Despite an extremely challenging summer, Teri Volante Boardman — who owns Volante Farms in Needham with brothers Dave and Steve Volante — remains upbeat. As farmers, she says, “you are at the mercy of so much, so you just count your blessings and hope it doesn’t get worse.’’
On top of the unseasonably dry summer that all farmers are facing, Volante Farms had to close for three weeks midseason, after a company they hired to seal their floors botched the job, using an exterior coating that filled the farmstand with horrible-smelling (though, thankfully, harmless) fumes.
“Anything that was brought into the building was immediately tainted by the smell. We had to throw everything away. The homegrown stuff was the most heartbreaking,’’ says Boardman. Everything from the produce to the prepared foods and even the packaged goods had to be discarded.
After hiring a disaster-relief company, which employed several tactics — from high heat and forced ventilation to releasing ozone into the building — the farmstand was able to fully reopen July 28.
The team had been selling some produce, picked fresh from the field, out of a makeshift stand in a greenhouse; wholesaling what it could to restaurants; and donating the rest to local charities.
Now that it’s back to business as usual, Volante Farms is focused on harvesting customer favorites, like sweet corn — which, despite a slightly later start this year due to “weird weather this spring,’’ Boardman says, is delicious. “It’s one of our most popular homegrown items. It’s such a big deal to have it be the sweetest, the freshest, the most flavorful corn available.’’
She has some tips for making the most of this seasonal crop, which is available through Columbus Day, barring a hard frost.
Choosing the right corn is the first step, but Boardman asks that you please don’t peek under the husk. “Once you shuck that ear, it immediately starts to lose its sweetness. Don’t shuck it until you absolutely have to.’’
Instead, she suggests feeling along the ear of the corn to be sure there are no big lumps or divots, which could signal a worm. On the outside, look for a silk that’s intact and a bright green husk. “If it’s very dry, it’s not fresh-picked,’’ says the farmer, who prefers to keep it simple when it comes to preparation.
“Our rule is: You boil a pot of water, drop it in for 3 minutes only, and then you take it out.’’ Or, she says, you can enjoy it raw. “My favorite thing to do in the summer, especially when we have our homegrown tomatoes, is halve a bunch of cherry or grape tomatoes and avocado, and then take an ear or two and saw the kernels off — I don’t even bother cooking it, which keeps it crunchy — and throw that with a little bit of lime juice, and a little bit of olive oil, and sometimes I throw in a little bit of cumin if I’m feeling sassy,’’ she says. “It’s like a salsa-guac combo. Super-easy, low key, you don’t have to boil water, just serve it with some chips.’’
With disaster behind them, Boardman and her team are balancing the hard work of endless watering during this dry spell with enjoying the sweet harvest.
“We kept saying to ourselves: It could have been way worse. It could have been a dangerous situation, it could have been a health hazard, and it was not. So in the end it’s just stuff. It’s stuff that you put your blood, sweat, and tears into, but it’s stuff.’’
Volante Farms, 292 Forest St., Needham, 781-444-2351, www.volantefarms.com
Catherine smart
Catherine Smart can be reached at cathjsmart@gmail.com.
