Tag Archives: sweet corn

Local Produce In Transition // Featured Items This Weekend: Reed Avocados, Shiitake Mushrooms, Sweet Corn

July 27th, 2012
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Jacky Morrison on the tractor at Morrison Organic Farm in Cleburne, TX

Local Farm Update…

Just to keep you in the loop, we’re going through a big transition for the next several weeks.   All our local farmers are tilling under the summer crops right now and planting for the fall harvest.  The great news is we should have some incredible LOCAL FALL PRODUCE!  We might see another wave of Texas peaches but we’ve seen the last of the tomatoes and figs for awhile :( .  We hope you enjoyed them!

Below are some of the featured items we’re planning* for the co-op style produce shares this weekend…

*There are several more items in the shares – this is just a sampling. When working with fresh produce, availability can sometimes change last-minute.  We do our best to let you know what’s coming ahead of time, but sometimes things do change, especially when working with local farmers.  Thanks for your understanding!

Just when you thought an avocado couldn’t get any better, BEHOLD!  The Reed Avocado.

Think of all the things you love about a regular avocado, and take it to the next level…
  • The Reed avocado is the size of a softball, super creamy, smooth, and buttery.
  • Not only are Reed avocados difficult to find because their growing season is very short, but finding them organic is almost impossible.
  • The Reed avocado stays green on the outside, and it’s ripe when it’s soft to the touch, not when it turns dark.
  • The Reed avocado doesn’t brown as quickly as its cousin, the more common Haas avocado.
  • Unlike the Haas avocado, the Reed doesn’t need lime juice and cilantro and all those fancy embellishments.  The reed stands alone.  All you need is a sprinkle of sea salt and a spoon to scoop out its creamy goodness.

If you absolutely must fancy them up, here are a few recipe ideas. But first try them plain – trust us!

Local Shiitake Mushrooms

Shiitake mushroom bruschetta – 100% local ingredients

Oh how we love our trusty shiitakes from Texas Organic Mushrooms in Denison!    And we’ve prepared both slow and quick shiitake mushroom recipes for you, depending on how much time you have.  Get them here.

Bi-Color Sweet Corn

Mmm, great sweetness and flavor to this corn with different color kernels.  The possibilities are really endless with corn – you can go simple and just shuck it, boil it, butter and salt it, and eat it!  (How to boil corn on the cob)  Or try one of these recipes…

We love you guys!  Thank you for all your support and we hope you’re enjoying your summer!

Our Team Visits 3 Local Farms – Where Your Food Comes From

June 13th, 2012
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One of the most important things to us at Urban Acres is staying connected with our farmers who provide you with wonderful local, organic produce.  We make farm trips regularly throughout the year to see how our farmers are doing and check the progress on the food they’re growing that we then provide to you, our members and friends.

This past Monday, a team of 5 Urban Acres staffers traveled for 18 hours covering 650 miles across Texas to visit 3 of our farm partners:

  • Caprino Royale in Waco, TX.   Husband and wife team Eric and Karen have the best goat cheese in all of Texas, hands-down.  Their chevre is used in many top-rated restaurants here in Dallas.  When you know every single goat by name, then you know the cheese is made with love!
  • Gundermann Acres in Wharton County, TX.  Thank goodness we found Garrett and Stacie Gundermann – they have already provided amazing produce for our co-op style produce shares this year!  The Gundermanns met in high school and got married in 2009.  Garrett is a 4th generation farmer.  Their farm started with a peach orchard, and the family added other fruits and veggies in the mid-1990s.  Now they grow everything from peppers to peaches to figs to eggplant.
  • Eden Creek Farm in Blooming Grove, TX.  Eden Creek is owned by Steve and Kristine Orth, an incredibly energetic and friendly couple that loves growing and sharing their beautiful herbs, greens, veggies, and delicious peaches and plums.  They also have a menagerie of animals with fun names like Tinkerbell, Wilbur, and Squeaky.

We wanted to give you an inside look.  So here’s a little slideshow.

First stop, Caprino Royale…

On the road at 5am…in the Volkswagen Rabbit where UA first began

Breakfast at Caprino: homemade pound cake with local blueberries, raw goat milk, and Oak Cliff Coffee – MMMMM.

Samantha and Jeff learn a goat-feeding lesson from Karen at Caprino

Our Liz with Eric at Caprino

Love me!

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* * *

Next stop, Gundermann  Acres…

Unconventional setting for our meeting at Gundermann Acres – just how we do business :)

Steven getting a tour from Garrett Gundermann

Hydroponics greenhouse

Our studly Andy

Just a few weeks until these huge, juicy figs make an appearance in your produce share!

Liz experiencing fig yumminess

Andy trying a Gundermann fig

Samantha checking out the bell peppers

Steven chowing down on Gundermann organic sweet corn, straight from the field

Waist-deep in organic sweet corn fields: Liz, Garrett Gundermann, Andy, Samantha

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* * *

Final stop, Eden Creek Farm…

Our team (minus Jeff) with the Orths at Eden Creek Farm in Blooming Grove: Steven, Steve Orth, Kristine Orth, Andy, Liz, Samantha

Eden Creek’s potbellied pigs

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Ending the trip with a true farm-to-table dinner under the stars with everything coming from the land at Eden Creek Farm

Thank you, Urban Acres farmers, for working in the hot, the cold, the windy, the rainy, for sacrificing so much to provide the best organic food in Texas for our members and friends.  We ♥ you!

Why Is My Corn Topless?

May 26th, 2012
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We’re excited to include the first round of organic Texas sweet corn from Gundermann Acres in Wharton County, TX in the co-op style produce shares this weekend!  You’ll notice something different right away though – the corn will have the tops cut off.  Why?  Well, worms love sweet corn.  That’s why most non-organic corn is heavily sprayed with chemicals.  However, the corn you’ll be getting is organic, and our farmers do their best to slow the worms from getting to the corn, but they still eat the tops sometimes.  So the corn tops are chopped off.

Basically, it’s a telltale sign of organic corn to see the tops chopped off, because worms cannot survive on sprayed corn!

Try these recipes…

Local Produce For Memorial Day Weekend: Texas Corn, Green Beans, Squash Blossoms, and More…

May 25th, 2012
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Happy Memorial Day weekend!  It’s gonna be a great one with all this local produce for the co-op style produce shares!

Here are some of the LOCAL produce items planned* to be in this weekend’s co-op style produce shares…there are several more items, but this is just a sampling!

*When working with fresh produce, availability can sometimes change last-minute.  We do our best to let you know what’s coming ahead of time, but sometimes things do change, especially when working with local farmers.  Thanks for your understanding!

Yes, that’s 11 local items – so excited!

Here are some photos for ya…

Fruit orchards at Larken Farms

Plums from Larken farms

Squash blossoms from Gundermann Acres

Various local squash

Local watermelon radish

Thank you for being a part of Urban Acres and supporting Texas farmers and local, organic produce!  We ♥ our farmers, and we ♥ you!