USDA Organic Standards Fact Sheet

January 2–8, 2008

What’s Cooking in Our Organic Kitchen

New Flavors for the New Year

Chef Sarah and her team are starting the new year with some delicious new offerings. Our new Organic Granola Bars are made by hand here in our Organic Kitchen with the finest ingredients.

A favorite with kids, our Cranberry Walnut Granola Bars are made with oats, coconut, orange peel, tangy dried cranberries, and a touch of ginger.

Our Four Seed Granola Bars combine healthy sunflower, flax, pumpkin, and sesame seeds with coconut and chewy dried apricots.

These crunchy-style bars have just enough “give” to make them satisfyingly chewy. They’re perfect as a quick, delicious, and nutritious breakfast in the morning, or they can quiet a rumbly tummy as a mid-day snack — and they’re a tasty organic treat anytime. Our handmade granola bars come 3 in a bag for $3.59. We’re serving samples this week, so stop by and try some!

For a special treat, try Chef Sarah’s new Pumpkin Spice Cake, a delectable layer cake packed with raisins, pecans, roasted pumpkin seeds, finished with a cream cheese frosting spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon. It’s destined to be a new Farm Stand favorite!
And don’t forget our all-organic salad bar and our daily menu of hot soups, grilled-to-order panini, and fresh-baked pizzas — whatever your time or taste, our Organic Kitchen has made something delicious for you.

Recipes Online

Delicious Winter Root Vegetables

This month, we’re shining our Seasonal Food Spotlight on versatile and delicious winter root vegetables — we’ve got a selection of hearty winter recipes featuring celery roots, parsnips, rutabagas, and more on our website.
Winter’s root vegetables — gnarly, misshapen, even downright ugly — often get taken for granted or ignored completely. But if you’ve begun the new year with a resolution to eat healthy, root veggies are a great place to start. Not only are celery roots, parsnips, and rutabagas at their very best this time of year (when the selection of other seasonal fresh vegetables can be slim), there are lots of delicious, satisfying recipes that show off their wonderful flavors.
Winter root veggies are low-calorie but “high-volume,” which means they’ll fill you up without a lot of calories. Celery root (also called “celeriac”) is used in traditional Chinese medicine to reduce high blood pressure; recent studies suggest it’s the presence of phytochemicals called phthalides that produce this benefit. Parsnips are a good source of folate, calcium, potassium, and fiber, and they’re a nutritious — and tasty — substitute for white potatoes. Rutabagas are a member of the Cruciferae family, acclaimed for its cancer-fighting properties; they’re high in anti-carcinogenic glucosinolates as well.
Featured Recipes
Braised Winter Root Vegetables
Winter Root Vegetable Soup

Our Farm Stand is Open Year-Round
8am–6pm Mon–Sat, 10am–5pm Sun

7250 Carmel Valley Rd., Carmel, CA
(just 3.5 miles east of Hwy 1)
(831) 625-6219

This eNews and its contents are © 2007 Earthbound Farm.

In This Issue

Recipes Online
Delicious Winter
Root Vegetables

Store Hours

M-Sat 8am-6pm
Sun 10am-5pm
(831) 625-6219

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September 17, 2008

Fresh Harvest

San Marzano Tomatoes: It’s Sauce Time!

San Marzanos are a variety of plum (also often called “roma”) tomato, but they’re not your average salad citizen. Chefs worldwide consider the San Marzano to be the world’s premier sauce tomato, with thick, sweet flesh, thin skin, and fewer seeds than other varieties. Commercial production of San Marzanos is centered in Italy, where the prized tomatoes have their own European Union appellation (D.O.P., for Denominazione d'Origine Protetta).

Our “Farmer Mark” Marino obtained some organic seeds for this legendary heirloom tomato and found that these meaty beauties just love our Carmel Valley climate. Now he’s bringing in a bumper crop of fresh organic San Marzano tomatoes, ripe and ready to use. We’re featuring them by the bag at the Farm Stand, approximately 9 lbs of gorgeous organic goodness for $4.95.

These beautiful ripe tomatoes are perfect for our Farm Stand Marinara sauce — and we have lots more tomato recipes online to help inspire you. Buon appetito!

