Vegetable Feature: Sweet Corn

By Andrea Yoder

     There’s always some excitement around sweet corn, after all it is a classic summer vegetable loved by most!  Farmer Richard enjoys the challenge of growing “the best” sweet corn, a delicate balance between choosing a variety with good genetics, one that will perform under challenging field conditions, and one with good corn flavor and just the right balance of sweetness and tenderness.  No small task!
     There are many varieties of sweet corn, but not all are created equally.  First, we do not grow any GMO sweet corn.  We opt to use organic or untreated seed and rely on newer “sugar-enhanced” bi-color hybrids, many of which are recommended to us by our knowledgeable seed rep.  These varieties start sweet and have tender kernels.  Early in the season we look for a variety with the ability to germinate in cold soil.  We do what we can to help it along by planting the seed fairly shallow on a sunny day.  The first 24 hours are critical to success so we rely on the heat of the sun to warm the soil.  This tactic, in Farmer Richard’s words, gives the seed the “kiss of life” and just enough heat and encouragement to germinate the seed.  The other tricky part of choosing an early season variety is that most varieties we have trialed don’t taste that great.  We’re happy to have found two delicious varieties this year, Sweetness & Nirvana.
     It’s important to keep sweet corn cold.  After the corn is picked, sugars will start to convert to starch.  Keeping corn cold will slow this process down, preserve the quality and sweetness and give you a few more days to enjoy it.  Another reason we plant the sugar-enhanced varieties is because they have a slower rate of conversion of sugars to starch.   Despite the fact that you see people selling and transporting corn out of the back of a pickup truck, this is not the best tactic.  We take ice to the field when we harvest it, ice it again when it comes in and store it in the cooler until we pack it and load it on a refrigerated truck.  We do what we can to grow the tastiest corn for you, but you need to do your part too!  Take a cooler with you when you pick up your box, store it in the refrigerator and eat it within a few days.
     While eating it off the cob is a special summer treat, fresh corn can be enjoyed in so many other ways.  Cut it off the cob and add it to summer vegetable salads, salsas or relishes.  Stir fresh corn kernels into cornbread batter, make fritters or try the recipe for sweet corn pancakes.   It’s also good in summer vegetable chowders and light soups.  If you cut the corn off the cob, don’t discard the cob.  Add it to soups or stock where it will impart a delicious corn flavor.

Sweet Corn Pancakes

Yield: 16-silver dollar size pancakes

½ cup yellow cornmeal
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 egg, beaten
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh corn kernels
2 Tbsp minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp finely chopped jalapeño, optional
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh herbs (oregano, basil, parsley, thyme, etc)
Vegetable oil, as needed

1.  In a small mixing bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add grated cheese and mix just enough to coat the cheese with the flour mixture.

2.  In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg and buttermilk until well combined.  Stir in the cornmeal mixture along with the corn, onion, garlic, jalapeño (if using) and fresh herbs.  Stir just until all the ingredients are mixed well.
3.  Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Add just enough vegetable oil to lightly coat the pan.  Drop the pancake batter in small spoonfuls into the hot skillet.  Cook for about 2 minutes or until the underside is golden brown.  Using a spatula, flip the pancakes and cook on the other side until it is golden brown.  Remove the pancakes from the pan and hold them in a warm place until you finish making the remainder of the pancakes.

4.  Serve warm as a side dish or as the main part of a meal.  They are delicious for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream or fresh salsa if desired.

Recipe by Andrea Yoder

Charred Corn Salad with Mint, Parsley and Cilantro

Photo from Food & Wine website

Yield: 4 servings

4 large ears of corn, shucked
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
½ small onion, thinly sliced
2 ½ Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp pure maple syrup
1 jalapeño, seeded and thinly sliced
3 Tbsp torn mint leaves
3 Tbsp torn parsley leaves
3 Tbsp torn cilantro leaves

1. Heat a large grill pan or an outside grill.  Brush the corn with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Grill over moderately high heat, turning, until crisp-tender, about 12 minutes.  Let cool.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the onion and lime juice and let stand for 10 minutes.  Stir in the syrup, jalapeño and 2 Tbsp of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

3. Working in a large bowl, cut the kernels off the cobs in sections.  Add the onion dressing and toss.  Add the mint, parlsey and cilantro and toss again.  Serve warm.

This recipe is the creation of Chef Yotam Ottolenghi.  

It was featured in the September 2012 issue of Food and Wine magazine.

You Reap What You Sow… In Garlic & Relationships

By Farmer Richard (as told to Andrea)

A little over a week ago, Monday, July 4th to be exact, we finished harvesting the 2016 garlic crop.  We got it in just in time—it started raining within 30 minutes of closing the greenhouse door where it is stored.  Every garlic crop is a labor of love and despite the number of harvests I’ve been through, every crop meets me with a feeling of anxiousness around harvest time.  I can’t rest until it’s all in, safe and sound.  Learning how to grow garlic is a skill and an art I’ve learned over many years.  My lessons in garlic go back to the mid 70’s when I first started farming…..and tried to learn how to grow garlic from old Dave Frattalone.  Here’s the story.


