Happy end of the year or whatever holiday season you celebrate. Actually, I think we should observe ALL winter solstice-type celebrations....but maybe that's just me. I don't need an excuse to get together with friends to enjoy good food and company! Plus, I've always wanted to do an "airing of the grievances"......Bill won't let me.
We've been busy going through seed catalogs and making lists of what seeds to buy and where to plant everything next year. We are moving most of our production to the Manito farm, so we aren't really sure where we should plant everything. Luckily, we've got a few months to figure it all out.
The Great Strawberry Experiment of 09 is coming along well. The plants got in the ground and established themselves well and are now covered with a heavy duty row cover. Now we just wait to see what happens in the spring. If all goes well (or even sort of well) we should have some berries by the first part of June. I'll keep you posted.
Bill and I wish all of you warmth, peace and good food this holiday season!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
BRRRR!
I had a little FROST on my windshield this morning! Yikes--must mean winter isn't too far behind!
How have you all been? I've seen lots of you out & about at the market! Yes, I still go, even though I'm not selling. Hey--we have to eat, too! Plus, there is so much good late fall stuff available--butternut squash, pumpkins to eat & display, Indian corn, apples, root veggies. You still can find tons of leafy greens, some tomatoes & squashes and green beans. With only two weeks left in the market season, take a quick spin through the market and stock up! I've stocked up to cover my absence this weekend--I'll be in Indiana--to get me through to the last market on October 25. Truly fresh produce lasts SO much longer--get it while you can.
We've been enjoying our time off and starting to plan for next year. Bill and the crew got all the strawberries planted finally! This is a gamble on our part: strawberries can be fussy and early spring in IL doesn't always cooperate. One variety is already blooming, so part of Bill's weekend fun will be to go and pinch off all the blooms. What this exercise does, other than keep him out of the deer stand, is help the plant channel its energy into becoming stronger & more healthy. A large, healthy plant in the spring will produce more berries! This is our first foray into small fruit production; much more involved than eggplant or sweet corn!
The last thing we will do this fall is plant our garlic. Our Garlic Guru advises us to wait until we've had a freeze (getting close) before planting. Last fall, we planted about 900 cloves--we thought that was plenty! Sadly, it wasn't even close enough--I need 900 heads of garlic for myself! I've saved back about 10lbs from this year's harvest to plant, plus ordered a BIG box of garlic from Seed Savers. It will take a few years, but my goal is to eventually grow enough garlic so that I have my own stock.
Anyone read the funny pages in the Pantagraph? I'm hit or miss usually, but I understand that the Pantagraph is holding a vote to see which new comic strips they should include. I've been contacted by Jeff Corriveau, the creator of DeFlocked, one of the strips in the running. Jeff is a farm boy(grew up in or next to a dairy barn!) now living the LA life and has created one of the funniest strips since Far Side featuring a cynical and sassy sheep. Go check out some of his strips here: www.deflocked.com. Then go to the Pantagraph and vote for his strip!
Make sure that you have the Thanksgiving Market on your calendars for Saturday, November 22! The last two years have been fabulous with vendor & customer turn out--so come and be a part of it all! It is from 10 am to 2 pm at the US Cellular Coliseum (yay! indoors!) and in addition to all the farmers, the artists will be represented with local holiday gift ideas! Get your turkey day shopping AND holiday shopping done in one day! For complete information, click here. I will there, maybe with sweet potatoes and some squash. I will also have CSA memberships available for next year. If this is something you've been considering, stop by and ask questions! CSA is a very simple way to eat fresh, local foods all summer, especially if you have a difficult time making to to our area farmer's markets.
I'll be posting over the winter, so check often! I won't send out an e-mail alert unless there is something that I think needs attention. I'm sure I'll see many of you out and about this winter. If I don't, have a safe and warm winter and see you in the spring!
How have you all been? I've seen lots of you out & about at the market! Yes, I still go, even though I'm not selling. Hey--we have to eat, too! Plus, there is so much good late fall stuff available--butternut squash, pumpkins to eat & display, Indian corn, apples, root veggies. You still can find tons of leafy greens, some tomatoes & squashes and green beans. With only two weeks left in the market season, take a quick spin through the market and stock up! I've stocked up to cover my absence this weekend--I'll be in Indiana--to get me through to the last market on October 25. Truly fresh produce lasts SO much longer--get it while you can.
We've been enjoying our time off and starting to plan for next year. Bill and the crew got all the strawberries planted finally! This is a gamble on our part: strawberries can be fussy and early spring in IL doesn't always cooperate. One variety is already blooming, so part of Bill's weekend fun will be to go and pinch off all the blooms. What this exercise does, other than keep him out of the deer stand, is help the plant channel its energy into becoming stronger & more healthy. A large, healthy plant in the spring will produce more berries! This is our first foray into small fruit production; much more involved than eggplant or sweet corn!
The last thing we will do this fall is plant our garlic. Our Garlic Guru advises us to wait until we've had a freeze (getting close) before planting. Last fall, we planted about 900 cloves--we thought that was plenty! Sadly, it wasn't even close enough--I need 900 heads of garlic for myself! I've saved back about 10lbs from this year's harvest to plant, plus ordered a BIG box of garlic from Seed Savers. It will take a few years, but my goal is to eventually grow enough garlic so that I have my own stock.
Anyone read the funny pages in the Pantagraph? I'm hit or miss usually, but I understand that the Pantagraph is holding a vote to see which new comic strips they should include. I've been contacted by Jeff Corriveau, the creator of DeFlocked, one of the strips in the running. Jeff is a farm boy(grew up in or next to a dairy barn!) now living the LA life and has created one of the funniest strips since Far Side featuring a cynical and sassy sheep. Go check out some of his strips here: www.deflocked.com. Then go to the Pantagraph and vote for his strip!
Make sure that you have the Thanksgiving Market on your calendars for Saturday, November 22! The last two years have been fabulous with vendor & customer turn out--so come and be a part of it all! It is from 10 am to 2 pm at the US Cellular Coliseum (yay! indoors!) and in addition to all the farmers, the artists will be represented with local holiday gift ideas! Get your turkey day shopping AND holiday shopping done in one day! For complete information, click here. I will there, maybe with sweet potatoes and some squash. I will also have CSA memberships available for next year. If this is something you've been considering, stop by and ask questions! CSA is a very simple way to eat fresh, local foods all summer, especially if you have a difficult time making to to our area farmer's markets.
I'll be posting over the winter, so check often! I won't send out an e-mail alert unless there is something that I think needs attention. I'm sure I'll see many of you out and about this winter. If I don't, have a safe and warm winter and see you in the spring!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Ends and Beginnings
Sorry for no post last week--I had a busy week and a serious case of the lazies.
This Saturday, 9/27, will be our last week at the Bloomington market. Initially way back last November, we decided to finish the market year and grow a large fall crop: hard squash, pumpkins, exotic pumpkins, collards, arugula, sweet potatoes and the like. With a rainy July and a few hurricanes later (11 inches if you're keeping score), our fall "garden" has subcome to the disease that has plagued us all year.
Overall, this has been a good year--how about some numbers?
But before strawberries, what can you get this week?
This Saturday, 9/27, will be our last week at the Bloomington market. Initially way back last November, we decided to finish the market year and grow a large fall crop: hard squash, pumpkins, exotic pumpkins, collards, arugula, sweet potatoes and the like. With a rainy July and a few hurricanes later (11 inches if you're keeping score), our fall "garden" has subcome to the disease that has plagued us all year.
Overall, this has been a good year--how about some numbers?
- Number of transplants--between 20,000 and 23,000
- Acres under production--30
- Number of tomato plants--900
- Number of markets per week at peak season--7
- Number of onion sets planted--9,000
- Varieties of tomatoes--12
- Number of greenhouses burnt to the ground--1
But before strawberries, what can you get this week?
- We still have sweet corn! This is the last of it for the year--it will be 9 months before we have any more.
- Sweet potatoes
- Potatoes
- Cucumbers
- Summer Squash
- Spaghetti Squash
- Collard greens
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Looking forward
Ok, enough with the reminiscing--time to move forward and look ahead! We are already planning for next year's growing season and markets--just waiting for the seed catalogs to start arriving! By the time we order, the pages are dog-eared, sticky, torn, missing covers and sometimes pages! We love our seed catalogs and always seem to order more each year.
We usually place our orders in mid to late November. This ensures that we get our seeds in time to start them under the lights; as some seed companies won't send out seeds until closer to the growing season. But......guess what we got yesterday! Go, on--GUESS!
These utilitarian cardboard boxes contain........STRAWBERRIES! We decided to venture out with another large, labor intensive crop. Fruit is something that is not very prevalent at our markets. The Application Committee has discussed ways to attract local fruit growers to our market, but the fact is, there aren't very many around this area. So, we decided rather than lament the fact there aren't any/many strawberries/grapes/berries/etc being brought to the market, we would see if we could fill that gap. Planting should begin next week and if all goes well (cross fingers and toes!) we should have some sort of crop in June 09. I'll keep you posted.
While in the PSA mode of keeping you fine folks up to date on local events, I have a reminder and two, yes, two! local event announcements!
The cooler weather is really dictating what we bring to the market (getting back on topic!); for a few weeks now, Bill has told me that "zucchini is coming along, shouldn't be too long". Well, all the cool weather isn't encouraging the plants to produce much fruit. Maybe by Christmas............
Bill did pick the first acorn squash last night! yay! I love the hard fall squashes, so versatile! They can be diced and sauteed, grilled or pan fried, boiled & mashed, made into soups: the possibilities are almost endless. Plus, they are good savory, spicy or sweet AND good for you. We may have some this Saturday; gotta do what Mother Nature lets us do!
Lineup for Saturday:
We usually place our orders in mid to late November. This ensures that we get our seeds in time to start them under the lights; as some seed companies won't send out seeds until closer to the growing season. But......guess what we got yesterday! Go, on--GUESS!
These utilitarian cardboard boxes contain........STRAWBERRIES! We decided to venture out with another large, labor intensive crop. Fruit is something that is not very prevalent at our markets. The Application Committee has discussed ways to attract local fruit growers to our market, but the fact is, there aren't very many around this area. So, we decided rather than lament the fact there aren't any/many strawberries/grapes/berries/etc being brought to the market, we would see if we could fill that gap. Planting should begin next week and if all goes well (cross fingers and toes!) we should have some sort of crop in June 09. I'll keep you posted.
While in the PSA mode of keeping you fine folks up to date on local events, I have a reminder and two, yes, two! local event announcements!
- This Thursday, September 11 from 5 pm to 7 pm, the ISU Hort Center is hosting a Nutraceutical Evening for the public to learn about what they eat and how it affects their health. There will be garden tours, info booths, Farmer's Market (yes, Bill Mitchell and Bill Davison will be there!) and seminars. The Hort Center is located on Raab Road, south of Heartland College campus.
