When your thyroid doesn’t function well, it can affect every aspect of your health — depression, energy levels, weight, everything.

Since undiagnosed thyroid problems can dramatically increase health risks, it’s important to understand the complexities surrounding the thyroid. This Saturday at Seward Co-op, you can learn what key nutrients are needed for healthy thyroid function with Dr. Sara Jean Barrett, N.D. (left). Discover what you can do to naturally improve thyroid function and increase your energy, mood, and metabolism.

This is a terrific opportunity if you have questions or concerns about thyroid health. Dr. Sara Jean Barrett is a Naturopathic doctor in Bloomington, MN who treats patients of all ages with a variety of health concerns. Her passion for her practice is demonstrated in the strong relationships she builds with her patients. It’s those relationships that allow her to more deeply identify underlying causes of health issues and provide patients with personalized, natural health care options.

Register at the co-op Customer Service Desk, or get more details about the class here.

Have you ever tried goat before?

Right now, the Seward Meat Department has goat cuts from a new P6-producer Peters Family Farm in Fountain, MN, and we’re very excited for you to give them a try.

“We began raising goats in 2008. We have a 40-acre place,” Travis Peters of Peters Family Farm tells us, “situated on a hillside; the land is perfect for goats. The goats graze mixed grass pastures in season and are fed hay in the winter.”

Erik Sather, Seward’s Meat Depart Manager, says he found out about Peters’ goat farm from Bonnie Austin at Hill and Vale (a very old friend of Seward Meat Department). Travis Peters is a farm hand at Hill and Vale.

When asked about websites or pictures of the farm, Sather said, “Yeah, I don’t think their farm actually has a name. They’re a very small operation.”

“We actually don’t have an official name… other customers have simply listed ‘Peters Family Farm’ or ‘Travis and Jen Peters Goat’ or something similar,” Peters said. “Our farm is truly a family affair, as the kids help my wife (Jen) and I with chores year round.”

And while goat might seem an unusual meat to carry at Seward, the fact is, it’s only unusual in the U.S.. So, for all us Americans, and those of us not lucky enough to be on the Peters Family Farm, here’s the basic 411 on goat:

* Goat is the most widely eaten meat in the world. Seventy percent of red meat eaten worldwide is goat.

* Goat is quite similar to lamb in how it cooks, so you can cook goat all the ways you’re used to cooking lamb: Grilling, roasting, stews, and braising.

* You’ll notice that goat comes in most of the same cuts as lamb: Shoulder, stew meat, ribs, shoulder, etc.

* A key reason Seward Meat Department is excited about carrying this meat is that goats are a far less environmentally destructive livestock than cattle. This is because goats are like Google Chrome: They’re browsers. Seriously, they don’t pull up entire root systems and deplete the soil of nutrient-rich grasses the way cows do when they graze. Also, goats require far less space than cattle. These are small footprint livestock.

* Goat is one of the leanest meats you will ever eat (unless you can get your hands on some ostrich cuts). Chicken is twice as fatty, lamb is six times fattier, and pork has nine times the fat of goat.

So come and get your goat from Peters Family Farm and try the whole world is eating. Below is a recipe with goat meat for you, written by our buddy St. Paul blogger Amanda Paa. She writes the terrific blog Heartbeet Kitchen, (which you should also try!).

RECIPE: Gluten-Free Ravioli with Meat & Ricotta in a Lemon Dill Sauce (Heartbeet Kitchen)

Ten weeks into the capital campaign and we’ve passed the halfway mark with $1,362,750 in owner investments, which represents 52 percent of our goal. Thank you once again to our owners for your support!

At Seward Co-op we have 11,908 (and counting) owners. With $1,137,250 left to raise, if 2,275 owners (roughly 20 percent of our ownership) purchased a single share we would reach our goal. In reality, 141 owners have invested, making the average investment $9,665. Within this context, if 120 owners made the average investment we’d reach our goal of $2.5 million.

We can all positively impact the capital campaign and contribute to the success of our expansion projects. Talk with your friends and neighbors. Direct them to customer service and to me for more information. This is a great way to invest in our co-op, contribute to the health of our economy and our community, and at the same time benefit from financial returns.

by Hannah B., Produce staff

This week a customer asked me if the local spinach we have right now is a different variety than the kind we had last week, because the leaves are so much thinner and flatter, and also somewhat pointed.

Meanwhile, I spent some time researching Vidalia sweet onions to see what makes them different from other sweet onions.

In both of these cases, different varieties could be the answer – but growing conditions are really what have the biggest influence on flavor, texture and appearance of at least these two particular vegetables.

