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Blackberry season is just around the corner.

Blackberry-picking season is right around the corner. In fact, in the next several weeks, blackberries will be ready for picking at several local farmers' markets. Don't be fooled by the early berries growing on the side of the road because those are dewberries, not blackberries.

Tommy Neal from Neal's Farm & Farmers Market explains that dewberries are ripe right now and blackberries will be three weeks from now.

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Photo by Barbara Rich

Do you dare to eat a peach?

We all know that we should thoroughly wash our fruits and vegetables after buying them from the grocery store or farmers market. That doesn't mean there isn't still pesticide residue left on the produce items, however.

According to nonprofit advocacy agency Environmental Working Group, a lot of the most commonly consumed fruits and vegetables still contain a large amount of pesticide residue. If you want to avoid most of these pesticides, buying organic is the way to go, especially for the ones ranked highest on the list. Here are the top five fruits and vegetables that made the EWG's Dirty Dozen list and Clean 15 List found in their Shopper's Guide to Pesticide in Produce.

Let's start with the bad news first.

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Photo by Katharine Shilcutt

For all of the wonderful things that our Houston farmers markets offer, a consistent daily location isn't one of them.

On one hand, it's incredibly convenient that there are farmers markets spread all over town for those who can't drive downtown on Wednesdays to catch the City Hall farmers market, for example. On the other hand, there's something nice about farmers markets like those in Dallas, where you know that the vendors will be waiting there for you nearly seven days a week. There are pros and cons to both sides, of course.

The good news, however, is that one of our largest and longest-running farmers markets is about to be open all weekend long -- great news for anyone who was never quite able to make it out to the Urban Harvest Eastside Farmers Market on Saturdays.

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Kelly Sue

Grow any of these five herbs to add outstanding flavor to any spring or summer dish.

One of my favorite things about spring and summer is getting to eat fresh fruits and vegetables at just about every meal. Herbs are a great addition to any dish and during the spring and summer seasons, they bring out the wonderful flavors of freshly picked produce.

Sherri Harrah of Plants for All Seasons on 249 says that several different herbs can grow in one container together, making it easier for you to maintain them, but you need to maintain other environmental factors to keep them alive.

"Houston is the land of the air conditioner," Harrah says, "and they need the difference between day and night. They need the humidity, and it is too controlled inside."

Herbs also grow quickly outside. Harrah says they're like a haircut: The more you pick the herbs, the faster they grow.

Here are five herbs you can easily plant and take care of all on your own. No need to buy bottles of herbs to season your food.

5. Lemon Garden

Sandra Killough, owner of Bonnie's Greenhouse in Waco, says that she loves to make a lemon garden filled with lemongrass and lemon balm. Not only will these herbs keep mosquitoes off of your garden, but lemon balm is a wonderful lemony green herb that adds a fresh flavor to fish, chicken and vegetables. Lemongrass is a great addition in Thai cuisine or other Asian dishes.

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Photo by Molly Dunn

It's not too late to grow tomatoes, and you don't need a garden to do so.

One would think that living in the heart of Houston doesn't lend itself well to growing tomatoes for the summer season. Things would be much easier if there were more open space and more sunlight to grow a pot of tomatoes, right?

Recently, I spoke with Sherri Harrah, from Plants For All Seasons on 249, and learned how to successfully plant a pot of tomatoes in an urban community. Although it is optimal to start growing them in January, Harrah says that you can still grow tomatoes even though it's later in the year.

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Goats: Reason #129 why you should go meet Tyler at the farmers' market.

If you told Tyler Horne five years ago that he'd one day be managing a farmers' market, he'd call you crazy. Fast forward to today and that's just what he's doing.

Who he is:

Horne is a Houston-raised nice guy with a passion for motorcycles, fishing and all things outdoors. Despite the fact that he had a full plate at the time -- night classes and a demanding career as an IT project manager -- Horne began volunteering at the Urban Harvest Farmer's Market a few years ago.

Why? Gardening had always been a hobby of his. Plus, he needed something to "make an honest man out of him." And being up and at the market by 6 a.m. every Saturday did just that.

