The Healthyish Guide to Shopping, Sampling, and Behaving Right at the Farmers' Market

Don't be that guy.

August 1, 2018

Good farmers' market etiquette isn't just good manners—it's the surest way to know when ramps hit the market and get dibs on that last flat of strawberries. Here, Bon Appetit and Healthyish staffers share their tried-and-true tricks for farmers market success in honor of the Healthyish Farmers’ Market Challenge, our month-long celebration of peak-season produce. Get all 10 recipes here, then hit the market. Whatever you do, don't forget your tote.

Illustrations by Maria Sainte
1/21
Hug Your Farmer
I try to be friendly with the vendors—a little goes a long way. Engage with them, ask questions. There's a farmer I chat with about tomatoes. I told him I grow this variety he hadn't heard of, so one day I brought them by. I was in. But that's like the fifth date. Start small and build from there. Eventually, if they know you'll be expecting corn, they'll set some aside. When they're sold out, you'll still have yours because of those little gestures. — Brad Leone, test kitchen manager
2/21

Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
3/21
Use It All Up
Pregnant ladies get what pregnant ladies want, and when I was as big as a watermelon, I wanted watermelon. Every Saturday that fiery August, I made my husband lug home the heaviest one at the market (seedless, of course). I'd cleave it in half, then into cubes, which I packed into quart containers. Wen I ran out of containers, I blitzed the rest of the flesh in the blender, strained the juice into a pitcher, and added a pinch of kosher salt to taste. Every summer I'm reminded that watermelon juice over ice with a wedge of lime is a craving that never fades. — Carla Lalli Music, food director Get the recipe: Salted Watermelon Juice.
4/21

Photo by Brandon Harman
5/21
Consider the Compost Bin
Snap off carrot tops (unless you're making a pesto) and other excess foliage before you leave the market. It's better than tossing them when you get home, and it'll make your bags less bulky. — Aliza Abarbanel, Healthyish editorial assistant
6/21

7/21
Try Something New, Why Doncha?
It's easy to become a creature of habit at the market, with "your" cider-doughnut guy or under-the-table ramp dealer. But I try to push myself to pick up something new each time, like breakfast radishes, which turn out to be delightful little knobs when sautéed with miso butter. This forces me to open up as a human, without having to invest in a jumpsuit that makes me look like a fashionable Oompa-Loompa. I use the moment at checkout to ask the grower what to do with these mystery items. Google also helps. Sometimes it doesn't work out, like when I spent an afternoon cursing fiddlehead ferns (spirals of dirty string!) with every F-word in the book. But you won't know if you don't try. — Alex Beggs, senior editor
Photo by Brandon Harman
8/21
Go Early...
Really want to see what the fuss is about? Show up right when the market opens. That's when the product is at its most beautiful, before it's been picked over and spent the day in the sun, and you can peruse leisurely without the Instagramming tourists. Keep your eyes peeled for chefs making their runs—they'll lead you to the hidden gems. The early bird gets the ramps, as they say. — Amiel Stanek, senior editor

Photo by Brenda Kelley
9/21
Or Don't.
Sure, the produce is its most perfect first thing, but right at the end, when everyone is starting to pack up, is when you'll find the best deals. No farmer wants to go home with unsold produce, so if you're the haggling type, now's the time to make them an offer they can't refuse—a half-price case of tomatoes for sauce, say. You may not find just what you went for, but everyone leaves happy. —Amiel Stanek
Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
10/21
It's Okay to Be Superficial
Why make a salad of only red radishes when you can use a mix of Easter Egg and Watermelon radishes too? This is my time to be shamelessly superficial, picking up Fairy Tale eggplants, rainbow carrots, and Green Zebra tomatoes instead of the more commonplace varieties at the supermarket. They're equally delicious and infinitely more stunning. — Molly Baz, senior associate food editor Get the recipe: Radish Rainbow Salad.

Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Judy Mancini
11/21
Learn the Secret of the Seconds
Avid bakers and jam makers know the market's best-kept secret: seconds. This is produce that's bruised, nicked, or just past its prime and can't be sold at a premium. But unless you're eating them raw, seconds can be just as good as (or better than) the pristine stuff. Overripe stone fruit perform brilliantly in pies, giving off tons of natural sugar and pectin. Bruised tomatoes dripping with juice are perfect for a fresh Bloody Mary or saucy toast topping. They might not be on display—beauty queens, they're not—but they're often there if you ask. — Molly Baz Get the recipe: Warm Buttered Tomatoes on Toast.
Photo by Brandon Harman
12/21
Shop a Week Ahead
I like to ask farmers when they expect certain produce to arrive and disappear. If I know how much longer strawberries will be around, I can plan for any final pies or jams. Or if I want to buy in bulk, I'll place an order in advance (I've requested a flat of sour cherries—that's eight quarts—all for pitting and freezing). — Claire Saffitz, senior food editor

13/21
It's Not Just About Produce
More and more I find that there are really good meat and fish stands selling stuff that's better than what you get at the supermarket. Bring a cooler in your car if you can so you don't have to rush home after. — Brad Leone
14/21
Taste the Produce
Yes, you should taste before you buy, even if it's not on the free-sample table. This is standard practice—and there's no better way to find out if a stand (or that week's crop) is good or not. Nibble a couple sugar snaps or taste a strawberry. Just don't make a meal out of it. — Carla Lalli Music

15/21
16/21
Always get a cider doughnut, even in mid-August.
One should abide by this farmers’ market rule as loyally as the one about carrying a tote bag filled with other tote bags. The sun is beating down, the donuts have a natural warmth and a little sweat to them, the sugar sticks on your jaw—the joy of eating a cider doughnut know no seasons. As parents around you deny their popsicle-stained children these fried delights, slow down to really savor the cinnamon dusted dough. This, this is living. — Alex Beggs

Photo by Alex Lau, food styling Rebecca Jurkevich
17/21
You Literally Can't Buy Too Much Fruit
I've brought home bunches of herbs I couldn't use before they wilted and lost interest in turnips after a single meal. But I've never bought too much fruit. I've never struggled to polish off pints of berries or gotten bored eating juicy peaches over the sink. And on the rare occasion I need an "excuse" to use up fruit before it goes bad, well, that's what crumbles are for. — Meryl Rothstein, features editor Get the recipe: Plum-Cardamom Crumble with Pistachios.
18/21
Be Picky, but Not Too Picky
I love a perfect green bean as much as the next person, but I also know that picking out, say, 30 perfect green beans from a pile is a hard no. Not only is it not worth my time (a little blemish never hurt anyone) but it's also not worth the time of the people in the line forming behind me. — Emma Wartzman, editorial assistant

19/21
"It's a rarity I go to a farmers' market without a plan. It's like a grocery store to me, and most people go to the grocery store with a recipe in mind; they don't just wander the aisles. Produce still drives my menu—I know figs come in early August, so I plan for that in the kitchen."—Phoebe Lawless, chef, Baby Scratch, Durham, NC
20/21
"I never write a menu before I meet the produce. It's like naming your puppy before you get it. Smell, taste, look—just use your senses and find out what speaks to you. Talk to the farmers and get a better appreciation of where your food comes from."—Becca Hegarty, chef, Bitter Ends Garden & Luncheonette, Pittsburgh