- Looking for something new and exicting to do on Saturday night? Synergy Rhythm and Dance, a local bellydance studio, is presenting a special show featuring the Chicago dance troupe, Blue Lotus Tribe. Bellydancing is gaining popularity, not only as an expressive art form for women, but as a way to maintain fitness and overall health. Synergy's performance is on Saturday, September 13 at the Normal Community Activity Center, 1110 Douglas St in One Normal Plaza, in Normal (formerly the Soldiers & Sailors Home). The doors open at 7 pm. For more information, go to Synergy RAD's website.
- On Monday, September 15 at 7 pm, there will be a FREE screening of the documentary, The Future of Food, along with a panel discussion. The panel discussion topic is creating a viable local foods system in Central Illinois--something ALL OF US should be very interested in.
The cooler weather is really dictating what we bring to the market (getting back on topic!); for a few weeks now, Bill has told me that "zucchini is coming along, shouldn't be too long". Well, all the cool weather isn't encouraging the plants to produce much fruit. Maybe by Christmas............
Bill did pick the first acorn squash last night! yay! I love the hard fall squashes, so versatile! They can be diced and sauteed, grilled or pan fried, boiled & mashed, made into soups: the possibilities are almost endless. Plus, they are good savory, spicy or sweet AND good for you. We may have some this Saturday; gotta do what Mother Nature lets us do!
Lineup for Saturday:
- Sweet corn! Still! We are into the last patch and will have corn for another week.
- Watermelon
- Sweet Potatoes
- Potatoes
- Cucumbers
- Summer squash
- Eggplant--try dehydrating them and using in place of chips with hummus! Yummy!
- Green Peppers
- Apples !! In a suprise move, a few of our apple trees have produced fruit that is worth picking. They are small and not pretty, but make incredible applesauce!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Looking back
Toward the fall, Bill and I look back over the season and take stock: what worked, what didn't work, do we stay with this market or try another one, what to plant and where, equipment purchases, etc. We keep records of how we perform in each market to mark growth or if it isn't worth the time, fuel and labor costs to go there. While we mainly look at the current season, I've been comparing our ups & downs from 2005, when we started keeping actual records (before it was just slips of paper, randomly shoved in a drawer).
2008 is our 8th year in this business and not only have we seen growth in our business, but also growth in other farmer's operations and farmer's markets. When we first started, we came to the Bloomington market late in the season (mid-July) in 2000 with just sweet corn and 100 or so cantaloupe. The market was very small with perhaps 15 vendors. It started at the corner of Washington & Main and went the one block to Jefferson Street, where it turned the corner.......and pretty well died. We were on the south corner and Frank Merrick was across the street to our north and some lady selling eggs next to us. Oh, the vendors faced. the. sidewalk. so there was traffic in the streets [ETA--Elaine has a better memory-the streets WERE blocked--she struggled with the heavy barricades back in the day, so maybe it was THOSE people that thought they were special]......if you were there, you know what I'm talking about. It just didn't hit the right note. What brought us back? The people. We met some really cool and interesting folks that first market and guess what? They came back to see us the next week! They liked our corn! They liked local food! They liked seasonal food!
We got more involved with the development of the Downtown market, as did other farmers, and as a group started making small changes to improve the market and hopefully draw more customers on Saturday mornings. The streets were completely blocked to traffic to allow the vendors to have nicer, more accessible stands and to allow for a more pleasant shopping experience for the customers. Other growers were sought out and encouraged to attend the market, especially if they grew/produced unique items. Artist's Alley was added, making our market unique. Local musical talent stepped up to the plate to entertain all of us and we've also got our own home-grown chef, Nars, who demonstrated how quick and easy it is to shop & cook from you
r local market. This year, the market hours were adjusted a bit to allow more families time to get to the market without having to set an alarm.
The most drastic change was the change to becoming a producer only market: only growers that plant, maintain and harvest their produce were allowed to be vendors. This change has resulted in some of the highest quality local produce anywhere in the country. Out of town shoppers from large cities will tell us how wonderful all the produce looks and tastes and how vibrant the market is, compared to (as I've been informed over the summer) Chicago, Atlanta, LA and Des Moines.
These changes didn't happen overnight and not without growing pains, but not only have the farmers brought their 'A' games, but so have the customers. You guys are great--rain, shine, you've been there! There has been so much focus on local eating, healthy eating, farmer's markets and "killer" foods in the national media recently and our very supportive B-N customers have made sure that they have access to high quality, local, seasonal food. You've also done the green thing and have been bringing your canvas/nylon/re-purposed bags. Not only does it eliminate the over use of plastic, but it is quite a bit easier to haul produce in these bags. It also has kept our input costs down by not ordering as many bags, which in turn reflects in our prices. Very much a win-win.
This season has been FANTASTIC! There have been more of you coming down to the market; many of you bring friends down and introduce them to your favorite vendors; you've brought your out of town guests to the market to show us off; more & more households are doing their weekly shopping at the market; parents are teaching that food doesn't always come from the store or in a plastic wrapper.
For us, August is the 2nd most productive month, following July. We typically have two or three good weeks before school starts, then the market becomes a ghost town--where did everyone go? So far, not this year--the last two weekends the market has been packed with shoppers! It looks like many of you have taken to heart that eating locally is possible, you can eat (very) well and not spend a fortune! We are truly appreciative of all the customers that make the time to shop the market on Saturdays--thank you all for making 2008 a fantastic year.
But! Don't stop now! Just because we had some wet, rainy, fall, Let's-stay-indoors weather, don't let that stop you. There are lots of Saturdays left and we've got Brand! New! produce from our fall planting is heading your way.
I truly love the fall garden--mostly because I like the hard squashes: butternut, acorn, pumpkin and spaghetti. YUM. These aren't quite ready, but are getting close. The nutritional value in these foods is amazing and I have some good recipes coming for using squashes.
What will we have on the Veggie Wagon tomorrow?
2008 is our 8th year in this business and not only have we seen growth in our business, but also growth in other farmer's operations and farmer's markets. When we first started, we came to the Bloomington market late in the season (mid-July) in 2000 with just sweet corn and 100 or so cantaloupe. The market was very small with perhaps 15 vendors. It started at the corner of Washington & Main and went the one block to Jefferson Street, where it turned the corner.......and pretty well died. We were on the south corner and Frank Merrick was across the street to our north and some lady selling eggs next to us. Oh, the vendors faced. the. sidewalk. so there was traffic in the streets [ETA--Elaine has a better memory-the streets WERE blocked--she struggled with the heavy barricades back in the day, so maybe it was THOSE people that thought they were special]......if you were there, you know what I'm talking about. It just didn't hit the right note. What brought us back? The people. We met some really cool and interesting folks that first market and guess what? They came back to see us the next week! They liked our corn! They liked local food! They liked seasonal food!We got more involved with the development of the Downtown market, as did other farmers, and as a group started making small changes to improve the market and hopefully draw more customers on Saturday mornings. The streets were completely blocked to traffic to allow the vendors to have nicer, more accessible stands and to allow for a more pleasant shopping experience for the customers. Other growers were sought out and encouraged to attend the market, especially if they grew/produced unique items. Artist's Alley was added, making our market unique. Local musical talent stepped up to the plate to entertain all of us and we've also got our own home-grown chef, Nars, who demonstrated how quick and easy it is to shop & cook from you
r local market. This year, the market hours were adjusted a bit to allow more families time to get to the market without having to set an alarm.The most drastic change was the change to becoming a producer only market: only growers that plant, maintain and harvest their produce were allowed to be vendors. This change has resulted in some of the highest quality local produce anywhere in the country. Out of town shoppers from large cities will tell us how wonderful all the produce looks and tastes and how vibrant the market is, compared to (as I've been informed over the summer) Chicago, Atlanta, LA and Des Moines.
These changes didn't happen overnight and not without growing pains, but not only have the farmers brought their 'A' games, but so have the customers. You guys are great--rain, shine, you've been there! There has been so much focus on local eating, healthy eating, farmer's markets and "killer" foods in the national media recently and our very supportive B-N customers have made sure that they have access to high quality, local, seasonal food. You've also done the green thing and have been bringing your canvas/nylon/re-purposed bags. Not only does it eliminate the over use of plastic, but it is quite a bit easier to haul produce in these bags. It also has kept our input costs down by not ordering as many bags, which in turn reflects in our prices. Very much a win-win.
This season has been FANTASTIC! There have been more of you coming down to the market; many of you bring friends down and introduce them to your favorite vendors; you've brought your out of town guests to the market to show us off; more & more households are doing their weekly shopping at the market; parents are teaching that food doesn't always come from the store or in a plastic wrapper.
For us, August is the 2nd most productive month, following July. We typically have two or three good weeks before school starts, then the market becomes a ghost town--where did everyone go? So far, not this year--the last two weekends the market has been packed with shoppers! It looks like many of you have taken to heart that eating locally is possible, you can eat (very) well and not spend a fortune! We are truly appreciative of all the customers that make the time to shop the market on Saturdays--thank you all for making 2008 a fantastic year.
But! Don't stop now! Just because we had some wet, rainy, fall, Let's-stay-indoors weather, don't let that stop you. There are lots of Saturdays left and we've got Brand! New! produce from our fall planting is heading your way.
I truly love the fall garden--mostly because I like the hard squashes: butternut, acorn, pumpkin and spaghetti. YUM. These aren't quite ready, but are getting close. The nutritional value in these foods is amazing and I have some good recipes coming for using squashes.
What will we have on the Veggie Wagon tomorrow?
- Sweet corn-almost to the end, probably one more week
- Cantaloupe-this is the last of the summer planting; there is a late patch that is questionable
- Watermelon-we hit the watermelon home run this year--we have lots
- Sweet potatoes-most of these guys are large & in charge--one will feed your whole family
- Yellow squash
- Green beans
- Green Peppers
- Hot peppers
- Cucumbers
- Eggplant
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Picking watermelon
One of my favorite holidays is fast approaching....Labor Day. Marking the end of the summer season, Labor Day is laid back and easy. No gifts, no elaborate meals, no pressure. The weather is usually nice (unlike Memorial Day) and no changing around on the calendar; always the first Monday of September. Just blue skies and a BBQ or two.
This upcoming weekend is prime BBQ & picnic time and what makes a BBQ great? Watermelon!
We have had a great crop this year; sweet, juicy and tasty! One question that we answer quite a bit is "How do you know a watermelon is good/sweet/juicy?" The short answer is to get your watermelon from someone that grows them. We can tell in the field if the melon is ready or not. If it's ready, then it goes on the trailer. Not ready? It stays in the field. Simple? Of course it is easy if you've picked 56,938 melons in your life! Ho
w about some pictures?