After years of juggling his career and volunteering as a market assistant (a labor-intensive position that he enjoyed, though he claims he was pretty much a glorified trash boy), the opportunity to join Urban Harvest full-time arose.

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Photos by Katharine Shilcutt

Chef Randy Evans chats with Animal Farm vendors at the City Hall farmers market.

Arriving just in time for some seriously pleasant weather and National Strawberry Day, the 2013 season of the City Hall Farmers Market is kicking off today downtown. This marks the fourth year that the market has been operating in front of City Hall on Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

For opening day, chef Randy Evans of Haven and Cove will help celebrate National Strawberry Day by demonstrating his strawberry vinaigrette tossed with arugula, candied pecans and pink peppercorn goat cheese, and handing out samples to market-goers. Additionally, look for strawberries -- and blueberries -- from new vendor The Berry Best, a berry farm located in Silsbee.

Other new faces among the 30 to 40 vendors that line both sides of the City Hall reflecting pool include Java Pura Coffee Roasters, offering locally roasted coffee with a full coffee bar if you need a caffeine kick, and the Fraiche food truck, specializing in meals made with local produce and other ingredients.

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Photo by Christina Uticone

I squeeze you!

To juice or not to juice -- a question we have been asking ourselves for quite some time. "Juicing" seems a bit faddish to me, but a few months ago my husband did a brief juice cleanse and he really enjoyed it*. A few weeks ago our friends Pete and Dolores came to visit from Austin, and brought along with them their super-fancy juicer. Pete and D are vegetarians, and they are pretty enthusiastic about their new juicer. I can't lie -- they both look great, and a combination of working out more and juicing has them in the best shape I've ever seen them.

We purchased approximately a thousand pounds of produce at Urban Harvest Farmers Market and H-E-B that weekend with the intention of juicing ourselves into hangovers (champagne cocktails with fresh fruit juice) and out of hangovers (Bloody Marys with fresh veggie juice). By Sunday, I was seriously considering purchasing a juicer -- but where to start?

*He did not really enjoy it. He says now he really enjoyed it, because he enjoys purchasing expensive kitchen equipment we may or may not really need.

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Hello, lover...

Oh my gosh, you guys. Up until last week, I never knew my life was missing something. I've found a new love; a real love. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy and fills me with...joy. It's really the only thing that makes sense anymore. It's spaghetti squash.

I first fell in love with it when I used it to mimic noodles in a chicken pad Thai dish. It was easy, spicy, nutty and incredibly satisfying. It was also a bit like crack -- days later, I was still thinking about it. I needed more squash in my life. Enter baked squash and cheese: a lighter, vitamin-packed version of bad-as-shit-for-you mac 'n' cheese.

Now I know the possibilities are endless, but here are two healthful, addictive recipes to get you started (or keep you going) on your spaghetti squash journey.

It's One Squash, Two Ways:

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You've probably heard of community-supported agriculture programs that allow you to pick up boxes of farm-fresh produce each week, like Utility Research Garden. And you may have heard about companies such as Austin-based Farmhouse Delivery, which delivers CSA boxes straight to your door. Now another Texas company is aiming to take home delivery one step further, by rounding up local produce with the best local products in Houston and bringing them to your doorstep.

Greenling.com offers a variety of different boxes filled with groceries and other goodies, but also allows people to customize their own boxes with a variety of produce, meats, dairy products, dry goods, prepped food and other options. There's an "After School Snack Box" for $25.76 that includes snackable portions of fruits and vegetables, for example, or a "Local Pantry Starter Box" that stocks your shelves with olive oil, cornmeal, honey, pasta and more.

And then there's the "Local Box," Greenling's most popular box, which is stocked with anywhere from nine to 11 items of seasonal produce per week -- each from area farms. Lately, it's been filled with cucumber, broccolo, kale and butternut squash from Gundermann Acres, grapefruit avocado and oranges from G&S Groves, and mixed greens and radishes from Animal Farms, among others.

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