Asheville City Market) and Fiddler’s Green Farm (Asheville City Market). Aardvark Farm (River Arts District Farmers Market, Yancey County Farmers Market, and Asheville City Market) has a large, sweet, variety of onions that are great for grilling. If you’re feeling more inclined toward milder members of the allium family, Gaining Ground Farm (River Arts District Farmers Market, North Asheville Tailgate Market, and Asheville City Market) have beautiful leeks.
Here in the mountains, there’s a farmers market almost every day of the week. Check out the ASAP’s 2016 Farmers Tailgate Markets Weekly Schedule to see which markets you might want to explore! Mid-week markets are a great opportunity to swing by on your way home from work to grab any last minute ingredients you might need for dinner that night.
September brings with it some wonderful local food and farm events, including Weaverville Tailgate Market’s on-farm market dinner at Dillingham Family Farm, September 15. For a full list of events, visit ASAP’s community calendar.
Area farmers tailgate markets take place throughout the region. Find out where farmers tailgate markets are on which days. As always, you can find information about farms, tailgate markets, and farm stands, including locations and hours, by visiting ASAP’s online Local Food Guide.