May's strawberries gave way to June's abundant blueberries, blackberries, and soon raspberries! Berry season is a great time to test your home preservation skills. Grab a few extra quarts and toss them in the freezer, or grab some sugar and pectin and turn them into jam. Nothing tastes better on a cold winter day than a fruity dessert or breakfast bars made from the previous summer's berries!

Berries are good for you, too! They are high in antioxidants, vitamin C, and are anti-inflamatory. Blackberries in particular have special properties that help keep your brain alert! More fun facts about blackberries can be found here.

We have a little market give away going on this week and next. Click here to complete our online survey for a chance to win one of three market gift bags!
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Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a 8 x 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Put 2 cups oats in a food processor and blend for approximately three minutes until they take on the consistency of flour. Combine with remaining two cups oats, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, sea salt and cinnamon. Add melted coconut oil to mixture and stir until well combined.
2. Measure out 2 cups of mixture and spread over the bottom of the parchment lined pan, using your fingers to press down firmly. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes until the oats just begins to brown. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place berries and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium high heat. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add tablespoon cornstarch and simmer 5 minutes more until compote is thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
4. Once the oat mixture and berries are slightly cooled, spread berry compote over oats and top with remaining oat mixture. Using your hands or a spatula, press down on the oats. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely (about 2 hours) before cutting into 9 squares. Store in the refrigerator and serve slightly chilled or at room temperature.

By The Mostly Vegan

​Ever wonder how coleslaw became the official dish of summer BBQs? It's because spring cabbages are coming out of the fields in June and early July after lettuce and other leafy greens have called it quits for the season. Every picnic needs a salad, and cabbage holds up better to the heat of summer than tender lettuce.   

Out of all of the late spring vegetables, cabbage probably gets the least amount of love. People who claim not to like cabbage likely haven't had it roasted or grilled. Roasted cabbage gets caramelized around the edges and takes on a buttery flavor regardless of whether butter was used or not. In the summer, grilled cabbage steaks are a fun vegetarian main dish or a nutritious omnivore side. 

There are many different varieties of cabbage, some green, some purple, some crinkly, some smooth, and while most are round, there are even some unique cone shaped varieties. Now is a great time to buy cabbage at the market and try some new recipes. For some inspiration, check out this list of 20 cabbage based recipes form the Kitchn.
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​Garlic scapes are one of my spring time favorites. After a winter of eating store bought garlic and onions, I get a little unnaturally excited for these early season alliums. Never heard of a garlic scape? It's not surprising, they aren't sold in the grocery store and are only available at markets for a short period each spring. Scapes are the shoots that grow from hard-neck varieties of garlic*.  They look like curly green stalks with tightly closed buds on top when they're young and tender. Farmers and gardeners harvest them in the late spring so that they won't drain nutrients from the garlic bulbs that will be dug up in a couple of months for storage. 

What to do with scapes? I chop them up small and use them in place of garlic when sautéing vegetables, toss them whole on the grill, or whizz them up into a herb pesto in the food processor. Scapes are milder than garlic, slightly sweet, and a great addition to your spring ingredient rotation.

*There are many varieties of garlic, some are hard neck, which produce scapes, and others are soft neck which do not. Most of the garlic available at the grocery store are soft neck varieties that do not form scapes.