You may have noticed abizarre summer phenomenon taking place in grocery stores. People standing in the produce section with afar off look in their eyes,picking up the melons, rattling and banging on them, smelling and poking them. You've probably even been thisperson and you may or may not have known what you were listening for. We're here to help. Allow us to demystify the art of picking the perfect melon.
1) Look for a melon that feels heavy for its size.
2) Make sure there's no stem. If the stem is still attached that indicates the melon is not mature!
3) Push on the stem end to ensure it's soft, but not mushy.
4) Smell the stem end to see if it smells sweet.
You can use these four cues to help you pick out any variety of melon. They are universal signs that your melon will be delicious. It's not always easy to smell a cold melon though, and trying to gauge the weight can be tedious. Luckily, each variety of melon has its own set of tells that can make the job easier.
Watermelon
1) Thump it with your palm. If you hear a thud, it's ripe!
2)Check where the watermelon rested on the soil. It's ripe if there is a yellow or cream-colored spot.
Cantaloupe
1) Give it a thump. If it's ripe, it will sound hollow.
2) Check under the netting. If the rind is yellow, it's ripe!
Honeydew
1) Look for a creamy yellow color. Avoid any that are green or extremely soft.
2) Shake the honeydew. If you can hear the seeds rattling, you've got a ripe melon.
For over 150 years the Colvin family has been grazing cattle on the 550 acres near Tenino that make up Colvin Ranch. Fred and Katherine Colvin are the 5th generation of ranchers here. Fred's great grandfather, Ignatius Colvin, homesteaded the land after traveling here from Boone, Missouri on the Oregon Trail.
Originally, the Colvin family grew everything they needed to sustain themselves, from livestock to veggies. These days the Colvins raise only grass-fed beef and, more recently, pastured pigs. Fred and Katherine do all the work themselves, deciding to limit the growth of their business to what they can handle on their own.
Their high-quality grass-fed and finished beef comes from cattle born and raised on their ranch entirely on grass pastures and hay to supplement their diets in the winter. Look for their ground beef, soup bones, and beef livers in our meat freezers.
Colvin Ranch also has pastured pork available for purchase. Their pigs are raised in a stress-free environment with plenty of room to run, root and just be pigs. They are raised on high-quality feed and grass at their ranch, no added hormones or antibiotics are ever added! You can order their premium pastured pork by either the whole or half hog. The pork can be cut and wrapped to your specifications, including hams and cured bacon. Contact us for more information and pricing.
Fred and Katherine Colvin take exceptional care of their land and their animals, just like the generations before them. That quality of care shows in their meats. Look for their products next time you're at Farm Fresh!
It's hot outside and that's a good reason to fire up the grill! Just about anyone can throw a steak on a grill, but with a little know-how you can up your grilling game this summer. Amaze your friends and your taste buds with our simple tips to get you grilling like a pro!
Choose Quality Meat: The first, and most important, step to delicious barbecue is choosing high quality, grass-fed or pastured meat. Not only does grass-fed or pastured meat taste SO much better, it's also better for you. It's lower in saturated fats and higher in heart- healthy Omega-3 fats. Plus, they're loaded with antioxidants and don't contain hormones, antibiotics or other drugs. Because nobody ordered that with their dinner!
Get your Equipment Together: There are a few essentials to your best barbecue ever, such as a grill. We recommend a charcoal grill over gas because it creates a better flavor and has a higher maximum heat. While we're on the subject of gas, toss your lighter fluid and pick up a chimney starter and some natural lump charcoal. Natural lump charcoal burns cleaner and more consistently, as an added bonus it leaves less ash!
If you've never used a chimney starter, trust us, they're worth it. You put some newspaper in the bottom space and load the top with charcoal. Then you simply light your paper and it heats the bottom coals and works it's way up. When the coals are gray and ashy, they're ready to go.
It's also essential to have a good pair of long-handled tongs that allow you to reach your food without burning yourself. You'll need a meat thermometer as well. We suggest picking up the instant read kind to save yourself from overcooked meat. Last, but not least, a stiff-bristled grill brush to keep your last meal from tainting your current dish. Which brings us to...
Cleaning your Grill: Clean your grill at the beginning of each cooking session, not at the end. After your coals are lit, spread them out and let your grill heat for about 10 minutes. The heat allows crusted-on food to be easily removed from the grates with a brush. When you're done cooking you can give your grates a quick once over with the grill brush, but you don't want to get it totally clean since a thin layer of grease will help protect the grates from the elements and prevent rusting.
