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And Pears Make an Early Debut
As an advocate of building a better food system, I promote multiple benefits we derive from purchasing locally and sustainably grown food at farmers markets.
In its simplest form, farmers market shopping promotes healthier eating habits, promotes environmental protection and soil health while addressing climate change through sustainable and regenerative practices, and builds stronger and more resilient local and regional economies.
But there's also an artistic element that draws me to farmers markets as a photographer. Peak season produce creates a palette of colors, which result from health-giving phytonutrients (which is why nutritionists urge us to "eat the rainbow"). And on a beautiful summer day — like the one we had today (August 21) — those colors at the stands of Chicago's Green City Market just pop.
My photo archives are replete with hundreds of photos of live produce "still lifes."
Today's article features several examples, finishing with my market haul.
First, the big first-of-the-season news: Nichols Farm & Orchard (Marengo, Illinois) has the first pears I've seen this year.
It has been an unusual year in which many crops have arrived two weeks or so earlier than they usually do. Pears are the latest fruit to come early to the party.
You could eat most of the rainbow just buying a selection of these bell peppers grown by Nichols.
Nichols also produces a variety of different kinds of melons...
... These watermelons, with their bold stripes, were ready for their close-up.
A bounty of peak season tomatoes at the stand of Smits Farms (Chicago Heights, Illinois).
A sunny day scene with pleasant temperatures at Green City Market.
And the market haul: There are peach seconds from Ellis Family Farms (Benton Harbor, Michigan); seedless grapes from Mick Klug Farms (St. Joseph, Michigan); basil from Smits Farms; from Nichols, tomatoes, ground cherries, and bell peppers; and English muffins from Dorothy's Bakery (Chicago) that are getting to be a habit in the Benenson household.
About those peaches... Seconds are produce items that do not meet certainly market standards for reasons such as size, color or physical condition. They are perfectly edible, even if you have to cut around the occasional bruise.
Seconds are often priced at a discount. Ellis Family Farms must have quite a bumper peach crop that they need to sell, because these were being sold four for $1!
It is pretty rare for farms to put seconds out at their market stands, but if you don't see any, it never hurts to ask.
As for the ground cherries... they'll be the topic of an upcoming What Is It and What Do You Do With It feature.
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