Sunday starts off dry with more clouds than sunshine, making for a pleasant start to the day.

Temperatures will climb into the upper 70s to mid 80s during the afternoon, running a few degrees above the normal high of 73.

As the day goes on, scattered showers and a few thunderstorms will develop, especially across eastern Massachusetts. Not everyone will see rain, but it’s worth keeping an eye on the sky if you have outdoor plans later in the day.

By Sunday night, cooler and drier air begins moving in behind the system.

Monday will feel noticeably different, with a sea breeze along the coast keeping temperatures in the 70s. Plenty of sunshine will make for a comfortable start to the workweek before a summer stretch comes in midweek.

Temperatures begin a steady climb Tuesday and continue warming through the second half of the week.

By Wednesday, highs surge into the upper 80s and lower 90s.

There will also be a chance for a few showers or thunderstorms by Thursday.

“This process takes our product to a whole different level,” said Zydenbos. And, she said, it tastes delicious.

Vermont has the highest percentage of local food sales in the region (10.7 percent), followed by Maine (4.9 percent), with New Hampshire coming in third (4.6 percent), according to 2024 data from New England Feeding New England, a partnership of New England organizations advocating that the region produce 30 percent of the food it consumes by 2030. Massachusetts comes in fourth, with 3.6 percent of food spending on local items.

New Hampshire is second to last in New England when it comes to the value of vegetable sales ($23 million) and the value of agriculture ($209 million). Many farmers in the state struggle to turn a profit.

“Generally speaking, New Hampshire is a little bit behind,” said Shawn Menard, executive director of Seacoast Eat Local, a local food nonprofit, and board president at the Concord Food Co-op. Menard said other New England states have more robust infrastructure for food processing, purchasing, and distribution that supports local food production.

Since 2012, Zydenbos has operated Micro Mama’s, one of New Hampshire’s first fermented vegetable companies, sourcing local produce and transforming it into fermented vegetables sold at more than 50 locations around New England, including about 30 Whole Foods stores.

Now, Zydenbos wants to try something new, by making more processing equipment available for farmers and producers in New Hampshire and using it to introduce novel local food products. Among them: freeze-dried kimchi, a new take on a traditional Korean dish made with spicy fermented vegetables like napa cabbage and radishes.

With a $96,000 federal grant from the US Department of Agriculture in hand, she purchased new equipment, including an individual quick freezer and a freeze dryer. Food experts said the cost of the equipment is one barrier that’s prevented other small local businesses from offering similar products.

Jennifer Chadbourne, a clinical associate professor in agriculture, nutrition, and food systems at the University of New Hampshire, said freeze-dried kimchi is not widely available.

“It could be a really novel idea for the manufacturer,” she said.

Traditional kimchi and other fermented vegetables offer certain health benefits, like probiotics that can aid gut health, according to Chadbourne. She said freeze-drying can preserve the nutritional value of food since it doesn’t rely on a high heat during processing, but there’s not yet robust evidence on the nutritional profile of a new food like freeze-dried kimchi. She said flash freezing is another effective way to preserve the peak nutrients of a freshly harvested food.

For the consumer, these products are a convenient way to buy nutritious local produce outside the limited months of New England’s growing season.

“Especially here in New England, where we have such drastic seasons that impact how long we can grow food, any type of novel preservation technique is going to help us maximize our crops during the seasons where we can grow,” said Chadbourne.

The individual quick freezer Zydenbos acquired is different from a typical household freezer. It freezes produce in about 20 minutes as opposed to 48 hours, Zydenbos said. And rather than locking produce into one solid chunk, it freezes berries or broccoli as individual pieces, which makes it easier to use at home.

If freeze-dried kimchi seems a little out there, that’s a challenge Zydenbos has faced before. When she started her fermented food business in 2012, kimchi was still on the fringes of food culture in New England. Zydenbos said she had to work with state agencies as they learned how to regulate the food. Then she toured the state’s farmers markets educating consumers and evangelizing the benefits of fermented foods.

Even before that, there were her own doubts to overcome.

“When you first do it, you’re like, Oh, my god, this goes against everything that you’ve been taught,” she said. “You’re basically leaving vegetables out on the warm shelf to transform.”

“I’m going to kill somebody,” she remembers thinking while fermenting a batch for her own consumption after attending a kimchi-making workshop.

Zydenbos came to fermenting in search of healing. For years, she relied on copious quantities of probiotic supplements to ease digestive issues. When she started making kimchi, that became her new cure.

From there, a kimchi empire was born.

“In terms of somebody who really put it on the map in this region, I think Micro Mama’s is a huge player in that,” said Menard. He was the produce manager at the Concord Co-op when Zydenbos landed her account there. Menard said he hadn’t had kimchi before, but he was blown away by the flavor of her product, which was well received among the co-op’s customers.

By 2017, Zydenbos had built a facility in Weare on a property that had been in her family since the 1970s. The fermenting dens now contain 40,000 pounds of vegetables in production, all subject to strict federal and state safety regulations. She sourced stainless steel fermenting tanks from Italy and Germany to avoid using plastic containers.

When Whole Foods first came to New Hampshire, Zydenbos put her line of products forward – including kimchi, sauerkraut, and fermented carrots and beets, sourced from New Hampshire farms. The food safety work she had done with state agencies paid off, Zydenbos said, when she was able to show Whole Foods her quality control measures.

Now, with her new equipment, Zydenbos is planning to add freeze-dried kimchi to her lineup, as well as launch a spice line and food that will appeal to hikers, campers, and preppers.

“The possibilities are endless,” she said.

With the individual quick freezer, she can produce frozen carrots, beets, potatoes, and French-fry cut potatoes, which could be sold at local grocery stores or to New Hampshire restaurants.