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE FARM

Come See Us at Green Brooklyn

If you’re in or around New York City this week, join us at Green Brooklyn on Thursday, Sept. 18. We’re a proud sponsor of this 4th annual urban environmental event, organized by The Center for the Urban Environment. It’s happening indoors and outdoors at the Brooklyn Borough Hall, next to the Greenmarket, from 11:30am-5:30pm. Visit www.greenbrooklyn.org for more information. If you’re in the neighborhood, we’d love to see you!

Join us for a Flower Walk this Saturday!

Two Events at the Farm Stand This Saturday

Why Choose Organic Flowers?

Organic flowers are grown without the pesticides that often persist on the blooms of conventional cut flowers. Organic flower fields are safer for workers, and they provide a safe habitat and food source (pollen) for the beneficial insects and pollinators upon which all farming depends. Learn more about organic flowers.

This Saturday morning, we’ll take you into our organic flower fields to pick your own basketful of beautiful fall blooms — then we’ll give you some easy and elegant ideas for showing off your fresh flowers at home.

Flower Walk — Saturday, Sept. 20, 10am-Noon. $20/adults, $5 children 12 and under. Be sure to wear sturdy field-walking shoes, and arrive on time so you don’t get left behind!

September 3, 2008

NOW ONLINE

It’s Organic Harvest Month

September is Organic Harvest Month, a perfect time to celebrate the bounty of organic produce while organic fruits and vegetables are plentiful and prices are lowest. Now on our website, you can meet some of the 150 farmers who grow organic produce for Earthbound Farm; every day, they’re helping us to share the benefits of organic food with as many people as possible. Or take our Organic Harvest Month poll to find out how your organic food habits compare with those of others — and get a free online coupon for your next purchase of Earthbound Farm fresh salads, fruits, and vegetables!

Spotlight on Fresh Figs

There’s no fruit more lusciously sensual and exquisitely fleshy than the fig, one of the ancient world’s most prized foods. Figs are glorious eaten out of hand, but they’re also delicious when cooked and partnered with salty foods such as chevre or blue cheese, nuts, or prosciutto and other cured meats. They have all the rich sweetness of candy, but nutritionally they’re a much better choice; figs are an excellent source of dietary fiber, calcium, potassium, and iron. Fabulous fresh figs are in our Seasonal Food Spotlight this month — along with delicious recipes to try, like Mâche Salad with Figs and Bacon, Sweet Almond Cake with Fresh Figs, Baked Figs with Whisky Caramel Sauce, and more.

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE FARM

Take a Bug Walk With Us

Join us on the farm this Saturday to learn lots of fun and fascinating facts about how beneficial insects help organic farmers control pests — and help us release thousands of ladybugs to help protect our Carmel Valley fields.

Did you know that in ancient times, people saw ladybugs (also known as ladybird beetles) as harbingers of good fortune and a good harvest. Indeed, the ladybug is one of an organic farmer’s best friends when it comes to protecting his crops from voracious pests. Just one adult ladybug can eat as many as 1,000 aphids in her lifetime!

Bug Walk — Saturday, September 6, 11am-Noon. $5/child (includes take-home goodie bag), adults free. Be sure to wear sturdy, comfortable field-walking shoes. Arrive on time so you don’t get left behind!

Upcoming Events at the Farm Stand

Sep 13: Carmel Valley Heirloom Tomato Sale (all day)
Sep 20: Flower Walk (10am-Noon) and
Jam Jar Vase Workshop (12:30-2:30pm)
Sep 27: Chef Walk with Jeff Rogers of Quail Lodge (10am-Noon)

View our entire event season online with our Farm Stand Event Calendar!

Fresh Harvest

Purple Bell Peppers

This week we’ve got beautiful purple bell peppers on sale, freshly picked from the bumper crop in our Carmel Valley fields. Dark purple outside, green inside, these striking peppers are actually the immature fruit of the plant; left unpicked, the pepper will gradually turn green and then red when it’s fully ripe. Purple bell peppers have a satisfying crunch and strong, grassy taste similar to that of their green-colored cousins. They’re best enjoyed raw to preserve their unique color, which fades to a tan shade when they’re cooked. Try them sliced or chopped as a pretty garnish or a colorful addition to salads; they’re striking on a veggie tray, and they're elegant containers for dips or condiments. Bell peppers are more than just delicious: they’re an excellent source of vitamin C, plus a good source of vitamin A and fiber, too.