Which begs the question: What do we mean when we talk about growing conditions? It’s the amalgamation of weather, soils, hours of sunlight or anything else that occurs as the plant is growing. In the case of the spinach, it is the lengthening days and, yes, warming temperatures that are causing the changes. I suspect that this spinach was grown in a hoop house, where the temperatures would be quite a bit higher than outdoors. The Vidalia onions are grown in 20 counties in Georgia where the soil lacks sulfur, which means that they don’t develop the heat associated with other onions. We have Vidalias right now-enjoy them while you can, for they are only available for another month or so.

I’ve noticed that vegetables in the early spring are as a rule tender, mild, and very green,ramps being an outstanding exception to the mild rule. I’m not sure what the reason is for this scientifically, but poetically it makes sense that the first edibles to emerge from the soil would be cleansing and easy to eat. Some of the exceptional local products this week areasparagus, zucchini, and watercress-sounds like an excellent salad. Individually, here are some suggestions for quick preparations.

Asparagus is best when the stems are thick-a slender stalk is often starting to become stringy. You should prepare and eat this vegetable almost as soon as you acquire it. When I was growing up, we ate asparagus for every meal as long as it was in season. One way that we dealt with the bounty was to marinate it-steamed, laid in a pyrex baking dish and covered with a vinaigrette, it grew more flavorful overnight.

Zucchini has been coming in small but increasing amounts from Wisconsin Growers for the past couple of weeks. This looks to have been grown in a hoop house-it’s been too cold for zucchini plants to thrive outside yet. Fresh, young zukes should be cooked only briefly to preserve the texture, and with simple seasonings, so you can enjoy the flavor.

The watercress, wild-crafted from clear streams at Keewaydin Farms is the real thing. As the days grow warmer, it can become quite spicy, but this first batch is mild, with a radishy bite. Add it to salads, sandwiches or soups.

We love Kolo Kai ginger and turmeric. It’s not local, but it is fresh. Kolo Kai is an organic farm in Kauai. The farmers, Ben and Colette, harvest the roots to order and then ship it priority mail, so what ends up in our store is never more than a week old. This year, we couldn’t carry it during the winter, because it was so cold that the packages froze on the way to our store. We’re safely past polar vortices, so we’ve resumed ordering it, and wow, the turmeric is the best I’ve ever seen.

Lastly, pint containers of California blueberries have arrived. For as long as I’ve worked here, this has been the signal that the warm months have come to stay. My favorite way to eat them is mixed with Seven Stars yogurt and Nature’s Path heritage flakes. Something about the crunchy flakes and tangy yogurt really brings out the sweetness and juiciness of the berries.

by Hannah B., Produce staff

This week a customer asked me if the local spinach we have right now is a different variety than the kind we had last week, because the leaves are so much thinner and flatter, and also somewhat pointed.

Meanwhile, I spent some time researching Vidalia sweet onions to see what makes them different from other sweet onions.

In both of these cases, different varieties could be the answer – but growing conditions are really what have the biggest influence on flavor, texture and appearance of at least these two particular vegetables.

Which begs the question: What do we mean when we talk about growing conditions? It’s the amalgamation of weather, soils, hours of sunlight or anything else that occurs as the plant is growing. In the case of the spinach, it is the lengthening days and, yes, warming temperatures that are causing the changes. I suspect that this spinach was grown in a hoop house, where the temperatures would be quite a bit higher than outdoors. The Vidalia onions are grown in 20 counties in Georgia where the soil lacks sulfur, which means that they don’t develop the heat associated with other onions. We have Vidalias right now-enjoy them while you can, for they are only available for another month or so.

I’ve noticed that vegetables in the early spring are as a rule tender, mild, and very green, ramps being an outstanding exception to the mild rule. I’m not sure what the reason is for this scientifically, but poetically it makes sense that the first edibles to emerge from the soil would be cleansing and easy to eat. Some of the exceptional local products this week are asparagus, zucchini, and watercress-sounds like an excellent salad. Individually, here are some suggestions for quick preparations.

Asparagus is best when the stems are thick-a slender stalk is often starting to become stringy. You should prepare and eat this vegetable almost as soon as you acquire it. When I was growing up, we ate asparagus for every meal as long as it was in season. One way that we dealt with the bounty was to marinate it-steamed, laid in a pyrex baking dish and covered with a vinaigrette, it grew more flavorful overnight.

Zucchini has been coming in small but increasing amounts from Wisconsin Growers for the past couple of weeks. This looks to have been grown in a hoop house-it’s been too cold for zucchini plants to thrive outside yet. Fresh, young zukes should be cooked only briefly to preserve the texture, and with simple seasonings, so you can enjoy the flavor.