First, you need to get out to the melon patch. Really, there are melons out there--not just weeds! If you look closely, you can see some melons through all the weeds. As you may have noticed, weed control isn't very high on our list right now. We do try to keep the weeds to a minimum early in the season, but it's a losing battle. Notice the lovely stand of lambs quarters in the background, in front of the corn. We have the loveliest weeds!
The two pictures above show what we look for in a ripe watermelon. The top picture is the ground spot. That's where the melon sits on the ground as it grows. In a immature melon, this spot will be very light in color; off-white or cream colored. As the melon matures, this spot will darken in color. Each variety is different and some will be very dark yellow while some are a pale butter color.
The bottom picture is of the infamous tendril. This very small and seemingly insignificant part of the stem system is perhaps the most helpful to a us. When the tendril dries up, we figure that we've got a pretty ripe melon. The ground spot is checked, the melon is thumped (listening for a clear, ringing tone) and if everything checks out, it gets picked and put on the trailer. Notice the black dog supervising in the background. Skipper is keeping everything running smoothly!
It may not look muddy, but Dana managed to rub off quite a bit of dirt on her shirt. Bill and the crew fan out across the field, similar to a fire brigade line. Bill, Karen & Brenda usually do the actual checking and picking and the others are just muscle.
Picture to be posted later, but as the melons are picked, they get tossed down the line into the trailer. It sounds easy, but it's much harder than it looks...many of these melons are in the neighborhood of 20-30 lbs and we can pick over 200 for a weekend market. It is a great upper body workout for abs and arms (coming soon--Mitchell Farms Workout video!)
What does all that work get you? A beautiful, sweet watermelon! This is one of the Vanessas: a small, dark personal sized melon. Very juicy & sweet with a crisp bite and a great size for just one or two.
Besides watermelon, what else will we have for your picnicing needs?
I am looking forward to seeing lots and lots of folks at the market this weekend! Have company in for the weekend? Bring them down and show off one of the best farmer's markets in the state! Remember those canvas bags, grab a cup of coffee and the dog and get downtown! We look forward to seeing you!
This upcoming weekend is prime BBQ & picnic time and what makes a BBQ great? Watermelon!
We have had a great crop this year; sweet, juicy and tasty! One question that we answer quite a bit is "How do you know a watermelon is good/sweet/juicy?" The short answer is to get your watermelon from someone that grows them. We can tell in the field if the melon is ready or not. If it's ready, then it goes on the trailer. Not ready? It stays in the field. Simple? Of course it is easy if you've picked 56,938 melons in your life! Ho
w about some pictures?First, you need to get out to the melon patch. Really, there are melons out there--not just weeds! If you look closely, you can see some melons through all the weeds. As you may have noticed, weed control isn't very high on our list right now. We do try to keep the weeds to a minimum early in the season, but it's a losing battle. Notice the lovely stand of lambs quarters in the background, in front of the corn. We have the loveliest weeds!
The two pictures above show what we look for in a ripe watermelon. The top picture is the ground spot. That's where the melon sits on the ground as it grows. In a immature melon, this spot will be very light in color; off-white or cream colored. As the melon matures, this spot will darken in color. Each variety is different and some will be very dark yellow while some are a pale butter color.
The bottom picture is of the infamous tendril. This very small and seemingly insignificant part of the stem system is perhaps the most helpful to a us. When the tendril dries up, we figure that we've got a pretty ripe melon. The ground spot is checked, the melon is thumped (listening for a clear, ringing tone) and if everything checks out, it gets picked and put on the trailer. Notice the black dog supervising in the background. Skipper is keeping everything running smoothly!
It may not look muddy, but Dana managed to rub off quite a bit of dirt on her shirt. Bill and the crew fan out across the field, similar to a fire brigade line. Bill, Karen & Brenda usually do the actual checking and picking and the others are just muscle.
Picture to be posted later, but as the melons are picked, they get tossed down the line into the trailer. It sounds easy, but it's much harder than it looks...many of these melons are in the neighborhood of 20-30 lbs and we can pick over 200 for a weekend market. It is a great upper body workout for abs and arms (coming soon--Mitchell Farms Workout video!)
What does all that work get you? A beautiful, sweet watermelon! This is one of the Vanessas: a small, dark personal sized melon. Very juicy & sweet with a crisp bite and a great size for just one or two.Besides watermelon, what else will we have for your picnicing needs?
- Yellow watermelon--we will have a few--we've almost picked all of the yellow watermelon (note to Bill: grow more!) and some of y'all are addicted to them! Come and check early in the market if you want one.
- Sweet Corn-nature's original fast food: minutes from pot or grill to table! If you are having out of town visitors, you must introduce them to our corn. They'll be amazed that simple corn can taste so good!
- Cantaloupe--this will be coming to a close soon, but right now they are at their peak!
- Crensahw melons- new for us! This is a cross between a casaba melon & a persian melon yielding an oblong, bright yellow melon with a sweet, spicy scent. Ours are a pale orange color on the inside, with a firm, fine grained texture. It's the new thing to try this week!
- Green beans--we love this new variety that we are growing for fall. Very straight, skinny and tender--good enough to nibble on raw.
- Cucumbers-starting to make a comeback with the new fall planting
- Summer squash--ditto to cucumbers!
- Eggplant--all shapes, colors and sizes. It isn't too late to give one a try!
- Sweet onions
- Hot peppers--jalapeno, habanero, peppercorncini
- Green peppers
I am looking forward to seeing lots and lots of folks at the market this weekend! Have company in for the weekend? Bring them down and show off one of the best farmer's markets in the state! Remember those canvas bags, grab a cup of coffee and the dog and get downtown! We look forward to seeing you!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Back to School
Sorry for the lack of posting, but this week was just jam packed with markets, football & soccer practice, first days of school, more school supply shopping and work! I work for one of the school districts and August is when my department get busier than normal putting the final touches on the classrooms and schools before teachers and students come back. I can always tell that summer is over when I start hearing from teachers! It's good to hear from them--they are always excited to start another year.
This is the time of the year that we see about a 50% drop in market attendance. The markets don't stop when school starts--in fact, this is when some of the best items are being brought to the markets. With the change in time for the Saturday market this year (7:30 am to noon) should give people a chance to stop by and stock up for the week. Don't think you have to be at the market at the crack of dawn--there is still plenty of high quality produce and large selections at the market--why do you think we got that massive trailer? All the better to bring more stuff for you folks!
For those of you that know us, we have 4 children. If you come to the Uptown Normal market, likely
you've seen all three of them (and one or two extras!) helping out, bagging sweet corn and waiting on customers. The fourth one is rarely seen--Kyle is currently serving our country with the Marine Corps. He is stationed in Cherry Point NC (beautiful area--you should visit!) and has been shuttling back and forth between there and Iraq. Unfortunately, the USMC doesn't think picking sweet corn is a priority or I'd have him here every summer! He and his family will be back in town for their annual visit starting this week. Kyle is larger than life and will get you wrapped up in whatever scheme he is focused on at the time. He is a whirlwind of energy, always up for a good time and when he was home, good help on the farm. The picture to the left is a day when he didn't really want to be there: it was cold and wet. I unfortunately didn't have my camera when they came back from picking sweet corn, with Kyle riding on top of the truck roof, singing a little ditty about picking corn, trying to keep everyone's spirits up. I'm trying to get him to stop by one of the Saturday markets--maybe you'll be lucky enough to meet him and his beautiful wife & daughter.
So, with KKA in town and my dad(of pineapple growing fame) & step-mom coming in early September, it's a 3 ring circus ALL. THE. TIME. Did I mention that Kyle has lab mix that stays with us when they are in town? 4 dogs. 1 house. Circus=Mitchell House!
In between all this familial bliss are the crops that need to be harvested! This is the time to start putting away for the non-growing months, with freezing, canning or drying. Bill & I are experimenting with dehydrating peppers for chili powder & paprika, our sweet onions for onion powder and garlic for garlic powder. I bought a dehydrator last year and dried tomatoes for use in soups and stews. I didn't make enough! It is quite amazing at how much water is in food--and how much of it goes away when the product is dried. It's no wonder that dried fruits are expensive!
Following some advice I found on the internet (forget exactly where), I washed and dried whole jalepeno, habanero and Hungarian peppers and put them in the dehydrator. It has taken most of a week, but they are all almost completely dried and ready to be pulverized in a coffee grinder. I also thinly sliced onions and garlic and dried them as well. Since they are thinner, they dry faster. I'll grind them up as well.
I was curious as to how the garlic and onions would taste. The garlic flavor is more concentrated, but not unpleasant when eaten as a "chip", but requires a good tooth brushing! These will make excellent garlic powder! The sweet onions were a surprise! I expected all "hot" onion flavor and no sweet, but the sweet, mild onion taste really came through! Bill thought it tasted like onion candy and would be great sprinkled over salads or squashes. I sliced some more onions last night to dry and put into a trail mix. I'm also going to experiment with drying some potatoes for my own instant mashed!
This weekend in Downtown Bloomington is the Hot August Nights, so plan ahead for parking. There is always FREE, CONVENIENT parking in the Monroe St (I think) parking garage, just south of Fox & Hounds. It's free, its shady for those hot day and there is lots of room! Some streets may be cordoned off, so parking will be a little different than in past weeks.
But don't let that stop you! How can you go another week without:
This is the time of the year that we see about a 50% drop in market attendance. The markets don't stop when school starts--in fact, this is when some of the best items are being brought to the markets. With the change in time for the Saturday market this year (7:30 am to noon) should give people a chance to stop by and stock up for the week. Don't think you have to be at the market at the crack of dawn--there is still plenty of high quality produce and large selections at the market--why do you think we got that massive trailer? All the better to bring more stuff for you folks!
For those of you that know us, we have 4 children. If you come to the Uptown Normal market, likely
you've seen all three of them (and one or two extras!) helping out, bagging sweet corn and waiting on customers. The fourth one is rarely seen--Kyle is currently serving our country with the Marine Corps. He is stationed in Cherry Point NC (beautiful area--you should visit!) and has been shuttling back and forth between there and Iraq. Unfortunately, the USMC doesn't think picking sweet corn is a priority or I'd have him here every summer! He and his family will be back in town for their annual visit starting this week. Kyle is larger than life and will get you wrapped up in whatever scheme he is focused on at the time. He is a whirlwind of energy, always up for a good time and when he was home, good help on the farm. The picture to the left is a day when he didn't really want to be there: it was cold and wet. I unfortunately didn't have my camera when they came back from picking sweet corn, with Kyle riding on top of the truck roof, singing a little ditty about picking corn, trying to keep everyone's spirits up. I'm trying to get him to stop by one of the Saturday markets--maybe you'll be lucky enough to meet him and his beautiful wife & daughter.