Visit Earthbound Farm online at www.ebfarm.com to search our archive of delicious recipes, find information about organic food and farming, watch Farm Stand videos, get product coupons, and more!

Our Farm Stand is Open Year-Round
8am-6:30pm Mon-Sat, 9am-6pm Sun

7250 Carmel Valley Rd., Carmel, CA
(just 3.5 miles east of Hwy 1)
(831) 625-6219

August 27, 2008

FROM THE CHEF WALK

Chef Sarah’s Recipes

Our own Chef Sarah LaCasse teamed up with Farmer Mark Marino last Saturday for a terrific Chef Walk. In her cooking demo, Chef Sarah took great advantage of the fresh heirloom tomatoes and potatoes we’re now harvesting from our Carmel Valley fields. This time of year, tomatoes, potatoes, and many varieties of green beans are at their peak in many parts of the country — try one (or both) of these recipes wherever you are, and enjoy the wonderful flavors of summer!

Chef Sarah’s notes: “At the Farm Stand, we use kosher salt for its milder flavor. Blanching or cooking in salted water is an easy way to add flavor without adding lots of sodium to your diet. I don’t cook by rules — these recipes are great starting points, and you can adjust, add, or omit ingredients to your taste or according to whatever’s fresh and wonderful when you go to the market. Experiment and enjoy!”

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE FARM

We’re Going Corn Crazy!

This Saturday, from 11am to 3pm, we’re celebrating one of our favorite summer events: our Corn Crazy Festival — and the opening of our Corn Maze (Carmel Valley’s only organic corn maze). We’ll have games, cornhusk doll-making, farm tours, our famous Corn-on-the-Cob Eating Contest, music, and more. It’s great fun for the whole family, and admission is free for all!

Upcoming Events at the Farm Stand

Sep 6: Bug Walk (11am-Noon)
Sep 13: Heirloom Tomato Sale (all day)
Sep 20: Flower Walk (11am-Noon) and
Jam Jar Vase Workshop (12:30-2:30pm)

View our entire event season online with our Farm Stand Event Calendar!

Fresh Harvest

Peak Summer Flavors: Ripe Tomatoes, Sweet Corn

We’re harvesting great summer favorites this week, fresh from our Carmel Valley fields. A bumper crop of our ripe Carmel Valley organic heirloom tomatoes is yielding some of the best tomatoes we’ve ever had, in an amazing range of shapes and colors, ripe and ready to enjoy. The first of our Carmel Valley organic sweet white corn is coming in, too — any Valley resident can tell you that Carmel Valley sweet corn is a legendary local treat. Stop in and take some home to share with friends, family… or just to enjoy yourself!

Visit Earthbound Farm online at www.ebfarm.com to search our archive of delicious recipes, find information about organic food and farming, watch Farm Stand videos, get product coupons, and more!

Our Farm Stand is Open Year-Round
8am-6:30pm Mon-Sat, 9am-6pm Sun

7250 Carmel Valley Rd., Carmel, CA
(just 3.5 miles east of Hwy 1)
(831) 625-6219

August 20, 2008

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE FARM

Chef Walk with Earthbound Farm’s
Executive Chef Sarah LaCasse

This Saturday, August 23, join us for a very special Chef Walk with our own Executive Chef Sarah LaCasse. Chef Sarah will lead you into our Carmel Valley fields for a chef’s-eye view of our fresh organic summer bounty. Sarah’s mission is always to find the freshest, most delicious ingredients; out in the field, she’ll give you insider chef tips on selecting ripe tomatoes, fresh potatoes, and lots more for your harvest basket. Later, she’ll show you how to use those ingredients to best advantage in a cooking demo and tasting. You’ll leave with some of Chef Sarah’s incredible recipes and lots of ideas for using your fresh-picked organic bounty in your own kitchen.

Chef Walk with Sarah LaCasse — Saturday, Aug. 23, 10am-Noon. $20/adults, $5 children 12 and under. Please wear sturdy field-walking shoes, and be sure to arrive on time so you don’t miss anything.

If you can't join us on Saturday, we’ll have Chef Sarah’s recipes from the walk in next week’s eNews!

