THE stalls at local farmers' markets are filling out like cornfields in July. Each week there are more choices, even more farmers. As you plow through the crowds and rustle through the greens, you might want a little help focusing. Here it is. These purveyors at local farmers' markets are among the best. Most bring crops to market month after month. But each has a specialty worth trying at the peak of its season. For each, the tale of what brought them to market is slightly different. Exact market locations and times are at http://www.cenyc.org/, http://www.nyfarmersmarket.com/ and http://www.communitymarkets.biz/.
Dabbling in Flowers and Honey Till the Tomatoes Come In
Ray Bradley used to be a sous-chef for David Bouley, a childhood friend, so believe him when he says a perfect tomato needs no embellishment. He grows 10 heirlooms: 7 known successes like Prudence Purple, Striped German and German Green, and 3 wild cards each year. In addition to growing tomatoes at his 27-acre farm in New Paltz, N.Y. (which he calls organic in all but the paperwork), he has berries, garlic and shallots (another specialty), herbs, cucumbers, squash, 400 chickens (for eggs) and 10 pigs.
AVAILABLE Waiting out spring's last frost, he did not plant tomatoes until last week. They should be available in late July or early August, with cherry tomatoes kicking off his season. He grows indeterminate tomatoes, meaning they keep producing fruit until the fall's first frost. "If the weather's there, they keep pushing," he said.
SELECTING "You don't want to see any holes, spots or divots," he said. "Not real soft, no fingerprints." Better yet: "Buy from people you trust and buy in season."
STORING Keep them out of the refrigerator, he said, and "Don't put them in the sun or on the windowsill." Store regular-size tomatoes in one layer to prevent bruising.
KITCHEN TIP Mr. Bradley says good tomatoes need little help. "They're good raw with a good vinegar or oil." He loves a tomato sandwich with white bread (or French bread), mayonnaise, salt and pepper.
Here's his recipe for a tomato salad, especially ones of different colors: put salt and pepper on a plate or platter, drizzle on olive oil and sherry wine vinegar, place thick slices of tomatoes on top, and repeat the layering.
FIND THEM On Saturdays at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn,
where Mr. Bradley is already selling flowers, honey and eggs, and on Fridays at
97th Street and Columbus Avenue, starting in June with
strawberries.
KATHLEEN McELROY
Italian Seeds That Flourished in New York Soil
Ken Migliorelli's grandfather Rocco brought broccoli rabe seeds with him when he immigrated from the Lazio region of Italy, and planted them at the family's first farm, in the Bronx. "In 1933, where Co-op City is now, it was all farmland," said Mr. Migliorelli, who now farms about 300 acres in Tivoli, N.Y. "We lost that farm, but my dad brought the seeds upstate and I'm still growing exactly the same strain as my grandfather did." Dark, pungent broccoli rabe is not a kind of broccoli - it's more closely related to the turnip (the Italian term is cime di rape, meaning turnip tops).
AVAILABLE Will be in markets in July, then absent for August and back again after Labor Day. (Broccoli rabe dislikes very hot weather.)
SELECTING Not all broccoli rabe has florets. Look for perky, dark green stems and leaves. Yellow flowers connote freshness, but yellow leaves are a sign of age.
STORING Lasts well but does not improve in the refrigerator. "The sooner you cook it, the less bitter it is," Mr. Migliorelli says.
KITCHEN TIP In the Migliorelli family, broccoli rabe is always cooked for at least 20 or 30 minutes. "Coat the bottom of a pot with oil, add a couple of minced garlic cloves and let it simmer. Then add the wet broccoli, cover the pot, and cook it down until it's soft. It should never be al dente."
FIND THEM Saturdays at 110th Street and Manhattan Avenue;
Thursdays at 175th Street; Tuesdays and Thursdays at the downtown PATH station;
Thursdays and Fridays at Rockefeller Center; Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays
at Union Square; Tuesdays at Yankee Stadium; and Saturdays at Atlas Park and
Wednesdays at Astoria, both in Queens.
JULIA MOSKIN
New Jersey Produce With Korean Parents
Nevia No left South Korea when she was a child and never expected to become a farmer, but she found her niche as a grower of Asian vegetables - like avocado squash, Chinese long beans, edamame and chili peppers. She and her former husband, Kwang Yoo, tend a 90-acre farm in Bordentown, N.J., where she experiments with new vegetables grown from imported Korean seeds. "You have to watch the shoots, the bud, the leaves, the tops, at every step," she said. Her many Asian-American regulars come for herbs like red shiso and greens like tatsoi, but her greatest expertise is in cucumber varieties. "The Korean cucumbers are crispier, the Japanese ones are juicier, the lemon ones are round and sweet, and the Armenian ones have the thinnest skins," she said.
AVAILABLE Asparagus, herbs, cucumbers and greens are in now. After July 4, squash, beans and peppers will appear.
SELECTING "When you can see tiny spikes on the cucumbers, that's a sign of freshness," she said. "They rub off under running water."
STORING Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate.
KITCHEN TIP "Mixing different varieties makes the best salad," she said. "And all Asian cucumbers make good pickles, because they have thinner skins."
