Sweet Corn Season

See the hay rack? On top of that are mounds of picked ears
of corn. The field can be seen right behind the sign. The
shorter rows in from are sweet corn. The taller rows behind
are the feed or seed corn.

My attention to our Local Eating Project really took a back seat to opening the Juice Cafe at my yoga studio this past month. Finally, weeks of planning, scraping, painting, cleaning and shopping paid off and we opened the doors! I'm thrilled to have found the most exciting local juice purveyor, Akin from Earth's Healing Cafe, to stock our fridge.

However, this season is hands-down the easiest time to eat locally; if I couldn't keep up with the blog, I certainly could still keep up with the project. While the peas have died down, I'm picking cucumbers and raspberries from the garden. My CSA box is filled with small zucchini, blueberries,  small new potatoes, cherries, onions and greens.

One of the fun things about driving through the country this time of year are the impromptu farm stands on the side of the road. I was heading back to the farm from Dixon and passed this little one on Inlet Road. I did a quick 3-pointer in the pick-up and headed back where a boy and his grandmother

Mom cutting kernals of corn off the
ears right into a plastic bag.

were selling corn, as you see, 13 ears for $4. I bought 39 ears. The boy carried three full plastic bags to my truck and plopped them into the bed and off I went.

My mom and I had a nice hour outside in the breeze cutting the ears off into plastic bags for freezing. However, the ears were small and we netted, unbelievably, about a one gallon bag from all that shucking and slicing. If I pass another on the way back to the city today, I'll pick up more. Corn freezes amazingly well with no special prep like blanching, regardless what the books say.

Summer in a pan

The extra work put into freezing for less abundant months
is made up with being able to cook quickly in the summer. Sure, you do need to clean and trim; but after that it's so easy to pop it all in a pan with a little oil, saute with some herbs, add meat if you aren't vegetarian...voila! Summer in a pan! How can you help but feel healthier?

By the way, bargain hunters, zucchini is apparently a bumper crop this year (again). Jokes about zucchini are prolific (as is the plant). I generally don't plant it, because typically it seems farmers put these on blue-light special from about this time of year on. At the farmer's market in Rock Falls this weekend, Heather from Hollyhock Hill's Farm was selling these critters at 4 for $1. I took a picture of one of the eight I bought next to my head for scale, and titled the resulting art photo "Zucchini Head". Heather assured me that these mothers are the best for baking. I'll report back.