I made this summer produce guide to help you enjoy fruits & vegetables in season during June. Ideally, you can find the sweetest, tastiest peaches, sweetest berries, and buttery corn at a local farmers market (but even that isn't guaranteed).
If you do end up with some bland produce, I've still got you covered. It happens, but most of the time a subpar fruit or vegetable can be saved. Berries can be cooked and reduced into a concentrated sauce for ice cream. Corn can absorb a smoked flavor from the grill then slathered in an herb butter. Watermelons can be sprinkled with a chile lime salt.
I'll cover the top level, most practical tips for produce in season this month. For more information and recipes, check out the guide dedicated to each specific fruit and vegetable.
Fruits
- Cherries
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Blackberries
- Raspberries
- Apricots
- Peaches
- Nectarines
- Plums
- Figs
- Grapes
- Melons
Vegetables
- Artichokes
- Asparagus
- Corn
- Cucumbers
- Eggplant
- Green beans
- Peas
- Rhubarb
- Bell peppers
- Sweet onions
- Tomatoes
- Zucchini & summer squash
June seasonal fruits
Summer fruit season starts in June, with cherries and strawberries being abundant in almost every region of the US. Early peaches, plums, and apricots are available now, even in the cooler northern states, and they are at their peak in the hotter southern climates.
To get the best tasting fruit this summer, go to a U-Pick or farmers market. The fruit is usually picked fully ripe the morning of the market - guaranteeing the best quality.
When delivered to a grocery store, fragile fruit like strawberries, raspberries, peaches (etc), have to be picked while still hard to survive transport and storage. Once picked, these fruits stop developing flavor but will still soften and turn color. This makes it really difficult to pick out a good tasting, fully tree (or vine) ripened fruit.
Cherries
Cherry season is actually quite short, so keep an eye out for them at the farmers market in June. In warmer climates, they were available last month and into this month.
However their peak season can be as late as June or early July in cooler climates. In the heart of Midwest's cherry region, the Traverse Cherry Festival in Michigan happens over the 4th of July weekend.
They'll be available at grocery stores nationwide because they ship fairly well compared to most fruit. This means that cherries imported from other states will still have good flavor. Don't get me wrong, when left to fully ripen on the tree, they are even better, but it isn't as dramatic as some of the other summer fruits.
Sour cherries are great for pies and are generally available in June & July where they are grown. They have a small growing region and most of the national producers are in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Strawberries
June marks peak strawberry season for most of the US and I highly encourage you to buy them at the farmers market. Strawberries don't ship well when fully ripe, so they are picked when still mostly white and hard. The berries continue to turn red but don't get sweeter or more flavorful.
Farmers market vendors often also pick them a bit early, but not as early as commercial growers. If you've ever picked your own perfectly ripe berry, you know how fragile they are. To survive transport, even market growers can't wait until they are fully ripe. If the farmers allow it, sample a strawberry before purchasing.
I've started to grow my own after years of disappointing strawberries. Farmers markets generally sell pretty good ones, but not the outstanding ones I had from my parents garden as a kid. I'm currently growing several varieties in my backyard: mara des bois, fairfax, sparkle, and a few others.
If you get strawberries without flavor, they can still be useful. Cook them down into a concentrated syrup for ice cream, add them to a lightly flavored salad dressing, roast them to bring out their sugars, or any other ideas in this strawberry recipe collection.
Pineberries
Pineberries are a light pink or white-ish variety of strawberries. Their flavor is very similar, sometimes having a hint of tropical notes (although I personally haven't noticed that in their flavor). It's possible that's because they've been picked to early, so I am growing a few in my yard and will report back.
I've seen these show up on grocery store shelves as early as the beginning of April. The commercial growers for pineberries are in warmer climates and they seem to be reliably stocked at Whole Foods and occasionally found at Trader Joes and other national chains.
They are usually more expensive than regular strawberries, but are worth it if you're looking for a cute pink presentation.
Blueberries
Blueberries have a shorter season than strawberries and other summer berries. They usually show up in May (or April in much warmer areas), and last until August. June and July tends to be the peak season for most of the country.
Ripe blueberries are highly perishable, so you are unlikely to find the best ones at a supermarket. Unripe berries have hints of red or green, however after a few days they will turn blue (but not get sweeter). This makes the quality hard to determine without a taste test.
Luckily, they grow well in most parts of the US, so you can usually find them at a nearby farmers' market in summer or even a u-pick farm. Blueberries that have been left to fully ripen taste divine. Farmers market blueberries taste much better than grocery store options, but home grown blows them all away!
Farmers market blueberries can be pricey - so eat them right away or store them properly. When you bring blueberries home, store them in a single layer, on a tray lined with paper towel. A bad blueberry will ooze purple juice onto the paper towel. This makes them easy to spot so you can throw them away.
Blackberries
Fully ripe blackberries are sweet and flavorful. However, when harvested too early, they often taste bitter. Seek them out at a farmers market for your best chance at getting high quality, vine ripened blackberries this month.
If the ones you have are bitter, you can try a few things to fix them: add sugar, fat, salt, or simply cook them to break down some of the bitter compounds.
