How Sweet It Is!

Sweet corn is a seasonal treasure. It’s one of our favorites to enjoy all summer long, especially in peak growing season here in the Northeast! We’re proud to source sweet corn locally when the season rolls in, but did you know that this crop takes a sourcing journey all the way up the East Coast each year, before our region’s annual bounty hits?

May
Warmer weather typically hits our region in full force by mid-May, and the people of the Northeast hit their backyards. Early in what we like to call “grilling season,” we’re usually tapping into Florida’s sweet corn season, as our Northeast farmers plant, water and tend to their fields.

June
By June, the summer season is officially setting in. Around here, the weather heats up, the sun stays out and our sweet corn starts to come in a bit closer. We move our map pin from Florida to Georgia, and begin bringing in Georgia-grown sweet corn for a while. Northeastern cornstalks have sprouted by the end of the month, in preparation for harvest in a few weeks. We can hardly wait.

July
Weather factors heavily into almost all of the crops we source locally each year, and sweet corn is no exception. While we prepare for the mid-July checkered flag on our beloved local sweet corn, we source our corn in parts of North Carolina and Delaware, where local corn season has set in. It’s delicious, as was the Floridian and Georgian corn, but we’re chomping at the bit for corn from our backyard!

It’s Here!
Sometime between mid and late July each year, our favorite point in the local agriculture season hits: sweet corn season. Our Produce teammates smile from ear to ear, pun intended, as crates from friends like Shaul Farms in Fultonham, New York, Paul Mazza Farms in Colchester, Vermont, and more start to arrive. This amazing season seems to go by in the blink of an eye, much like the holidays do, and typically lasts until mid-September. Our local farmers deliver consistently during this time, and we can’t get enough!

Want to read more about home.grown. produce season in the Northeast? Check out our blog at pricechopper.com/blog!

Food Safety Tip
Gently rub produce under cold running water. Scrub firm produce with a clean vegetable brush under running water.