So, with KKA in town and my dad(of pineapple growing fame) & step-mom coming in early September, it's a 3 ring circus ALL. THE. TIME. Did I mention that Kyle has lab mix that stays with us when they are in town? 4 dogs. 1 house. Circus=Mitchell House!
In between all this familial bliss are the crops that need to be harvested! This is the time to start putting away for the non-growing months, with freezing, canning or drying. Bill & I are experimenting with dehydrating peppers for chili powder & paprika, our sweet onions for onion powder and garlic for garlic powder. I bought a dehydrator last year and dried tomatoes for use in soups and stews. I didn't make enough! It is quite amazing at how much water is in food--and how much of it goes away when the product is dried. It's no wonder that dried fruits are expensive!
Following some advice I found on the internet (forget exactly where), I washed and dried whole jalepeno, habanero and Hungarian peppers and put them in the dehydrator. It has taken most of a week, but they are all almost completely dried and ready to be pulverized in a coffee grinder. I also thinly sliced onions and garlic and dried them as well. Since they are thinner, they dry faster. I'll grind them up as well.
I was curious as to how the garlic and onions would taste. The garlic flavor is more concentrated, but not unpleasant when eaten as a "chip", but requires a good tooth brushing! These will make excellent garlic powder! The sweet onions were a surprise! I expected all "hot" onion flavor and no sweet, but the sweet, mild onion taste really came through! Bill thought it tasted like onion candy and would be great sprinkled over salads or squashes. I sliced some more onions last night to dry and put into a trail mix. I'm also going to experiment with drying some potatoes for my own instant mashed!
This weekend in Downtown Bloomington is the Hot August Nights, so plan ahead for parking. There is always FREE, CONVENIENT parking in the Monroe St (I think) parking garage, just south of Fox & Hounds. It's free, its shady for those hot day and there is lots of room! Some streets may be cordoned off, so parking will be a little different than in past weeks.
But don't let that stop you! How can you go another week without:
- Watermelon--red & seedless--very juicy and sweet! They come in a range of sizes from small to very large!
- Cantaloupe--season is short, enjoy them now when they are at their best
- Sweet Corn--if you are "corned" out, think about putting some in the freezer for a blast of summer in the middle of winter--Easy as falling off a log: boil water, blanch for 1 minute, put in ice water, cut off cob and freeze! You can do this with just one ear or with 100!
- Tomatoes-perfect for salsa, fresh or canned
- Eggplant--we have been bringing record numbers of eggplant--try a white one or a skinny Asian one!
- Green peppers
- Hot peppers
- Sweet onions
- Potatoes
- cucumbers--finally, our late crop is starting to produce
- Summer squash--ditto!
- Green Beans--fall crop--these are beautiful, long and crisp. Pair up with some small, fresh potatoes.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
The Eagle has landed...
Y'all are familiar with my griping about how busy we are and dashing here & there with farm stuff and kid stuff...right? Well, our salvation has just arrived (Wednesday at 4:40 pm) in the shape of Bill's mom, Margaret. She is a saint in human form and a dervish of cleaning (Bill used to call her the Fairbury tornado due to her mad cleaning skillz). Why is this SO exciting? 'Cause it means that my house will not be condemned by the health department!! Within in minutes of pulling up to the house, she was asking what she could do to help....she and Emily started with dishes.Now, we don't have the typical OMG it's my Mother in Law relationship--in fact, I'll let anyone clean my kitchen! Margaret is a great person and now that she is living in Florida we only get to see her about 3 or 4 times a year. The kids love having her around (except when she makes them clean their rooms!) because she is fun! And she spoils them with lots of hugs, kisses and love--and Disney passes! She works a few days a the Mouse House so when her grandkids come down, we have day passes for Disney. See, I told you she spoils them!
This time, Margaret came with a friend. She recently got a puppy that is part Yorkie and part Chihauhau--so cute! Cubby is so much smaller than our dogs (!) but settled right in and felt comfortable taking Chase's bone away from him this morning! Yes, Margaret is a Cubs fan, to the dismay of Bill. For those of you that know about Bill's love for all things St. Louis & Cardinal, this is very sad. Ball games are quite fun to watch, however with both of them razzing each other, often via long distance!
Now that both of us have our new right hand, some of the craziness that permeates the late summer markets will abate somewhat. We will be at our Country Insurance stand and at the State Farm market until the end of August. I will continue Tuesday afternoons in Uptown Normal as long as we have product and plenty of customers. Of course, we will be in Downtown Bloomington through the end of October (not so far away) with plenty of fall goodies.
What will we bring on our new fancy trailer?
- Sweet corn-still picking, although in a new patch, with 2 or 3 patches starting to pollinate. We'll have plenty of corn for Labor Day picnics!
- Watermelon-man, do we have a lot of watermelon! All sizes from small to feed-an-army size. Again, we will have plenty in time for Labor Day.
- Cantaloupe-juicy, sweet, lovely orange color--it's a fantastic way to get vitamin C
- Tomatoes--even with some major crop failure, the tomatoes that we are picking are just fantastic! They are loving this moderate weather--it seems to be giving the plants a chance to recuperate.
- Sweet onions--we hit a home run with the sweet onions this year--planted plenty of them and they got lots & lots of water, which is what onions need. These are fabulous cooked or raw.
- Potatoes--The white potatoes aren't quite ready, but the red-skinned ones are. Fresh potatoes that haven't been chilled are crisp and actually have taste!
- Eggplant--another home run crop. Disease issues haven't seemed to bother the eggplant and we've been picking enough for everyone in B-N to have one! Our white ones and the longer, striped Antiguas are just now starting to mature, so you'll be seeing more of them at the markets.
- Green Peppers--some are green, some are turning red, some are confused and are a little of both!
- Sweet Banana peppers--slice for salads, pickle for winter, stuff with cream cheese and bake!
- Hot peppers--just in time for fresh salsa! Hot pepper jelly is great over cream cheese (ok, low-fat!) or goat cheese.
- Cucumbers-still struggling, but we may have a few!
- Zucchini & squash-the plants are blooming so you may start to see some fruits here & there.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Can't think of a good title
I'm a little late in posting this week, but we've been running crazy! We have had record crowds at all our markets this week: that's fantastic! I hope we can keep this "I-need-fresh-local-food" train going even after the start of school. Usually market attendance starts to wane the week before school with more week day activities, but there is so much really great produce yet to come that you need to dedicate 20 minutes on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday to stock up for the week. After a summer of eating fresh, local foods, can you really go back to eating lousy supermarket food? I didn't think so!
In addition to the crazy that surrounds us, it's been an expensive week for us. Our large 12' trailer that we haul most of our produce blew out the bearings on one side, making it VERY unsafe for use. Luckily, one of our workers noticed that the tire was not at the proper angle while Bill was hauling about 300 lbs of watermelon back to the main farm!
We've discussed getting a new trailer, but what we were using worked. At least, until this season. We have brought to market more produce than we ever have before. Both trailers are packed full, as well as my truck which doubles as the tomato conveyance (we have around 320 lbs of tomatoes last week--that's a lot!). Since we've always skirted the weight limit on the big trailer, we decided to upgrade to a newer, sturdier and safer trailer. This baby is 16' (!) long and is rated for 5000 lbs--that's a lot of melons! So now we can easily (and safely) bring more cantaloupe and watermelon to market--all good for you!
The watermelon are really starting to produce and we've (ha!-like I've done much) done a great job in keeping them alive this wet spring & summer. Bill read in Farm Week that since they've been keeping meterologic records in 1895(!) that January-July 2008 has been the wettest on record. All I know is that it's August and my grass is still green!
I get asked what else you can do with watermelon, other than just eat and enjoy it. Weeeeell, I think it's pretty good just the way it is! I haven't tried grilling it (yet--although grilled peaches are fab!) and it doesn't lend itself well to canning (watermelon rind pickles do come to mind) or freezing. However, one of my very savvy CSA members freezes her extra watermelon (is there such a thing as leftover watermelon?) for : watermelon margaritas! How awesome is that! Can you picture the middle of February, cold, snow and ice, dark by 3:30---instant summer! If you aren't into margaritas, you could easily make a slushy with other fruit.
What will we be bringing on our fancy, new trailer?
In addition to the crazy that surrounds us, it's been an expensive week for us. Our large 12' trailer that we haul most of our produce blew out the bearings on one side, making it VERY unsafe for use. Luckily, one of our workers noticed that the tire was not at the proper angle while Bill was hauling about 300 lbs of watermelon back to the main farm!
We've discussed getting a new trailer, but what we were using worked. At least, until this season. We have brought to market more produce than we ever have before. Both trailers are packed full, as well as my truck which doubles as the tomato conveyance (we have around 320 lbs of tomatoes last week--that's a lot!). Since we've always skirted the weight limit on the big trailer, we decided to upgrade to a newer, sturdier and safer trailer. This baby is 16' (!) long and is rated for 5000 lbs--that's a lot of melons! So now we can easily (and safely) bring more cantaloupe and watermelon to market--all good for you!
The watermelon are really starting to produce and we've (ha!-like I've done much) done a great job in keeping them alive this wet spring & summer. Bill read in Farm Week that since they've been keeping meterologic records in 1895(!) that January-July 2008 has been the wettest on record. All I know is that it's August and my grass is still green!
I get asked what else you can do with watermelon, other than just eat and enjoy it. Weeeeell, I think it's pretty good just the way it is! I haven't tried grilling it (yet--although grilled peaches are fab!) and it doesn't lend itself well to canning (watermelon rind pickles do come to mind) or freezing. However, one of my very savvy CSA members freezes her extra watermelon (is there such a thing as leftover watermelon?) for : watermelon margaritas! How awesome is that! Can you picture the middle of February, cold, snow and ice, dark by 3:30---instant summer! If you aren't into margaritas, you could easily make a slushy with other fruit.
What will we be bringing on our fancy, new trailer?
- Sweet corn
- Watermelon-all seedless, red or yellow, small, medium, large and largest!
- Cantaloupe-haven't been many this week--we are hoping the next crop is ready on Friday
- Tomatoes-we'll have more 'maters this week--you all are a tomato deprived bunch!
- Eggplant-all kinds! The white eggplants are starting to produce and are very good for grilling as they seem to be a little more firm
- Green peppers
- Banana peppers
- Hot peppers--several kinds, Hot Hungarian, Cherry Bomb, anaheim, jalepeno-perfect for salasa
- Sweet onions
- Potoatoes
- Cucumbers-a definite maybe
- Pickling cucumbers
- Armenian cucumbers-this is new for us and according to the internet and Monica from AZ--these are the best slicing & eating cukes ever! Also known as "snake melons", they don't look like your standard cuke--I think Saturday should be a day to try something new!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Guest entry
Hi! It's Skipper the Black Lab here. Mom's been very busy, so I'd thought I would help out a little. She's always griping that I don't help at the market! Someone needs to watch and make sure our setup looks good. That's my job.
