Written by: Steve Stover
Date: July 31, 2013
August is just about the best time of the year for food. The produce season is here, so we can enjoy the freshest, best tasting local vegetables and fruits of the year.
However this has been an unusual year – cool and wet, so the tomatoes are a little late. I can make a meal of corn & tomatoes, plus there are green beans, and cucumbers; plus peaches, plums, great melons, and raspberries.
Here are some of the best places to find the freshest local produce in the area.
Farm Markets
- My favorite is Rhoads Farm Market in Circleville, also at the North Market, Clintonville, Worthington, and Dublin
- Lynd’s Gourmet Farm Market on state Route 161 for cherries, peaches and apples
- Hoffman’s Farm Market on Hilliard-Rome Road, Doran’s Farm Market in New Albany, and Schacht Farm Market in Canal Winchester
- If you work downtown, there is the Pearl Alley Farm Market every THursday from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Nationwide Arena Plaza
- Community farmers markets in Worthington, Clintonville, Upper Arlington, Bexley, Canal Winchester, Grove City, Westerville, Grandvew and Groveport. In fact, almost every suburb has one!
- Franklin Park Conservatory Weekly Farmers’ Market takes place Wednesdays 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. through September 4
- Greener Grocer at the North Market
Recently, I found 20 stands at the North Market’s Farmers’ Market which starts at 8 p.m. every Saturday morning through the fall. I put together a great summer dinner with bi-color sweet corn, local tomatoes, green beans, eggplant & zucchini. Farmers Fest is coming up August 17.
Pick Your Own
See the Wednesday Dispatch or your local newspaper for more information
Grocery Stores
The grocery stores that really care bring in fresh local produce. The real key to great sweet corn, and most summer produce, is freshness. Buy local.
- Rife’s Market at Grandview & Fifth Avenue; Huffman’s Market in Tremont Center; Weiland’s Gourmet Market, Anderson’s the General Store, Fresh Market, Hill’s Market, and others even the big grocers like Meijer and Kroger have jumped on the bandwagon!
The Ohio Department of Agriculture has a Farmers Market Directory, with more than 600 entries statewide. It is organized by county, and lists farmers markets, farm markets, roadside markets, Christmas trees, and pick your own sites. For the latest info, log on to www.ohioproud.or or call 1-800-IM-PROUD.
Deprecated: Theme without comments.php is deprecated since version 3.0.0 with no alternative available. Please include a comments.php template in your theme. in /usr/local/webs/delta/htdocs/wp-includes/functions.php on line 4979
Leave a Reply