This aromatic cabbage, sauerkraut, sausage stew hails from central Europe and is Poland’s national dish. It brings together some of our favorite seasonal items that also happen to be on sale at Seward Co-op through Oct. 16. Seward-made Nürnberger sausage is $2 off per pound for everyone and organic gala apples from Hoch Orchard in La Crescent, Minnesota, are $1.50 off per pound for co-op owners. Visit our specials page for more ways to save.

Sausage and Cabbage Stew
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients
2 tablespoons canola oil
12 ounces Seward-made Nürnberger sausage, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 pound smoked ham, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 large yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces mushrooms, cut in 1/2-inch slices
1/2 pound green cabbage, shredded
1/2 pound sauerkraut, drained
1 apple, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation
In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the canola oil over medium heat. Brown the pieces of sausage and smoked ham. Add the onions and garlic and sauté for several minutes until the onion starts to soften. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Lower the heat, cover and continue to cook for 45 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes or so to prevent sticking.

Serving Suggestion
Traditionally, this stew is served with potatoes and rye bread, and is often made a day ahead of time, allowing the flavors to mingle overnight. Deviled eggs or creamed herring are served as an appetizer with this dish. For a lighter meal, add a fresh green salad, or lightly-steamed broccoli, carrots, or green beans.

Recipe courtesy of National Co-op Grocers.

Seward Co-op has begun the countdown to spring! Starting your garden from seed and then watching it mature from seedling to fruiting plant can be rewarding, economical, and fun. Considering Minnesota’s relatively short growing season, it can be beneficial to start seeds indoors in spring to give plants a head start before transplanting them in to your garden. Each plant has its own unique growing requirements and therefore its own timeline. Refer to Seward Co-op’s Seed Guide, as a resource for when to start seeds indoors and transplant outdoors.

Browsing Seward Co-op’s seed racks, surrounded by fresh-cut flowers and an abundance of fragrant citrus, can make the experience of picking out the seeds for your garden inviting—many of the potential options look so delicious and interesting! However, before you get whisked away by the idea of it all, learn more about Seward Co-op’s seed offerings to determine which brand aligns more with your values and is best for the vision of what you hope to accomplish with your garden—High Mowing Organic, Seed Savers Exchange, or a combination of the two. Is your primary concern the health of your family, or is it more broad to include environmental biodiversity or healthy habitats for pollinators? Learn more about our unique seed producers’ intentional cultivation practices to the right.

Now, the fun part—make a list of all the crops you desire to grow and plot them out to create a feasible plan for your space. We recommend marking a calendar with the dates to start and transplant different crops, using the chart provided on the back-side of our Seed Guide. Please note some root crops, such as carrots, beets and radishes do not tolerate transplanting. For more home gardening information and resources, please visit the University of Minnesota Extension website.

Our annual Know Our Grower series continues as our growing season thrives. Know Our Grower is an opportunity to connect shoppers with the talented group of local farmers producing our food and sample recipes that allow their flavors to shine. Come chat and sample with Featherstone Farm this December! They will be in the Franklin store on Saturday, Dec. 3 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and the Friendship store on Saturday, Dec. 10 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Featherstone Farm started in 1995 as Jack Hedin and Jenni McHugh’s five-acre garden at the Zephyr Valley Land Co-op near Winona, Minn. Since then, the farm has relocated to land near the town of Rushford, Minn., and now employs nearly 50 people working on over 250 acres of optimal vegetable-growing ground. Beginning in late May with leaf lettuce through a summer’s harvest of zucchini and cherry tomatoes into winter squash and carrots in the winter, there’s hardly a month that Featherstone isn’t represented in the co-op’s Produce department. The farm is certified organic and is dedicated to creating a truly sustainable agriculture system. That includes geothermal heating and cooling for the packing shed, as well as a solar array that generates about 60 percent of the farm’s energy.

Featherstone Needs Community Support to Save Their Farm

The 2016 season has proven to be the worst in Featherstone Farms’s 20 years in business. The fourth wettest year in Minnesota history has produced crop losses far in excess of anything they’ve ever experienced. Featherstone has lost 20% of their crop income and is facing a $350,000 loss. They are hoping to raise $150,000 by Thanksgiving. Folks can help by going to our website at featherstonefarm.com.