Upcoming Events at the Farm Stand

Aug 30: Corn Crazy — one of our favorite seasonal festivals marks the opening of Carmel Valley’s only organic corn maze! (11am-3pm)
Sep 6: Bug Walk (11am-Noon)

View our entire event season online with our Farm Stand Event Calendar!

Fresh Harvest

Ripe Tomatoes and Colorful Potatoes

This week, our Farm Stand is featuring some of the items that Chef Sarah will be picking in her Chef Walk on Saturday. These are the wonderful flavors of summer’s bounty, fresh from our fields: beautiful, ripe Carmel Valley organic heirloom tomatoes in an amazing range of shapes and colors, and delicious varieties of organic heirloom potatoes in purples and reds, blues and golds. Warm weather is the perfect setting for enjoying juicy tomatoes in your favorite recipes (plus, high season is the best time to preserve these luscious beauties for future use) — and of course, summer wouldn’t be summer without a savory potato salad or two!

NOW ONLINE

Strawberry-Tarragon Salad with Aged Balsamic Vinegar

Peak Summer Recipes (and More)

The summer season is peaking, not just in Carmel Valley, but in most places across the country. If there’s a “best” time to take advantage of Nature’s fresh bounty of fruits and vegetables, this must be it! On our website, we’ve got delicious recipes, ingredient archives, cooking tips, podcasts, and more to help you take advantage of the season’s abundant ingredients — or whatever’s your favorite — no matter where you are. (If you haven’t already, visit our 24th Birthday section, where we’ve assembled some great recipes from Food to Live By: The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook.)

If you don’t see your favorite ingredients, please let us know what you’re interested in!

November 14–20, 2007

What’s Cooking in Our Organic Kitchen

Let Us Help Make Your Thanksgiving Delicious

Salmon

Chef Sarah has created a wonderful organic Thanksgiving menu with traditional fare and Farm Stand favorites, too — all organic and handmade from scratch here in our kitchen. Relax and let us help make your Thanksgiving feast delicious!

We’re taking orders now through Saturday, Nov. 17. Call 625-6219 x11 or stop by the Farm Stand today! (Orders can be picked up on Tuesday, Nov. 20 and Wednesday, Nov. 21.)

• Click here for a printable
order list!

• Please note that the Farm Stand will be closed on Thanksgiving so our staff can enjoy the holiday with their families.

Ready-to-Roast Organic Turkey
Your choice of Herb-Butter
or our famous Brined turkey
12-14 lbs (serves 8-10) or 16-18 lbs (serves 10-12), $4.95/lb

Turkey Giblet Gravy
With wine, turkey stock, and herbs
$5.95/pint (serves 4); $10.95/quart (serves 8)

Classic Mashed Potatoes
Silky russets with milk and butter
$8.95/quart (serves 4)

Apple, Pinenut & Sage Stuffing (vegetarian)
Just try to keep the nibblers out of this aromatic delight!
$14.95/quart (serves 6)

Food to Live By Garlicky Green Beans
A spicy Farm Stand favorite, hot or cold
$5.95/pint (serves 3); $10.95/quart (serves 6)

Sweet Potato & Winter Squash Casserole
A delicious pairing of two fall favorites
$5.95/16 oz (serves 1-2); $10.95/32 oz (serves 3-4)

Butternut Squash Bisque
A rich, velvety start to your meal
$10.95/quart (serves 4)

Buttermilk Biscuits
Flaky and tender
$6.49/bag (serves 6)

Food to Live By Cranberry Sauce
Sweet and zesty, great with chicken or pork, too
$5.95/half pint (serves 3); $10.95/pint (serves 6)

Food to Live By Apple, Pear & Cranberry Pie
With a nutty streusel topping, terrific à la mode
$24.95 (serves 8)

Winter Squash & Pumpkin Pie
Rich with cinnamon, brown sugar, and a touch of ginger
$22.95 (serves 8)

Whipped Cream
Makes any dessert special
$3.95/pint (serves 8)

Fresh from the Field: This Week’s Harvest

It’s Soup Pot and Roasting Pan Season

Squash

The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting cooler, and it’s time to break out the soup pot and the roasting pan. Your family’s favorite seasonal recipes are even better when they’re made with our organic winter squashes and pumpkins, grown right here in our Carmel Valley fields. From colorful Carnival to rich Kabocha — and petite pie pumpkins, too — we have the varieties you’re looking for.

