It used to be true that people could only eat what was in season. Either they grew the food themselves or bought it directly or one step indirectly from the producer. The vast layers of abstraction and the globalized food trade has made it easy to get decent food year ’round all over the United States. Having come into adulthood in these conditions, I’ve always felt very detached from the seasonal nature of crops and livestock, and have also wondered why food just never tasted as good as it did when my mom made it.

Well, I’ve figured out a couple things. First, my mom is a great cook. Second, when I was growing up, we had very large gardens tended by my dad, and the food quality of the groceries we purchased, I think, was higher. In that spirit, I present to you the locally-grown foods you should be eating right now if you live in Georgia (according to the Georgia Department of Agriculture):

• Apples are just starting to come into season
• Lima beans are almost gone. Get ’em now!
• Pole beans are strong right now and rated a “buy”
• Blueberries are so over, but if you find local ones, they should be OK through the middle of the month or so
• This is when we eat the cabbage.
• You can now forget about cantaloupes
• Eggplant and grapes are hanging in there. Get the eggplant now, though
• Coninued muscadine profusion throughout the region
• Okra has begun it’s long, slow slip into nothingness
• Cry about the peaches, but rebound with Pears
• I heard the pecans are coming next month
• Sweet peppers and Irish potatoes have hatched a plan to be gone by next month to avoid the pecans
• Mid month marks the appearance of the peak sweet potato season
• Squash, tomatoes and watermelon will linger on for a few months, but their best times are behind them

You can keep up with the drama at the State of Georgia’s Department of Agriculture website.