“I don’t know about you, but I think our national holiday deserves better than barbecued mystery-meat and ater-flavored beer.” That’s what Roger Doiron says on the Kitchen Gardeners International website, the folks behind Food Independence Day this 4th of July, the first eat local campaign on a national holiday. I want to participate but can I still eat watermelon?

The best tool I’ve found to find what’s local near me is from Sustainable Table, and I think they got it from NRDC. It gives you a breakdown by season and location. But then of course, I can just walk over to my farmers’ market and see what’s available too.

Here’s a list of all the things that can be found locally right now for me below. Fortunately that includes avocados, apricots, kale, strawberries, and a lot more. But I do love watermelon and I’m sure that might be coming from as far as Mexico. Yikes.

Maybe I can eat watermelon in summer in exchange for not driving and trade my emmissions. But maybe I can find watermelon grown closer to home or I’ll just enjoy the strawberries.

What’s Fresh

California (Southern): Early July

• Apples
• Apricots
• Artichokes
• Asian Pears
• Asparagus
• Avocado
• Basil
• Beets
• Black-eyed Peas
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Cherries
• Collards
• Corn
• Cucumber
• Eggplant
• Figs
• Grapefruit
• Grapes
• Green Beans
• Green Onion
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Lemons
• Lettuce
• Melons
• Mushroom
• Mustard
• Nectarines
• Okra
• Onions
• Passion Fruit
• Peaches
• Pears
• Peppers
• Plums
• Potatoes
• Raspberries
• Sapote
• Spinach
• Strawberries
• Summer squash
• Tomatoes
• Turnips
• Valencia Oranges