And nothing beats cooking with fresh organic herbs. Farmer Mark is bringing in some beautiful aromatic chervil, cilantro, dill, rosemary, sorrell, and Italian and curly parsley, perfect for your holiday recipes.

From Farmer Mark’s Notebook: “As the days get shorter, light becomes a precious commodity. Shorter days mean there’s less time to actually work in the fields — but even though most of our land is resting under cover crops for the winter, there’s still a lot for us to do. ‘Off season’ doesn’t apply to farmers! But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Featured Ingredient

Peaking Now: Persimmons

Persimmons are a good source of fiber, antioxidants, and vitamins C and A. The domestic season is October through December, so persimmons are approaching their peak now. We have some great persimmon recipes on our website — where you can also search our database of hundreds of recipes for your other seasonal favorites .

Squat, round Fuyus should have a green calyx (the cap of leaves at the stem end) and light orange skin. If they’re very firm, allow them to ripen at room temperature for several days; slight softening will ensure the best flavor. Store them in the refrigerator for up to 14 days or freeze (whole) for up to 3 months.

Heart-shaped Hachiyas are sold unripe because they’re so fragile when they ripen. (Remember, their intense orange-red color is not an indication of ripeness!) Ripen them at room temperature or in a loosely sealed paper bag with a banana or apple to hasten the process; it could take up to 2 weeks for the fruit to reach the jelly-soft stage. Once ripe, refrigerate Hachiyas for up to 3 days. If you’re in a hurry to use them, you can freeze them for 24 hours. Then thaw the fruit in the refrigerator and use the pulp for baking. To increase the intensity of its flavor, leave the persimmon in the freezer for about 2 weeks.

Featured Recipes
Fuyu, Pear, and Avocado Salad
Persimmon Mousse
Persimmon Pudding Cake

Our Farm Stand is Open Year-Round
8am–6pm Mon–Sat, 10am–5pm Sun

7250 Carmel Valley Rd., Carmel, CA
(just 3.5 miles east of Hwy 1)
(831) 625-6219

October 17 - 23, 2007

What’s Happening at the Farm Stand

Take a Chef Walk with Cal Stamenov

Chef Cal

Our friend Cal Stamenov, chef and creative visionary for the world-class dining venues at Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley, returns to Earthbound Farm this Saturday, Oct. 20. He’ll lead a Chef Walk through our fields, where you’ll harvest a bounty of fresh produce, and then he’ll show you how to cook it using some of his own delicious recipes. 10 a.m.-Noon, $20/adults, $5/children 12 and under. Be sure to wear sturdy field-walking shoes, and please arrive on time so you don’t get left behind! *Please note that rain cancels this event.

Save the Date to Celebrate

Save the date — Saturday, Oct. 27, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. — and join us at the Farm Stand’s Harvest Festival, our annual celebration of the farm’s bountiful harvest. This year’s Festival is shaping up to be our best ever, with fun, pumpkin-packed activities for the whole family (be sure to sign up early for our famous “Pumpkin Scramble”)! We’ll have an incredible array of delicious food (and recipes, too) from the bounty of our Carmel Valley fields — and this year, Chef Sarah’s surprising Roasted Squash & Toasted Seeds Tasting could change your mind about squashes forever. There’ll be farm tours, craft workshops, hay rides, live music, and more. Don’t miss it!

Check out events for the rest of the season on our Farm Stand Event Calendar.

Fresh from the Field: This Week’s Harvest

Piling Up the Pumpkins

A pumpkin is just one kind of winter squash, but nothing marks the harvest season like the sight of those plump, bumpy harbingers of fall. We’ve piled our organic pumpkins high all around the Farm Stand, and they make vibrant mounds all around our grounds. You can even see the bright pumpkin stacks from the road! Whether you like your pumpkins a traditional orange, or your fancy runs to the more unusual green, white, blue, pink, or variegated shades, we’ve got your perfect jack-o-lantern-to-be or just the right accent for your gorgeous fall display.