Coal Arrangement: Probably the second most important part of grilling, after high quality meat, is how you arrange the coals. There are a few different methods you can utilize depending on what you're cooking.
Direct Heat: Evenly spread your coals over the coal grate. Use this method when cooking large quantities of food such as burgers or steaks for a crowd.
Bi-heat: Make two distinct areas of coals. One will contain most of the coals, while the other half will have only a thin covering. This is useful when you want a good sear at the beginning like steaks, chicken breasts and pork chops.
Indirect heat: Place all of your coals on one half of the grill leaving the other half empty. Apply this method when cooking large roasts or whole birds. Place your food over the indirect zone, cover the grill and let your food finish cooking. Just remember to rotate your meat so it can cook evenly.
Split Heat: Bank your coals against opposite walls of the grill leaving the middle free. This is good for cooking small roasts like pork loin, small chickens, or cornish hens. You're well on your way to the perfectly grilled piece of meat. Just a few other considerations to get things finished perfectly.
Use your Vents to your advantage. Open vents will help your coals burn hotter. This is especially useful when applying a bi-heat arrangement of your coals. Open the top vent on the side you want to cook faster.
Control Flare-ups caused by dripping fat. To control them while using the bi-heat method transfer your food to the cooler side until the flames settle down. If you're using direct heat, place the lid on the grill to cut off oxygen that is feeding the flames. Be careful when opening the lid though because the flare-ups can come right back.
Congratulations, you just cooked a perfect piece of meat. You're probably eager to bite into that juicy, mouthwatering morsel - but wait! You need to let the meat rest. This isn't a suggestion, it's a requirement. While the meat is cooking the muscle fibers on the exterior tighten, squeezing the juices. This means that the majority of the liquid is in the center. When you cut into it you'll lose all those precious juices to your plate or cutting board. Allowing the meat to rest while the temperature normalizes will distribute the juices more evenly. This way the juices stay put giving you that juicy, mouthwatering bite you're dreaming about. A good rule of thumb is to let fast-cooking meats rest about 1/3 of the cooking time, such as steak, pork chops, chicken breasts or small roasts. For slowcooked barbecue meats they won't need to rest long. Since they cook for long periods of time, the muscle fibers break down and are no longer squeezing the juices by the time they're done.
That's it! You're ready to impress your friends, and your tastebuds, with your master grilling skills!
She doesn't know Santa Claus, but they've got the same stomping grounds. She's older than you might suspect and she'll probably school you at cribbage. After traveling the country in a 14-foot travel trailer, she eventually found her way to Farm Fresh Market.
What do you do at Farm Fresh Market and how long have you worked here?I have worked here since May and I do everything they ask me to do! I run the cash register, I greet customers, I stock groceries, produce, meat... a little bit of everything.
What drew you to natural foods?It was a slow process. My boyfriend is really into sports and he was overweight as a kid. He was always doing all these different diets. So, it was sort of a slow process of clean eating. The more I learned about organic and sustainable, the more interested I got into it.
What do you do in your spare time?I like to hike and fish, read, and watch UFC!
Are you a native Washingtonian? No. I am a native Alaskan. I grew up in North Pole, Alaska.
What’s your favorite thing about working at Farm Fresh Market? I love all my co-workers! They’re super fun to be with. And I love learning about all the local vendors.
Do you have any products you love? I absolutely love the pork shoulder roasts. I live by them! I like to make pulled pork with them. Sometimes I do it with barbecue sauce or sometimes I do it Mexican style. Also the individually-sized nut butters from Wilderness Poet and Rawnaimo Bars from Peace, Love, Raw, of course!
Jesse Mseitif founded Yellow Belly Honey in the summer of 2014 with the mission of providing locally-harvested, premium, raw honey with a taste as close to the actual hive as you can get! Located on 11 acres in Rainier, Washington, Yellow Belly Farm has a diverse ecosystem of wildflowers and birds, making for happy bees and better honey! Their honey is never heated or treated and is always antibiotic and pesticide free. Nothing but pure, delicious honey.
Jesse's family has been instrumental in helping him achieve his vision. Each of their unique skill sets come together to create a product that is meticulously cared for from beehive to bottle.
