Emergency Harvest

Intervale produce display at City Market: Support Our Intervale Farmers

On Tuesday when I came to work, the Co-op was busily accepting produce from the Intervale - whatever could be brought out before Intervale Road turned into a river cutting the farms off from the city, we received on our loading dock.

It was a grim day, made surreal by the abundance of beautiful produce - peppers and watermelons, fennel and bok choy, carrots and tomatoes: We seemed like the land o' plenty, when in reality we had most likely just received our last deliveries from the Intervale farms for the sesaon, with the summer not even over yet and fall's big harvests on the horizon.

Rachel Daley, with Open Heart Farm, said "It feels like we've been running a marathon, and suddenly told the race is over before we've reached the finish. We're just stunned."

According to James Morrell, our Produce Manager, we will have no problem selling an overabundance of Intervale produce this week - our shoppers are loyal to our local farmers and will rise to the occasion. But he's quick to say that it's a good reminder that none of us should take the Intervale for granted: "The farms are what make it possible for us to do what we do every day," he says. "If the Intervale were to go away, the city would be a completely different place, and our store would be a completely different place."

Stop by today, tomorrow, and Sunday for special recipe demos in Produce featuring ingredients from the Intervale that you can bring home one last time this season.

Produce Recipe Demos to Support the Intervale Emergency Harvest

Peperonta: Friday, September 2, 2-4 p.m. (featuring Digger's Mirth peppers)

Chinese-Style Beans and Greens: Saturday, September 3, 2-4 p.m. (featuring Digger's Mirth bok choy)

Potato-Leek Soup: Sunday, September 4, 4-6 p.m. (featuring Digger's Mirth leeks)

Hurricane Stew

We adapted this recipe from a popular City Market recipe for Moroccan Stew to accommodate extra produce from the Intervale rescued before the floods. Eat up, and look for more ways to help your farmers.

¼ cup olive oil

1 onion, diced (or 2 leeks, white and light green part only)

1 tsp. ground coriander

½ tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. ground cumin

2 red and yellow bell peppers (or 2 green peppers)

2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into cubes

1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes (or 2 fresh tomatoes)

1 tsp. salt

1 medium zucchini, cut into cubes

1 medium fennel, thinly sliced

1-2 cloves garlic, diced

Opt. hot chili pepper, seeded and minced

1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 Tbs. lemon juice

Fresh cilantro

Optional additions:

If you like raisins, throw a handful of raisins or quartered dried apricots into the stew when you add the tomatoes.

If you have saffron, add a good-sized pinch when you add the tomatoes.

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add onion or leeks and spices and sauté a few minutes, until onion is golden. Add bell peppers and sweet potatoes and sauté 2 more minutes. Add tomatoes and salt and 1-2 cups water and cook, partially covered, until the sweet potatoes are almost tender, about 10-15 minutes. Add zucchini, fennel, fresh garlic, optional pepper, and chickpeas and cook, partially covered, until zucchini and fennel are tender, about 5-7 more minutes. Taste for seasoning and finish with fresh lemon juice and chopped fresh cilantro. Serve with couscous and spicy sauce (on top), and yogurt on the side.

Spicy Sauce

1/3 cup olive oil

½ tsp. ground cumin

¼ tsp. salt

½-2 tsp. ground cayenne (to taste)

1 clove garlic, finely minced

Gently warm over low heat in a small saucepan until garlic is golden. Remove from heat before garlic crisps.