If you can't tell, I just love coming to the market on Saturday mornings. I've been the top dog for the last few years, but my parents just had to go get another dog. You've probably seen him, he's the obnoxious yellow dog, Chase. He is a knucklehead---not like me at all!
Anyway, my humans have been working very hard in all this heat and humidity. They leave us at home in the AC, because we just go flop in a mud puddle at the farm. Mom doesn't appreciate muddy dogs--not sure why. It's just too hot for us, but Dad brought the trailer back just now and man, is it full!
It must have been miserable out there tonight, but this is what Dad brought back:
Skipper
If you can't tell, I just love coming to the market on Saturday mornings. I've been the top dog for the last few years, but my parents just had to go get another dog. You've probably seen him, he's the obnoxious yellow dog, Chase. He is a knucklehead---not like me at all!
Anyway, my humans have been working very hard in all this heat and humidity. They leave us at home in the AC, because we just go flop in a mud puddle at the farm. Mom doesn't appreciate muddy dogs--not sure why. It's just too hot for us, but Dad brought the trailer back just now and man, is it full!
It must have been miserable out there tonight, but this is what Dad brought back:
- Watermelon! Lots and lots of watermelon! Mom will have red and yellow seedless ones.
- Cantaloupe
- Sweet corn--still sweet and tender--there is a bunch of it
- Eggplant-both regular and Asian varieties
- Tomatoes-red and yummy--it almost makes me wish I liked them--I'd rather have a hamburger, though.
- all kinds of hot peppers--Mom has been talking about making salsa--I guess it's good
- green peppers
- cucumbers--Mom and Dad were talking about Armenian cucumbers and how good they are--I still want a hamburger!
Skipper
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
What's in your truck?
This is what our truck & trailer look like on Friday nights. By the time many of you get to the market, much of this is gone or re-arranged onto tables. There is about 300 dozen ears of corn on the truck---believe me, it will go fast!
See everyone in the morning!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
August
My, my, my....where did the summer go? August is just around the corner and I'm still waiting for the lazy, hazy days of summer. Football (go Cougars!) and soccer (go Fusion!) practices start in the next few weeks, school registrations are due tomorrow (and still on the counter), school starts in 21 days....August has always been a busy month for us even before we started farming!
Usually the trend at the markets has been for business to drop off dramatically about the 2nd week of August. Hopefully, this year, we won't see that trend happen; with the great crowds we've been experiencing at ALL our markets, I hope that all of you have found that eating locally, seasonally and more healthy is more than just something "cool" to do. It is a lifestyle choice--committing to eating better. Plus, your food dollars go further at the market! The food you buy is fresh and won't spoil as quickly as store-bought. The variety of different foods available at the market: tomatoes, eggplant, onions, peppers, potatoes--all are significantly better tasting--because they are fresh (and grown by really great people!).
August has been our month at the market to focus on eating locally and preparing meals using all or mostly locally obtained ingredients. It is easy for our family to eat locally, because we've usually got something in the garage that we've just brought back to the house. Now, we've sold TONS of veggies in the last few weeks: what have you folks done with it? I know that a lot of you shop on Saturday AM with the intention of having friends over that night--what did you have for dinner? Was the entire meal local or just one dish? Did you use anything from your own garden (you get bonus points for that!)? Tell me! Leave a comment about the fabulous meals that you have been fixing using your bounty from the market! Super-volunteer Caroline Fox wrote in the Market blog about her 1st meal back from vacation using her Mitchell Farms CSA share for that week. So, comment away! Tell me about one of your local meals/dish that you have made this summer!
August is the beginning of the end, too. Plants and flowers have mostly reached their peak and will start winding down, preparing for winter and spreading seeds. Usually by this time, the lawns are dry and brown. Not this year! Now, you may enjoy a verdant, green lawn that all this rain has brought us. We, on the other hand, sincerely wish it would stop raining for about 3 more months! All the frequent rains have wreaked havoc on our zucchini, squash and cucumber crops and we are experiencing massive crop failure. Too much rain means rot and fungus and that translates into no squash or cucumber goodies for you! At this point, many of these crops are too far gone to recover, so the availability of these will be limited. Much more moisture will also have an impact on our fall crops, too. Such are the pitfalls of farming.
Changing gears....what hasn't failed?
For the Skipper fans, he thanks you for your interest and wonders, indeed, why I don't write about him more often!
Usually the trend at the markets has been for business to drop off dramatically about the 2nd week of August. Hopefully, this year, we won't see that trend happen; with the great crowds we've been experiencing at ALL our markets, I hope that all of you have found that eating locally, seasonally and more healthy is more than just something "cool" to do. It is a lifestyle choice--committing to eating better. Plus, your food dollars go further at the market! The food you buy is fresh and won't spoil as quickly as store-bought. The variety of different foods available at the market: tomatoes, eggplant, onions, peppers, potatoes--all are significantly better tasting--because they are fresh (and grown by really great people!).
August has been our month at the market to focus on eating locally and preparing meals using all or mostly locally obtained ingredients. It is easy for our family to eat locally, because we've usually got something in the garage that we've just brought back to the house. Now, we've sold TONS of veggies in the last few weeks: what have you folks done with it? I know that a lot of you shop on Saturday AM with the intention of having friends over that night--what did you have for dinner? Was the entire meal local or just one dish? Did you use anything from your own garden (you get bonus points for that!)? Tell me! Leave a comment about the fabulous meals that you have been fixing using your bounty from the market! Super-volunteer Caroline Fox wrote in the Market blog about her 1st meal back from vacation using her Mitchell Farms CSA share for that week. So, comment away! Tell me about one of your local meals/dish that you have made this summer!
August is the beginning of the end, too. Plants and flowers have mostly reached their peak and will start winding down, preparing for winter and spreading seeds. Usually by this time, the lawns are dry and brown. Not this year! Now, you may enjoy a verdant, green lawn that all this rain has brought us. We, on the other hand, sincerely wish it would stop raining for about 3 more months! All the frequent rains have wreaked havoc on our zucchini, squash and cucumber crops and we are experiencing massive crop failure. Too much rain means rot and fungus and that translates into no squash or cucumber goodies for you! At this point, many of these crops are too far gone to recover, so the availability of these will be limited. Much more moisture will also have an impact on our fall crops, too. Such are the pitfalls of farming.
Changing gears....what hasn't failed?
- Watermelon! We will have red seedless watermelon this Saturday from the small personal sized ones to some big, feed a crowd melons. Yellow melons will also be there--these are just as good as a red watermelon, but think with a hint of peach or plum. So very sweet and juicy and good for you!
- Cantaloupe--The early crop is just now coming into its own. There were a few last week, but will will be loaded down this week. We are still picking the Early Queens and will be transitioning over to the larger varieties as the season continues.
- Sweet corn--Our signature crop--we will have plenty of corn this week. Now is the time to put some up for winter. How wonderful at a winter dinner party or Thanksgiving to pull some summery goodness out of the freezer?! Or maybe a nice hot bowl of corn chowder or veggie soup? Grab an extra dozen and freeze it. I promise it won't take more than an hour to put up 12 ears for the freezer!
- Tomatoes--vine ripened, juicy, tasty, some are just flat out ugly! I firmly believe that God intended for tomatoes to taste good, not look good. Their beauty is on the inside! As a former tomato-avoider (I should start a club!), resistance was futile and I assimilated into the club of enjoying summer tomatoes. I still can't just cut one, but as a topping for bruchetta or in gazpacho--I'm there. We have some very, very good hybrids and our heriloom tomatoes are outstanding! Bill has outdone himself this year, as heirloom plants & fruits need a little more TLC. The result is some stellar tomatoes!
- San Marzano Italian tomatoes-these torpedo shaped tomatoes are in the Roma tomato classification and are used for making tomato sauce, paste or any dish where not a lot of juice is desirable. I've used these to make sauce with fabulous results--it cans very well. A quick fresh sauce recipe: rough chop one heirloom tomato and 2-3 San Marzano tomatoes, one medium or half a large sweet onion chopped medium, 2-3 cloves fresh garlic, minced, salt & pepper, fresh oregano. Put tomatoes, onion and garlic into sauce pan over medium heat. Cook until tomatoes have broken down. Add salt & pepper to taste. Add finely chopped oregano. Serve over pasta, sauteed or grilled veggies or on toast!
- Eggplant--one of the more underutilized veggies-we'll have the regular purple aubergine, striped Antiguas, a whole pile of Asian varieties and some white eggplants.
- Sweet Onions
- Maybe, maybe some zucchini, cucumbers & squash
- Bell Peppers
- Giant Marconi grilling peppers
- Sweet banana peppers
- Hot peppers: jalepeno, hot Hungarian and others
- Garlic
- Leeks
- Carrots--something new at the Mitchell Ranch--we think we've figured out how to grow these guys finally!
- Potatoes--Think potatoes are just the medium for eating butter & sour cream? Fresh potatoes have so much more flavor and texture. You won't be able to go back to store bought (which by the way can sometimes be quite old before they get to the store).
For the Skipper fans, he thanks you for your interest and wonders, indeed, why I don't write about him more often!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Trifecta
Today, we complete our trifecta: sweet corn, cantaloupe and watermelon! However, there is no gamble in getting cantaloupe or watermelon from us: they are ripe and ready to eat. Also, no jostling around on a semi or sitting in a warehouse....straight from the farm to you! I didn't ask Bill which variety of seedless red watermelon there are, but they are so good! As a service to all our customers, we test and test how our produce tastes before it comes to you! Ah, the sacrifice!
Thanks to everyone that got the cantaloupe-gram and came by to get one or two (or five)! In produce farming, we expect a certain amount of waste either with produce that hasn't sold or doesn't meet our quality standards. One of the quirks about cantaloupe is when they are ripe, you need to have a plan for what to do with them. Bill was puttering around at the farm Sunday and decided to check out the patch of early melons. He ended up bringing home about 100 cantaloupe with no place for them until Tuesday! Needless to say, the plants keep producing and we have about 150 MORE for Tuesday, plus Sunday's bounty.
This is where our e-mail list and our fantastic customers come in. I sent out a "Help! Drowning in cantaloupe" e-mail and several of you came to our rescue. If it didn't work out for you, I know ALL of you would have come by if you could have. I don't know if there will be an other opportunity like this in the future, but you can bet that I will let you know!
Like I said, it's watermelon time. I much prefer watermelon to cantaloupe and don't mind hefting the large orbs in and out of trailers. It makes setting up for a market a little more challenging since we can't toss the watermelon like we do the cantaloupes. Market goers on Saturday got a treat--we needed to put more cantaloupe on the table and the fastest way was for Bill to "toss" them to me over about 12'-14' distance. We usually employ a gentle toss with some height to allow the catcher time to get in position. Not on Saturday. This was major league, 90 mph fast ball throwing. Did I mention that most of these melons were in the 5-7 lb range? Bill threw blind because he was looking down at the next melon to determine if it was still good or if it had crossed the line into yucky (happens fast in this hot weather). I caught every single one, and they were coming fast. The show gets better when we start tossing our BIG melons that top out at 10-12 lbs.