Amazing Winter Squash

Squash Our organic winter squash crop is a bumper this season! Winter squashes are amazingly delicious and interchangeable in many kinds of breads, muffins, soups, stews, side dishes, and desserts. We’re bringing in a beautiful array of shapes, colors, and sizes: better-known varieties like Big Butternut and Spaghetti; vividly named Black Futsu, and Blue, Green, and Red Hubbard; and tastefully monikered Carnival, Delicata, Kabocha, and Sweet Dumpling, to name just a few. Plus, we’ve got lots of perfect little “sugar pumpkins,” those petite jack-o-lantern cousins known for their delectable taste in both sweet and savory treats. If you’ve never thought you had a taste for squash, now’s the time to reconsider — your palate (and your family) will thank you!

A Fortune in Heirlooms... Tomatoes, That Is

Tomato Such has been the size of Farmer Mark’s incredible bumper crop of organic heirloom tomatoes that we’re still bringing them in, fresh and delicious, from our Carmel Valley fields. This is a great time to do some cooking, canning, and freezing so you can enjoy these flavorful beauties during the cold, wet months to come (we’ve been preserving gallons of heirloom tomato purée for future use ourselves).

From Farmer Mark’s Notebook: “The season’s work is really set up in January, when you plan and you plow (and you cross your fingers). If you’ve done things right, at the end of the season you’re rewarded with a big, bountiful harvest. Well, our bumper crops have shown up, all right — now we’ve just got to get them all in!”

What’s Cooking in Our Organic Kitchen

It’s Busy in the Kitchen

Tapenade

Chef Sarah and her talented Organic Kitchen team are working hard to make the most of our bountiful harvest (and to create new favorites, too). Those incredible organic California Kalamata olives are back — and we’re sampling our delicious Olive Tapenade this week on freshly baked organic artisan breads.

On the fresh daily menu, look for Winter Squash, White Bean & Chard Soup and Curried Butternut Squash Soup. We’re making our popular Mo’s Heirloom Tomato Tart, plus those flavorful Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms from Earthbound Farm co-founder Myra Goodman’s Food to Live By: The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook. All kinds of good things — from entrées to bakery treats and more — are cooking in the Organic Kitchen right now, so if you haven’t stopped by lately, come see where those incredible aromas are coming from!

Featured Ingredient

Peak-Season Eggplant

The large, round, dark purple Globe eggplant is the most familiar and widely available variety in this country. It’s available year-round, but eggplant hits its peak in late summer and early fall. At their best, Globe eggplants have pale flesh with few visible seeds. Peeling is optional, although when past their prime, the skins can be tough and bitter and then are best removed. Japanese eggplants are long, slim, and usually purple-skinned, although they can be pale mauve. They’re lightly seeded, with mild, sweet-tasting flesh — they don’t need peeling, so they’re perfect for grilling and stir-frying. White eggplants have firm, moist flesh and less bitterness than the darker varieties, but their skins are tough, which makes them excellent for stuffing.

Eggplants are highly perishable, so it’s important to select them at their prime. Choose a medium-size specimen (3-6-in. diameter) that’s firm and heavy for its size, with taut, smooth skin and a fresh, bright green calyx (the cap of leaves at the stem end). When you press into the skin of a Globe eggplant, a dent should appear, but then quickly refill.

On our website, we’ve collected some delicious recipes for eggplant, plus hundreds of others that celebrate the vibrant flavors of fresh organic ingredients. Try the recipe below, or go to our Recipe Archive to find some of your particular favorites.

Selected Recipes
Chicken & Vegetable Curry

Our Farm Stand is Open Year-Round
8am–6:30pm daily

7250 Carmel Valley Rd., Carmel, CA
(just 3.5 miles east of Hwy 1)
(831) 625-6219

September 12-18, 2007

Myra Myra Recommends

My family recently discovered the new Applegate Farms Stadium Organic Uncured Beef Hot Dogs that Maggie started offering at the Farm Stand a couple of weeks ago. They’re perfect for us — absolutely yummy, organic, grass-fed beef, and only 110 calories each!

As the days get shorter and nights cooler, my family is savoring summer’s last days by walking into the fields next door and picking some of Farmer Mark’s Carmel Valley sweet corn and heirloom tomatoes for dinner. Then we fire up the grill for a quick, satisfying meal of Applegate organic hot dogs (with tons of Bobbie’s pickles and sauerkraut from the Farm Stand), corn on the cob, a huge salad full of our tomatoes, and a little Farm Stand-inspired dessert (our chocolate espresso Hotdogs cookies with vanilla ice cream and fresh-picked raspberries is really hard to beat).

