What’s Ripe Now: Our surrounding foodshed is still producing warm-weather crops like tomatoes, tomatillos, and sweet peppers. Winter squashes are just starting; look for butternut, acorn, pumpkin, and spaghetti squash. Then there are the slow-to-ripen veggies like onions, dry beans, and potatoes, which are just being harvested. As our berries disappear, we welcome fall fruits like pears, apples, grapes, and citrus.
What’s Sprouting Next: As we enjoy the last of summer, we begin to see cool-weather crops return like kale, lettuce, chard, turnips, spinach, and members of the brassica family (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, arugula).
Favorite Bloom: Slow-to-ripen vegetables — leeks, broccoli, winter squash — are an amazing sight to behold and they bring a deep appreciation for how precious our food is. A lot of energy and hard work goes into their development by both the plant and the farmer.
The Tahoe Food Hub is a new nonprofit helping to build a regional food system for North Lake Tahoe by connecting small, family farms within 100 miles to local restaurants, small grocers, and institutions. Tahoefoodhub.org
