Season Update

September 2026 Produce Parable

By Adam Calder, Wheatsfield Produce Manager

As the season shifts from summer to autumn, so to do our produce offerings change with the local weather. We had an excellent season for local produce this spring and summer. We even had Iowa organic peaches, and that is a treat we only see every few years. All the delicious Iowa sweet corn, piles of cucumbers, pounds of tomatoes, baskets of zucchini, pints of raspberries and bouquets of flowers are on their way out. The butternut, spaghetti, delicata and acorn squash are on their way in, along with pie and jack-o-lantern pumpkins.

We have had steady supplies of kale the past couple months, and will continue to for the next couple. Kale likes cool weather, and it thrives in the chillier autumn months. Just around the corner will be a bounty of Iowa apples, as we usually start getting them around the end of September and the beginning of October. Apples need warm, sunny days and cool nights to develop color in their skins and flavor in their flesh. Lucky for us, Iowa usually provides exactly those conditions this time of year.

Right on the heels of the apples, we usually get our first Iowa chestnuts of the season. These will be in stock while supplies last, which is normally through December. Unfortunately, there will not be any local aronia berries this autumn. The farmer who provides them for us hurt his hip, and will not be able to harvest any of his berries. This year, those berries will be a treat for birds and deer.