Grab local greens at outdoor markets starting Thursday

When you eat locally grown produce, you eat on Mother Nature's schedule.

And in this spring's case, that means you may not find as much broccoli as normal at the fourth annual Geneva Green Market.

Early warm weather pushed up development and harvest of some produce at Erehwon Farms of St. Charles, according to farmer Beth Propst. Broccoli was one of those that came in sooner than expected.

"A bunch of stuff got ripe a few weeks ago," said Propst, who also sells Erehwon's wares at the market's weekly indoor sale during the winter and spring. "But we still have a lot of things."

The outdoor market is open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursdays through the end of October at RiverPark, one block north of State Street on River Lane. It features food and plants grown or produced within 200 miles of Geneva, in keeping with organizers' beliefs that doing so is better for consumers and for the planet, according to genevagreenmarket.org. Consumers can get to know who grows their food, and less mileage results in less fuel use and emissions pollution. Many of the vendors attempt to farm organically or with minimal pesticide use.

Delnor Hospital is continuing its "Kids Corner" educational program for children at the market, in conjunction with Kane County's "Fit4Kane" children's wellness coalition. Professional chefs will demonstrate recipes from time to time. Matt Lennert from A Moveable Feast in Geneva will share his expertise Thursday.

Sugar Grove's Farmer Market starts up at 8 a.m. Saturday at the village hall, Route 30 and Municipal Drive. It ends at noon. The weekly market runs through the end of September. Besides buying food, you can donate food to the Between Friends food pantry, give money to the Corn Boil festival fireworks fund and drop off used books to be sold by the Friends of the Sugar Grove Library.