very prairie

Back-to-school ads are blitzing televisions and newspapers, the Minnesota State Fair is a few weeks away and Vikings football is once again the talk of the town. It can only mean one thing: summer is almost over.

But don’t put away the sunscreen and picnic baskets yet; the best of the season has only just begun and there’s still plenty of time to enjoy them. To help you do just that, here is our list of the most delicious seasonal foods to eat and fun activities to do before our magnificent Minnesota summer comes to a close.

Top 10 Things to Eat and Do Before Summer Ends 

1. Sun-ripened tomatoes

With the morning temperatures hovering in the mid-30s and a possibility of snow looming in the dreary sky, Susan Dietrich tried to keep her hands warm and her mood light as she set up her booth on the first day of the Mill City Farmers’ Market season. Up went the oversized chalkboard listing the artisanal fare handcrafted by Dietrich for Very Prairie, her nearly four-year-old local food company, while jars of specialty mustards, bottles of rhubarb ketchup and bags of granola were carefully arranged among rustic crates, sheaves of wheat and labels made to look like the slate tablets once found in old prairie schoolhouses. As she and her assistant Kristen Ophaug prepared for the start of the market, Dietrich couldn’t help but wonder: Was it worth the effort?