Raspberries
Raspberries are probably the most fragile and perishable summer fruit. It can be worthwhile to buy them in the morning at a farmers market, as opposed to the afternoon, because a hot June day can quickly reduce the shelf life of harvested berries.
When you get them home, put them in the fridge right away. Ideally, spread them out on a paper towel-lined plate, which will catch any juices and slow down mold formation. Ripe raspberries will last 24 hours in the fridge, or up to a few days if you are lucky.
Peaches, plums & nectarines
Summer stone fruit starts to hit peak production in June in warmer climates. In cooler climates, the earlier varieties start becoming available, but later varieties (in general) have more flavor. Stone fruit are the ones with pits, including apricots, peaches, plums, nectarines, as well as cherries.
A peach that has fully ripened on the tree is so flavorful and juicy, it's not something you forget. The ones at farmers markets are more ripe than grocery store options. However, for a fully ripened peaches (etc), you'll have to grow them yourselves or be BFFs with a neighbor who does.
Fully ripened peaches and nectarines are incredibly fragile. They bruise with the slightest touch and the skin easily breaks open. I grow them myself and can see how it would be practically impossible for even a market farmer to provide ones this ripe.
When at the farmers market, ask for a sample before buying, if they allow it. And don't squeeze them to pick one that is ripe - that will bruise each fruit. Ask the farmer or buy what you see and they will soften on the counter within a day or two.
Currants
If you're interested in farmers market-exclusive fruits, keep an eye out for currants starting this month. They have a 2-3 week harvest window depending on the variety, found from June through August.
June fruit guides
The guides below provide practical tips and recipes for all of the fruit in season in June. I didn't cover all of them specifically in this article, so be sure to check out the other available fruits, including figs, grapes, and melons.
June vegetable season
Pretty much every summer vegetable shows up this month: early June for hotter climates, and later in the month for everyone else. Most will be at their peak in July and August.
Unlike fruit, most of these vegetables ship quite well, so they should be high quality even at the grocery store. While I love supporting local farmers at the market, it isn't always practical.
Tomatoes are the one exception. They don't ship well and will taste better when picked up from a farmers market or CSA box. (They are scientifically a fruit, along with a few other 'vegetables', but are classified as a vegetable for culinary purposes).
I want to highlight a few vegetables perfect for June.
Corn
Fresh picked, in-season corn is sweet with a ceamy-crisp texture. The old saying that you should "have a pot of water boiling before you pick your corn" used to apply to the old types of corn. This is because the corn would convert half of its sugar to starch within 24 hours of harvest.
Modern types of corn start with 2-3 times more sugar in the first place and it converts to starch very slowly. Their quality can last a week or more in your fridge. The tradeoff has been more sugar or less corn flavor.
The only type of corn you can buy, even at a farmers market, is one of the modern varieties. If you want that old timey corn flavor, you'll have to grow it yourself, or hunt around for a specialty seller. If that interests you, look for "Standard (su)" corn.
When buying fresh corn, look for ones with fresh husks that aren't dried out. That indicates the corn is fresher. If there are black spots on the husks, that's normal. The silks will likely be brown, which is totally normal as this happens when they become ready to harvest.
If the tips of the cobs are missing kernels, that is totally okay and not an indication of quality. It just means the last of the corn silks didn't get pollinated.
Zucchini & summer squash
Zucchini have to be the most abundant, affordable, and versatile summer vegetables. They can be used to make a creamy soup base, stuffed, grilled, and even made into pickles.
Try a new zucchini recipe this month. Pretty much any summer squash are interchangeable with zucchini in recipes.
Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes are the first to arrive in summer, usually around June for most climates. In hotter areas and in greenhouses, they ripen a lot earlier. Medium sized and larger beefsteak tomatoes ripen a bit later, often not until July for most climates, or even August for the coolest areas.
For salads, I prefer cherry tomatoes because I've found them to have the most reliable flavor. They are almost always bright, acidic, with at least a noticeable tomato flavor. Larger beefsteak tomatoes can be great or incredibly bland and it's near impossible to figure that out without tasting them.
Bland tomatoes can be cooked down into a thick sauce or roasted in the oven with herbs to concentrate their flavor. If tomatoes are too acidic, try mixing them with a lower acid vegetable like zucchini or eggplant.
Bell peppers & other sweet peppers
Peppers ship and store well, so we are lucky enough to enjoy them year round. But when they show up at local farmers markets in June (for most of the country, or earlier in hot climates), I like to use them as a featured ingredient in recipes.
Green bell peppers are unripe orange, yellow, red, or even purple peppers. Because they aren't fully ripe, they have a more vegetable and sometimes bitter flavor. When let to ripen, their flavor sweetens and turns slightly citrusy.
Don't overlook other sweet pepper options. Sweet peppers don't necessarily taste sweet - instead, they lack any significant amount of spiciness. One of my favorite summer peppers are Jimmy Nardellos, perfect for pizza. You might find them at a farmers market, but not likely at a grocery store.
June vegetable produce guides
Summer produce ramps up in June and continues to be abundant throughout July and August. For more tips and recipes, check out the other guides for what's in season this month.
More seasonal guides