Summer Squash

Did you know summer squash is not really a vegetable? The many varieties of summer squash are a type of “pepo”, or hard-walled berry that are harvested while the rind is still tender and edible. Summer squash is in season now and we are carrying at least five varieties (green and gold zucchini, crookneck, zephyr-my personal favorite for its sweetness-, patty pan, and calabacita, a small tender zucchini). Wisconsin Growers Co-op, Featherstone Farm, Heartbeet Farms, and Sin Fronteras are delivering these squash multiple times each week. Select firm, unwrinkled, evenly shaped squash and store in your crisper drawer.

Sin Fronteras

Sin Fronteras (Without Borders) is a Stillwater, Minn-based family-farm growing fresh, healthy Latino food. Farmers Eduardo Rivera and Madeline Shaw bring to the Twin Cities sustainably grown and at times challenging to find varieties of chile peppers, tomatillos, and espasote along with familiar roots, greens, and herbs. These foods can be found at area coops, the Linden Hills Farmers Market, and through a culturally appropriate Latino CSA. Look to their Facebook page for recipes using Sin Fronteras produce.

Wisconsin Growers Co-op

Wisconsin Growers Co-op was founded in 2006 to help 20 families maintain ownership of their farms. Its members are dedicated to the idea that if farmers take “good care of the soil, the soil will pay back with high-quality produce.” This mindset has proven effective; Wisconsin Growers often brings us produce all year long, from greenhouse radishes at the first sight of spring clear around the calendar to over-wintered parsnips. The key to the longevity of their growing season are labor-intensive, fossil fuel-free farming methods. On nearly 40 acres of the co-op’s land, these farmers plant, tend, and harvest crops exclusively using horses, horse machinery, and hand tools. In addition to more popular produce items such as potatoes, onions, and radishes, the Wisconsin Growers Co-op offers unique heirloom squash varieties, such as Queensland blue and Long Island cheese.

Featherstone Fruits and Vegetables

Featherstone Fruits and Vegetables started in 1995 as Jack Hedin and Jenni McHugh’s five-acre garden at the Zephyr Valley Land Co-op near Winona, Minn. Since then, the farm has relocated to land near the town of Rushford, Minn., and now employs nearly 50 people working on over 250 acres of optimal vegetable-growing ground. Beginning in late May with leaf lettuce, through a summer’s harvest of zucchini and cherry tomatoes, into winter squash and carrots in the winter, there’s hardly a month that Featherstone isn’t represented in the co-op’s Produce department. The farm is certified organic and is dedicated to creating a truly sustainable agriculture system. That includes geothermal heating and cooling for the packing shed, as well as a solar array that generates about 60 percent of the farm’s energy. Featherstone Farm also operates a large community-supported agriculture program.

Heartbeet Farm

Heartbeet Farm is a family farm owned and operated by Joe and Rebecca Schwen. Located in Zumbro Falls, Minn, the fields that now comprise Heartbeet Farm are the same fields that Joe was raised on and where he learned to farm. Recently, Joe and Rebecca have begun to cooperatively market their produce as Heartbeet Farms along with two nearby small family farms: Easy Yoke and Hare & Tortoise. Working together allows these farms to operate at a scale that enables them to directly interact with the plants, soil, animals, and farm ecosystem while still being productive, efficient, and sustainable. They employ a combination of draft horses, small tractors, woodstove heated greenhouses, and other technologies to grow a wide variety of vegetables. Look for beets, shiso, Hakurei turnips, and many other items from Heartbeet Farms throughout the growing season. All three farms are dedicated to farming in a healthful, holistic, and sustainable way and are certified organic.

Summer Squash

Did you know summer squash is not really a vegetable? The many varieties of summer squash are a type of “pepo”, or hard-walled berry that are harvested while the rind is still tender and edible. Summer squash is in season now and we are carrying at least five varieties (green and gold zucchini, crookneck, zephyr-my personal favorite for its sweetness-, patty pan, and calabacita, a small tender zucchini). Wisconsin Growers Co-op, Featherstone Farm, Heartbeet Farms, and Sin Fronteras are delivering these squash multiple times each week. Select firm, unwrinkled, evenly shaped squash and store in your crisper drawer.