 I started my farming career at my first farm, Blue Gentian, in St. Paul, Minnesota.  There were several old-timers I learned a lot from in those early days of farming.  Henry Hildebrandt & Dave Frattalone were two farmers who were in their 70’s and 80’s about the time I started farming.  Their families had a long history of growing vegetables for the people in the St. Paul area and sold their produce at the farmer’s markets.  Henry’s family had a long history of being good tomato growers and had 2 acres of cold frames that they used to grow vegetables in during the off-season—they even pulled off radishes in March!  Dave Frattalone was from a well-respected Italian family who had been supplying St. Paul for years.  Both of these gentleman were instrumental in teaching me many important things about farming that you just can’t learn about in a text book, seed catalog or really in any way other than by doing it.  So how do you get an old-timer to teach you things and share their knowledge?  You offer to plow their fields!  That tactic worked well with Henry who lived close to my farm.  In exchange for my labor, we developed a good neighborly relationship that opened up many doors for me to learn about growing vegetables.  Conversely, Dave lived further away in Little Canada and was a little harder to warm up to.  In Atina Diffley’s book, Turn Here Sweet Corn, she describes Dave as “The King of the Saint Paul Farmers’ Market.”  At that time, Dave was the only one at the market who grew and sold garlic.  I was intrigued by Dave’s garlic and tried to talk to him about growing it.  Unfortunately old Dave had no interest in talking to me about garlic.  It was clear he did not want to teach anyone else how to grow this valuable crop, so he remained tight-lipped for several years!

Let’s put the story into perspective.  In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s farmers’ markets were thriving.  It was the place people went to purchase their “groceries.”  Food was produced and purchased within the region, so people relied on their local farmers to show up at the markets each week.  The Frattalone and Hildebrandt families sold everything they could grow and left each market with an empty wagon.  Well, let me rephrase that.  They didn’t take vegetables home, but Henry’s family did have the contract to clean up all the horse manure after the market (remember there were still a lot of horses being used for transportation at this time).  They’d bring their wagon to market loaded with vegetables, and would take it home loaded with rich, nutritious horse manure for their cold frames!  In the same wagon--yikes!  Unfortunately, times started to change and with the development of grocery stores and transcontinental transportation, people shifted their purchasing from the farmers’ markets to the grocery stores.  By the time I entered the scene and started selling at the St. Paul farmer’s market, times were rough and a lot of farmers were taking large amounts of vegetables home with them each week instead of selling out.  The competition was thick and old Dave was just protecting his livelihood and the “monopoly” he had on the local garlic market.

Well, I still wanted to learn how to grow garlic, even if Dave wasn’t willing to help me.  At that time I did know Dave was buying garlic from an old seed company in California, Basic Vegetable.  He grew a softneck variety that he planted in the spring and produced small bulbs that he harvested in the fall.  Knowing little more than that about garlic, I had to do my own research.  I started reading and found a farmer in Canada who grew a different type of garlic, a hardneck variety.  He produced beautiful garlic, but one of the keys to his success was planting it in the fall.  I started experimenting with growing garlic and quickly learned some key lessons, including the importance of careful seed selection.  Since seed garlic wasn’t as readily available as it is today, I learned how to save “seed” from each year’s garlic crop to replant.  After several years of experimenting with growing garlic, I took one of my nicest bulbs of garlic over to Dave Frattalone.  When he saw the quality and size of my garlic, he perked up in interest and was all ears.  I willingly shared with him everything I had learned about garlic and on that day I broke through to old Dave.  After that experience, Dave was much more willing to share his farming knowledge with me, knowing I’d do the same for him.
   
To this day I still value the lessons I learned from these old-timers.  Maybe old Dave’s greatest contribution to my farming education was that he did not tell me his secrets to growing garlic!  If I had not been forced to seek out information on my own, I may never have found the Canadian grower who introduced me to the hardneck garlic we grow and rely on today.  In fact, our Porcelain garlic originated from seed garlic I got from him!  We’ve carefully maintained this variety and have saved seed from it for over 30 years now!  Thanks, Dave and Henry, for sharing your farming knowledge and experiences with me.  It is true that you reap what you sow…in garlic and in relationships.

Farmer's Market Help Wanted!

We’re in search of friendly faces to work at our stand at the Dane County Farmer’s Market from April-November.  Rain or shine, hot or cold, we attend all the outdoor markets from mid-April through November. 

In this position, you will help set up and take down the stand, restock vegetables, assist customers with sales as well as answer questions about the produce, cooking and recipe ideas, the farm and our crops.  As a representative of the farm, we will train you in basic facts about Harmony Valley and the vegetables we grow and sell.

We are looking for individuals who are physically fit, friendly and able to communicate well with the public.  Sales or customer service experience, good math skills, an interest in organic vegetables, high energy, and a smiling face are required.  Experience in cooking and canning/preservation will be very helpful as well.  We’ll ask you to commit to work 2-3 Saturdays a month so our customers get to know you at the stand.  Hours are usually 5:30 am-2:00 pm.  Compensation includes $85 for the day and $15 in veggies from the stand. 
If you would like more information, contact Andrea at the farm: Andrea@HarmonyValleyFarm.com or 608-483-2143 ext 4