All posts by Gary Huber

Pick-up Thursday at DM area sites or Friday in Ames

We had 146 members order 1,480 different items this cycle. Total purchases were about $8,900, which brings our July sales to about $19,000, which is a nice total.

Pick-up is on Thursday at our Des Moines-area sites or Friday in Ames. Specifics on times and locations are to the left if you are receiving this as an email.

Directions for finding specific locations can be found at the top of your invoice (access by logging in, going to the shopping tab, and click “view in-process invoice” on the left hand side of the page.)

Note: we have an alternative pick-up time of 10:30 am to noon on Saturday at our Merle Hay Mall location. Please send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop if you are coming on Saturday.

The IFC Takes Nationwide Health Fair by Storm

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With the help of enticing Gouda cheese from Frisian Farms and super-fresh snap peas from Maxwell Farms, participants were successfully ‘tempted’ to stop by the Iowa Food Coop table at the Nationwide Health Fair. Located in the Locust St. Skywalk, around 150 people passed by the display, many stopping to try the novel Gouda curds or ask just how a food coop works. Several were interested in the snap peas and excited to learn about the variety of local produce available. Aside from the samples, brochures and trial memberships were given out, and a bunch of friendly faces stopped to chat about the local food scene in Iowa. With over 1100 products in the current shopping cycle, the IFC wasn’t a tough sell!

A big thanks to Nationwide for the opportunity.

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Lasagna, Iowa Food Coop Style

Member and volunteer extraordinaire Jamie took on the challenge of transforming a favorite lasagna recipe to use as many Coop products as possible. Here is what she used:

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IFC board treasurer Carrie approved!

Thanks, Jamie, for making and sharing your rendition of ‘local lasagna’!

IFC Shopping Cart is Open!

Time to Shop!

 

The shopping cart is open. It’ll close at midnight on Sunday, July 21st. Delivery is Thurs., July 25th at our Des Moines area locations and Friday, July 26th at our Ames location. See below for updates on new stuff.

To shop go to https://iowafood.coop and log in. If you need help with your username or password, send an email to info@iowafood.coop.

New fresh produce listings:

  • Black Cat Acres (a new IFC producer from SE of Nevada) listed pickling cucumbers and two kinds of fresh-dug garlic (which will need to be used right away or cured once you get it home).
  • Maxwell Farms (from near State Center) added two varieties of eggplant, two kinds of fingerling potatoes, and three kinds of peppers to go along with their zucchini, baby summer squash, green onions, and Yukon Gold and Red Norland potatoes.
  • Wimmer Farms (from near Afton) added Napa cabbage and cherry tomatoes to go along with their kale and four varieties chard.
  • Red Barn Produce (from near Dexter) added pickling cucumbers, sweet onions, and dill seed head (great for pickling or seasoning) to go along with their green peppers and Red Pontiac new potatoes.
  • Berry Patch Farm (from near Nevada) added quart boxes of blueberries (only 38 available right now) to go along with their tomatoes and strawberry hanging baskets.
  • Chef Connie’s Urban Farms added cucumbers and spearmint to go long with her green beans, swiss chard, and curly kale.
  • Threshing Floor (from near Dallas Center) added turnips to go along with their wide selection of breads, rolls, and buns.

From Kyle at Wedel Grazing Acres:We’ve added cured smoked ham steaks. Great for the grill or oven. Our favorite recipe is to marinate in equal amounts lemon juice, brown sugar and horseradish for few hours then throw on the grill for 6-8 minutes each side!!!”

From Bob with Country View Dairy: “Just added five new yogurt flavors (Lime, Peach, Blueberry, Black Cherry & Raspberry) in 3 lb economy/family-size tubs.”

From Julie at Zaza’s Pasta:”I’ve added several new items – single serving frozen entrees featuring local, Iowa produce and/or meats. They include 1) Zucchini Parmigiana with Spaghetti Aglio Olio; 2) Farmer’s Market Veggie Lasagne; and 3)Sausage & Peppers with Couscous. I’ve also added Basil-Pine Nut Pesto and Pesto-Pomodoro Focaccia.”

