This is the time of year when I start making weekly trips to Okagawa Farm. With the exception of early summer crops like peas and cherries, virtually all locally grown produce is available now.

Okagawa has been around for many years and I am pleased and relieved to see that they seem to have survived the rerouting of Unaweep Avenue that was necessitated by the construction of the 29 Road bridge over the Colorado River several years ago. Crowds still flock to the farm, first in early spring for bedding plants, then throughout summer and fall for delicious local produce.

When arriving at Okagawa the first thing you will see is  the market building adjacent to a row of greenhouses.  But it is likely, this time of year, that the delicious aroma of roasting green chilies will first alert you that you are near your destination. Okagawa grows and roasts a whole range of green chilies: College, Barker, Big Jim, Sonora, New Mexico, and Anaheim to name a few. Heat levels can vary from meek and mild to downright evil. For me, nothing beats the smell of fire roasted chilies expect for peeling and eating one right on the spot while it is still warm. It is a primal sensation, fire and food and the waves of endorphins released by capsaicin.

I step through the screen door, and after greeting Leta, co-owner of Okagawa, and Billie, her longtime assistant, I check the chalkboard to see what local produce is available. This time of year the board gets pretty crowded: peaches, apples, pears, plums, raspberries, blackberries, corn, beets, okra, chilies, potatoes, squash, watermelons, cantaloupe, cucumbers, tomatoes, and on and on.

Each week there are small changes to the list. Pickling cucumbers more or less finished up last week just as apples began to appear. I picked up one of the very last half-bushels of the cucumbers. They became a 5-gallon bucket of garlic refrigerator pickles in the cooler at the culinary school that will find a way on to the Chez Lena menu in 3-4 weeks.

Okagawa is a canner's paradise. Many of the customers make their purchases by the bushel and box, putting up jam, pickles, salsas and sauces for the cold season. For me, this week's project will be peach preserves and next week will be dedicated to salsa.

As summer winds down, ripe red chilies will be strung into ristras to dry under the eaves of  the market above piles of pumpkins. Then it will be time to add pumpkin tamalitas in red chili cream to the menu, no?

To get to Okagawa Farm take either the new 29 Road bridge or Highway 50 heading south out of downtown Grand Junction and turn onto Unaweep Avenue just as you plateau out on Orchard Mesa. Turn north on Rocky Pitch, take a right turn at the end of the street and drive several hundred yards to your destination.