Now is the time where your canvas bags really come in handy! Bags don't like being left in the car or at home (they've told me this !) and just love coming to the market to be filled with all kinds of good food. We do have official Mitchell Farms Produce canvas bags for sale. I haven't had them out at Normal due to more veggies than table space. If you are interested, let me know since I usually have them in the truck. They are $20 and are a heavy duty canvas with the MFP logo embroidered on one side. They also make great gifts! (end shameless plug!).
What will be going into your bags today?
Thanks to everyone that got the cantaloupe-gram and came by to get one or two (or five)! In produce farming, we expect a certain amount of waste either with produce that hasn't sold or doesn't meet our quality standards. One of the quirks about cantaloupe is when they are ripe, you need to have a plan for what to do with them. Bill was puttering around at the farm Sunday and decided to check out the patch of early melons. He ended up bringing home about 100 cantaloupe with no place for them until Tuesday! Needless to say, the plants keep producing and we have about 150 MORE for Tuesday, plus Sunday's bounty.
This is where our e-mail list and our fantastic customers come in. I sent out a "Help! Drowning in cantaloupe" e-mail and several of you came to our rescue. If it didn't work out for you, I know ALL of you would have come by if you could have. I don't know if there will be an other opportunity like this in the future, but you can bet that I will let you know!
Like I said, it's watermelon time. I much prefer watermelon to cantaloupe and don't mind hefting the large orbs in and out of trailers. It makes setting up for a market a little more challenging since we can't toss the watermelon like we do the cantaloupes. Market goers on Saturday got a treat--we needed to put more cantaloupe on the table and the fastest way was for Bill to "toss" them to me over about 12'-14' distance. We usually employ a gentle toss with some height to allow the catcher time to get in position. Not on Saturday. This was major league, 90 mph fast ball throwing. Did I mention that most of these melons were in the 5-7 lb range? Bill threw blind because he was looking down at the next melon to determine if it was still good or if it had crossed the line into yucky (happens fast in this hot weather). I caught every single one, and they were coming fast. The show gets better when we start tossing our BIG melons that top out at 10-12 lbs.
Now is the time where your canvas bags really come in handy! Bags don't like being left in the car or at home (they've told me this !) and just love coming to the market to be filled with all kinds of good food. We do have official Mitchell Farms Produce canvas bags for sale. I haven't had them out at Normal due to more veggies than table space. If you are interested, let me know since I usually have them in the truck. They are $20 and are a heavy duty canvas with the MFP logo embroidered on one side. They also make great gifts! (end shameless plug!).
What will be going into your bags today?
- Red, seedless watermelon--first of the season, sweet and juicy
- Cantaloupe--there will be a pile of these--no need to have them "ripen" on the counter--ready to eat, cut up a few and have a healthy snack for the rest of the week
- Sweet corn--If you haven't had any yet, what are you waiting for?
- Zucchini--I have a recipe for zucchini cobbler--desert that is good for you!
- Cucumbers
- Eggplant
- Asian eggplant
- Leeks
- Carrots--this is the first time we've successfully grown carrots. Allie is very proud of them! She weeded the entire patch by herself a few weeks ago and has been very concerned about their progress. She harvested the carrots and leeks by herself last night while Bill was busy with the melons.
- Sweet onions--these make the best onion rings
- Sweet banana peppers
- Hot Hungarian peppers & jalepeno peppers
Friday, July 25, 2008
Rain or no rain: place your bets
If we sold umbrellas, would more people come to the market? Just a thought......actually, the turnout was outstanding despite the almost constant rain. Thank you, thank you Bloomington-Normal market supporters for showing all the farmers how important fresh, seasonal and LOCAL produce is to you. For your support, we'll keep our end of the bargain and continue to bring fabulous food to you in the months and years to come.
Tip: When it rains, don't stand under the edge of the tents--water will unexpectedly dump down your back! I think I got more wet from that than the actual rain.
An idea that was born back in February/March as an off-shoot of the Sustainable Living & Wellness Expo (you should go!--its great!) was to some how, some way, get locally grown foods into area grocery stores. Would it work? Who would grow the produce? How far away is local? Would produce managers even talk to us? Two members volunteered to investigate possibilities and report back. We thought then that it may be a year or two before we saw something concrete.
Well, concrete happens this Saturday. Barely six months after this concept was discussed, the Local Food Committee and Schnucks will partner to showcase local farmers and their produce. Guess what Mitchell Farms Produce will have there......sweet corn. I know, big surprise.
To kick this off right, Schnucks on Empire St will be hosting a mini-market with a "Meet The Farmer" twist. The Schnucks market will be from 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm on Saturday, July 26. Bill will be there from 3:30 to 4:30, so if you've ever wanted to chat with him, now is you chance. He'll be less distracted than at the Downtown market, so stop by and say hi!
We also could use volunteers to help out at this market as well--to assist with Chef Sally Davis preparing samples and also local food advocates to be on hand to talk to other customers about the benefits of local food and knowing the farmer. If you would like to help (you don't have to commit to the entire time), please drop Elaine a line at bloomington_farmersmarket@yahoo.com or stop by the Market tent Saturday morning downtown. Or come see me.
I won't be a the Schnucks market--we're having a birthday party for Allie. For those who know her, Allie has been helping us at the market for the last few years. As her math skills increase, she has been more of an asset and willingly gets up at 5:45 am for the market. She turned 9 this Wednesday and eight of those years, we've been farming, so she hasn't know life without lots of fresh produce and farmer's markets. Allie has always been eager to help out on the farm; even as as tiny 3 year old, she insisted on helping us move cantaloupe. She's a great girl--so stop by and wish her a happy birthday!
Since we're having a cook out Saturday night (after the kid party and two markets!), I know what I'm fixing--what will you have?
Tip: When it rains, don't stand under the edge of the tents--water will unexpectedly dump down your back! I think I got more wet from that than the actual rain.
An idea that was born back in February/March as an off-shoot of the Sustainable Living & Wellness Expo (you should go!--its great!) was to some how, some way, get locally grown foods into area grocery stores. Would it work? Who would grow the produce? How far away is local? Would produce managers even talk to us? Two members volunteered to investigate possibilities and report back. We thought then that it may be a year or two before we saw something concrete.
Well, concrete happens this Saturday. Barely six months after this concept was discussed, the Local Food Committee and Schnucks will partner to showcase local farmers and their produce. Guess what Mitchell Farms Produce will have there......sweet corn. I know, big surprise.
To kick this off right, Schnucks on Empire St will be hosting a mini-market with a "Meet The Farmer" twist. The Schnucks market will be from 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm on Saturday, July 26. Bill will be there from 3:30 to 4:30, so if you've ever wanted to chat with him, now is you chance. He'll be less distracted than at the Downtown market, so stop by and say hi!
We also could use volunteers to help out at this market as well--to assist with Chef Sally Davis preparing samples and also local food advocates to be on hand to talk to other customers about the benefits of local food and knowing the farmer. If you would like to help (you don't have to commit to the entire time), please drop Elaine a line at bloomington_farmersmarket@yahoo.com or stop by the Market tent Saturday morning downtown. Or come see me.
I won't be a the Schnucks market--we're having a birthday party for Allie. For those who know her, Allie has been helping us at the market for the last few years. As her math skills increase, she has been more of an asset and willingly gets up at 5:45 am for the market. She turned 9 this Wednesday and eight of those years, we've been farming, so she hasn't know life without lots of fresh produce and farmer's markets. Allie has always been eager to help out on the farm; even as as tiny 3 year old, she insisted on helping us move cantaloupe. She's a great girl--so stop by and wish her a happy birthday!Since we're having a cook out Saturday night (after the kid party and two markets!), I know what I'm fixing--what will you have?
- Sweet corn--The best around! Tell your neighbors & friends all about our corn--sweet, tender and creamy. Let us know if you want a large quantity (more than 6 dozen) to freeze for the winter.
- Tomatoes--We should have a good quantity of tomatoes this week. Some of our best have been the heirlooms: Pink Brandywine & Purple Cherokee are two fantastic varieties. Both have amazing flavor and are solid tomato--not watery!
- Cantaloupe--There have been a few here & there this week and we'll have a bunch Saturday. These are an early variety (Early Queen) and they are just fantastic. Very sweet and flavorful. Melon lovers--rejoice!
- Green beans
- Green peppers
- Sweet Banana peppers
- Variety of hot peppers--hot Hungarian, jalapeno, and some others--can't remember!
- Eggplant-purple & striped
- Asian eggplant--these skinny fruits are perfect for stir fry. No need to peel--perfect if you haven't tried eggplant before.
- Cucumbers
- Zucchini
- Summer Squash
- Sweet onions--perfect for onion rings!
- Garlic--fresh garlic CANNOT be missed!
- Cherry & grape tomatoes
- anything else that's growing that I missed!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Banana Pepper appetizer
This is a recipe that shows up all summer at our house. It is crazy easy to make and guest ohh & ahh every time. I received this from a young market attendee a few years ago and misplaced the recipe card that she gave me with her name. I remember that she was a remarkable young lady and was home schooled--if you gave this recipe to me, let me know so you get the credit!
Other than the panko bread crumbs (in the international section of most grocery stores) cream/goat cheese (goat cheese may be showing up yet this fall!), ALL items are available at the Bloomington Downtown Farmer's Market.
Other than the panko bread crumbs (in the international section of most grocery stores) cream/goat cheese (goat cheese may be showing up yet this fall!), ALL items are available at the Bloomington Downtown Farmer's Market.
Stuffed Banana Peppers
8-10 banana peppers
8 oz cream cheese or goat cheese
2-3 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
1/4 c sweet onion, chopped finely
1/4 c Cheddar cheese, grated
Panko Bread crumbs
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Wash peppers. Lay pepper on its side and remove the top 1/3, leaving on the stem. Carefully remove the seed pod and white membrane. Use gloves if necessary.
Combine cream cheese, bacon, onion, cheddar cheese, salt & pepper. Spoon cheese mixture into pepper shells, mounding up cheese.
Place panko bread crumbs on a plate. Turn peppers upside down in the panko crumbs and place on a baking sheet.
Bake in oven at 350° for 7-8 minutes. Turn broiler on for the last minute to brown the panko crumbs if necessary.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Trailside market this Tuesday
Continuing another week with fantastic produce and steady support from customers, I'm ready for another Super Tuesday in Uptown Normal!Last week, we had the only locally grown sweet corn at the market--remember to ALWAYS ask the vendor if they grew the produce they are selling. Is it really fresh if it came from a wholesale warehouse? Know your grower; know their produce. I love that many of my long time, repeat customers are knowledgeable about what produce grows in Illinois and when it is in season. I also like customers that ask questions about how we grow our produce and our farm operation in general. So, remember, if you have a question--ask the grower! There is no silly question except the one you don't ask.
