The List: 5 Summertime Cocktails That Use Fresh, Local Ingredients

I can’t help but notice that the farm-to-table trend that has dominated restaurants over the past few years is now extending to my favorite watering holes as well. Locally grown berries, herbs plucked from the restaurant’s own garden, cucumbers from the farmers' market, are among the ingredients appearing in cocktail menus here and across the country. My local farmers’ market in Atlanta even had a cocktail contest featuring our most popular crop: peaches.

Whether you have a small garden, a windowsill herb garden, or just access to locally grown produce from a farmers’ market, you can participate in the farm-to-bar trend too! By sourcing your cocktail ingredients from as close as you can get (and what’s closer than your backyard garden?), you’re reducing the impact of your food on the environment. Here are a few of my favorite options.