The Best Seasonal Vegetables To Buy Fresh This Month: August Edition

Seasonal vegetables are ones that naturally grow, ripen, and taste freshest during a certain time of year and in a specific area of the country. Buying local, seasonal produce allows you to enjoy these veggies when they are at their best. It's also easier to find affordable, fresh produce in the grocery store when you shop according to season rather than choosing veggies grown elsewhere then shipped to your area.

Incorporating seasonal ingredients into your recipes will enhance flavor and offer more nutritional benefits, as well as make your meals more creative and inspired. Local produce ripens naturally under the sun, is picked at peak freshness, and gets to you faster, which often means its flavor is sweeter and richer. Reduced transit times mean less degradation of key vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Plus, because these items are available in your area, you're doing your part to minimize environmental impact. This helps local farmers stay in business and keeps money within your community.

Vegetable seasonality depends on your location, as well as local growing conditions and weather. You can find out what's in season by checking local farmers markets and produce stands, looking on websites like The Farmer's Almanac and Seasonal Food Guide, or using mobile apps that track the availability and quality of produce across the country. To determine which ones we should recommend to you, I consulted those resources and selected seasonal vegetables with the greatest availability throughout the U.S. Read on for the best summer produce to buy at the farmers market this August for fresher, tastier, and more nutrient-dense meals.

Tomatoes are botanically a fruit, but for the purposes of cooking, they are seen as a vegetable. They taste best in season because they have been ripened under peak summer sunlight in warm weather conditions, which maximizes their juiciness, flavor, sugar and acid content, and aroma. They're in-season in August across the country, making it easy to take fresh summer tomatoes to the next level and use them in sauce, salsa, pizzas, and salads.

Corn is basically the EGOT of the culinary world, as it's a botanical fruit, a culinary vegetable, and a whole grain. When sweet corn is harvested at peak freshness, its kernels are still juicy, plump, sweet, and crisp. Out-of-season corn may sit in trucks or warehouses for days, allowing the natural sugar in its kernels to turn to starch and reduce its sweet flavor. In August, sweet corn is in season throughout the U.S. Enjoy it hot off the grill or use it for salads, summer soups, or even turn fresh sweet corn into a creamy, ice-cold dessert that's perfect for hot days.

When peppers fully ripen on the vine, their natural sugars develop, they have a richer, truer flavor, and they won't be bitter or limp. They also have higher levels of vitamins. Peppers are both a fruit and a vegetable, and there are a variety of different types of hot peppers as well as green, yellow, and red bell peppers in season this month across the country. In most regions, chili peppers and bell peppers are at their freshest throughout late August. In California and the Southwest, green and red chiles peak in August, while Hatch chiles are at their best in Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico.

Late August is the best time to buy beets pretty much anywhere in the U.S. Fresh beets are rich in folic acid and antioxidants, and in the late summer through late fall they have a higher nutrient content and better flavor. The natural sugars have deepened, making the flesh tender and sweet. Plus, beet greens will have a more vibrant, earthy flavor and will still be crisp and tender enough to use in salads. Beets are incredibly versatile and can be used in a number of recipes, such as roasted with other root vegetables, added to salads, or pickled.

Summer squash is a category of fast-growing veggies including yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, tatuma, tromboncino, Zephyr, and chayote. Unlike winter squash, which has a harder rind and firmer flesh, it ripens quickly and must be harvested early while its skin is still thin and soft. Summer squash is in season in August throughout the country. Pick up an array of different types to try, and use them to make sweet and savory summer squash recipes all month long.

Eggplant is botanically a fruit, but it is used as a vegetable due to its savory taste and hearty, versatile texture. If you live in the Midwest, Southeast, Northwest, Southwest, or central part of the U.S., August is the perfect time of the year to cook with eggplant. It is much more nutrient-rich, with high levels of fiber and antioxidants. If you're not a huge fan of the flavor but want to use it as a meat alternative or take advantage of its many health benefits, there are some foolproof ways to make eggplant taste better.

String beans, also called green beans, are in season across the country in August. While you can usually buy this veggie year-round, you will be getting the freshest, crispest beans in the summer, particularly August. Buying them later in the year means they may be tough, fibrous, and limp. Fresh green beans are perfect on their own as a side dish, or used in a salad, soup, stew, or casserole. Once you've picked up a bag at your local grocer or farmers market, try out one of these green bean recipes you'll love.

Like many of the other produce items on our list, cucumbers are botanically a fruit but used as a vegetable in cooking as they are savory rather than sweet. They can be pickled, cooked, or eaten raw and used in salads, soups, and sauces. In every part of the country except the Northeast, August is the ideal time to find the freshest cucumbers in your local farmers market or grocery store. Because cucumbers grow very quickly in hotter months, early harvests will have firmer rinds and crisper, sweeter fruit. When they are picked later, excess heat may make the cucumbers taste bitter.

Peas are in season in August everywhere except the South Central part of the U.S. Like corn, peas can quickly lose flavor and freshness after picking. You shouldn't buy fresh peas out of season because the natural sugars in the peas turn into starch, and they become limp, tough, fibrous, or mushy. Buying peas in the summer, however, will ensure they taste sweet, crisp, and tender. 

Celery is harvested in August, September, and October, though you'll find it in grocery stores all year. Most of the country's celery comes from California, so when you buy it in August, you're more likely to get crisp stalks rather than fibrous, limp ones. The further you live from the West Coast, the lower the quality of the celery you'll see in the fall and winter. Fresh celery is high in vitamins and fiber as well as water. There are many creative ways to use celery in cooking, and it adds a satisfying crunch to salads, stir fries, and soups.

Scallions have a mild, somewhat spicy taste that can give almost any dish a deeper, zestier flavor. There are many creative ways to use scallions: Raw in salads, sauteed in a stir-fries, or incorporated into sauces, soups, or stews. The best time to buy scallions is from March onward, but they reach their peak in mid-summer.