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- Berry good: Berries are in abundance at area tailgate markets now, like these wineberries from Highgate Farm at East Asheville Tailgate Market. Photos courtesy of ASAP
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- Edible color: Wildwood Herbal plans to offer their beautiful salad mixes all summer long at Asheville City Market.
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- Cuke-tacular: Perfect for pickles, or enjoyed as is, pickling cukes are just as sweet as traditional slicers. Vendors tables at markets around the region are overflowing with them, especially North Asheville Tailgate Market — Saturdays, from 8 a.m. until noon.
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- Stinking rose: Find sweet and spice and colorful onions now, like these from Leaning Willow Farm at the French Broad Food Co-op Wednesday Tailgate Market on Wednesdays from 2 until 6 p.m.
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- What’s up, doc? Carrots come in a multitude of colors. Check out beauties such as these from Ten Mile Farm at Asheville City Market on Saturdays from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.; Asheville City Market South is on Wednesdays from 2 until 6 p.m.
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- Chillin’ with chard: Swiss chard can take the heat, and Down to Earth Farms greens have been picture-perfect at East Asheville Tailgate Market on Fridays from 3 until 6 p.m.
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- Big bison: It’s time to get your grill on, and Carolina Bison has been serving up samples of its grilled bison all season long at West Asheville Tailgate Market on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 6:30 p.m.
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- You say tomato: Tomatoes are the talk of tailgates now, like these rainbow-colored cherry tomatoes from Full Sun Farm at Montford Farmers Market (Wednesdays from 2 until 6 p.m.)
It’s summer, the bountiful season. Blueberries, cucumbers, fennel, garlic, onions, potatoes, raspberries, squash, tomatoes — there’s an offering for nearly every letter of the alphabet at area farmers markets right now. Don’t just take our word for it … here’s what administrators of several Asheville tailgates had to say:
Carly Esslinger, Oakley Farmers Market (Thursdays): “We are a new market, and our first summer is going well. We’ve recently changed our hours to 3:30 until 6:30 p.m. to better accommodate the afterwork crowd, and the Oakley community is happy to have a place to gather and buy local products, especially goodies from vendor Fletcher Village Bakery; their rye bread always sells out! A community dinner is in the making, featuring foods from our vendors, so stay tuned…”
Shay Amber, North Asheville Tailgate Market (Saturdays): “We have a vast variety of local foods, from fresh mountain trout to culinary mushrooms as beautiful as a bouquet of flowers now. Our plant vendors are selling orchids, exotic carnivorous plants and unusual food-producing varieties, such as asparagus and artichokes. But that’s not all. We have broom and basket-makers and fiber artists leading demos on how their crafts are made. Miki and Greg of Homegrown will be out to market soon to discuss their program and entice us with some fabulous cooking demos. We also have a vendor from Mark Rosenstein's program, Go Kitchen-Ready, selling sticky buns. All the profits from the sales of these sticky buns go back into the program.”
Kelly Fain, French Broad Food Co-op Wednesday Tailgate Market: “From quail eggs and goat milk to fresh veggies, we've got a bountiful and beautiful market now. We are especially excited to welcome the Pisgah View Peace Garden and Home Free Bagels this year as we care for our community with good food and good folks.”
— Maggie Cramer is ASAPs communications manager; she can be reached at maggie@asapconnections.org.
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