By Kari Mar
La Conner Community News

If you’ve been waiting for peak summer produce, this might be the week to make a trip to Hedlin’s Family Farm in La Conner.

Peaches are here — both spray-free and organic — and they’re already winning rave reviews. The farm says they’re exceptionally juicy, flavorful and worth eating over the sink.

Joining the fruit stand are gorgeous apricots, while cherry season rolls on with plenty of cherries, plus both Rainier and Red (including Bing) varieties.

The vegetable lineup keeps growing, too. Fresh carrots and beets have made their debut alongside jumbo green onions, pickling dill, freshly harvested eggplant and a handful of spray-free hot peppers. Tomato season is in full swing, sugar snap peas are still plentiful, and basil has officially joined the harvest.

Flower lovers will also find the first dahlias and sunflowers of the season, along with fragrant bundles of lavender.

A couple of crops are winding down. June-bearing strawberries have mostly finished for the season, though there will still be fruit available sporadically at the farmstand. Keep an eye out for Hedlin’s iconic strawberry-shaped roadside sign—that’s your signal fresh berries are available that day.

The only crop that’s officially wrapped up is asparagus.

Looking ahead, there’s plenty more summer goodness on the horizon, including Red Haven peaches, nectarines, blueberries, fresh onions, garlic, beans and pickling cucumbers, which are expected in another week or two.

In other words: bring a bigger shopping bag. Summer is just getting started at Hedlin’s.

Kari Mar is the editor and publisher of La Conner Community News.