Before founding Yellow Belly Honey, Jesse graduated with a degree in Business Economics from the University of Washington Graduate School. His degree gives him a fundamental understanding of the marketplace.
Jesse's fiancée, Danielle,and her son Daniel, give him with support. They are his biggest cheerleaders and provide him with motivation! As the company grows, they continue gaining a larger role within the company.
Before founding Yellow Belly Honey, Jesse graduated with a degree in Business Economics from the University of Washington Graduate School. His degree gives him a funda- mental understanding of the marketplace. Jesse's fiancée, Danielle,and her son Daniel, give him with support. They are his biggest cheerleaders and provide him with motivation! As the company grows, they continue gaining a larger role within the company.
Jesse's father and co-founder of Yellow Belly Honey, Wally, took up beekeeping as a hobby after retiring from being a Boeing engineer. Because of his background he cares for the beehives with a methodical craftmanship. Wally is truly devoted to keeping the bees happy! Jesse's mother, Annie, helps with sales, events, and spreading the Yellow Belly name throughout the community. All of the beautiful labeling, packaging and marketing materials are created by Jesse's sister, Maria Yarcowzer.
Look for Yellow Belly's high-quality honey next time you're at Farm Fresh Market or learn more at their website: www.yellowbellyhoney.com
When I think about the summers of my childhood, I think of long days and warm nights, bicycle rides to the lake, time at my family’s cabin, and fresh berries. My family’s cabin was surrounded by raspberry plants taller than my younger brother or I. We feasted on the small, sweet fruits all day, running around with stained fingers and berry moustaches. Most of you make the same association between a successful summer and berry consumption.
Berries are a summer staple, and here at Farm Fresh Market we are delighted to be entering berry season and supplying you with the plump, juicy, organic fruits of summer. Both strawberries and blueberries make “the Dirty Dozen” list of foods that, when conventionally grown, frequently contain pesticide residues. So, if your budget only allows for some organic food, make sure berries are on that list!
Strawberries are a member of the rose family and are the only fruit to have their seeds on the outside. Strawberries are in season now and are delicious on their own, on spinach salad, over cereal, or perhaps on top of a bowl of Chocolate Coconut Bliss. One cup of raw strawberries contains 150% the average daily value of Vitamin C and snacking on berries is a great way to stay hydrated, so eat up!
Blueberries are one of only a handful of fruits native to North America, and were an important food and medicine to many North American Tribes. This all American favorite is high in Vitamins C, K, and manganese, and a leader in antioxidant content. They are a perfect way to celebrate summer!
Summer is the perfect time for relaxation, enjoying nature, and preparing wonderful summer meals to savor with our friends, families, pets, and of course, to enjoy our favorite berries! Ring in summer right by adding berries to your fruit salad, dessert, or a green salad!
What do you do at Farm Fresh Market and how long have you worked here?I've worked here for about 2 months. I'm a meat cutter.
What drew you to natural foods? I worked in a health food store doing food prep for the deli, making sandwiches and other side dishes.
What do you do in your spare time? I like to go on a lot of hikes, especially here in Washington. There are way more places to walk around everyday. I skateboard and my roommates and I have collected over a 100 VHS tapes because you can pick them up for around 99 cents at Goodwill. So we've been watching a lot of VHS!
Are you a native Washingtonian? I'm not. I've only been here for 3 months. I'm from California... San Diego. I lived there my entire life. I had friends that lived here and they described it as a really awesome place to grow and experience new things. I wanted to start my own life outside my parent's house.
What's your favorite thing about working at Farm Fresh Market? The environment is really nice. I work in the back, so I listen to my music and do my thing all day. It's really relaxing now that I know how the motions go. It's pretty fun and a job I can learn from.
Do you have any products you love? The curry pork sausage. I made a stir-fry with it and it was really good!
What's your favorite thing about spring? I'm excited about spring in Washington. Apparently it's the most beautiful season. All the trees come back to life and the flowers start blooming again. In San Diego there's no real difference between summer, winter, fall or spring. It'll be fun to see what happens.
Meet Erin, American nomad, sailboat dweller, foodie, and social media extraordinaire. She’s the face behind the Facebook, the nerd behind the newsletter, and the brains behind the blog. She moved to Olympia and joined the Farm Fresh team in August after a month-long hike across Oregon. When she’s not hiking, road tripping, eating, or working with her husband on their sailboat home, you can find her stocking produce and drinking copious amounts of coffee while bringing you the latest in Farm Fresh news.
