Summer Produce Guide

Not sure how to pick out a ripe cantaloupe? Need more info on when you can expect fresh spinach? Check out this guide to summer produce for those answers and more!

Need recipe ideas for your summer produce? You’ll find some of our favorites HERE.

• • Apples come into season mid- to late-summer and are harvested into fall in most apple-growing regions, like us right here in NY. Check out Adams weekly to see the new varieties coming in from our local farms

• • Apricots are harvested starting in late spring in warmer areas and through early summer. The most flavorful apricots neither travel nor keep well, so look for them at farmer’s markets.

• • Avocados have a season that defies logic—they are fickle depending on their exact location. Most, however, are in season over the summer. Ripen hard avocados on the counter or speed things up by keeping them in a paper bag.

• • Basil grows alongside tomatoes very well (in the garden and on the plate). Look for unblemished, leafy branches without flowers or buds. The herb gets a slightly bitter aftertaste once it flowers which is part of the reason growers pinch off the buds before they can flower.

• • Bell peppers should have smooth, shiny skins (whether they are green, red, orange, yellow, or purple) and feel heavy for their size.

• • Beets are often sold with their green still attached when they are freshly harvested—giving you a two-for-one. Cook the greens as you would chard or other cooking greens.

• • Blackberries should be shiny and plump. Avoid any mushy or moldy berries—the rot will spread fast. Rinse berries only just before eating or using them, never in advance, since they will become soggy and rot faster.

• • Blueberries are the only berries that have a dull, matte finish to them when ripe.

• • Cantaloupes that feel heavy for their size and that smell like melons are the ones to buy.

• • Carrots are harvested year-round in temperate areas. Unusual varieties are harvested during the carrot’s natural season, which is late summer and fall. True baby carrots—not the milled down versions of regular carrots sold as “baby carrots” in bags at grocery stores—are available in the spring and early summer.

• • Chard grows year-round in temperate areas, is best harvested in late summer or early fall in colder areas, and fall through spring in warmer regions. Like all cooking greens, chard turns bitter when it gets too hot.

• • Cherries are ready to harvest at the end of spring in warmer areas. Sweet cherries, including the popular Bing and Rainier varieties, are available from May to August. Sour cherries have a much shorter season and can be found for a week or two, usually during the middle of June in warmer areas and as late as July and August in colder regions.

• • Chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans) are sometimes available fresh at farmer’s markets in warmer climates. Look for small pale green pods still attached to twisted, twirling vines.

• • Chiles need heat to ripen and get hot—look for them at the end of summer and into early fall.

• • Collard greens, like most leafy green plants, bolts (flowers) and turns bitter when it gets hot enough, so in hot climates it is in season all year except summer, everywhere else summer is the time to look for it.

• • Corn is best the minute it is picked from the stalk, so it is a food to look for from local growers. You want tightly closed, fresh-looking husks, fresh-looking tassels, and fresh-cut stem-ends. Know that organically grown corn is very likely to have a worm or two in any batch—simply pick it out, the rest of the corn is fine to eat.

• • Cucumbers are known for being cool—as much as 20 degrees cooler than the outside temperature. Lucky for us that cucumbers come into season in most areas just as the summer heat kicks in.

• • Edible flowers add color and delicate flavors to salads.

• • Eggplant should have shiny, tight, smooth skin and feel heavy for its size, no matter which variety.

• • Fennel bolts in hot weather, but is in season in cooler climates in the summer (look for it fall through spring in temperate and warmers areas).

• • Figs have two seasons, but the main one is during mid- to late-summer (a second shorter season comes in November in warm climates).

• • Garlic is another produce item that we forget has a season; fresh garlic is at its plump and sweetest in late summer and fall.

• • Grapes of all varieties ripen towards the end of summer where they grow best; the harvest continues into fall.

• • Green beans tend to be sweetest and most tender during their natural season, from mid-summer into fall in most regions.

• • Green onions should have fresh, green tops and firm, slime-free white bottoms (fresh-looking, pale roots still attached to the whites are a good sign, too).

