The summer calendar can be bisected into two parts: Before sweet corn and after sweet corn. Last Saturday marked 2010's tipping point, at least at the Bloomington Farmers Market stand presided over by paratrooper- and electrician-turned-farmer Mickey Hansen, who was busy selling the first harvest from the seven acres of sweet corn he cultivates on the northeast shore of Mary Lake in Buffalo, Minn.
"I grow three kinds of sweet corn," he said. "Pretty good, real good and damn good." Hansen described last Saturday's batch as falling squarely in the "pretty good" category. He was right. It was decent, but lacked the transcendently milky bite of August-in-Minnesota sweet corn. But for a first taste of the season? Not bad at all. I channeled a dozen ears straight into a chowder (find the recipe at startribune.com/tabletalk), and the results were marvelous.
"In a few weeks it'll be damn good," Hansen pledged. No doubt. Hansen, who was making some fast new friends not only among my fellow sweet corn fanatics, but also by being fast and generous with free samples of his thick homemade jam (he also raises raspberries and rhubarb), underscored a reason why increasing numbers of consumers are finding the farmers market experience to be such a rewarding one. After all, how often do people actually meet the folks who grow their food? As far as Hansen sees it, he's the one having all the fun.
"I'm not in the food business, I'm in the entertainment business," he said with a laugh. "It's a great place for an old duffer like me to come, get to know my customers and keep out of trouble. It sure beats sitting on the couch and getting fat."
RICK NELSON
Sweet corn ($6 per dozen) at Hansen's Hidden Acres, Bloomington Farmers Market, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Rd. (Bloomington Civic Plaza), Bloomington. Open 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. For a listing of this weekend's farmers market events, go to startribune.com/tabletalk. For a map of Twin Cities metro-area farmers markets, go to startribune.com/taste.
