It's hot. The weather is perfect for eating cheeses that keep you cool.  We'll be attending four farmers' markets this Saturday--Urbana, Bloomington, Green City Market and Oak Park--and we'll be bringing fresh chevre, fresh sheep milk ricotta and debuting our "Greek style" sheep milk feta.  All the cheeses are perfect adornments for heirloom tomatoes drizzled with a little olive oil and sea salt. Or just throw a salad together and top it with some of these cheeses.
We'll also be bringing plenty of Angel Food, our goat milk brie and maybe a few Little Bloom on the Prairie.  Both of these cheeses are great simply sliced a top some nice crusty bread.  If you have a little energy, you can slice some fresh peaches with these cheeses or spoon a little honey on the bread.
If time permits, we'll cut up the last of our Mollisol Pecorino Romano cheese.  This cheese too would be great shaved over a salad or if you grill some sweet corn, you can grate some Pecorino over the hot buttered corn--deliciousness incarnate!
Our beekeepers Emil and Melvin Blobaum have been braving the heat (and the feisty bees) to take the first extraction of honey from the hives. It is light and floral as we have come to expect from early season honey.  We'll be bringing both 8 oz. and 16 oz. jars to all four markets.  The honey is a sublime accompaniment to the bloomy rind cheeses and the ricotta.
Lastly, we should be bringing some organic pears, blackberries and maybe peaches to select markets on Saturday. We held our first u-pick of peaches and blackberries this evening, and folks did an excellent job of picking most of the ripe Reliance peaches. 
For Chicagoans, if you haven't seen the menu for the Birchwood Kitchen Dinner featuring our cheeses on Monday, July 26th--check it out. 
I believe there are still seats available if you want to make reservations.
Don't let the heat stifle your farmers' market shopping. Just bring a cooler or insulated bag and shop with abandon. It's the best antidote for a sultry summer day.

Late July into early August, our peaches begin to ripen.  The Reliance and Sweet Sixteen peaches are early ripening varieties, and their taste can not be rivaled.  Reliance has floral and apricot overtones. Red Havens, Harrow's Beauty and White Lady varieties ripen in mid-August.  Our latest varieties in late August are Elberta and Bell of Georgia (a white fleshed peach that is juicy, sweet and outstanding in flavor).  Late July and August are also the season for blackberries. We have several varieties, all delicious. 

Late August through September beckons our apples and pears. Since this is our first season with enough apples and pears to sell, I will have to report back on varieties and their flavors.

We manage our fruits organically which means incredible flavor but sometimes blemished fruits, particularly the tree fruits.  So, if you see some specks or white clay residues or maybe a whole from an insect, rest assured that these traits are not harmful to people.  They just mean that the fruits are so tasty that other creatures want to eat them as well as humans.

We sell our fruits at the Urbana Farmers' Market, Bloomington IL Farmers' Market (alternate Saturdays-check our blog), Chicago's Green City Market and Oak Park Farmers' Market on Saturdays (May-October).  We also offer u-pick. 

LATEST UPDATE on U-PICK SCHEDULE

Our days and hours for U-pick Peaches and Blackberries START THIS THURSDAY, JULY 22ND FROM 5-8PM.

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, OUR U-PICK HOURS WILL BE TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS FROM 5-8PM AND SUNDAYS FROM 1-4PM. 

PRICES FOR BLACKBERRIES ARE $3/PINT AND FOR $1.50/LB FOR TREE FRUITS (PEACHES, PEARS, APPLES).

WE PROVIDE BUCKETS TO PICK WITH. PLEASE EMAIL IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS: prairiefruits@gmail.com

Speaking of abundance, we will start offering hours for u-pick fruit in the next week or so.  Stay tuned.
Farmers' Market Offerings
We're attending three farmers' markets this week: Urbana, Green City Market and Oak Park. 
We have plenty of fresh chevre this week--plain, herbs de Provence and cracked peppercorn
We also have Angel Food and Little Bloom on the Prairie for those of you have been waiting patiently for these gooey little rounds.
Prairie Dropseed will be making a semi-final appearance this weekend as we give our sheep milk bloomy rind cheeses a rest for a few weeks. If you love this little mixed milk ball of creamy-crumbly cheese, you might want to get a couple.  I made a pasta dish with it earlier this week, and this cheese really adds wonderful creaminess and flavor to grilled veggies with pasta.
Ewe Bloom, Black Sheep and Krotovina are on summer vacation and should be back sometime in late August.
Our next batches of Roxanne and Moonglo are ready, so we will be bringing those to the markets this week. 
Don't let the heat keep you away from the farmers' markets or from buying cheese. Just come with an insulated bag or cooler, and you should be just fine.
Farm Dinners Beyond the Farm
As if our own farm dinners aren't enough to satisfy desires for eating amazingly prepared local foods, we're partnering up with a couple of restaurants in Chicago who will prepare special menus featuring our farm's bounty. The first one takes place next Wednesday evening, July 21st, at Vie Restaurant in Western Springs.  Here are the details:

Join us for a 6 course Dinner featuring Prairie Fruits Farm
6:30 reception 7:00 Dinner
$65 per person $30 optional wine pairings
excluding tax and service 

reception

passed items

apple mint cocktail

 first

swiss chard and gooseberry tart, pickled lily buds

second

pan-fried fresh chevre and potato terrine, basil and wild greens

third

ricotta tortellini in hen brodo, kale, italian parsley and pecorino

fourth

deep-fried chicken scotch egg, wilted dandelions

cheese

a selection of farmstead cheeses, preserves, and sourdough

predessert

frozen yogurt and blackberry compote

to finish

bartlett pear tart honey ice cream, almond cream

Call Vie for reservations

708-246-2082

The second dinner is set for Monday evening, July 26th at Birchwood Kitchen. Located in the Bucktown neighborhood, they plan to offer a four course BYOB dinner featuring our cheese and produce.  Go to their website to find out how to make reservations and for forthcoming details about the menu: http://birchwoodkitchen.com/

So, what does this philosophical waxing have to do with cheese and markets, you’re asking yourself?  Well, we are in the height of the heat, so milk has become a precious commodity to make into delicious cheese. Nonetheless, we have a respectable assortment of cheeses to offer you this week at the farmers’ markets. 

This Saturday, we’ll be attending FOUR markets: Urbana, Bloomington, Green City and Oak Park. For those of you who live in Chicago, don’t forget: you can also get the best selection of our cheeses at a mid-week farmers’ market in the Andersonville neighborhood (Wednesday afternoon-evenings from 3-8PM).  Here’s what we have to offer you this week:

• Fresh Chevre—plain, herbs de Provence and cracked black peppercorn
• Little Bloom on the Prairie-holding up very well in this heat
• Ewe Bloom-the last batch for a while, so get it while it lasts
• Prairie Dropseed-our blended sheep and goat milk ball of creamy yet crumbly cheese with its distinct blue and white mold rind
• Mollisol Pecorino—the last batch of our sheep milk Romano style cheese for the year. It is 14 months old, slightly salty, a bit nutty and great for grating over hot and cold dishes.

We may be bringing a few of some of our other cheeses to select markets including a few Angel Food (there will be Angel Food at all markets next week, I promise), some Roxanne and a few remaining Pear Capri.  Get to the market early for the best selection; it’s cooler too.