• • Herbs of all sorts grow through the summer—from basil to rosemary. Always looks for vibrant leaves and fresh-looking stems. You can always dry any extra herbs.

• • Lemongrass has a heavenly lemon-esque aroma that includes a whiff of ginger and the heady scent of tropical flowers. While it can be delicious with most anything, lemongrass is particularly delicious with chicken and seafood. Think of it as a perfume for your food.

• • Lettuce is in season in cooler climates (and out of season in warmer zones). Know that lettuce bought at farmer’s markets will last much longer than store-bought.

• • Limes are the only citrus that at their best in summer. Look for small, heavy-for-their-size fruits.

• • Mangos need tropical heat to ripen and come into their sweet best in late spring and summer in Florida and Hawaii.

• • Melons should always feel heavy for their size; most should have a bit of a sweet melon smell, too.

• • Nectarines are, essentially, fuzz-less peaches. They should feel heavy for their size and give just a bit when held firmly.

• • New potatoes are small, freshly harvested potatoes with paper-thin skins. They are delicious simply boiled and buttered or used in potato salads.

• • Okra needs heat to grow, so a nice long, hot summer in warmer climates brings out its best. Look for firm, plump pods.

• • Onions come from storage all year round but most onions are harvested in late summer through the fall.

• • Peaches are one of the highlights of summer eating. Look for fruits that feel heavy for their size and that give just a bit when pushed. Avoid fruits that have green near the stem.

• • Pears start being harvested in summer in many climates.

• • Peas come into season in the spring and continue in most areas well into summer.

• • Plums and pluots should feel heavy for their size and have a lovely, perfumed, and sweet smell.

• • Radicchio is sweeter when it doesn’t get too hot. Radicchio comes into season in summer in cooler climates. Look for somewhat firm heads, a fresh-cut end, and bright white ribs on the pretty purple leaves.

• • Radishes should have bright, fresh greens attached (that tells you they are freshly harvested).

• • Ramps are foraged in the spring and early summer and sometimes available at farmer’s markets and specialty stores.

• • Raspberries are the most delicate of all berries. Look for plump berries and never buy a carton (or flat) with smashed, rotting, or moldy berries—that damage spreads incredibly fast. If they seem like they are starting to fade, freeze them! They’ll be great in smoothies and any recipe that cooks them.

• • Rhubarb is the first fruit of spring in many areas but stays in season into summer in most areas—look for heavy stalks with shiny skin.

• • Shallots are milder, sweeter, and less bitter than their onion and garlic cousins—perfect for salad dressings.

• • Shelling beans are those beans that can become dried beans but are briefly available fresh. Shelling beans come in mid-summer to early fall depending on your climate.

• • Spinach, indeed, has a season. It varies with your climate—year-round in temperate areas, summer, and fall in cooler areas, and fall through spring in warmers regions. Use it in salads or simple sautés.

• • Strawberries are mostly grown in California or Florida, where the strawberry growing season runs from January through November. The peak season is April through June. Other areas of the country have shorter growing seasons that range from five months to as short as a few weeks in the coldest areas where you’ll find local specimens at markets in July.

• • Sunchokes/Jerusalem artichokes have a pale brown, dull exterior and a delicately nutty flavor.

• • Sweet peas have slightly different seasons depending on type and region, but they are generally available in spring and summer.

• • Tomatillos look like small green tomatoes with a light green papery husk.

• • Tomatoes may be the single number-one draw to farmer’s markets and local eating. Try to sample tomatoes before you buy them—even beautiful, heavy, unblemished specimens can lack the flavor you want.

• • Watermelons should feel heavy for their size. Unlike other melons, watermelons don’t tend to emit a smell even when they’re ripe and ready to eat.

• • Zucchini and summer squash have a harvest season from summer into fall in most climates.

• • Zucchini blossoms are increasingly sold at farmers markets and specialty stores. Look for fresh blossoms (no brown ends or tips) and use them quickly.

Information courtesy of TheSpruce.com