Zydenbos views these efforts as a way to help farms access markets they haven’t been able to reach given a lack of processing equipment, licensing, or capital. She said the demand already exists.

Bruce Wooster of Picadilly Farm in Winchester, N.H., has been selling produce to Zydenbos for about five years. He said her new endeavor with flash frozen and freeze-dried produce could help growers extend their selling season.

“All the local farms have their crop coming all at once,” he said. “It can be tough to spread out those sales, but by freezing you can spread things out and not be like, ‘Hey, we’ve got to sell it this week before it spoils.’”

The Concord Food Co-op is one local grocery store that’s eager to include local frozen produce on its shelves.

“We have frozen vegetables that fly off the shelf,” said Josh Belanger, the store’s former general manager. “I think if we had them locally they’d do even better.”

Josh Marshall, assistant commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food, said the new equipment will help make more local food available.

“For a small producer to be able to buy directly from small, New Hampshire farmers, and do this, this seems relatively cutting edge,” Marshall said.

Amanda Gokee can be reached at amanda.gokee@globe.com. Follow her @amanda_gokee.

New Jersey’s most welcoming towns pair walkable main streets with year-round arts calendars and centuries of preserved history. Some carry deep Revolutionary War legacies. Others grew up around an art museum or a resident orchestra. Free jazz fills Nishuane Park. The Mayo Performing Arts Center hosts touring Broadway shows. Expect Victorian beach streets, summer Shakespeare, and old battlefields. All places where strangers get treated like neighbors.

Cape May

Cape May built its hospitality on its bed-and-breakfast district. Longtime innkeepers remember returning guests by name. The city holds one of the largest collections of 19th-century frame buildings in the country. That Victorian architecture earned it National Historic Landmark status in 1976. Cape May stands at the southern tip of the state’s coast, where Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean.

Beach access stretches past Cove Beach and Poverty Beach to the central stretch near Beach Avenue. The Washington Street Mall handles shopping and dining inland. The 1859 Cape May Lighthouse still operates at the southern point. Visitors can climb its 199 steps for a view of the bay and ocean below.

Princeton

Princeton turned its university art museum into a public town square. The free museum opened a new building in October 2025 and holds more than 117,000 works. Princeton University began as the College of New Jersey in 1746, among the oldest in the country. Its collegiate Gothic campus stays open for self-guided architectural tours.

Bookstores and cafés line Nassau Street and Witherspoon Street downtown. Princeton Battlefield State Park preserves the ground where George Washington beat British troops in January 1777. The Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park follows the old canal corridor nearby. Level paths there suit walking and biking.

Morristown

Morristown holds the country’s first national historical park. Established in 1933, it preserves the site where the Continental Army camped through the brutal winter of 1779-1780. The town carries one of the deepest Revolutionary War legacies anywhere. The National Trust for Historic Preservation named it a Dozen Distinctive Destination. The Ford Mansion served as George Washington’s headquarters and stays open for tours. Acorn Hall, Historic Speedwell, and the MacCulloch Hall Historical Museum round out the historic-house circuit.

The Mayo Performing Arts Center on South Street books classical music, touring concerts, and Broadway shows year-round. The Morristown Green gathers the downtown restaurant and shopping scene around one public square.

Madison

Madison hosts the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at Drew University. It is the state’s only professional company devoted to Shakespeare and the classics. Performances fill the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre through a long summer season. The town stands about five miles east of Morristown.

Independent cafés, bakeries, and boutiques fill Main Street and Waverly Place. The Museum of Early Trades and Crafts occupies the 1900 James Library building. Its displays show the tools New Jersey artisans used in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Montclair

The free Montclair Jazz Festival fills Nishuane Park each year. Emerging and established players make it one of the larger jazz gatherings in the region. The town rests on the eastern slope of the Watchung Mountains. It keeps one of New Jersey’s busiest arts calendars. The Montclair Art Museum on South Mountain Avenue centers its collection on American and Native American art.

The Alexander Kasser Theater at Montclair State University books dance, music, and theater all year. Restaurants and shops line Bloomfield Avenue in the Montclair Center district. The restored 1922 Wellmont Theater hosts touring concerts and comedy.

Westfield

The New Jersey Festival Orchestra calls Westfield home and plays venues around town all year. Shops, boutiques, and restaurants fill the Union County downtown along East Broad Street and Elm Street. The 1922 Rialto on East Broad Street was long the town’s movie house. It is being reborn as the Center for Creativity, a community arts venue for film, performance, and exhibitions.

Mindowaskin Park holds a pond, walking paths, and picnic spaces near downtown. The Spring Fling and FestiFall events bring music, food, and family activities to the blocks each year.

East Brunswick

Giamarese Farm and Orchards keeps a pick-your-own operation in East Brunswick. It offers seasonal fruit and vegetable picking, a corn maze, and autumn hayrides. The Middlesex County town leans toward families. Butterfly Park sets aside green space for butterfly conservation. Crystal Springs Family Waterpark gives a summer cooling-off spot.

Playhouse 22 stages community theater, plays, and concerts year-round. The East Brunswick Public Library hosts programs and exhibits as a cultural hub. Bicentennial Park and the Tamarack Golf Course cover the sports side. Route 18 puts New Brunswick and the central Jersey corridor within easy reach.

Hospitality You Can Walk To

Hospitality here shows up in small, repeatable ways. The Morristown Green fills with the same faces every weekend. Princeton opens its new art museum to everyone for free. The New Jersey Festival Orchestra tunes up in Westfield. Giamarese Farm hands East Brunswick families a basket every fall. None of it is staged for outsiders. These towns built their welcome for the people who live there. The rest of New Jersey keeps showing up anyway.