Grown In Connecticut: An Overlap Of Summer And Fall Vegetables

The state is entering it's peak picking time when the summer crops overlap with fall and winter crops, according to Rick Macsuga of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture. 

"This is a neat time of year because we're walking right into our fall vegetables."

Macsuga aid and that there is plenty more summer crops to be harvested but he did see some winter squashes at the markets this week. 

It has been a very good week for beans so we have green beans, wax beans, cranberry beans, yellow flat and green flat beans." Macsuga said. "I saw five different varieties at the markets this week, so if you're a bean fan, now's a good time go out and look."

Macsuga also said Stanley plums, which are used to make prunes, are also available. 

"It's probably our most abundant plum and we just started picking those this week," he said. The plums are about the size of an egg, and Macsuga said, "easy in, easy out."

Clapp pears are all done, Bartlett pears are coming in. "We'll have Bartletts for about two weeks and then we'll get into other varieties." And the same goes for apples, right now we're seeing ginger golds, Paula reds and Jersey macs and "we may sneak in another variety in a week or two."

Macsuga said peppers are still going strong and potatoes are being dug up by the bagful now.

He said, "this is the beginning of the real potato harvest. They were usually just digging up enough potatoes to get them through the day, now there's enough to be bagged."

Macsuga said the berries are dwindling and, "if you're a fan of blackberries, I would make haste," although fall raspberries are on deck.

What's available now:

Peppers: all kinds

Apples: ginger gold, Paula red, Jersey mac

Musk melon

Honeydew 

Baby watermelons

Summer squash: all kinds

Winter squash: acorn, butternut, spaghetti

Sweet corn

Cucumbers

Peaches

Plums

Nectarines

Cabbages: red, yellow savoy

Beans: all kinds

Carrots

Potatoes: all kinds

Eggplant: all kinds

Tomatoes: all varieties

Beets

Kale

Swiss Chard

Okra

Parsnips

Scallions

Leeks

Onions

Where to find them:

Mystic Farmers’ Market is on Tuesdays from 2 to 6 p.m., at the Quiambaug Firehouse located at 50 Old Stonington Road. WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted.

Groton Farmers’ Market is on Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Groton Shopping Plaza next to the Post Office on Route 1. WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted.

Westerly-Pawcatuck Farmers’ Market is on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 85 Main St., just past The Bridge restaurant in Westerly.

Stonington Farmers’ Market is on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon near the town fishing pier in the borough. WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted.

Mystic-Denison Farmers’ Market is on Sundays from noon to 3 p.m., located at 120 Pequotsepos Road across from the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center. www.denisonhomestead.org/farm‐market, WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted.