With August peeking around the corner, the availability of locally grown produce begins to shift and gardeners find themselves wondering what’s still worth planting.
It’s the middle of berry season, and in stock at The Farmer’s Wife on Edenvale Road in Pleasant Hill are blueberries, raspberries, boysenberries, peaches and apricots. Cabbage, lettuce, onions, broccoli and summer squash are also in season. In August, tomatoes and melons will be in season and in stock.
Shady Oaks Plants and Produce off Highway 99 in Cottage Grove offers in-season watermelons, Walla Walla onions, green beans, broccoli and corn.
Shady Oaks also sells Saginaw-grown berries, including marionberries, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. Every Friday, Shady Oaks hosts ”Fresh-Baked Fridays,” which combine baked goods and fresh berries.
Summer may be winding down, but Dan’s Plants on Davisson Road in Creswell stays open until late July. Owned by Dan and Peggy Grousbeck, Dan’s Plants still has some of their popular baskets on sale filled with petunias, geraniums and other annuals.
Perennials are also big sellers this time of the year, Dan said. They sell rosemary, lavender, barberry, hostas and hydrangeas. Different succulents are also available and thrive during the dry, summer months.
Coast Fork Feed Store on South 6th Street in Cottage Grove has rudbeckia, lavender, and culinary and medicinal herbs. The store offers only heirloom vegetable starts and seeds grown using non-GMO methods, and also has plants available that are beloved by bees and butterflies.
Coast Fork Feed Store also carries canning, fermentation and beekeeping supplies. Honey flow begins at the end of the summer, and the store will rent out their honey extractors to local beekeepers.