What do you do at Farm Fresh and how long have you worked here? I am responsible for our web presence and social media. Which, right now, mostly means our Facebook page, but we did just start an Instagram account (@farmfreshmarket), and hopefully we’ll add Pinterest in the future. I have dreams for our social media! I am also the designer and editor of our newsletter, “The Scoop.” I just recently started working in store too; you can usually find me happily stocking produce.
What do you do in your spare time?
I like to go hiking, backpacking and camping. I like to play outdoors. If it’s outside, I’m pretty much down! I really like eating. That’s probably my main pastime, putting food in my mouth. I enjoy watching terrible television shows. TV is my guilty pleasure. I like to binge watch cheesy dramas while shoveling healthy junk food into my face. Pro-tip: spread almond butter on the inside of a bowl, then add chocolate Coconut Bliss (coconut milk ice cream). If you’re feeling really crazy throw some berries or Enjoy Life mini-chocolate chips on top. Those are pretty much my main hobbies: TV, food, and hiking.
What drew you to natural foods?
I went through a hippie phase. I became a vegan and started shopping in natural foods stores. During that period of my life I learned a lot about healthy eating and I went from being a vegan who ate processed foods to eating healthy whole foods. One day I ate some local, pastured lamb crusted with rosemary and Dijon and there was no turning back. Then I moved to Oregon to work at a natural foods store with my best friend. Plus, I met my husband working in natural foods. He was the hot guy behind the deli counter. Now he’s the hot guy in the meat room at Farm Fresh.
Are you a native Washingtonian?
Nope. I was born and raised in the last frontier, Alaska! Then I moved to Hawaii, Tennessee, Iowa, Alaska, Idaho, Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and finally arrived here in Washington.
What’s your favorite thing about working at Farm Fresh Market?
My job is amazing! I get to be creative in my work every day. I get to talk about all of the exciting things that are happening at Farm Fresh! I don’t have to deal with the more gritty sides of Farm Fresh Market; my job is the glamorous side! I feel really fortunate to do what I do for a living and support something I believe in at the same time.
Do you have any products that you absolutely love?
Rawnaimo bars from Peace, Love, Raw!!! I’m not sure how I don’t spend my whole paycheck on them. Also Happy Campers Stompin’ Good Molasses Bread, Portland Ginger Brew, and the curry sausage. It’s hard for me not to feature the curry sausage in every recipe in every newsletter. The pork and chicken are both amazing! Also, ladies: the diva cup. It changes my life once a month. OH YEAH! The Covabrelli Coffee! It's my life blood! Even though I live downtown I often go out of my way to get a cup of the Covabrelli drip coffee at Farm Fresh Market. It is probably the best deal for a cup of gourmet organic coffee you can get in Olympia (12 oz for $1 including tax!)
What is your favorite spring produce/spring meal?
ASPARAGUS!!! I love seeing these spears pop up on our produce display. It means spring is here! I love being able to grill outdoors. It combines two of my favorite things - eating and the outdoors!
These enchiladas use rotisserie chicken and flour tortillas for a delicious meal that comes together in no time at all. The perfect solution for a homemade dinner on a busy night. Plus, they're so delicious you'll be licking your plate when you're through!
Makes 8 enchiladas
INGREDIENTS
• 2 cups of cold rotisserie chicken meat, shredded
• 8 flour tortillas, fajita size
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
• 1 8 oz package of cream cheese
• 1 16 oz jar of Sweet Creek Green Enchilada sauce
• 1 1/2 cup of shredded Mexican blend cheese
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt butter in non-stick skillet over medium heat.
Saute onion and jalapenos until onions turn translucent, about 5 minutes.
Drop chunks of cream cheese into skillet and mix until creamy. Remove from heat.
Pour half of the jar of Sweet Creek enchilada sauce into a 13x9 casserole pan. Place one tortilla on top of the sauce, spread a spoonful of cream cheese mixture in a line down the center of the tortilla, top with few shreds of chicken and a sprinkle of the Mexican cheese.
Roll up the tortilla and push to edge of pan.
Repeat until all 8 tortillas have been filled then pour the remainder of the enchilada sauce over the top of enchiladas and sprinkle with the rest of the shredded Mexican cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes until the sauce is bubbly. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
These days all sorts of things are made with coconuts. It can get a little confusing trying to figure out the difference. That's why we made you this handy chart!