Sin Fronteras

Sin Fronteras (Without Borders) is a Stillwater, Minn-based family-farm growing fresh, healthy Latino food. Farmers Eduardo Rivera and Madeline Shaw bring to the Twin Cities sustainably grown and at times challenging to find varieties of chile peppers, tomatillos, and espasote along with familiar roots, greens, and herbs. These foods can be found at area coops, the Linden Hills Farmers Market, and through a culturally appropriate Latino CSA. Look to their Facebook page for recipes using Sin Fronteras produce.

Wisconsin Growers Co-op

Wisconsin Growers Co-op was founded in 2006 to help 20 families maintain ownership of their farms. Its members are dedicated to the idea that if farmers take “good care of the soil, the soil will pay back with high-quality produce.” This mindset has proven effective; Wisconsin Growers often brings us produce all year long, from greenhouse radishes at the first sight of spring clear around the calendar to over-wintered parsnips. The key to the longevity of their growing season are labor-intensive, fossil fuel-free farming methods. On nearly 40 acres of the co-op’s land, these farmers plant, tend, and harvest crops exclusively using horses, horse machinery, and hand tools. In addition to more popular produce items such as potatoes, onions, and radishes, the Wisconsin Growers Co-op offers unique heirloom squash varieties, such as Queensland blue and Long Island cheese.

Featherstone Fruits and Vegetables

Featherstone Fruits and Vegetables started in 1995 as Jack Hedin and Jenni McHugh’s five-acre garden at the Zephyr Valley Land Co-op near Winona, Minn. Since then, the farm has relocated to land near the town of Rushford, Minn., and now employs nearly 50 people working on over 250 acres of optimal vegetable-growing ground. Beginning in late May with leaf lettuce, through a summer’s harvest of zucchini and cherry tomatoes, into winter squash and carrots in the winter, there’s hardly a month that Featherstone isn’t represented in the co-op’s Produce department. The farm is certified organic and is dedicated to creating a truly sustainable agriculture system. That includes geothermal heating and cooling for the packing shed, as well as a solar array that generates about 60 percent of the farm’s energy. Featherstone Farm also operates a large community-supported agriculture program.

Heartbeet Farm

Heartbeet Farm is a family farm owned and operated by Joe and Rebecca Schwen. Located in Zumbro Falls, Minn, the fields that now comprise Heartbeet Farm are the same fields that Joe was raised on and where he learned to farm. Recently, Joe and Rebecca have begun to cooperatively market their produce as Heartbeet Farms along with two nearby small family farms: Easy Yoke and Hare & Tortoise. Working together allows these farms to operate at a scale that enables them to directly interact with the plants, soil, animals, and farm ecosystem while still being productive, efficient, and sustainable. They employ a combination of draft horses, small tractors, woodstove heated greenhouses, and other technologies to grow a wide variety of vegetables. Look for beets, shiso, Hakurei turnips, and many other items from Heartbeet Farms throughout the growing season. All three farms are dedicated to farming in a healthful, holistic, and sustainable way and are certified organic.

Last Saturday, co-op shoppers had the opportunity to meet members of Featherstone Fruits and Vegetables. The farm was started in 1995 as Jack Hedin and Jenni McHugh’s five-acre garden at the Zephyr Valley Land Co-op near Winona, Minn. Since then, the farm has relocated to land near the town of Rushford, Minn., and now employs nearly 50 people working on over 250 acres of optimal vegetable-growing ground. Beginning in late May with leaf lettuce through a summer’s harvest of zucchini and cherry tomatoes into winter squash and carrots in the winter, there’s hardly a month that Featherstone isn’t represented in the co-op’s Produce department. The farm is certified organic and is dedicated to creating a truly sustainable agriculture system. That includes geothermal heating and cooling for the packing shed, as well as a solar array that generates about 60 percent of the farm’s energy. Featherstone also operates a community-supported agriculture program and is currently signing people up for their winter 2015-2016 season!

March means Banana Month at Seward Co-op, so watch for specials and deals on Equal Exchange bananas throughout the month. According to the USDA, the average American eats 26 pounds of bananas per year. That’s a lot of bananas — and a big opportunity for impact. Most bananas are grown on giant plantations as a monoculture with bananas stretching as far as the eye can see. The banana industry is notorious for low wages and heavy chemical use, causing major health problems for humans across banana-producing regions. Together, Equal Exchange and their banana partners are creating a trade model that supports small farmers, builds communities, and supports the environment.

