By Carolyn Twesten, Weaver Street Market Produce Merchandiser
My favorite thing about buying local produce is the seasonality of it all. Sure it’s a bummer not to have juicy strawberries or tomatoes in January, but they taste so much better when the local harvest comes in, in season. There are certain dishes that I only make once a year, like Italian rice and pea soup with fresh shelled spring peas, or grilled radicchio with grits and warm mozzarella. Or there are things that I will eat my weight in, like grilled summer squash, simple vinegar-based cucumber salad, or Caprese salad with local heirloom tomatoes and Chapel Hill Creamery’s fresh mozzarella. Cooking with local food lends a certain seasonal ritual to my life that I savor. Sourcing fresh, seasonal produce from local farmers for our produce departments at Weaver Street Market gives me the satisfaction that I’m improving our local economy, our environment, and the health of our customers, one tomato at a time.
Right now on our shelves we have cabbage, cucumbers, zucchini, and yellow squash from a variety of local farms including Red’s Quality Acre, Nourishing Acres, and the farms of Eastern Carolina Organics. Blueberries and blackberries are here from Vollmer Farm. Best of all, tomato season is starting! We have a rainbow of heirloom and hybrid slicing tomatoes from Cates Corner Farm, Red’s Quality Acre, and Nourishing Acres. Bite-size cherry tomato medleys from Bluebird Meadows Farm are in our Carrboro and Southern Village stores. The shining gold star of tomato season, though, is the beloved sungold. This cherry tomato is the best we’ve ever tasted, with the perfect blend of sugar and acid. These little beauties come to us in abundance from the Soehner family’s Eco Farm and from Red’s Quality Acre in Durham. Try this great recipe for Creamy Sungold Pasta from former WSM employee-turned-farmer, Shiloh Avery.