Summer heat got you beat? Cool off with a variety of fruits and vegetables for a refreshing and healthy way to hydrate, that’s full of important vitamins and nutrients.

And the “berry” best way to get produce fast and fresh is when it’s locally grown. You’ll find the shelves in the Produce Department of Strack & Van Til peppered with fresh-from-the-farm options that are ripe for the picking.

“We work hard to source the freshest products, regardless of the growing region, so you can trust the quality. That’s why we have a buyer at the Chicago produce market who inspects the produce we buy,” notes Produce Department Director Jonathan Carlson. “We source fruits and vegetables to provide the freshest, most delicious eating experience, and we ask you to ‘lettuce’ be your one-stop shop for locally grown produce.”

Grab a bunch of Indiana-grown fruits and vegetables now available such as sweet corn, green cabbage, red cabbage, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant and pickling cucumbers.

In August, you’ll find sugar-sweet watermelons, mouth-watering muskmelons and crunchy carrots from Indiana, along with tasty tomatoes from Indiana and Michigan in your local Strack & Van Til Produce Department. This fall, sink your teeth into apples from the Strack & Van Til Michigan apple partner, plus pick up some Indiana and Illinois-grown pumpkins for Halloween carving, baking and seed toasting.

The produce experts at Strack & Van Til define “locally grown” as produce grown in Indiana or any bordering state bought during the peak season to offer in their stores. Transporting fruits and veggies a shorter distance is a really big “dill.” Carlson notes that “when we buy local, we can get produce from the fields to our stores in a day or two, and it hits our shelves fresher.”

By buying local, Strack & Van Til also supports family businesses and farms — many of the same local growers, year after year, including Garwood Orchards, Scheeringa Farms and Herr Farms.

Garwood Orchards has farmed the same land in LaPorte County since 1831, making it one of Indiana’s oldest and most deeply rooted farms. Today, cousins Tom, Brian and Mike Garwood continue the legacy started by John Garwood. With more than 350 acres under cultivation, the Garwood family farm grows everything from crisp apples and juicy peaches to sweet corn, berries and vine-picked vegetables, all with the same commitment to quality and care passed down through six generations.

Scheeringa Farms began in 1940, when Farmer Bill first planted roots in Highland. What began as a roadside produce trailer in 1967 blossomed into a third-generation family farm known for its homegrown produce, vibrant hanging baskets and a state-of-the-art 30,000-sqauare-foot greenhouse. Now run by Farmer Don and his daughters Jeannine, Jennifer and Janille, the farm blends tradition with innovation, offering everything from just-picked heirloom tomatoes and peppers to crowd-favorite local honey and sauces. Every tomato, pepper and ear of corn is grown with pride and picked at its peak, so when you bring Scheeringa produce home, you’re taking home a piece of the farm and a taste of summer and sharing in the same homegrown goodness nurtured for three generations.

Family-owned Herr Farms and farm stand, just south of Lowell, has been in business for 50 years. It’s more than just a kernel of truth that their Indiana corn is “a-maize-ing,” and their cantaloupe and peaches are the sweetest this side of the Mississippi. They also offer a variety of vegetables for sale and u-pick.

Bite into the refreshing tastes of summer. Find a fresh crop of locally grown produce at your nearest Strack & Van Til store.