Health Harvest of North Iowa Connection Field Days - by Andrea Evelsizer
For the past two years Healthy Harvest of North Iowa has been hosting regional field days to showcase local farmer and businesses that support local agriculture. These field days are great educational opportunities and are free and open to the public. Last weekend was the second field day of 2019 and there will be two more yet to come. You can find details about these at www.heatlhyharvestni.com.
 My family and I attended the field day at Mossy Cup Farms this past Saturday. "Mossycup" is another name for the burr oak trees which cover their farm. The trees are beautiful and provide shade and acorns for the animals and they even built parts of our house and barns out of trees from their property.
The farm consists of three acres of woods and grassland, which is in a CRP program and provides habitat and a wind break. Approximately 50-60 people visited the farm throughout the afternoon on Saturday. The farm owners Laura and Jesse Tidrick took us for a very nice tour of the farm which includes pasture raised heritage (Mangalista) hogs, four lambs, chickens, ducks, geese, and quail. Mangalistas are a very hairy type of pig and they shed their hair in the spring. Laura has told me that they have often found birds nests which have been lined with the hair. All of the animals are organic fed and allowed to forage on pastures. During the field day we were also able to sample e various pork products which are made with custom seasoning blends (developed and blended by Laura) and chicken liver pate served on homemade sourdough bread from Cafe Mir (in Fertile)! Laura recently received her processing licence so she will now be able to sell her seasonings direct to customers. Starting this fall watch for chorizo, breakfast sausage, Italian sausage and brat blends.
 In addition to meat products Laura also makes handmade soap from pork lard and beef tallow from animals raised on their farm and based off of Laura's grandma's original recipe.
We've been lucky that Mossy Cup Farm has also been providing pork and chicken through our Bounty Box online store. Meat from Mossy Cup and other local farms can be added to your standard vegetable order every other week. You can also find laundry soap listed on our site and coming soon... custom seasoning blends.
If you have not checked out the storefront yet... don't delay! If you have questions on how to order a-la-carte items please contact me at sales@northiowafresh.net.
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In This Week's Box
Cherry Tomatoes
Cilantro
Cucumber
Green Beans
Broccoli
Yellow Candy Onion
Green Bell Peppers
Red Potatoes
Slicing Tomato
Cantaloupe
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We're entering into
Farm to Fork Dinner Season
Upcoming events include:
Mitchell County Farm to Fork
A Meal on Main - Wright County
Hampton's Food and Friends Dinner
More details at
www.healthyharvestni.com
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Preservation Tip of the Week
 Root cellars, unheated garages or other cool, dry areas are best for storing onions, which should be in ventilated containers. Sweet candy onions do not store as long as stronger varieties, but with proper storage you can extend their shelf life. We will have red and yellow storage onions coming soon which could last for several months if stored properly.
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Cilantro Lime Marinade
1 cup cilantro lightly chopped
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice or juice of half a lime
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
1 jalapeno lightly chopped for un-spicy remove the seed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon fine pepper
Great for chicken, beef, fish, shrimp, vegitables (such as potatoes)
***I also add cumin when I make it.
For Directions go to GimmeDelicious.com
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Roasted Broccoli and Potatoes
2 broccoli crowns
4 small red potatoes
5 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried Rosemary
1/4 tsp black pepper (optional)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1 tsp lemon juice
Parmesan cheese (Vegan)
For Directions go to HealingTomato.com
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Coming Soon...
Cauliflower, Blue Potatoes, Carrots, More Garlic
p.s. All past newsletters are available at www.northiowafresh.net
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