We’re featuring 16 oz packages of Applegate Farms Stadium Organic Uncured Beef Hot Dogs on special this week to encourage you to try them. They’re delicious.

And if you haven’t tasted our Carmel Valley melons, get some soon. They’re the very best I’ve ever tasted, a true late-summer treat! In our house, they’re a juicy addition to breakfast and a great late snack. Farmer Mark has really outdone himself this year, and the beautiful weather in the valley this summer has been an ideal accomplice.

One of the biggest benefits of owning an organic farm is that I’m free to roam the fields, but you can wander our fields yourself on a Harvest or Flower Walk to pick your own — or just stop by the Farm Stand, where we’ve done the work for you!

Fresh from the Field: This Week’s Harvest

Heirloom Tomatoes are Here

Our organic heirloom tomatoes are here at last! Farmer Mark is bringing in a rainbow of flavorful heirloom varieties, including Brandywine, Purple Russian, Red Sunset, Old German, Orange Blossom, and San Marzano Roma. Whether you feature them in a salad (with Earthbound Farm organic greens, of course!), tuck them into a sandwich, or cook them in something special, these heirlooms are just about perfect for any tomato craving you might want to satisfy.

Ever Tasted a “Butterscotch” Melon?

Farmer Mark’s also bringing in some of the extraordinarily sweet Earliqueen cantaloupes he’s been calling “butterscotch” for their rich, sweet flavor. They’re a perfect addition to breakfast, a sophisticated appetizer wrapped with prosciutto, or a great juicy snack all by themselves.

From Farmer Mark’s Notebook:

“We’re starting to harvest some pumpkins and winter squashes this week, and we’re planting cover crops in some of our fields that are finished for the season. There’s a whole lot of harvesting left to do, but I can feel the air changing already. The equinox is a little more than a week away.”

What’s Cooking in Our Organic Kitchen

Melons It’s Tomato Time in the Kitchen

Chef Sarah’s team is making plenty of tomato favorites this week, including a gorgeous Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with all the different colors coming in on a given day; sometimes it’s deeper red, other times a brighter orange, but it’s always delicious. (By the way, the recipe is on pg 35 of Food to Live By: The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook — so you might want to grab a few heirlooms to take home and try it yourself!) We’re also making our popular Farm Stand Tomato Tart, and it’s ready to go in our prepared foods case.

What’s Happening at the Farm Stand

Organic Bumper Crop Sale

Our last Bumper Crop Sale of the season is happening at the Farm Stand this Saturday, Sept. 15. Stock up on peak-of-the-season produce fresh from our fields — including ripe heirloom tomatoes, $1.99/lb; tender zucchini and juicy cantaloupe, both $.99/lb; and fragrant basil, $.99/bunch.

Now’s the time to think about freezing and canning your favorite fruits and veggies to enjoy during the cold, wet winter.

See all our events for the rest of the season on our Farm Stand Event Calendar.

Featured Ingredient

Corn Cook That Fresh Corn!

We’ve got hundreds of great recipes on our website — during September, we’re featuring sweet corn.

For best results, cook your fresh corn as soon as possible. If you must store your corn, refrigerate the ears in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer for a day or two. Corn left at room temperature loses its sugar six times faster than when it’s kept at 32 degrees F.

To prepare, pull back and tear off the husks. Rub off the silks with your hand, or use a soft, dry toothbrush or vegetable brush to remove any strands lurking between the kernels. If a recipe calls for removing the kernels, cut off the tip and bottom of each ear. Hold the cob upright in a large bowl or on a rimmed baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to slice from the top downward, cutting off 3 or 4 rows of corn at a time, but not cutting too deeply into the cob itself. You want to leave about 1/4 of the base of the kernel attached to the cob. Rotate the ear and repeat, until all kernels have been removed. An ear of corn will yield about 1/2 cup of kernels.

Selected Recipes
Cheesy Corn Pudding
Souffléed Corn Custards

Our Farm Stand is Open Year-Round
8am–6:30pm daily

7250 Carmel Valley Rd., Carmel, CA
(just 3.5 miles east of Hwy 1)
(831) 625-6219

September 6-11, 2007

What’s Happening at the Farm Stand

Let’s Go Corn Crazy!

