A summertime guide to eating locally, seasonally, sustainably.
Eating local and seasonal means there is nothing more exciting than the arrival of summer with Quebec's fields and Ontario's trees overflowing with countless varieties of fruits and veg. From May to September, strawberries to squash, the local season unfolds as follows. Scroll through for a play-by-play and get ready to make the absolute most of every harvest!
MAY
Asparagus and fiddleheads, the earliest to emerge in fields and forests. Be sure to enjoy these guys while you can, since they’re not around for long.
The one, the only, the iconic Quebec strawberry. Strawberry harvest is on come June, with our partner farms, Ferme Jean-Pierre Plante and Purdélys, sending Lufavores loads.
Radishes of all sorts, all season. Red radishes start early and are followed by black, daikon, and watermelon varieties later in the season.
Spring garlic and onions, to be eaten root to shoot. Young garlic and onions may be smaller than their regular season counterparts, but they're still as versatile and flavourful and give us a jumpstart to the season.
Rhubarb, preserve it or pickle it or pie it. These tart red stalks are harvested by hand from the rhubarb jungles over at Warner's Farm and Les Fermes Serbi.
JUNE
Zukes! Green and yellow zucchini, and some other fun summer squashes, are just about bottomless from June through September.
Kale, kale, and more kale. Another all-seasoner, our local farms grow it big and small, purple and green, dinosaur and curly-leaf for all interests.
The next allium up: garlic scapes. These flower tendrils are plucked from garlic plants in the early season and offer up a mild garlic vibe to tide locavores over until the bulbs are ready to pull from the ground later on.
The biggest baddest lettuces are field-grown. No shade to our own rooftop-grown greens, but the June fields bring great heads of romaine, oakleaf, and other lettuces.
Sugar and snow peas meet green, yellow, and purple beans. Peas make a brief appearance while beans abound from June onward.
JULY
May the carrots commence. Leafy carrots from Les Jardins Glenorra and Croc Bio show their tops in July, followed by the larger, heartier full-size roots in a rainbow of colours by late season.
A big brassica line-up. Joining the ranks of kale are kohlrabi, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower.
Ohhhh, blueberries. We’ll see waves of blueberry harvests coming in from farms all throughout the province, from the warmer Montérégie and Laurentides regions on up to the blueberry-famous Lac-Saint-Jean.
Annnnd, raspberries. These are a much more delicate fruit with a somewhat shorter growing season, so they’re to be cherished when they arrive.
The rest of the roots. Beets of brilliant reds, yellows, and stripes are ready along with carrots, parsnips, turnips, and rutabagas.
AUGUST
The incredibly sustainably grown stone fruit of Niagara. August brings us the long-awaited (and magical) peaches, plums, apricots, and nectarines from our long-time partner, Warner's Farm.
Corn by the ear or by the bushel. For allll the late summer BBQs, corn is at the ready from Bio-Saveur and Agri-Fusion until fall.
Watermelons, cantaloupes, maybe some honeydews. Melons take a long time to grow and can be hard to come by for long, but they’re finally ready in August and so darn good.
SEPTEMBER
Gorgeous grapes, from farms committed to the challenge of sustainable growing. The vines at Warner's Farm and Vineland Growers will be full of green and blue grapes until October.
With fall colours comes peak apple season. Gala, red delicious, MacIntosh, Jonagold, you name it, apples come to us from the Laurentides and the Eastern Townships with a pretty sweet view of the Appalachians.
Last but not least, it’s a squash party. A whole lot of butternuts, acorns, pumpkins, and more arrive for a roughly month-long party from September to October.
And let’s not forget Brussels sprouts.