FIND THEM Saturdays at Abingdon Square and Lincoln Center,
and at Cortelyou Road, and Sunset Park, Brooklyn; Mondays and Fridays at Union
Square; Wednesdays at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza.
JULIA MOSKIN
Greens, Yes, But Especially August Corn
Sue and Henry Smith planned to be teachers. But Mr. Smith told his father, a truck farmer in Rockland County, in New York, that he would farm, too. He never left the land, and he and his wife now own Sycamore Farms, in Middletown, N.Y. They grow strawberries, peas and hothouse tomatoes, but pride themselves most on their corn. It is picked the evening before they go to the Greenmarket and arrives in time for the market's opening. On Saturdays, they bring a second batch at 10:30 a.m. They sell it earlier than most - by the Fourth of July - because they start some under plastic, a sort of hothouse. Their season continues until the end of October, or the first frost.
AVAILABLE Mr. Smith said the corn after Aug. 1 has better flavor because it takes longer to mature. "For early corn you sacrifice eating quality for availability," he said.
SELECTING Let them choose the ears for you, but if you do it, don't strip the leaves to inspect the kernels; it hastens the aging of the rejects. "Make sure there are no holes in the husk," Mrs. Smith said. "Then, if you run your hand tightly down the outside, you just want to feel a uniform cob, with no indentations and skips." Drying on leaves or at the cut end mean the corn is not fresh.
STORING Refrigerate as soon as possible. "Heat is the enemy," Mrs. Smith said. Since the Smiths do not grow the supersweet varieties that have a shelf-life of several days, Mrs. Smith said their corn should be used the day it's bought.
KITCHEN TIP Drop the shucked ears in boiling water for three minutes, without sugar or salt in the water. You can also freeze kernels stripped off the cob or eat them raw.
FIND THEM Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at the Union
Square Greenmarket.
FLORENCE FABRICANT
A Summer's Worth of Berries to Savor
Wilklow Orchards and berries are synonymous. In addition to the usual strawberries and raspberries, there are blackberries and gooseberries and both black and red currants.
The orchards, in Highland, N.Y., have been in the Wilklow family since 1855. They once raised mostly apples. Fred Wilklow, who works the farm with his wife, Sharon, and two of their four children, said farmers' markets have helped them diversify, and they now grow fruits and vegetables on 100 acres and also raise meat. "I'm confident when people buy my products they are going to like them, so we always encourage people to sample," he said. "It's part of the farmers' market experience."
AVAILABLE Strawberries, from early June to first week of July; raspberries, from July through early August, with a few fall berries; blackberries, from late July or early August to late August; gooseberries, two weeks in mid-July; black currants, about three weeks starting around July 10; red currants, July.
SELECTING Strawberries should be all red, bright and shiny; for raspberries, the lighter ones have more flavor than darker ones; blackberries should be all black; gooseberries should have a little bit of pink (taste one if possible); black currants, which have a unique musky flavor, should have no red; red currants are tart even when ripe and fully red.
STORING Keep all berries refrigerated; do not cover; bring to room temperature before eating; wash when ready to eat.
KITCHEN TIP After pouring buttermilk pancake batter on a griddle, sprinkle on some currants. Serve with maple syrup. The syrup and berries make a nice contrast.
FIND THEM Thursdays at Rockefeller Center; Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays at Borough Hall, Brooklyn; Saturdays in Fort Greene,
Brooklyn; and Saturdays in Long Island City, Queens.
MARIAN BURROS
An Orchard-Tending Family That Found a Calling
The Toigo family used to just scrape by on their 350-acre farm in Shippensburg, Pa. "It was a real 'Green Acres' experience: run-down and tired with no cash flow," said Mark Toigo, who runs Toigo Orchards now with his parents and his brother.
After Mr. Toigo graduated from college in the mid-1980's he started driving berries down to a farm market in Alexandria, Va. "It didn't take long to see how hungry people were for these kinds of things," he said.
The family has since leased 250 more acres. "These farmers' markets were, without question, our salvation," Mr. Toigo said.
The Toigos are known for their dozens of varieties of stone fruit, including 17 different kinds of peaches - white, yellow, cling and freestone; seven each of nectarines, cherries and plums; and five of apricots.
AVAILABLE Peaches, nectarines and plums from early July to the end of September; cherries and apricots in July.
SELECTING Look for peaches and nectarines that have a fragrance and yield lightly to pressure when you put your finger on top of the fruit. Apricots should be velvety soft and slightly yielding, and have a light fragrance and aroma, as should plums. When cherries color they are fairly ripe; the ripest Bing cherries are the darker ones; white Royal Ann cherries should have a red blush. If there is any greenery in the box, the leaves should be fresh.
STORING Don't refrigerate the fruit unless extremely ripe. Don't wash it until ready to eat.
KITCHEN TIP Halve and pit peaches, then grill for a few minutes; pour some brandy or rum over them.
FIND THEM Sundays at Tompkins Square; Wednesdays and
Saturdays at 57th Street and Ninth Avenue; Saturdays in Fort Greene and Sunset
Park, Brooklyn; Thursdays in Borough Park, Brooklyn.
MARIAN BURROS