Corn Crazy: A Corny Celebration
Help us celebrate the grand opening of our spectacular organic corn maze — and all things corn — on Saturday, Sep. 8, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

This year’s corn is strong and tall, and we’ve laid out what might be the best corn maze Carmel Valley has ever seen. Lulu the Ladybug will be there for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and throughout the event we’ll have all kinds of corn-centric crafts and activities to keep the whole family busy. Make corn husk dolls, compete in the corn-on-the-cob eating contest, get lost in the corn maze, play games — and don’t forget to eat lots of popcorn!

We’ll be giving tours of the farm, so you can learn about how we grow our organic corn and how we created our corn maze. Plus, there’ll be live music, train rides, and cooking demonstrations, too. Admission is free for everyone. Don’t miss it!

And while you’re at the Farm Stand, pick up some ears of our organic sweet corn to take home. Now’s the time to think about shucking and freezing it so you can enjoy that wonderful, sweet taste in the winter (when corn prices are high and quality... well, isn’t).

See all our events for the rest of the season on our Farm Stand Event Calendar.

What’s Cooking in Our Organic Kitchen

Something New for Green Tomato Lovers

A bumper crop of ripe organic heirloom tomatoes is just around the corner. While we’re waiting, Farmer Mark is bringing in some luscious organic green tomatoes, and Chef Sarah is using them in her new Green Tomato Chutney, a unique and delicious accompaniment for meat or poultry.

We’ve got it ready to go in our cold case — once you’ve tasted it, you might want to grab up some gorgeous green heirlooms and try it at home!

Green Tomato Chutney

9 cups green tomatoes, diced coarse
6 cups apples, peeled, cored, and diced coarse
4 1/2 cups onions, chopped coarse
3/4 cup seedless raisins
1/2 cup candied ginger, cut into small pieces
2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a heavy enameled or stainless steel pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 2 hours, until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Stir frequently to prevent sticking as it thickens. Cool and serve with meats and fowl. Also excellent on bread with blue cheese.

Fresh from the Field: This Week’s Harvest

Melons Sweet Melons and Hot Peppers

If you can tear yourself away from the corn craziness, inside the Farm Stand you’ll find some of Farmer Mark’s incredible organic melons (including fragrant, juicy-sweet cantaloupes) and piquant chile de agua peppers (a variety best-known in Oaxaca and Southern Mexico, but the ones Mark planted here just loved our Carmel Valley sunshine).

From Farmer Mark’s Notebook:
“We’ve planted some pretty purple cauliflower and the last of this season’s frisée and radicchio, and we’re beginning to sow cover crops where the first of our corn was taken. Recent days have been spectacular, but I can already see the beginnings of autumn in some of the trees, maybe just around the edges of the pumpkin vines. We concentrate on the abundant work at hand, and the seasons roll on in their own time.”

Featured Ingredient

Corn Sweet Summer Corn

Our website has hundreds of great recipes — and this month, we’re celebrating that quintessential American summer food, sweet corn.

Sweet corn’s peak season is late May through September. Unless you’re buying a super-sweet hybrid, purchase only as much as you can eat in a day or two, because the moment corn is picked, the sugar begins its conversion to starch, reducing the corn’s natural sweetness. For the freshest taste, always buy corn in its husks and leave it unshucked until just before using. Look at the silk spilling out of the top of the ears: shiny, golden-brown silks indicate freshness, as do green, snug-fitting husks. If it’s allowed, pull back the husk and check that kernels are plump, shiny, and moist, and that the rows are tightly spaced and extend from tip to stem end. Milky juice should spurt out of a kernel when pierced with a fingernail.

Corn can be used in any number of ways, although classic corn on the cob remains one of corn’s best showcases. Simply simmer the ears in plain, unsalted water (salt toughens the kernels) for no more than 5 minutes (or until you can smell the corn), then drain and drizzle the cobs with melted butter. If you’re game to delve beyond the simple perfection of corn on the cob, we’ve got lots of delicious recipes in our website archive for you to try.

Selected Recipes
Fresh Creamed Corn
Grilled Corn