The Napa farmers market is open, and despite our late frosts and strong heat waves, there are lots of fresh, local vegetables available. You’ll find broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, strawberries and Swiss chard among the various stands. One farmer has even got pickling cucumbers for you if you want to get an early start.

If you’re planning on growing your own vegetables, several stands have vegetable starts but you’ll need to come soon to take full advantage of summer growing.

In the kitchen: Swiss chard is a great green that’s easy to prepare. Simply wash the leaves well, chop into strips and set aside without draining. The liquid will help make a nice sauce. Then sauté a little onion and garlic in a pan with olive oil over a low heat. When soft, add the wet chard leaves. The huge mound of greens will simmer down into a reasonable portion. Stir occasionally and only cook until the leaves are tender. Unlike kale or mustard greens, chard is quick cooking. Salt and pepper to taste and serve as a side dish, on rice or even as a filling in a corn tortilla.

The Napa farmers market takes place Tuesdays from 7:30 a.m. until noon and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. until noon in the north parking lot at Copia./Register

Bite me?

If you’ve got something to say, why not say it with produce?

And the witty folks at FoodTee are happy to help. Their recently launched line of whimsical shirts, aprons, yoga bags, totes and children’s clothing offers simple — and sometimes amusingly suggestive — ways of getting your point across.

Each item bears an image of a fruit or vegetable underscored by a simple declarative — T-shirts with the picture of a tomato and the caption, “locally grown,” celery (“stalker”), a carrot (“bite me”), a blood orange (“juicy”) and a red radish (“rad”).

The company donates 10 percent of profits to groups working to improve child and school nutrition programs.

FoodTee T-shirts are available for $20 to $29 from http://www.FoodTee.com /AP