Oliver Ridgeway and daughter Ella Ridgeway go to a neighborhood vendor to purchase strawberries on the Licensed Farmers’ Market on W and eighth streets on Sunday, June 2, 2019.
If you’re headed to a farmers market in California, before the heat seizes the day, you’ll likely find a wide variety of summer fruits and vegetables stocked at the stands.
“We’re on the cusp of peak season,” said Dan Best, coordinator of Certified Farmers Market, adding that it starts in early July. But Northern California’s bounty might be a few weeks later than usual after farmlands were drenched from the wet winter.
Best said the fruits didn’t pollinate as well due to the rain and the vegetables were planted late.
“We’re just now starting to see what we usually have already,” he said. People can expect to see the peak of summer fruit and vegetable season for the next two or three months.
Here’s what you might find at a farmers market this summer in California:
Fruits
Expect to find stone fruits, such as peaches, plums and nectarines soon in Northern California, Best said.
In mid-July, you’ll see melons.
According to California Grown, a campaign that promotes local farmers, various produce is available year-round. This includes lemons, mandarins and tangerines, oranges and prunes.
Northern California will bring citrus and avocados later in the season, compared to the southern part of the state, Best said.
Strawberries are also typically available year-round in California, according to the website, as they are grown throughout the different regions in the state. In the winter, the berries are grown in Southern California, and as warmer weather trickles in, production moves north.
In the summer, you can find apples, berries, cucumbers, figs and grapes. You can also find cherries, but more so at the beginning of the season.
Vegetables
You may find ripened tomatoes by the first part of July and then corn about mid-July, Best said.
Common vegetables for the season are zucchini and peppers.
Like fruits, there are year-round vegetables.
This includes artichokes, beets, broccoli and cauliflower, garlic, herbs, lettuce and other leafy greens. Mushrooms, onions, radishes, carrots and sweet potatoes are also available all year.
During the summer, you’re more likely to find Brussels sprouts, green beans, peas, pumpkin and squash.
This story was initially printed June 29, 2023, 10:37 AM.
Hanh Truong is a reporter on The Sacramento Bee’s service journalism desk. She was beforehand a contract journalist, masking schooling and tradition for PBS SoCal and music for buzzbands.la.
