Your guide to the fruits and vegetables at their peak this month.
August is the height of summer abundance. The days are still long, the heat is still here, and the produce hitting farmers markets and grocery shelves right now represents some of the most flavorful, nutritious eating of the entire year. This is the month when summer staples are fully in stride and a few early fall harbingers start quietly making their appearance.
Whether you're grilling, blending, pickling, or just eating straight over the sink, here's your guide to what's worth reaching for in August.
🍅 Heirloom Tomatoes
If July is when tomatoes arrive, August is when they peak. Heirloom varieties — Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Green Zebra, Sun Gold — are at their most complex and deeply flavored right now, the result of weeks of slow ripening in summer heat. No cooking required: a thick slice with good olive oil, flaky salt, and fresh basil is one of the most perfect things you can eat this month.
Tip: Heirlooms are delicate. Handle them gently, store at room temperature, and use within a day or two of peak ripeness — they don't hold as long as commercial varieties.
🌽 Sweet Corn
August corn is the gold standard. The sugars are at their peak and the kernels are tender and full — this is what corn is supposed to taste like. Grill it in the husk for smoky sweetness, cut it off the cob for salads and salsas, or make a simple corn succotash with whatever else is in season right now (zucchini, peppers, and cherry tomatoes are all ideal companions).
Tip: Corn converts sugar to starch quickly after harvest. Buy from local farm stands when possible and cook it the day you buy it for the best flavor.
🍑 Late-Season Peaches & Nectarines
While early peach varieties wind down, late-season peaches and nectarines hit their stride in August — often richer and more complex in flavor than their early-summer counterparts. Freestone varieties make August particularly good for preserving: the pit releases cleanly, making them easy to slice for jams, chutneys, and freezer stash for the colder months ahead.
Tip: August is an excellent time to buy peaches in bulk at peak ripeness and freeze them. Slice, lay flat on a baking sheet to freeze individually, then transfer to a bag — they'll keep for months.
🫐 Figs
Fresh figs are one of August's most fleeting and most rewarding pleasures. Black Mission, Brown Turkey, and Kadota varieties are all in season, with a brief window that rewards those paying attention. Eat them fresh with ricotta and honey, roast them with balsamic for a savory-sweet side, or slice over yogurt with a drizzle of tahini. Their season is short — don't wait.
Tip: Fresh figs are extremely perishable — they'll keep only a day or two at room temperature or up to a week refrigerated. Buy in small quantities and use quickly.
🍆 Eggplant
Eggplant is prolific and deeply flavorful in August heat. Globe, Japanese, Chinese, and Italian varieties are all abundant, each with slightly different textures and flavor profiles suited to different cooking styles. Roast until caramelized and collapsing, grill in thick planks, blend into baba ganoush, or simmer low and slow in a late-summer ratatouille.
Tip: Smaller eggplants tend to be less bitter and have fewer seeds than large ones. Look for firm, glossy skin with no soft spots.
🌶️ Hot & Sweet Peppers
August is peak pepper season across the board — from sweet Italian frying peppers to fiery jalapeños, serranos, and Anaheim chiles. This is the month to roast and freeze peppers for winter, make a fresh hot sauce, or stuff and grill sweet varieties for an effortless weeknight dinner. Shishito peppers, mild with occasional heat, are a summer grilling favorite that's at its best right now.
Tip: To roast and preserve peppers, char directly over a flame or under the broiler, steam in a covered bowl, then peel, seed, and freeze in portions. August peppers frozen now are a gift to your October self.
🥒 Summer Squash & Zucchini
Zucchini and summer squash have been going strong since June, but August gardens and farm stands are practically overflowing with them. The key is catching them young — smaller squash are more tender and flavorful, with fewer seeds and thinner skin. Shave raw into salads, grill with olive oil and herbs, bake into zucchini bread, or spiralize into noodles for a light, no-cook summer meal.
Tip: If you find yourself with more zucchini than you can eat (a common August problem), grate and freeze it in cup-sized portions for baked goods and soups all winter.
🍇 Grapes
Late summer grapes — Concord, Muscat, Thompson Seedless, and wine varieties — start coming into season in August, intensely sweet and aromatic in ways that out-of-season grapes simply aren't. Eat fresh, freeze for a simple snack, roast in the oven with olive oil and thyme for a surprising savory topping, or pair with cheese for an effortless late-summer spread.
Tip: Concord grapes, with their deep purple skin and musky flavor, are worth seeking out at farmers markets in August — they have a brief season and taste nothing like what you find in grocery stores year-round.
🧅 Cipollini Onions & Shallots
August brings a bounty of fresh-harvested alliums — sweet cipollini onions, torpedo onions, and newly cured shallots with concentrated, complex flavor. Roast cipollinis whole until caramelized and jammy, pickle torpedo onions for a bright condiment, or use fresh shallots as the flavor base for late-summer vinaigrettes and sauces.
Tip: Fresh-harvested onions and shallots have higher moisture content than shelf-stable varieties. Use them within a few weeks or store in a cool, dry, well-ventilated space.
🌿 Basil (Peak Season)
August is the absolute peak of basil season — lush, fragrant, and abundant before the first cool nights signal it to bolt and turn bitter. Make pesto now and freeze it in ice cube trays for the months ahead. Layer it generously into caprese. Tear it over pasta, pizza, and grilled fish. Use more than you think you need, because its season is genuinely fleeting.
Tip: Basil hates cold — don't refrigerate it. Store stems in a glass of water on the counter, like flowers, and use within a few days of purchase.
🍎 Early Apples
While the main apple harvest peaks in September and October, early varieties like Gala, Lodi, and Yellow Transparent begin arriving in late August — a first hint that fall is quietly on its way. These early apples are softer and more delicate than storage varieties, best eaten fresh or cooked quickly rather than stored.
Tip: Early apples don't keep as long as fall varieties. Buy in smaller quantities and plan to use them within a week or so of purchase.
Shop What's in Season
August produce is summer at its most generous. The flavors are deeper, the variety is wider, and the window for much of it — figs, late peaches, peak basil, heirloom tomatoes — is shorter than it feels. Shop local and seasonal whenever you can, and eat with the calendar. The difference in flavor is something no grocery store import can replicate.
At Love.com, we're committed to supporting a food system that's better for people and the planet — starting with what's on your plate right now.
Check back each month for our seasonal produce guide, or explore our collection of sustainably sourced pantry staples and kitchen essentials to make the most of what's in season.
