When you visit your local farmers market this week, you’re likely to find the biggest variety of fruits and vegetables you’ve seen all year. Exotic melons such as Galia and Crenshaw will be sitting alongside cucumbers and peppers, field peas and okra.
There will still be a few cabbages and beets for sale, hanging on from spring plantings, and the farmers’ booths will be overflowing with the yellow, reds and greens of those highlights of the summer vegetable season: corn, tomatoes and squash.
Tomatoes and squash have a long harvest window. Once the plants begin bearing, there can be weeks of picking before the season is over. Corn is different. A cornstalk will bear two or three ears of corn and that’s it. The farmer gets a first harvest, and a smaller second harvest, and then that cornstalk is done. It’s time to pull it up and plant something else.
Tony and Linda Scharko of Scharko Farm plan for succession plantings of their corn, hoping to be able to harvest corn about once a month during the summer and early fall. The Scharkos farm on 4 acres near downtown Fairburn. They sell their produce at the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market on Thursday afternoons and through their community-supported agriculture program with pickup on the farm, at the East Atlanta market and near Candler Park.
At the end of June, they harvested four 200-foot rows of a white hybrid sweet corn called ‘Silver Queen’; 800 feet of plants for about 10 bushels of corn. The yield is very dependent on the moisture the plants receive. “Corn is a grass and it needs a lot of water,” Linda Scharko told me. She’s also growing southern field corn, which her customers especially enjoy for making creamed corn, and ‘Golden Queen’, a sweet yellow hybrid that should come along later in the summer.
It turns out we corn customers are a picky bunch. “If you have the white, they come looking for the yellow,” she said, laughing. “But actually they most often are just happy to get corn. We pick our corn in the morning before we go to market, so the taste is much nicer and sweeter than corn that’s been shipped in.”
It’s widely said that true corn lovers have their water boiling before they go out the door to pick the corn for dinner. Since you’re not likely to be growing corn outside the back door, then buying your corn directly from the farmer is the closest you’re going to get to that fresh-picked taste. Scharko advises her customers to take their corn home and cook it that day.
No long boiling is needed for corn this fresh. Her cooking advice? “Drop the corn into boiling water and cook it for 2 minutes. Pop it right back out, add your salt and butter and you’re good to go.”
Corn doesn’t have to be cooked to be enjoyed. Raw corn kernels cut off the cob are wonderful in salads or turned into cold summer soups.
If you can’t eat your corn right away, make sure you refrigerate it as soon as you get it home. Refrigeration helps the corn retain as much sugar as possible. Keep it in the husk until you’re ready to cook it, and cook it, or eat it raw, as soon as you can.
At local farmers markets
Cooking demos
6 p.m. Thursday, July 28. Chef Seth Freedman, Ruby Root Connections. East Atlanta Village Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.farmeav.com
9:30 a.m. Saturday, July 30. Chef David Larkworthy, Five Seasons Brewery, working with corn. Morningside Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com
10 a.m. Saturday, July 30. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
For sale
Vegetables and fruit: arugula, beans, beets, blackberries, blueberries, cabbage, cantaloupe, carrots, chard, corn, cucumbers, dandelion, eggplant, fennel, field peas, garlic, herbs, kale, leeks, lettuce, okra, onions, peaches, pea shoots, peppers, potatoes, radishes, spaghetti squash, summer squash, tomatoes, turnips, watermelon and specialty melons
From local reports
Grilled Corn With Four Sauces
Hands on: 20 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes, plus soaking time
Serves: 4
You can make all four sauces and let your guests sample, or choose your favorite from among these.
4 ears corn
Choose corn with husks still attached. Carefully pull husks back, leaving attached at the stem. Remove silks and tie husks with cotton twine. Soak corn for 1 hour before grilling.
Preheat grill to very hot.
Place corn on grill with husks outside the grill. Heat 4 minutes or until you start to hear the corn pop. Turn ears until all sides have cooked, about 10 minutes total. Serve hot with sauces on the side.
Per serving, corn only: 89 calories (percent of calories from fat, 11), 3 grams protein, 17 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 1 gram fat (trace saturated fat), no cholesterol, 14 milligrams sodium.
Mayo-Chili Sauce
Hands on: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes
Serves: 4
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, lime juice and chili powder. Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated.
Per serving: 55 calories (percent of calories from fat, 96), trace protein, trace carbohydrates, trace fiber, 6 grams fat (1 gram saturated fat), 2 milligrams cholesterol, 41 milligrams sodium.
Basil-Parmesan Sauce
Hands on: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes
Serves: 4
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Parmesan
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
In a small bowl, mix together olive oil, Parmesan and basil. Can be prepared up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated.
Per serving: 77 calories (percent of calories from fat, 94), 1 gram protein, trace carbohydrates, trace fiber, 8 grams fat (1 gram saturated fat), 2 milligrams cholesterol, 47 milligrams sodium.
Yogurt-Feta Sauce
Hands on: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes
Serves: 4
2 tablespoons plain nonfat yogurt
1 tablespoon crumbled feta
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin
In a small bowl, mix together yogurt, feta, oregano and cumin. Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated.
Per serving: 17 calories (percent of calories from fat, 45), 1 gram protein, 1 gram carbohydrates, trace fiber, 1 gram fat (trace saturated fat), 2 milligrams cholesterol, 32 milligrams sodium.
Smoky Paprika Sauce
Hands on: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes
Serves: 4
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, garlic and paprika. Taste for seasoning. Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated.
Per serving: 56 calories (percent of calories from fat, 97), trace protein, trace carbohydrates, trace fiber, 6 grams fat (1 gram saturated fat), 2 milligrams cholesterol, 39 milligrams sodium.
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