Grown In Connecticut: Fancy Some Squash?

Squash is coming to the markets at full steam said Rick Macsuga of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture. 

"Any squash you fancy, you'll find it," he said of the common summer squashes and "oddball" squashes he found this weekend. 

Macsuga said another variety of apple is now available. The Jersey Mac will only be around for a couple weeks but, he said, "it's a nice early apple with some sweet notes – for an early apple it eats pretty well." 

And the Kennebec potato, a Maine variety, is now available. Macsuga said the potato is "a white, all-purpose potato you can mash, chop, bake, fry – it's a good traditional potato that can take anything."

Macsuga also said that swiss chard is abundant and can take the place of spinach in most recipes and that spinach will return to the markets in the fall. Tomatoes and eggplant should be available in larger volumes now and "there are a lot of peppers that are right ready to be picked." 

Fresh this week:

Cabbage: green, red, savoy

Blueberries

Eggplant

Tomatoes: plum, cherry, grape, heirloom and field

Cucumbers

Green beens 

Squash: summer, patty pan, eight ball, gold ball, zephyr, green, cork neck

Tomatillos

Okra

Collards

Kale

Swiss chard

Peaches

Nectarines

Beets: golden, regular

Broccoli

Cauliflower: white, yellow

Potatoes: fingerling, kennebec, yukon gold

Peppers: long hot, cherry, japaleno, cubanelle 

Where to find them:

The Ledyard Farmers’ Market is on Wednesdays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Ledyard Town Center at the Fair Grounds.www.ledyardfresh.com, WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted. 

The Norwich Uncas Farmers’ Market is on Mondays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Uncas on the Thames, 401 West Thames Street, 100 Campbell Building. WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted, SNAP/EBT. 

The Norwich Downtown Farmers’ Market is on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the boat marina in Howard Brown Park on Route 2. WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted. 

The Preston Farmers’ Market is on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Preston Plains School on Route 164. WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted.