Local Produce Harvest Season Underway
Most of the earliest local produce are perennial crops. Farmers and gardeners make multi-year commitments when planting crops such as asparagus and rhubarb. Both of these crops are in mid-season harvest, continuing about another month.
Green garlic is harvested in early spring, before the bulb forms. The scallion-like plant is a chef’s favorite. They are sometimes substituted for scallions or green onions whose harvest begins in the coming weeks.
Those with unheated growing structures (cold frames, high tunnels) offer salad greens (spinach, romaine, raducchio, argula) sown either last fall or in late winter and many herbs.
The early season harvest provides an opportunity for a foray to rural areas and encountering roadside stands. Several area farmers’ markets are open, with vendors selling transplants, flowering baskets and early season produce.
The local harvest’s red (literally) carpet rolls out starting the end of May and continues through early July with ripening strawberries. Farmers were successful earlier this spring in their protection against frosty mornings as area patches abound with strawberry flowers inter mixed with developing small green berries.
Find listings of area farmers’ markets on the web: http://blogs.cce.cornell.edu/cvp/files/2010/06/Veg-Edge-Farmers-Markets-2010.pdf