Summer is in full swing in Central Oregon, and the Wednesday Farmer’s Market in downtown Bend is bustling.

With baskets and nylon shopping bags in hand, eager shoppers survey the goods, chat with vendors, and meet up with friends. Bend has a pleasant, small-town vibe where people stop to chat, grab coffee, or make plans to hear music or drink beer — just my kind of town. And, just my kind of farmer’s market. It’s compact and manageable, with everything I need to jumpstart my culinary mojo, and more — Bontà Gelato and Lone Pine Coffee Roasters have stands here too, but that’s another delicious story for next week.

Bunches of fresh mint call to me and I’m pretty sure they’re saying mojitos, please.

I stroll along the single line of stalls running the length of Brooks Alley— a quaint, brick-lined lane, full of cool little shops and cafés overlooking Mirror Pond. The air is thick with the fragrance of fresh herbs — basil, dill, and parsley tease me ever so sweetly as I make my way through the crowd of excited market goers. With an overwhelming craving for potato salad now consuming my every thought (there’s just something about summer that brings it on), I head out in search of ingredients for the salad, and something cold to sip on. A quick stop at the Humm Kombucha stand proves a refreshing treat — Strawberry-Lemonade kombucha on tap, yum.

Groundwork Organics is an enormous table of summer goodness, a one-stop vege shopper’s delight.

With so many amazing produce vendors to chose from, it’s hard to pick just one. Groundwork Organics has everything I need to realize my potato salad dream. Freshly unearthed potatoes are displayed in sturdy baskets beneath the Walla Walla onions, sitting pretty next to a bounty of beautiful garlic bulbs. There are beets, squash, and beans — everything I need for a wonderful summer feast. Plus, super ripe peaches and berries for my first ever galette (I’ll keep you posted). Then, there are the beacons of summer — the melons.

I’m going to make a huge confession here, I’ve never been a big fan of sprawling, summertime markets and festivals. The heat, the crowds, the smell of caramel corn. I think I’m the only one who doesn’t like the smell of caramel corn, is there therapy for this? I usually wilt in the sun and retreat to a shady corner somewhere — overwhelmed, overheated, and exhausted. The worst thing is that I usually lose all of my enthusiasm to buy ingredients for cooking or eating (something that rarely happens, and if it does, you know something is gravely amiss). Don’t get me wrong, I love summer, but until moving to Bend, I didn’t realize that given the right circumstances, I could actually enjoy a farmer’s market. Let the summer lovin’ begin!

Photos by Shanti Nelson: (from top) Bend Farmer’s Market A bounty of sumptuous heirloom tomatoes (just perfect for my caprese salad), freshly harvested potatoes, and beautiful bulbs of garlic at Groundwork Organics