Peach Pie with Lattice Top

Our weekly flavor is a summer classic of just peach in a thick syrup and topped with a sugared lattice top.

As always, we start with our signature crust of organic whole wheat flour, local butter, and house rendered pork lard for a flaky crust.

Lemon Blueberry Bread

A sweet quick bread made with fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, and blueberries, with a sweet lemon glaze on top.

24 oz loaf.

Return of Raw Sauerkraut

Finally I can quit answering the question, "When will you have kraut again?"

Last year was a bad cabbage year. Too hot and much of the summer cabbage withered in the field. We didn't make near enough kraut and ran out shortly after New Years.

This June when the first cabbage appeared, I raced to get some kraut fermenting. It's now ready.

We start with simply organic cabbage and pink Himalayan salt. The ingredients are weighed out and shredded, stomped, and allowed to ferment. This time of the year it ferments faster (warmer), so our June 24 batch is now ready.

Each jar is jam packed with 2# of kraut. You'll have to fork it out to get it loose!

Make it a Kraut Dinner - $22 - 1 jar raw sauerkraut (1 quart), 1 package smoked kielbasa (1.25#), and 1 package potato and cheese pierogis (6 ct)

July Fruit Trio of the Week - $20

I've been waiting for months for it - fresh watermelon. This week's trio celebrates the best we have in this week.

1 large seedless watermelon

2# nectarines

1 pint blackberries

Blackberries are winding down so get them while you can. Expect more varieties of watermelon next week and also the first of the late summer apples - Dandee and Paula Red.

Pork Sirloin Roast - 10% Off

The pork sirloin roast is a boneless roast good for high temperature cooking. It's one of my favorite. Goes great over a bed of kraut or with potatoes. It is not a crock pot cut.

The sirloin section is a muscle group behind the boneless loin. The boneless loin is similar to a strip loin on beef. That is where "center cut" pork chops come from.

The sirloin, in the opinion of most of our deli staff at OCP, is superior. There are about 3 muscles all separated by intramuscular fat. It's tasty and easy cooking.

You can slice it into chops, cube it and use it on skewers, or roast it whole. If you roast it whole, try trussing and dressing it up for a nice dinner presentation as done here. Can be trimmed up to look just like a boneless loin roast.

Blackberries

Starting to slow down some, but we should still have blackberries for a few weeks.

Sugar Cube Cantaloupes

Small, personal size cantaloupes - a farmers market favorite among customers. Super sweet with a firmer flesh. These are easy to love.

Seedless Watermelon

These week we are so excited to have the first Seedless Watermelons!

Seedless melons are a bit touchy to grow. They require a "pollinator" melon every 3rd melon plant. This melon is a seeded melon that contains the male stamen needed to pollinate the female flower of the seedless melon plant. The pollinator melons are generally not very good eating and are there only for pollination.

Extra Sweet Corn - available online

This week the "Super Sweet" organic sweet corn is finally here. My neighbor Jonas came by last night and said it came on fast with the heat and rain over the weekend.

Super Sweets are a class of sweet corns prized for their concentrated sugars and longer shelf life before becoming starchy. The seeds are more expensive but well worth the result.

Sold by the 4 ears, half dozen, and dozen.

Bulk Peaches

This week's varieties of Red Haven and PF Flaming Fury are both available in bulk for canning, freezing, baking, etc.

Per half peck (5#) - $13.25

Per Peck (11#) - $24

Per Half Bushel (22#) - $46 (includes $6 refundable crate deposit)

Roma Tomatoes

This week we start to see some of the first canning tomatoes. These romas are still a little firm so it would be best to let them set out a few days before processing. They should be perfect by the weekend.

Per Peck (11#) - $14

Per Half Bushel (22#) - $24

Pickles

This week we have a very limited supply on pickles. Maddie, our pickle grower, is just in between plantings. We expect more next week.

(photo right: dent corn stored in a corn crib to be ground as "ear corn" for livestock, including dairy cows, hogs, and chickens

Sweet Corn, Dent Corn, and Flint Corn

Most corn you see grown around Ohio is not intended for direct human consumption. It is field corn, a form of "dent corn," that is harvested when the ear is dried down and falls over. It's kind of cool how nature protects the cob. When it is mature, the cob falls forward and rain runs off of the ear allowing it to be dried down. When the kernel dries down, often to about 15% to 20% moisture, the kernels display a "dent."

Dent corn can be processed for human consumption, including cornmeal, cereals, popcorn, etc.

However, most dent corn is grown either for processing into animal feed or ethanol production. The byproducts of corn are then used in industry for countless uses from making plastics to carpet dies, among literally countless uses.  

Flint corn is more commonly referred to as Indian corn and is used as decorations in the fall.

Sweet corn is a species of corn where the cob can be harvested "fresh" and the sugars are still present (not converted to starch). Sweet corn plants are generally much smaller and harvest is done by hand. A very small percentage of roadside corn is sweet corn. 

The Confusing World of Sweet Corns

Sweet Corn tends to be a topic of pride among farmers, and in some areas, the customer calls for it by name.  Old time varieties like Silver Queen and Incredible are popular in rural areas, while in the cities bi-colors tend to sell best.

But what does make a good sweet corn? That’s highly debatable and a lot depends on the ripeness at which the farmer harvests it. I can tell you though that sweet corn seed does become quite complicated.

The old time varieties are referred to as standard sweet corn. Silver Queen – a white sweet corn – is one such variety. It’s an older variety that produces plump white kernels. The downside to these varieties is they go starchy very quickly.

Then there are sugar enhanced, or SE, varieties. Sugar enhanced varieties have been naturally bred to create higher sugar levels and a more tender ear. Incredible is a sugar enhanced yellow corn that is very popular with the Amish in Holmes County.

Then there are the more modern varieties known as super sweets, or sh2. Super sweets not only produce more sugars, but they also have a longer storage life before converting sugar to starch. The Awesome XR that we are featuring this week is an example of a sh2.

So why doesn’t every farmer grow a super sweet? A few reasons. 1, the seed is quite expensive. And 2, they don’t germinate as well, particularly in cool soils.

Germination is important with sweet corn because the market quickly becomes saturated. The first person to market gets the highest price.

What’s our preferred way to enjoy sweet corn? Simple. Just roast it in the oven – in the husk – or on the grill. Peel the husk back, slather in butter and salt, and enjoy.  

Like the weather, subject to change.