| With summer in bloom, a farmers market visit will greet you with your seasonal favorites—watermelon, blackberries, corn—as well as some items that may be less familiar—cucamelon, huskcherries, Persian plums. This National Farmers Market Week (August 6-12) is a welcome occasion to celebrate all the freshness, flavor, and variety you can only find at the farmers market, and support local growers who make that bounty possible, while caring for the land and our communities. Small and mid-sized family farms, like those you’ll find at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and Mission Community Market, tend to have more biodiversity, growing heirloom and endangered varieties to preserve these delicious and distinctive foods for future generations. Here are just a few special items you often can look forward to at the farmers market, and rarely anywhere else, this summer and fall. While many summer crops have been delayed this year, you can be on the lookout for some of these unique foods as we get deeper into the season. | 