From Jake and Amber at Good Shepard Grass Farm: “We’ve been busy here on our farm. Besides the normal raising of chickens and cattle, we added aronia berries (by the hundreds), asparagus (by the thousands), and nut/fruit trees (by the hundreds). It’s been an exciting time. Note:  we have chicken breasts (limited quantity) and we’ve processed some new beef for this summer, so we’ve temporarily lowered steak prices from beef from our last processing while supplies last!”

From Julie at Broadhorn Farm: “Thanks to all our customers for their patronage and patience as we grow our Belted Galloway beef herd. After taking a break last cycle, we are back with Short Ribs on sale for $3.69/lb (regularly $5.50) and Rump Roast on sale for $3.83/lb (regularly $6.50).

Pick-up Thursday at DM area sites or Friday in Ames

We had 151 members order 1,835 different items this cycle. Total purchases were about $10,400, which is up about $1,400 from last cycle. It’s good to see an increase. Thank you for shopping from your IFC producer-owners.

Pick-up is on Thursday at our Des Moines-area sites or Friday in Ames. Specifics on times and locations are to the left if you are receiving this as an email.

Directions for finding specific locations can be found at the top of your invoice (access by logging in, going to the shopping tab, and click “view in-process invoice” on the left hand side of the page.)

Note: we have an alternative pick-up time of 10:30 am to noon on Saturday at our Merle Hay Mall location. Please send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop if you are coming on Saturday.

Gift baskets

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Our only daughter got married last weekend in Iowa – our guests came from all over the US, and we even had two that traveled from Africa – most of the out of towners had never been to Iowa. We had an ideal weekend weather wise, and by this season’s standards we got really, really lucky! I wanted to give a shout out to the IFC producers for the products we stocked our gift baskets with ( Elements of Rejuvenation, Heart of Iowa Soapworks, Two River Soap Company, Pickle Creek Herbal, Timber Ridge Cattle Company , and Overhome Farm) and also to the Homestead for growing zinnias for the flowers arrangements for the rehearsal dinner .

You all helped make the weekend special –

THANK YOU!!!

Lisa

IFC Shopping Cart is Open – Welcome Yellow River Dairy!

Time to Shop!

The shopping cart is open. It’ll close at midnight on Sunday, July 9th. Delivery is Thurs., July 13th at our Des Moines area locations and Friday, July 14th at our Ames location. See below for updates on a new producer and new stuff.

To shop go to https://iowafood.coop and log in. If you need help with your username or password, send an email to info@iowafood.coop.

Yellow River Dairy is a new IFC producer from near Monona in NE IA (www.yellowriverdairy.com). They’ve milked goats for over 20 years, and their on-farm cheese processing facility has been in operation for about five years. They’ve listed 11 different products – five types of “cheese logs” (semi-soft curd molded into sliceable 6 oz logs) and six types of chevre. 

Wedel Grazing Acres is running a sale on New York Strip steaks, $13.99/lb (regularly $16.50/lb).

Yoke S Ranch has a sale on hamburger patties (perfect for grilling) from their Corriene beef herd – regular price is $5/lb; marked down to $4.50. Rick writes: “We finally were able to get going in the hay fields. We baled over 300 bales in 5 days. We need about 800 1500 lb bales to feed the cattle this winter, so we still have a ways to go.”

From Jocelyn at Pickle Creek Herbal: “I’ve added a new infused olive oil for this cycle—Greek Oregano & Garlic. We’ve been making this oil for the past several years, but we’ve been sold out since February due to its popularity. We’ve been waiting and waiting to harvest our oregano so we could start making this oil again, and finally it’s back!”

Lee at The Berry Patch Farm writes “We will have greenhouse tomatoes, strawberry hanging baskets, some herbs, and best of all some black raspberries.”

Chef Connie’s Urban Farm added kohlrabi and beets this cycle, and Maxwell Farms has Yukon Gold new potatoes.

LaVentosa Ranch is taking this cycle off (the Marshall County fair is the week of delivery).

Broadhorn Farm is taking off as well because they sold most their product to a group that follows the Weston A. Price dietary guidelines (www.westonaprice.org/basics/dietary-guidelines). They hope to have more processed meat in their freezer in the next two weeks.