The summer delicacies are ripe and available at the DeKalb County Farmers Market in Smithville behind Ace Hardware. Suddenly and soon the watermelon, cantaloupe, sweet corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash, okra, and zucchini will be done. Load up on peas, beans, and sweet and hot peppers to pep up your winter dishes. Treat yourself to some locally roasted coffee, baked goods, jams, jellies, and awesome barbecue. Bring beauty and creativity into your home with unique, handcrafted items and lovingly crafted flower bouquets.
Now is the time for putting up apples. Applesauce, dried apples, apple juice, apple pie filling, jam, jelly, and butter.
I'm not much of canner, so you'll have to refer to local wisdom or the internet for instructions.  Dried apples make a wonderful, healthy snack that keeps without refrigeration. Road trips, airplane rides, and midday blood sugar crashes are all made a little better with a sweet dried apple to munch on.
You can incorporate fresh apples into your meals in creative ways. Top a salad with thinly sliced apples and red onions; serve with a sweet dressing and a creamy cheese, like chevre. Or fry up some apples with your fall cabbage. Bake chicken or pork with apple slices on top-maybe even baste the meat with apple juice.
Use a juicer to make fresh apple juice. Just be sure to enjoy fresh, as raw juice has a short shelf life. If you don't have a juicer and are feeling motivated, you could use a food processor to turn the apples to mash and then drain through cheesecloth. Use the leftover apple mash to add to a sweet bread or berry pie.
Another great way to have apples for dinner (or lunch) is to make apple quesadillas.  Heat up a dry pan to medium high and place a flour tortilla on the pan. Sprinkle the tortilla with a little cheddar cheese, put down a layer of thinly sliced apples, and sprinkle with a little more cheese. Place another tortilla on top of the cheese. When the bottom tortilla is brown, flip and brown other side. The cheese melts, and the apples soften a little.  A sharp cheddar sets off the sweetness of the apple in an especially delicious way.
Apples originated in Kazakhstan and made their way through Europe. In the late 1700s a man who would become known as Johnny Appleseed brought apple seeds to North America from Europe. This barefoot millionaire planted untold thousands of apple trees across this continent as he established orchards, sold them to other homesteaders, and moved on in search of new solitude. His and the apple's fascinating story is detailed in Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire.
You'll soon be able to choose from several varieties of local apples at the market, so get that juicer out of the cupboard and dust off that apple-peeler-corerer doodad that's been collecting dust.     Keep your eyes peeled as you're driving around the countryside. If you see a tree laden with fruit, there's a good chance the landowner won't use all that fruit. You might be able to score a bushel for the cost of your time. It's always good manners to offer something in exchange, but sometimes people are happy to just have someone else clean up their yard.