August marks a greater selection of warm season crops: Find corn, melons, berries & more!

#BeavertonFarmersMarket

We don’t know about anyone else, but we find it irritating to see signs for Back-To-School supplies in stores in early August. Summer is just now getting into full swing, and we want to enjoy it as long as we can. We are not thinking about pencils and notebooks because we are dreaming about sweet corn and peaches.

Here in the BFM, mid-summer means a transition from early season fruits such as strawberries and cherries to more stonefruit, a wider variety of berries, and of course, melons. Hermiston Melons has an array of melons, including cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, and their infamous “Black Mamba” watermelon.

Our berry growers continue to provide us with an amazing array of berry varieties despite huge crop losses from the heat wave earlier this summer. Now is the time to put up some boysenberry jam, bake blueberry muffins, or a raspberry fool.

August marks a greater selection of warm season crops in farmers’ stalls – tomatoes, peppers, green beans, and of course the corn we were dreaming about previously. Winters Farms has had an abundance of sweet corn, both yellow and white, in their stall as well as green beans and yellow wax beans. The Romano beans, sometimes known as Italian Flat beans, at Riverland Family Farms have been a favorite at Market Master Ginger Rapport’s house these last few weeks. These sturdy beans are often used in recipes where a longer cooking time brings out the waxy, tender quality of the bean.

Enjoy your summer as long as you can and forget about those school supplies for a little while longer.

Late Summer Pasta In Cream Sauce (Serves 4)

Now that you have a market tote full of fresh produce, you’ll want to cook a dish that marries all these sweet, bright flavors together. Our favorite go-to summer market dish is the Late Summer Pasta in Cream Sauce. You can cook it all summer long by swapping out for what’s freshest, but the corn is key in keeping the dish sweet and creamy.

Ingredients

4–6 ounces pasta, cooked in salted water
4 teaspoons butter, ghee, or olive oil
2 ear sweet corn (1 cup kernels)
2/3 cup diced red peppers
1 cup diced summer squash (Peter Pan or Romanesco are great)
1 cup sungold cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 minced scallion or onion
4–6 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 cup grated (veg-friendly) parm, + extra for serving
Zest from 1 lemon
4–6 tablespoons julienned basil, + extra for serving
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Cook pasta and drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water. Melt butter in a skillet and add all the vegetables, except tomatoes. Cook the vegetables until tender but still some texture. Add in tomatoes.
Turn off heat and add in cream, parm, and lemon zest. Add the pasta and turn the heat back on to low. Stir until the sauce has coated the pasta, adding a splash of pasta water as needed to thin the sauce. The sauce will thicken again slightly as it heats with the pasta.
Turn off heat and stir in basil. Serve with a sprinkle of more basil, parm, and crushed red pepper if desired. Eat immediately.