The watercress, wild-crafted from clear streams at Keewaydin Farms is the real thing. As the days grow warmer, it can become quite spicy, but this first batch is mild, with a radishy bite. Add it to salads, sandwiches or soups.

We love Kolo Kai ginger and turmeric. It’s not local, but it is fresh. Kolo Kai is an organic farm in Kauai. The farmers, Ben and Colette, harvest the roots to order and then ship it priority mail, so what ends up in our store is never more than a week old. This year, we couldn’t carry it during the winter, because it was so cold that the packages froze on the way to our store. We’re safely past polar vortices, so we’ve resumed ordering it, and wow, the turmeric is the best I’ve ever seen.

Lastly, pint containers of California blueberries have arrived. For as long as I’ve worked here, this has been the signal that the warm months have come to stay. My favorite way to eat them is mixed with Seven Stars yogurt and Nature’s Path heritage flakes. Something about the crunchy flakes and tangy yogurt really brings out the sweetness and juiciness of the berries.

If it were a “normal” year, by now we’d have lots of local produce: ramps, radishes, a wide selection of tender herbs, watercress, spring mix, etc., etc., etc. But it is gloomy and chilly yet, the trees in Powderhorn Park just barely showing evidence that leaves will exist again. One hundred years or so ago, we’d have been subsisting on sprouting potatoes and sad storage cabbages left over from autumn harvests, so let’s be thankful for the glory that comes our way from California and other southern locations. The red onions, for instance, are back again, and we have lovely stone fruit and melons filling up about a third of the fruit tables. So, while we wait for the sun to come out and warm up our soil, here are a few particularly delicious treats:

Orange honeydew — Personally, I almost always like orange melon better than green, and at this moment honey is an appropriate term of endearment for these fruits. I’m a bit of a purist, because I don’t think any preparation other than cutting and deseeding improves a melon of any kind. That’s my opinion, though, and a lot of people like to fill the hollow of a half melon with yogurt and berries.

Peas— most of the time there are two choices: sugar snap and snow. Snow peas are flatter and often a little less sweet, and sugar snaps are fat with sweet green peas. The latter are quite versatile — sautéed, steamed, or raw are all delicious; while the former are usually used best in a stir fry. A bowl of sesame scallion noodles with slivered peapods sounds great to me today, or actually any day.

Mexican peaches — It’s amazing to me how early we can source peaches. And these are certainly worth eating. They are smaller and paler than the California ones that come into season later in the year, but the flavor is deeper and more concentrated.

English cucumbers — Most of the time these days we have these guys in stock from Living Waters in Wells, Minn. The skin is tender, which means they don’t need to be peeled, but it also means that they lose moisture very rapidly once harvested, which is why they are always wrapped in plastic. I’ve been cutting them into small cubes and combining them with radishes cut similarly in a miso and scallion dressing. Very healthy and spring-like.

Local herbs — Although the supply of herbs at the moment is much lower than normal, we’ve still been getting a few bunches of mint, tarragon and oregano from Wisconsin Growers. Take it as a sign of hope, and mince the tarragon into eggs, throw oregano into the spaghetti sauce, and make some mint tea. More varieties will be coming in soon.

As a final note, let’s talk about the price of limes. It’s high, getting close to $6/lb. This has come up in conversation outside of work, and I’ve seen a few articles about it in newspapers, so it seems appropriate to address the issue. There hasn’t been much domestic production of limes since 2001 when there was a citrus canker outbreak in Florida, the only area of the United States with a suitable climate for commercial lime growing. Now we get nearly 90% of our limes from Mexico, where, this year, there have been significant weather and disease problems, compounded by supply restrictions caused by drug cartels active in the lime-growing regions. For now, it seems that we will just have to tolerate the high prices. I would suggest that lime juice can be mixed with the much cheaper lemon.

With the investments tallied from the first week of May, we officially surpassed one million dollars with $1,116,420 in owner investments. This number is the result of 114 investors and includes a healthy mix of Class C stock purchases and owner loans. With the introduction of the “Grow Together” t-shirt, investments now range from $30 to over $100,000.

This is a fantastic milestone to reach but know that our campaign is ongoing and we continue to work toward our goal of $2.5 million. If you haven’t invested, consider the investment opportunities that Seward Co-op is offering and pick up an investment packet at customer service or by contacting Jill Livingston at 612-314-2012. If you have invested, we encourage you to talk with your friends and neighbors about opportunities for ownership and investment at Seward Co-op. We are grateful to have such engaged and supportive owners. Thank you!