Summer has arrived - and has brought an almost overwhelming array of produce to the Green City Market. From the vegetable farms, look for crisp French green beans, yellow wax beans, and purple royal beans. By mid-July broccoli heads will be at their prime, and towards the end of the month, magnificent Midwestern sweet corn should just be coming on. From the fruit farms, look for a variety of stone fruits, bush berries, and cherries. Apricots and peaches have really begun to shine as the weather has warmed and are currently showing great flavors. Consider, too, grabbing a flavorful, healthy breakfast at the market. Fresh blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries are wonderful when stirred into organic yogurt, and all of these treats are available this time of year. And the profusion of delicious diverse Michigan cherries makes entertaining a snap. Sweet Bing-type and golden Rainier-type cherries make tasty treats for your guests to nibble on. Or, for a decadent summer dessert, bake tart cherries in a cobbler, a buttery tartelette, or a crumble...Mmm.

What better time is there to consider throwing - okay, maybe gently placing - a succulent pork chop on the hardwood grill? Summer is the best season to enjoy a piece of flavorful, naturally-raised pork - deliciously complemented by grilled stone fruit from your favorite fruit stand. Look for nicely glistening meat from the butcher shop, and ask questions about how the animals were raised - on pasture or in confinement. A happy, free-ranging pig is a tasty pig!

4 oz Chopin Vodka

½-1 oz Chartreuse

Shake well, strain, and garnish with a sprig of fresh flowering Thyme.

Each year, we accumulate donations through our wine program for four deserving organizations. Their inclusion on the list is based on their work to help preserve diverse food choices, contribute to the local community, support local farmers, and help create a more sustainable future. Central Illinois Farm Beginnings is one of our current recipients.

Central Illinois Farm Beginnings is a farmer training program taught by successful farmers that focuses on sustainable and organic practices, whole farm planning, and entrepreneurship. The program seeks to facilitate the success of beginning and transitioning farmers who are growing food on smaller farms - to increase the number of acres being farmed in ways that protect and enhance the environment - and to broaden the availability of fresh, local, healthy foods.

Join Chicago's top chefs as they grill Green City Market foods at this lively, popular annual culinary event. The celebration will be held at the same location as the market, on July 27 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Tickets ($45 pre-event; $55 at gate) are available at the Market each Wednesday and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until noon, or through the website link below. All contributions support Chicago's Green City Market, a 501c3 organization, and are tax deductible. For more information click here:

4520 E. Filmore Road, Hart, MI 49420

Liberty Family Farm has been operating for seven years, and according to husband and wife Andy and Denise Wright, the operation is truly a family affair. From young to old, everyone on the farm pitches in and makes a unique contribution to the operation. Andy and Denise first took an interest in organic farming 10 years ago, when their fourth child was born with severe food allergies. Beginning with livestock farming, the Wrights have steadily expanded their product offerings over the years - and have expanded their family as well. Nine children are now enjoying life on the farm.

The Wright family firmly believes in the importance of raising livestock in a humane and ecologically sound manner. Liberty Family Farm animals enjoy sunshine, fresh air, green grass, and free range. There are no antibiotics, hormones, growth enhancers, additives, or GMOs of any kind used on the farm.

All Liberty Family Farm sheep and beef are grass fed and arrive at their finish weight through rotational grazing on chemical-free, intensively managed pastures. The Wrights' pork and poultry - chickens, turkeys, laying hens/eggs, ducks, and geese - are raised on pasture as well, and are supplemented with certified organic grains.

In addition to these livestock operations, the Wrights have now begun selling hand-dyed wool products from their flock of Romney and Corriedale sheep at the Green City Market.

"I've spent the past five years exploring this daunting food landscape, following the industrial food chain from the Happy Meal back to the not-so-happy feedlots in Kansas and cornfields in Iowa where it begins and tracing the organic food chain back to the farms. My aim was simply to figure out what--as a nutritional, ethical, political and environmental matter--I should eat. Along the way, I've collected a few rules of thumb that may be useful in navigating what I call the Omnivore's Dilemma."

- Michael Pollan