Equal Exchange’s mission is to build long-term trade partnerships that are economically just and environmentally sound; to foster mutually beneficial relationships between farmers and consumers; and to demonstrate, through their success, the contribution of worker cooperatives and fair trade to a more equitable, democratic and sustainable world. Next year is Equal Exchange’s 30^th anniversary, and the 10^th year of their banana program. Equal Exchange bananas are sourced from small-scale farmers located in Ecuador and Peru. They work with El Guabo cooperative, a farmer-run cooperative with 350 small-scale banana farmers in Ecuador, and The Central Association of Small Producers of Organic Banana (CEPIBO), a group of seven different farmer associations with a total of 800 families operating 900 hectares of land across northern Peru.

Seeing the Equal Exchange brand on a banana (or an avocado) guarantees a customer that their fruit is sourced from a small farmer who receives a fair price for their fruit. It’s not just a better wage, it’s a better way of life. Farmers own their land and are helping to rebuild their own communities through hard work and enterprise. It also guarantees that the grower cooperatives are working directly with the Equal Exchange produce team, rather than through a go-between like the majority of farmers and plantations in the produce industry.

Check out this interesting web documentary called Beyond the Seal that was created by Katherine Nagasawa and Leah Varjacques that talks a lot about Equal Exchange, small farmers, and the banana industry.

Banana Curry Stir Fry Sauce

Ingredients:
2 bananas, peeled and chopped
1 clove of garlic
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 Tsp. curry powder
1 Tsp. agave nectar (or honey)
1 Tsp. onion powder
1 Tsp. coconut oil
3/4 cup unsweetened canned coconut milk

Method:
Combine all ingredients together in a blender and blend to a smooth texture.
Sauté any veggies you have on hand (peppers, onions, carrots, celery, leeks, etc.) until tender. Add the banana curry stir fry sauce and heat through evenly.

Adapted from therawproject.com

I’m the father of two darn good eaters.

My son can rip through a plate of rice and black beans like a lawn mower and my daughter actually packs cucumbers in her lunch. They aren’t the best eaters (Skittles and Nerds are the bane of my existence), and I always wish they’d eat more at any given sitting. But looking at my 8- and 11-year-old, I can say they do choose healthful foods, and I’m very proud of that.

How did they become such good eaters?

Step one is…

1. Start Early. Recent research shows that a kid’s palate for fruits and veggies actually begins to establish itself before he or she is even born.

You know what that means, partner of Mom-to-be? Making sure Mom is eating healthfully and getting through morning sickness is important, but actually making the trip for an organic yellow watermelon 30 minutes before the co-op closes because that’s what she’s craving is striking a blow for good eating in your kid’s future.

Later, first foods can be fruits and veggies. Avocado mashed up is a perfectly decent first food, and so are bananas, sweet potatoes, applesauce, and mashed potatoes.

As your kid gets a little older, making mealtime fun is key. If all he or she hears is “Don’t eat that,” and “Clean your plate,” you’ll raise a picky non-eater who hates food, guaranteed.

Ask yourself this: Am I having at fun at dinner? If so, your kid probably is, too.

My strategy was always to make up games for my two kids. Here are a couple games that can make dinner time a hoot.

2. The Don’t-Eat Game. This game teaches important lessons like eating well, reverse psychology, and comedic shtick.

Saying to your 3-year-old, “Whatever you do…DON’T…EAT…the BROCOLLI,” is the surest way to create a rabid little broccoli-lover. When they take a bite, be outraged. “You ATE the BROCOLLI?” When they reach for another floret, say, “Hey-hey-hey, I WARNED you!” If they ask for seconds and thirds, then you’re doing it right.

My 8-year-old still asks to play The Don’t-Eat Game, and both my kids still eat the broccoli first in my stir-fries.

3. The Giant. A variation on The Don’t-Eat Game, this one works wonders, too. The broccoli florets are trees, the round carrots slices are car wheels, the apple slices are canoes, and your toddler is The Dreaded Giant.

“No, Giant, no! Don’t pull up that oak tree and EAT it!!”

You get the idea.

