Get ready for fall flavors on Seward Co-op shelves! Few things are cozier than mashed potatoes, gravy, and hot baked apple pies. Humble white or yellow potatoes often steal the spotlight, but warm, autumnal flavors sometimes have us reaching for their cousin, the sweet potato, or their other cousin, yams. Confused about your tubers? Let us help you out with an introduction, along with a few ideas on how to use them.
Dive Deeper into Fall Flavor
Apples to Apples
Potatoes may be an autumn staple, but so are apples! Fall is big-time apple season across the Midwest, but especially here in Minnesota, where the University of Minnesota has one of the top apple breeding and development programs in the United States. Varieties you may recognize like the Honeycrisp, First Kiss, and SweeTango were developed not far from Seward Co-op stores and have flourished in the hands of local farmers like Hoch Orchards, whose absence of apples and ciders you may have noticed on our shelves last fall.
The Hoch family has operated their orchard since the 1950s. From 1997 to Oct. 2024, Harry and Jackie Hoch maintained a diverse range of apple varieties, using organic, sustainable practices to cut down on waste in the production of their apples, ciders, and more.
In 2024, they decided it was time to retire and have been working closely with new leaders at Featherstone Farm to transition the orchard into their care. While American Farmland Trust owns the land, Featherstone intends to purchase it and currently holds a long-term lease on the Hoch’s machinery and equipment. Seward Co-op stores will have the same delicious ciders in our coolers, now branded as Featherstone products with acquisition information on the label. Branded stickers on their apples are yet undecided, but rest assured, they are still coming from the orchards you know and love. So, make sure to support Featherstone and this long-running orchard when you spot their apples and ciders on the shelves at Seward Co-op stores.
