We’re Paige and Mason. The Bend Banner is our way of keeping tabs on this wild, beautiful place we call home. To the mornings that start with coffee and mountain air, the trails that somehow always lead to a brewery, and the kind of small-town stories that remind you why you chose to live here in the first place.

Farm Fresh Dinner

There is this short stretch of the year when Bend's farmers’ markets have basically everything at once.

We are in it right now.

Walk through any of them this week, and you will still find tomatoes, corn, peppers, and melons stacked next to each other. But now apples, winter squash, and more.

It is the one week when summer and fall are both fully in season.

And honestly, this might be the easiest stretch of the year to cook well in Bend.

Start with the tomatoes. Yes, they are pricey right now. Grab one anyway. It is worth trying just one, even with the price tag. If you can swing it, grab a few, because heirlooms this good do not stick around long.

Pick the ugly one. The lopsided, slightly bruised, weird-shaped tomato is usually the one that tastes the best. Cut from the side, a little olive oil, salt, fresh pepper, and you’ll be set.

This is also the time of year to ask the farmer standing behind the table. "What's good this week?" They will tell you. They know what came in early, what is about to be done for the season, and what had a strange, perfect year because of the weather.

Then go home and build dinner around whatever they said.

Most of Bend's markets run through the end of September this year, so we are down to about three weeks before things start winding down for the season.

Our own CSA box from Fields Farm this week was tomatoes, corn, onions, green beans, garlic, potatoes, and carrots. That is dinner right there, barely any effort required. Roast the carrots, char the corn, sauté the beans with the onion, slice the tomatoes with salt and call it done.

Fields Farm is the last working farm still inside Bend's city limits, out on Pettigrew Road, and their season runs through the end of October. If you’ve never been, stop by their farm stand and try a few things. Maybe next year you’ll have to join their CSA with us:)

The point is the same. For a few more weeks, some of the best food in Bend is not at a restaurant. It is sitting in a market booth downtown, or waiting at a farm stand in east Bend.

So go get the tomatoes. Especially the ‘ugly’ ones.

This is issue 53, which means we have officially been doing this for a full year now.

52 Tuesdays. 52 mornings of hitting send and wondering if anyone would actually read it.

We started this because we love Bend, plain and simple. We wanted an excuse to notice it more, to actually stop on the trail instead of just finishing the loop, to figure out why a scrubby yellow plant on Pilot Butte matters more than we ever gave it credit for.

Turns out writing about a place is a good way to fall more in love with it.

So thank you. For opening these every week, for clicking on the weird stuff, and for telling your neighbor about us.

Here's to another year of walking past things twice, just to be sure.

This Week’s Conditions
☀️ Sunrise: 6:36 am
🌅 Sunset: 7:28 pm
High Temp: 83°F
Mt. Bachelor: First Snow
Local: ‘Cozy, Cute’, Indoor Spots

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🐾Bend’s Best Good Boys & Good Girls 🐾

🐶 Princess – 11 Months, Mix
She came in scared and undersocialized, but months of patient work from volunteers have paid off. She loves other dogs, leans hard into cuddles, and looks to whoever's on the other end of the leash for guidance.

🐕 Benson – 2 Years - Mix
Came in as a stray and took a while to come out of his shell. Now he's a total sweetheart, happy to take pets and treats from anyone. His adoption fee is already sponsored.

🐶 Bella – 9 Months, Belgian Malinois Mix
Young, active, and still figuring out the basics. She'd do best with an owner ready to teach her some tricks and maybe get her into agility or scent work.