Till she was 7 or 8, my niece Andrea would say, “Pass the trees, please.”

4. Salad People. Mollie Katz is not just a cookbook author, she is also a brilliant strategist for good eating. The author of “The Enchanted Broccoli Forest Cookbook” also wrote a book called “Salad People,” and Katz’s approach to getting kids to eat should be adopted by parents and daycares everywhere.

At lunch or dinner, lay out a wide array of foods, fruits, and veggies to use as art material (even if it’s food they say they don’t like) and let your kids make faces, people, houses, cats, whatever they want to make. I used to keep a couple Tupperware containers of “food-art material” ready at all times for Salad People. Cooked spaghetti noodles can be hair and pickled beets from Angelica’s Gardens can be eyes. They both store well.

When finished, eat the eyes! Eat the hair! Eat the nose! Oh, no, DON’T EAT the nose!

I’m almost positive my son’s lifelong love of kalamata olives is traceable to making Salad People. He wasn’t born craving them.

The lesson of Salad People is to present your kids with lots of food options at dinner and to keep offering them. If they say they don’t like a certain food, make sure they have other options that they do like. Then, the next time you play Salad People, ask them to try it again. Then try cooking it. Try steaming it. Then offer it raw again. Your kid’s palate will change and they’ll go through different phases, so just because she hurled that cucumber across the room when she was 3 doesn’t mean she won’t pack it in her lunch box herself at 8.

5. Give Teens POWER. The same strategy of of letting the eight-year-old pack her own lunch can work with teens. Just remember: Don’t get into power struggles over food.

Find out what fruits or veggies that they will eat and keep those in stock. Fresh fruit? Organic rainier cherries? Hey, it’s better than Skittles and Nerds.

Then just do your best to keep your teen engaged with what you find fun about eating together. Ask her to make dinner with a new recipe one night a week or to join you cutting and chopping. Ask him to help you plant a garden next year, growing “ingredients” for Thanksgiving dinner; that’s a fun project for younger kids, too. Let her choose the dinner music or a movie during dinner. It’s absolutely amazing how much good food a kid will eat when distracted with “The Avengers.”

Always keep in mind what you love about food, and just do your best to keep your kids engaged with what they love, too. They’ll do the rest. Trust them.

Featherstone Fruits and Vegetables started in 1995 as Jack Hedin and Jenni McHugh’s five-acre garden at the Zephyr Valley Land Co-op near Winona, Minn. Since then, the farm has relocated to land near the town of Rushford, Minn., and now employs nearly 50 people working on over 250 acres of optimal vegetable-growing ground. Beginning in late May with leaf lettuce, through a summer’s harvest of zucchini and cherry tomatoes, into winter squash and carrots in the winter, there’s hardly a month that Featherstone isn’t represented in the co-op’s Produce department. The farm is certified organic and is dedicated to creating a truly sustainable agriculture system. That includes geothermal heating and cooling for the packing shed, as well as a solar array that generates about 60 percent of the farm’s energy. Featherstone Farm was the featured Know Our Grower Sept. 18 – Oct. 1. Meet the Grower: Sunday, Sept. 29.

Grower: Jack Hedin

When did you begin farming and what inspired you to pursue farming as a profession?
In 1987, the summer between my junior and senior year at college, I started an internship at New Morning Farm in Pennsylvania. I hoped to get applicable, real life skills for the community development work I was planning to do in developing nations. Instead, I fell in love with vegetable farming, and I never looked back.

Can you describe your approach to farming? Are there any unique components to your farm that may be different from other local farms?
We’re trying to be as sustainable as possible. With climate change right here and now, this should be first and foremost in our minds. We do this with our solar panels, our geothermal heating system, our cover cropping and rotational systems, and in general looking toward how we can work more toward a closed loop ecosystem on our farm.

What distinguishes your products from other local produce?
Our 17 years of farming experience shows in the high quality of our produce; over the years, we’ve selected crops that we grow well. If you ask our customers, our carrots are certainly a standout crop for their incredible sweetness and flavor.

What is your favorite way to enjoy your own produce?
I absolutely love winter squash, which is why we grow so many great varieties. There’s nothing better than popping a kabocha squash in the oven on a chilly winter day and letting it warm you up. Kale is also a favorite of mine.