On another note, sadly, Bill didn't feel that there were enough ripe tomatoes to justify bringing any, plus, he could see tonight's storm brewing and he wanted to get the help and himself out of the fields. So, they concentrated on more important things like-----CANTALOUPE!
Yes, you read correctly-cantaloupe. These are Early Queens and they are delicious! We cut one for ourselves tonight (eh, it's one of the perks of farming!) and boy, was it good! So, Cantaloupe Fans, rejoice and come to the market early because there aren't too many of these this week. Come stand in like its an iPhone!
What will we have?
- Sweet corn--fresh, sweet and local--just the thing for dinner tonight
- Cantaloupe-first of the season!
- zucchini
- yellow summer squash
- eggplant--regular and asian
- green beans
- green peppers
- sweet banana peppers
- onions
- garlic
- shallots
- leeks
- cucumbers
- burpless cucumbers
- mini salad cucumbers
If you would like a large quantity (more than 6 dozen) of sweet corn for freezing or canning, please let us know in advance! Send me an e-mail at pattm1966@comcast.net if you have questions or wish to order some corn to save for the winter.
See you tomorrow afternoon!
Welcome to the Jungle
It's hot where you are. Not just hot; humid, stifling, thick. Looking forward, left and right, all you can see is green growth, thick, impossible to move through. Even though you aren't moving, sweat is running in a river down your back; your shoes are soaked with water and caked with mud. It's barely 8 am and already the sun is unbearable.
Welcome to picking sweet corn in Illinois!
Sweet corn picking is hot, wet, messy work--see how we do it!
This is the view of most of the corn that is shoulder high. We'll be picking over on the right hand side of the picture.
The rows to be picked are 6 on the right of the truck and 6 more to the left of the truck. Can you see the end of the row? Way, way, waaaaaaay down on the horizon. It's about 1/4 of a mile.
First, grab about 4 or 5 burlap bags. Hold onto one and tuck the rest into your waist band or pockets. It will look like a very itchy skirt. Important safety tip: wearing a black shirt isn't recommended. Light colors work best. Dana and Jason were VERY hot by the end of the morning.
This is your row. Notice the lack of visibility. There is only about 18" between rows. To really experience how hot the corn field is, go into your bathroom, turn on the shower with the hottest water and hang out for 20 minutes or so. Think hot, wet, sticky.
Everyone wave to Carson! He is only about 4 rows away from me. He picked about 13 bags on Friday. There are 5-6 dozen in each bag and they get heavy. Carson is asking me why I am still on the trailer taking pictures. I had to put down the camera after this and pick corn myself.
I couldn't take pictures and pick corn at the same time. This shot is about two hours later as we are picking up the full bags. As we pick down the rows, we carry our bags to the nearest lane. When Bill decides that we have enough bags, we drive down the rows and put the bags in the truck bed and trailer.
You can kind of see LeAnn, Brenda and Brandi and the bags of corn. Several of us walk alongside the truck and hand them the bags. The truck kept moving, not stopping. The irrigation had gone through the field in the night, so the field was extra muddy and we were worried about the truck getting stuck with all the weight of the corn. Each bag weighs between 50 & 70 pounds, depending on who filled it.
This was my view for most of this exercise. Bill can't really see me and is more concerned with getting stuck or knocking one of the kids off the back of the truck. Running over your wife? Not really a big deal.
This is our fantastic crew: Karen, Dana, Bill, Carson, LeAnn, Emily (she picked 4 bags by herself), and Brenda. Hiding in the back are Brandi and Jason. We simply cannot run our operation without the help of these great workers. Notice that most are girls! Our corn is a very tender variety that must be picked by hand. Using machinery would damage the ears so much that they would be unfit for sale. We could grow a lesser variety, but we will not compromise the taste or tenderness of our corn, just to save a little time.
Produce farming is very physical demanding work in all conditions: hot, cold, rainy, extreme heat. We have a dedicated crew that takes pride helping us bring you the best produce that we can grow.
Welcome to picking sweet corn in Illinois!
Sweet corn picking is hot, wet, messy work--see how we do it!
This is the view of most of the corn that is shoulder high. We'll be picking over on the right hand side of the picture.
The rows to be picked are 6 on the right of the truck and 6 more to the left of the truck. Can you see the end of the row? Way, way, waaaaaaay down on the horizon. It's about 1/4 of a mile.
First, grab about 4 or 5 burlap bags. Hold onto one and tuck the rest into your waist band or pockets. It will look like a very itchy skirt. Important safety tip: wearing a black shirt isn't recommended. Light colors work best. Dana and Jason were VERY hot by the end of the morning.
This is your row. Notice the lack of visibility. There is only about 18" between rows. To really experience how hot the corn field is, go into your bathroom, turn on the shower with the hottest water and hang out for 20 minutes or so. Think hot, wet, sticky.
Everyone wave to Carson! He is only about 4 rows away from me. He picked about 13 bags on Friday. There are 5-6 dozen in each bag and they get heavy. Carson is asking me why I am still on the trailer taking pictures. I had to put down the camera after this and pick corn myself.
I couldn't take pictures and pick corn at the same time. This shot is about two hours later as we are picking up the full bags. As we pick down the rows, we carry our bags to the nearest lane. When Bill decides that we have enough bags, we drive down the rows and put the bags in the truck bed and trailer.
You can kind of see LeAnn, Brenda and Brandi and the bags of corn. Several of us walk alongside the truck and hand them the bags. The truck kept moving, not stopping. The irrigation had gone through the field in the night, so the field was extra muddy and we were worried about the truck getting stuck with all the weight of the corn. Each bag weighs between 50 & 70 pounds, depending on who filled it.
This was my view for most of this exercise. Bill can't really see me and is more concerned with getting stuck or knocking one of the kids off the back of the truck. Running over your wife? Not really a big deal.
This is our fantastic crew: Karen, Dana, Bill, Carson, LeAnn, Emily (she picked 4 bags by herself), and Brenda. Hiding in the back are Brandi and Jason. We simply cannot run our operation without the help of these great workers. Notice that most are girls! Our corn is a very tender variety that must be picked by hand. Using machinery would damage the ears so much that they would be unfit for sale. We could grow a lesser variety, but we will not compromise the taste or tenderness of our corn, just to save a little time.Produce farming is very physical demanding work in all conditions: hot, cold, rainy, extreme heat. We have a dedicated crew that takes pride helping us bring you the best produce that we can grow.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Eggplant 101
As promised, here is the first cooking tutorial! I'm starting with eggplant, since we get so many questions from folks that have never had it before. This process is straightforward and pretty basic--no fancy equipment required!
You will need an eggplant (from Mitchell Farms, of course!), kosher salt, one egg, milk, fish breading (we like Andy's), paper towels and oil.
First, wash the eggplant, peel and slice into rounds about 3/8" thick. The eggplant will start to turn brown (oxidize), but this is ok.
Place on cooling rack over a bowl or the sink. Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt and let sit about 15 minutes. This helps draw out moisture or so I'm told. Rinse well and pat dry with a cloth towel--paper towels leave lint fuzzies--not good for eating.
Put a heavy skillet over medium high heat and add oil The amount depends, buy you want the oil no more than half way up the thickness of the eggplant slice. Full disclosure: I put too much oil in the skillet--oops!
Take the egg and about 1/2 cup of milk and mix in a shallow bowl. Put the breading in a shallow bowl or plate.
Taking a eggplant slice, dip into the egg/milk mix then into the breading.
Place in hot oil. Cook until brown then flip to cook the other side. 
When done, place on paper towels to drain.
Serve with ranch dressing, ketchup, fresh, chopped tomatoes or the topping of your own choice!
You will need an eggplant (from Mitchell Farms, of course!), kosher salt, one egg, milk, fish breading (we like Andy's), paper towels and oil.
First, wash the eggplant, peel and slice into rounds about 3/8" thick. The eggplant will start to turn brown (oxidize), but this is ok.
Place on cooling rack over a bowl or the sink. Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt and let sit about 15 minutes. This helps draw out moisture or so I'm told. Rinse well and pat dry with a cloth towel--paper towels leave lint fuzzies--not good for eating.
Put a heavy skillet over medium high heat and add oil The amount depends, buy you want the oil no more than half way up the thickness of the eggplant slice. Full disclosure: I put too much oil in the skillet--oops!
Take the egg and about 1/2 cup of milk and mix in a shallow bowl. Put the breading in a shallow bowl or plate.
Taking a eggplant slice, dip into the egg/milk mix then into the breading.
Place in hot oil. Cook until brown then flip to cook the other side. 
When done, place on paper towels to drain.
Serve with ranch dressing, ketchup, fresh, chopped tomatoes or the topping of your own choice!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Sweet Corn!
It's that time that so many of you have patiently waited for--the first sweet corn of the season! We will have a truck load at the Bloomington Market (and also in Springfield & Decatur), so bring your big canvas bag and come on down!
For those of you who are new to our sweet corn: it is like no other corn you have ever eaten. You don't have to rush home and eat it quickly like some varieties and it stays sweet and crisp for days. We grow a gourmet variety that has been developed to be very sweet, but tender at the same time.
Cooking tip: due to the extreme tenderness, you DO NOT NEED TO BOIL THE CORN LONGER THAN 2-3 minutes. Boil your water first (very important), then put your corn in. Modern sweet corn varieties do not need to be cooked to death like the sweet corns of 30 & 40 years ago. When you get home, shuck all your corn at one time (one mess!). Put the corn you aren't going to use immediately in a zip top bag in the fridge. Keeping it in the husk pulls moisture away from the cob. Also, if one of those nasty corn bore worms are in there--they'll eat the entire ear!
Also, don't worry about the corn going bad if you buy too much! It is so simple to process an ear or two at a time when you are fixing corn for dinner. We understand why some folks don't want a full dozen. Continuing on from the above cooking process, only have the corn in the water about 2 minutes. Immediately put the hot corn in ice cold water. This stops the cooking process (aka blanching). When the corn is cool enough to handle, cut off the kernels with a serrated knife, put in a freezer bag (food saver systems are fabulous for this, too!) and enjoy this winter! We have had customers tell us that they have had good success in freezing the corn directly on the cob. We've experimented with it, but don't really care for the taste. Give it a try--you may not notice any taste difference (we are a little picky about corn tastes--kind of like wine snobs). It's very easy to cook an ear and pop it in the fridge.
