As we move into the middle of August and our ad streams get clogged with back-to-school sales, we’re reminded of autumn’s imminent arrival.
We are not ones to lament the end of summer, particularly now that it’s permeated with wildfire smoke.
To be truthful, we prefer the edge seasons, fall and spring.
However, it should be noted that it’s the height of fruit season.
We are not talking about that season-less stream of fruit crated up in some distant field in every grocer’s produce aisle.
What you need to be doing, right now, is enjoying the local crops at peak freshness and perfect flavor.
It’s also a good time to restock jam, jelly and syrup jars. It’s important to preserve some of that seasonal goodness to enjoy on those dark winter mornings.
This calls for a trip to the farmers market, or better yet . . . a local orchard, farm, or farm stand.
Prevailing winds cleared smoke from the Willamette Valley, so that was this week’s destination.
We have some favorite spots . . . Nanneman and Schlecter Farms are a couple of our favorites.
We also try to make it to Hood River and Kiyokawa Orchards, but currently there is a pall of smoke over that area, so that trip will have to wait.
At Nanneman Farms we find berries. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, loganberries, and marionberries . . . an abundance of flavor nuggets spilling out of fiberboard cartons.
At Schlecter’s we pick up a bag of sweet corn (both yellow and white). Their corn is available well into the fall, but it’s only a few minutes from Nanneman’s . . . so worth the effort!
As the berry season wanes, we’ll stock up on stone fruit and apples from Hood River Orchards.
That usually involves a couple of trips as different varieties ripen throughout the season. Hopefully the fire season eases by then.