• Tomatoes
• Husk Tomatoes or Tomatillos 
• Lettuce, Spinach or Bok Choy   
• Eggplant
• Corn 
• Bell Peppers  
• Cubanelle Peppers (sweet)
• Kale  
• Hakurei turnips or Radishes 
• Cucumbers
• Broccoli  
• Celery or beets (if we're lucky!)
• Summer squash 
• Herbs 
• And  more, depending on harvest conditions!

• Nectarines
• Blackberries or raspberries
• Pears
• Apples  
• And more, depending on harvest conditions!

• Greens do best when in the fridge and kept cold. If you find your greens are not lasting as long as you would like, try turning your refrigerator a degree or two colder - it makes a big difference!  
• For root vegetables, such as beets, radishes and turnips, cut the greens off and store them separately from the roots. The roots will keep much longer, and you can cook the greens separately (just like you would spinach or Swiss chard!)
• Tomatoes will keep their flavor best at room temperature - store them on your countertop! Refrigerators rob tomatoes of their flavor.  The flavor does not usually return when they are brought back to room temperature. 
• If you run out of space in your crisper drawers, try using some large tupperware-like containers. You'll find your veggies last a long time in those!
• Are fruit flies a problem?  Fill the bottom of a glass with apple cider vinegar or a little bit of red wine.  Carefully prick a small hole in the center of a coffee filter that is just big enough for the fruit fly to crawl through.  Place the coffee filter over the top of the glass and poke it down so that the small hole is just over the liquid in the glass.  Put a rubber band around the top of the glass to hold the filter in place and you've made yourself a nice little fruit fly trap!   

When I lived in South Florida "seasonal eating" meant ordering a pumpkin latte at Starbucks in October.  Since I've moved to Massachusetts and thanks to Farmer Dave's CSA I've learned to love seasonal eating.  Here are a few of the reasons that I value having access to fresh, locally grown produce.   

Eating what is best when it's best in the most natural way.  Last season I was struck by Farmer Dave's explanation of  why we don't see lettuce in our CSA boxes when tomatoes are at their peak.  He pointed out that the typical American salad of lettuce and tomatoes was the result of our modern food distribution system that allows us to eat foods grown thousands of miles apart to be eaten in one meal.  Lettuce appreciates the cool weather that tomatoes can't tolerate and tomatoes love the hot, dry, sunny days that make lettuce get tough and bitter.   As a result of my three years as a Farmer Dave's member (and now happy Farmer!) I've learned to not only to appreciate but to prefer a delicate spring salad with nothing but thinly shaved radishes as a topping and hearty summer salads of tomatoes, cucumbers, corn and peppers without a leaf of lettuce to be found.  In fact, I've even come to look at the ubiquitous lettuce and tomato salad as a really depressing science experiment in which tomatoes never taste like the brightly acidic flavorful tomatoes we've been blessed with over the last month but like rubbery laboratory created sadness.

Better Off Ted: Future of Food

Eating seasonally means avoiding food fatigue.  I've found that the moment my excitement over a new vegetable has begun to transition into consternation over trying to find another way to use it, that vegetable has gone out of season and is replaced with excitement over another new vegetable. Nature has given us such a perfect balance of foods at the perfect time.  The cold temperatures of winter demand comfort foods in the form of heavy winter storage crops like potatoes and squash.  The first warming days of Spring bring us delicate greens and transition into mild zucchini, patty pan and summer squashes.  The height of summer brings us foods that feel and taste perfectly part of the season: cooling cucumbers and watermelon on a hot day, brightly colored tomatoes, sweet and nourishing corn.  Then the transition into fall is noted by the arrival of rich butternut squash, crispy apples and hearty kale and spinach. 

To the simplest of pleasures: food!  Freshly harvested, sustainably produced, and close to home!