The seasonal produce at Miles Farmers Market is as fresh as it gets

By Laura Briedis

With local produce at its peak harvest time, this is my favorite time of year to try new recipes.

From chicken street tacos topped with peach and jalapeno salsa or corn salad with a mix of shucked bicolor corn, cherry tomatoes and torn basil leaves, summer fare is bursting with homegrown flavor.

At Miles Farmers Market, the fruits and vegetables are as fresh as it gets. Owner Frank Cangemi gets up at the crack of dawn to hand select the freshest produce for his customers from the Northern Ohio Food Terminal. Three times a week in the late morning, he drives to a produce auction in Amish Country to bring back fruits and vegetables so fresh they are still warm from the fields.

Miles Farmers Market also has decades-long relationships with local farmers who deliver produce directly to the Solon-based store every day.

“This time of the year, we source as much produce as possible from local farms,” says store manager Justin Golobek. “A lot of the fruits and vegetables are picked from the fields in the morning and are on our shelves that same day. It doesn’t get any fresher than that.”

After all, corn is at its sweetest just hours from the stalk, and jalapenos are the hottest when picked just ripe.

Corn, Peaches, and So Much More
Miles Farmers Market opened in 1971 selling delicious Ohio-grown sweet corn. Though it has expanded to offer thousands of different items over the past four decades, it is still known for its fresh corn on the cob.

The first batch of Ohio corn was harvested and delivered to Miles Farmers Market in mid-July, and you can find bins of locally grown corn at the market usually until the end of October.

“The corn is picked on a farm in Perry in the early morning and delivered to our store that same morning seven days a week,” says Justin. “It is fresh as can be all summer long.”

Along with corn, you’ll find locally harvested pickling cucumbers, wax peas, English peas, green beans, candy sweet onions, zucchini, yellow squash, cauliflower, cabbage, eggplant, garlic and tomatoes aplenty overflowing on the produce racks.

“We have the largest and freshest selection of Ohio-grown produce in town,” comments Justin. “People don’t realize how many varieties of tomatoes and peppers there are. You’ll find 20-plus different varieties of peppers in our market, including shishito and sweet banana. And we have more than a dozen different colored heirloom tomatoes.”

The store is also chock-full of homegrown Red Haven peaches from Berlin, along with blackberries, blueberries, sour cherries and apples.

While Georgia may be known as the Peach State, for couple of months Ohio’s peaches rival those down south. Whether you are baking peach pie or want to try chilled peach soup in the Bistro at Miles Farmers Market, peaches are oh-so juicy right now.

Not only does Miles have the largest selection of locally grown produce, its staff is knowledgeable. If you need help picking out a ripe melon, for example, they will assist you by looking for one that has a little give to it when you touch it, one that has a fruity aroma and one that has more of a golden color as it ripens.

“August is the best time of year to get fresh, local produce because everything is in season,” says Justin. “We have the best quality produce anywhere in the city.”

Miles Farmers Market is located at 28560 Miles Road, in Solon. Visit MilesFarmersMarket.com for store details.