Talking about putting up corn brings me to another topic: preservation of foods and seasonal eating. Mercy from Blueschool House touched on this topic in her blog discussing Victory Gardens during WWII. Within 2 generations, Americans have become out of touch with the seasonality of their food and most have no idea how to preserve food for winter or hard times.
Many of us remember canning times: hot, steamy kitchens; cranky grandmas and aunts; the scary squeal of the pressure canner! Unless you are very motivated, you don't need to put up 100 quarts of green beans or tomato sauce. Canning can be a very quick way to preserve the bounty of summer and retain much of the integrity of the food product. I am tossing around the idea of hosting a small canning class for newbies a little later this summer. Interested? Wanted to learn to can, but find it intimidating? Drop me a note in the comments if you might be interested. I didn't learn to can until I got roped into chopping tomatoes for my mother in law--it is much more comfortable to learn while watching!
Anyhoo--running out of time--gotta go pick sweet corn for y'all and I haven't taken Bill any coffee yet.
What will you find at our stand tomorrow?
For those of you who are new to our sweet corn: it is like no other corn you have ever eaten. You don't have to rush home and eat it quickly like some varieties and it stays sweet and crisp for days. We grow a gourmet variety that has been developed to be very sweet, but tender at the same time.
Cooking tip: due to the extreme tenderness, you DO NOT NEED TO BOIL THE CORN LONGER THAN 2-3 minutes. Boil your water first (very important), then put your corn in. Modern sweet corn varieties do not need to be cooked to death like the sweet corns of 30 & 40 years ago. When you get home, shuck all your corn at one time (one mess!). Put the corn you aren't going to use immediately in a zip top bag in the fridge. Keeping it in the husk pulls moisture away from the cob. Also, if one of those nasty corn bore worms are in there--they'll eat the entire ear!
Also, don't worry about the corn going bad if you buy too much! It is so simple to process an ear or two at a time when you are fixing corn for dinner. We understand why some folks don't want a full dozen. Continuing on from the above cooking process, only have the corn in the water about 2 minutes. Immediately put the hot corn in ice cold water. This stops the cooking process (aka blanching). When the corn is cool enough to handle, cut off the kernels with a serrated knife, put in a freezer bag (food saver systems are fabulous for this, too!) and enjoy this winter! We have had customers tell us that they have had good success in freezing the corn directly on the cob. We've experimented with it, but don't really care for the taste. Give it a try--you may not notice any taste difference (we are a little picky about corn tastes--kind of like wine snobs). It's very easy to cook an ear and pop it in the fridge.
Talking about putting up corn brings me to another topic: preservation of foods and seasonal eating. Mercy from Blueschool House touched on this topic in her blog discussing Victory Gardens during WWII. Within 2 generations, Americans have become out of touch with the seasonality of their food and most have no idea how to preserve food for winter or hard times.
Many of us remember canning times: hot, steamy kitchens; cranky grandmas and aunts; the scary squeal of the pressure canner! Unless you are very motivated, you don't need to put up 100 quarts of green beans or tomato sauce. Canning can be a very quick way to preserve the bounty of summer and retain much of the integrity of the food product. I am tossing around the idea of hosting a small canning class for newbies a little later this summer. Interested? Wanted to learn to can, but find it intimidating? Drop me a note in the comments if you might be interested. I didn't learn to can until I got roped into chopping tomatoes for my mother in law--it is much more comfortable to learn while watching!
Anyhoo--running out of time--gotta go pick sweet corn for y'all and I haven't taken Bill any coffee yet.
What will you find at our stand tomorrow?
- Sweet corn, sweet corn, sweet corn!
- Tomatoes-the full size ones!
- cherry & grape tomatoes
- zucchini
- summer squash
- cucumbers
- eggplant-regular & Asian
- leeks
- onions
- beets
- possibly greens: collard, swiss chard, arugula
- garlic
- shallots
- green beans
- green peppers
- sweet banana peppers--I'll have a recipe on the blog soon!
- hot Hungarian peppers
Monday, July 14, 2008
It's the most wonderful time of the year....
It's Sweet Corn time! Finally! I've got a trailer full for the Tuesday market. This has probably been the latest we've started picking corn, but now it's here and ready for you.
The arrival of the corn means that we are running at full speed--almost all the crops are ready for harvest, some have run their seasonal course (lettuce, radishes, green onions) and some are just getting planted (fall squash, pumpkins). There isn't much time for weeding or general work that needs to be done. In fact, remember the picture of Allison & Emily weeding a few weeks ago? That row is weeded in again and the weeds are up to my waist. I think most of you would rather we pick veggies than worry about the weeds.
Sunday was a working day for us to get the fall squashes planted, garlic & shallots harvested and some much needed mowing. We've had plenty of rain lately (4" Fri-Sat) and the grass & weeds have been growing great. While Bill planted the fancy pumpkins, I harvested the garlic & shallots. If you haven't had fresh garlic, you are in for a treat! Garlic shouldn't be refrigerated which alters the flavor. Fresh garlic isn't harsh or sharp and it does keep.
What will we have on Tuesday besides corn?
The arrival of the corn means that we are running at full speed--almost all the crops are ready for harvest, some have run their seasonal course (lettuce, radishes, green onions) and some are just getting planted (fall squash, pumpkins). There isn't much time for weeding or general work that needs to be done. In fact, remember the picture of Allison & Emily weeding a few weeks ago? That row is weeded in again and the weeds are up to my waist. I think most of you would rather we pick veggies than worry about the weeds.
Sunday was a working day for us to get the fall squashes planted, garlic & shallots harvested and some much needed mowing. We've had plenty of rain lately (4" Fri-Sat) and the grass & weeds have been growing great. While Bill planted the fancy pumpkins, I harvested the garlic & shallots. If you haven't had fresh garlic, you are in for a treat! Garlic shouldn't be refrigerated which alters the flavor. Fresh garlic isn't harsh or sharp and it does keep.
What will we have on Tuesday besides corn?
- Sweet corn-if you haven't had our corn before, we grow a gourmet variety--sweeter & tender than any other corn!
- zucchini
- summer squash
- cucumbers
- tomatoes! we have some regular sized tomatoes as well as the grape & cherry ones
- green beans
- sweet onions
- garlic
- shallots
- eggplant
- beets
- green peppers
- sweet banana peppers
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Eating locally
Interesting article in the New York Times primarily about CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and more Americans deciding to eat locally--just like you!
read article
read article
Waiting...........
Waiting. Sometimes, it seems like a good portion of a farmer's time is spent waiting. Waiting to get in the field. Waiting for rain/the rain to stop. Waiting for a tractor part. Waiting for your crops to mature. You can't rush Mother Nature; you just need to be patient, because she's in charge.
We are still waiting on the sweet corn to mature. Bill keeps hoping that maybe, just maybe, on Friday it will magically be ready. But probably not. Keep checking with us! Right now, it looks like next Tuesday will be the soonest. So, we'll just all wait together.
If you don't get the Downtown Bloomington Farmer's market newsletter--why not? You can sign up on line, too. Caroline Fox, number 1 volunteer, writes about going to a "foreign" farmer's market and how good B-N folks have it here! I haven't figured out the link yet, but I will.
Not much changes at the farm. Bill did plant the fall hard squashes: butternut, acorn, and a few pumpkins. We have several varieties of pumpkin this year--not just the orange jack o' lanterns, either! More on those later. We will be pulling first garlic of the season this Sunday, but it will be a week or so before you start seeing it at the market. Garlic needs to dry & cure for a while after being in the ground. If you never have had fresh garlic, you are in for a treat!
The eggplant is finally starting to make an appearance. We will have several varieties over the summer; the oblong ones you see everywhere; long, skinny Asian varieties ranging from dark purple to lavender; round white ones; pale lavender and purple & white striped ones. We have yet to meet an eggplant that we don't like!
Eggplant are so misunderstood and feared for some reason. I don't know if some people they are too "exotic" and require extensive preparation or if they had poorly cooked eggplant and the memory has never left them. I fall into the "had it as a child and didn't like it" camp. Eggplant lasagne--ick. Taste change and now I think I would probably like it. I've started a series of posts on some veggie preparation basics, based on questions we get weekly at the market. My goal is to have our verbal instructions written out with pictures. I've done eggplant; just need to get the pictures in order and posted.
This is the thick of summer: post-July 4 and we are hitting the ground running! We currently have 3 mid-week markets and one on Saturday; by next week, we will be upping the total to 5 mid-week markets and two Saturday ones. If you are unable to hit your regular market day, we're out there somewhere with your veggies. We are very fortunate in B-N to have built up such quality farmer's markets.
What will be ready this week?
See you Saturday!
We are still waiting on the sweet corn to mature. Bill keeps hoping that maybe, just maybe, on Friday it will magically be ready. But probably not. Keep checking with us! Right now, it looks like next Tuesday will be the soonest. So, we'll just all wait together.
If you don't get the Downtown Bloomington Farmer's market newsletter--why not? You can sign up on line, too. Caroline Fox, number 1 volunteer, writes about going to a "foreign" farmer's market and how good B-N folks have it here! I haven't figured out the link yet, but I will.
Not much changes at the farm. Bill did plant the fall hard squashes: butternut, acorn, and a few pumpkins. We have several varieties of pumpkin this year--not just the orange jack o' lanterns, either! More on those later. We will be pulling first garlic of the season this Sunday, but it will be a week or so before you start seeing it at the market. Garlic needs to dry & cure for a while after being in the ground. If you never have had fresh garlic, you are in for a treat!
The eggplant is finally starting to make an appearance. We will have several varieties over the summer; the oblong ones you see everywhere; long, skinny Asian varieties ranging from dark purple to lavender; round white ones; pale lavender and purple & white striped ones. We have yet to meet an eggplant that we don't like!
Eggplant are so misunderstood and feared for some reason. I don't know if some people they are too "exotic" and require extensive preparation or if they had poorly cooked eggplant and the memory has never left them. I fall into the "had it as a child and didn't like it" camp. Eggplant lasagne--ick. Taste change and now I think I would probably like it. I've started a series of posts on some veggie preparation basics, based on questions we get weekly at the market. My goal is to have our verbal instructions written out with pictures. I've done eggplant; just need to get the pictures in order and posted.
This is the thick of summer: post-July 4 and we are hitting the ground running! We currently have 3 mid-week markets and one on Saturday; by next week, we will be upping the total to 5 mid-week markets and two Saturday ones. If you are unable to hit your regular market day, we're out there somewhere with your veggies. We are very fortunate in B-N to have built up such quality farmer's markets.
What will be ready this week?
- Cucumbers--regular and mini salad size
- Zucchini
- Summer squash
- Sugar snap peas
- Green beans
- Cherry & grape tomatoes (we've picked 3 regular tomatoes--they're coming soon!)
- Beets
- Eggplant
- Peppers-bell & sweet banana; hot ones take a little longer
- Sweet onions
- Leeks
See you Saturday!
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