Celebrate Eat Drink Local Week

By Anna Hanau October 4, 2010

This week, New York celebrates its local foods with the Edible magazines’ “Eat, Drink Local Week”. If you live close by, you can enjoy the tart sweetness of a concord grape from the Fingerlakes, or delectable cheeses fermented in the rolling countryside of this beautiful state.

CSA members around the country, who’ve signed up for a share of a local farm for the entire season, are enjoying one of the most bountiful harvests now, when heat-loving nightshades like tomatoes, peppers and eggplants have finally gotten enough sun and are producing full force. The first hints of fall fare – including corn squash, purple potatoes, storage onions – are also starting to come in, in bright hues, ready for roasting on a blustery fall day.

But no matter where you live, if you’re not a CSA member, head to a farmers market near you to taste the best of what your region has to offer. The list below of CSA farm boxes around the country will help you know what’s freshest at your local farmer’s market.

Philadelphia (Lancaster Farm Fresh): Young carrots, Romaine lettuce, red onions, slicing tomatoes, zucchini, scallions, potatoes, lacinato kale, eggplant, Hungarian hot peppers, parsley, sweet potatoes, delicata squash, Napa cabbage, bell peppers

Cleveland (Geauga Family Farms): Lettuce, cabbage, green beans, acorn squash, beets, apples, colored peppers, chard, red potatoes, tomatoes, butternut squash, sweet potatoes

Denver (Isabelle Farm): Carrots, butter lettuce, green beans, watermelon, tomatillos, tomatoes, bell peppers, ground cherries, beets, watermelon radishes, new potatoes

Seattle (Oxbow Farm): Carrots, basil, beets, zucchini, dragon tongue beans, fennel, broccoli, chard, potatoes, raddichio

Here’s what some New York City CSAs are eating this week:

White Plains (Chubby Bunny Farm and Adamah in Falls Village, CT): Onions, Leeks, Butternut Squash, Arugula, Salad Mix, Fall Spinach, Potatoes, Eggplant, Peppers, Carrots, Beets, Zucchini, Basil and Cucumbers

Forest Hills, Queens (Golden Earthworm Farm on Long Island, NY): Lettuce mix, Breakfast radish, Wrinkled cress, red tomatoes, acorn squash, cherry tomatoes, Nicola potatoes, colored peppers, Gala apples, yellow peaches, parsley, cilantro

Manhattan, NY (Free Bird Farm in the Mohawk Valley, NY): Leeks, bell peppers, cilantro, spicy lettuce mix, edamame, baby salad mix, watermelon, red onion

Note: In addition to the nightshades, some of the cooler weather salad crops are creeping back in. After the scorching heat of August, which would wilt an arugula, mustard green or spinach plant before you could even say “pass the balsamic,” the cooler weather of the fall will herald the return of these delightful salad crops.

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