The week of June 7

The cherries are already gone

In a normal year, California cherries run to the third week of June. This year the season was essentially over by Memorial Day. The hottest March ever recorded compressed the bloom — the fruit came on all at once, early and soft — and then three May rains split what was hanging. Growers packed roughly 5.5 million boxes against the 10 million expected, and by the first of June the industry was calling it: done.

What that means under the freeway on Sunday: don't build your basket around cherries. The few you may see are the tail of the tail, or trucked down from the Pacific Northwest as its season opens. If cherries were your June ritual, pivot one table over — apricots are in their own brief window right now, and a Blenheim doesn't wait for anyone. We'll tell you when the Northwest fruit is worth it.

At peak this week

• StrawberriesPeak, and the safe bet of the week. The flats are full and the price is friendly — see the anchors below.
• ApricotsThe brief window. If you see Blenheims, buy them that day — this is a two-week fruit, and after the March heat, maybe less.
• Peaches & nectarinesFirst early varieties trickling in. Good, not yet great — the July flood is still a month out.
• Zucchini & squashArriving in volume, getting cheaper by the week. Fritter season opens.
• CucumbersStarting. The cold-soup move is live.
• BasilFirst bunches. Whatever herb the market has, this week it's this one.
• Sweet cornJust starting — early ears, still settling in.
• TomatoesHothouse and cherry types handing off to the first field fruit. The big slicers — and the dry-farmed Early Girls — are an August story. We'll wait with you.

Price watch

Nobody publishes farmers-market booth prices, so we print the real anchors that do exist, labeled for exactly what they are:

What we expect at the booth: berries near or under the grocery ad price by the basket — and better by the half-flat, which is where peak season pays you. That's our expectation, not a quote. Paid something different on Sunday? Tell us — your receipt makes next week's dispatch sharper.

Shopping with EBT? The market info booth doubles your produce money up to $15 — peak-season strawberries, effectively free. How it works, and which markets.

Do this with it

A $4 basket becomes nine bars. Peak berries are the cheap ones — strawberry oat crumble bars, one bowl, one pan.

First peaches, zero effort. Ripe enough to tear by hand — stone fruit breakfast bowls, ten minutes, no stove. Cook it, then log it.

The week's markets

• SunCentral Market, 8th & W under the freeway — 8am–12pm, year-round
• SunMeadowview, at the light rail station — 9am–1pm, in season now
• ThuFlorin, at the light rail station — ~8am–12pm
• SatMidtown, 20th between J & K — 8am–1pm

Full market guide, EBT details, and the rest of the county: markets & benefits.

Sources for this dispatch: USDA AMS National FOB Review (Jun 3, 2026) and National Retail Report (wk of May 22, 2026); 2026 cherry season reporting via FreshFruitPortal, AgNet West, and Fruitnet (Jun 2026); seasonality per Foodwise/CUESA. Verified Jun 5, 2026. Art: USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection, public domain. Something's off? Report it.