Editor's Note: This post has been updated for clarification.

When you think "apples," you probably picture cool October days and candied Halloween treats. But North Carolina apples are already beginning to come down from the mountains, and Slow Food Charlotte is collaborating with the Piedmont Culinary Guild (PCG) to share the wealth. After a day picking heirloom apples in an historic orchard near Pilot Mountain, PCG member chefs will bring the fruits of their labors back to their kitchens, to the benefit of Charlotte-area diners.

It all started with a Slow Foods event last year featuring Lee Calhoun, whom member Steven Case describes as "the godfather of apples." A former professor of agronomy at N.C. State and author of 1995's Old Southern Apples, today Calhoun is responsible for a treasure trove of heirloom trees at Horne Creek Farm, a North Carolina Historic Site in Surry County. When the historic living farm established its orchard in 1997, the owners turned to Calhoun and his wife Edith, who grafted and planted 800 regionally distinct apple trees. Today the orchard serves as a sanctuary for 400 varieties that might otherwise be lost.

Turkeys are dumb.

I too was taken in by Benjamin Franklin's assertion that these wild fowl deserve recognition for their wiliness, but Carl Wagner of Carlea Farms has since disabused me of that notion. He's raised our Thanksgiving turkeys for the past five years, and has regaled us with stories of bird-brained escapades and frustrations.

• Carlea Farms

It took us a few years to get the timing right to be added to Wagner's turkey list, because who's thinking about Thanksgiving in the middle of summer? Yet that is when the young poults arrive on local farms and settle in for a few months of pastured plumping. Sammy Koenigsberg is also raising turkeys at New Town Farms in Waxhaw, where he recently welcomed 200 of the little bird brains.

Every summer it's the same thing: piles of tomatoes at the market, and loads of dithering. At this year's annual Tomato Tasting Day at the Matthews Community Farmers Market, patrons sampled and voted on 30 different varieties. With that kind of assortment, how the heck are you supposed to know which one to buy?

• Alison Leininger

I have to confess, for much of my life I confused figs with dates. They were both seed-filled, squishy, brown fruits that I didn't eat often. But a few years ago, Pat Sain of Pat's Pickin's handed me a pint at the Matthews Community Farmers Market, and I started a new friendship with this dumpy little fruit. They're in season again right now, and you've only got a couple more weeks to enjoy their sticky sweetness.

According to Sain, growing fig trees isn't hard, though they do need a little protection in the winter. "Usually a fig bush is up against somebody's barn or outhouse or something," he says. Since they normally freeze back during winter, they typically top out at about eight feet tall. While the trees themselves are fairly disease- and maintenance-free, the fruit is another story.

Strolling through Charlotte's diverse farmers markets makes for a great Saturday morning pastime. Yet, as you peruse the aisles and stands brimming with colorful ingredients for dinner, you might find yourself wondering, "Yeah, well, what's for breakfast?"

There was a time, not long ago, when ready-to-eat options at our local markets were confined to sugary muffins and dessert treats. Today, many vendors have stepped up to fill the gap, and you'll have a much easier time finding a hearty, healthy breakfast to match the healthy stuff in your tote bag.

Choosing a CSA can be like herding cats. With all of summer's fresh produce displayed at the farmers market, you may feel ready to join the club ... if only you could understand what that means, exactly.

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and operates vaguely like a book-of-the-month club. You sign up for a share in a farm's harvest, paying upfront for a season's worth of produce to be distributed weekly. It's a large upfront investment, but it's the most convenient way to enjoy the plethora of local food available in Charlotte.

Every farm's CSA is different, so making apples-to-apples comparisons between them can be difficult. Here's a brief overview of the questions you should ask, and some of the answers you might find.

Chefs all over Charlotte are gearing up for the 10-day run of Queen's Feast, which begins this Friday. As much as area restaurants look forward to the increased traffic through their dining rooms, they aren't the only businesses boosted by this biannual event. All that food has to come from somewhere, and for many local suppliers, that takes a little extra planning.

In Fort Mill, chef Luca Annunziata expects to see an overall bump in business of 10 to 15 percent at his Passion8 Bistro. Preparing for his eighth Restaurant Week onslaught, he'll see the average number of Saturday evening guests jump from a typical 50 diners to 150.

There's nothing like walking into a cool, dimly lit bar on a bright summer morning and fondling some melons. That's no euphemism. Saturday mornings, The Evening Muse and its diurnal incarnation The Daily Press are now hosting NoDa's own farmers market.

At the Matthews Community Farmers Market, a woman stands at the Walnut Ridge Farm booth, holding what looks like a light green flying saucer the size of a lunch plate. Even after proprietor Daryl Simpson names the squash's variety - Early White Bush - and describes its taste, she has one remaining question. "So...how would you cook this?"

• Alison Leininger
• An array of Walnut Ridge Farm's squash.

At Newtown Farms in Waxhaw, Sammy Koenigsberg is growing seven different varieties, all of them falling under the label of "summer squash." Regardless of color or shape, these types possess thin skin and a relatively short shelf life, and fall into three general categories: familiar yellow squash, green zeppelin-shaped zucchini and the flying-saucer patty pan type. While they all display "subtle variations in flavor, shape and color," Koenigsberg says they are interchangeable in cooking. "For example they could all be used in a squash casserole, sautéed with onion, [or] brushed with olive oil and grilled."

So, why bother with more than one variety? According to chef Chris Coleman, who currently plays with five different kinds in the kitchen at The Asbury, "They all bring different things to the table."

Food lovers know that we eat with our eyes before the first morsel touches our tongue. So as summer comes a'calling, it's no surprise to see flowers popping up on plates all over town. Squash blossoms may be headliners (read this post) but from bachelor's buttons to zinnias, Charlotte's chefs are playing with all types of colorful blooms.

• Kim Shaw
• Asparagus with chive and sage flowers

Flowers are pretty, but you might wonder whether they bring real flavor to your food. A recent Facebook conversation initiated by chef Joseph Bonaparte (former culinary director at the Art Institute of Charlotte, currently at Horry-Georgetown Technical College in Myrtle Beach) raised just that question. "[Is] putting little flowers on your plates the new micro greens?" he wondered.