Popcorn and New Sheep Pelts for Final Farmers' Market of 2019 - Blackcat Restaurant

First of all, thank you all for such a wonderful season at the downtown Farmers’ Market. The Market is important to us. We love the connections and the community. It is a special Boulder institution — a treasure. Savor this last Saturday market, and consider the Winter Market, on December 7 and 8 at the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont. We will have plenty of vegetables for sale. And good news — we just received a new shipment of sheep pelts, which will be for sale, too. Would one of these beauties make a spectacular holiday gift? Yes, it would.

Every growing season unfolds as a nine-month adventure. Some years, carrots thrive. Other times, they struggle. Frosts on both ends of the season can hobble harvests. Too much rain complicates farming in the extreme. Severe drought devastates. Hail terrorizes. We could go on.

Corn drying on racks for popcorn and polenta at Black Cat Organic Farm in Boulder, Colorado — Corn meant for storage, and for use in things like polenta and popcorn, is dried on the stalks first, and then dried some more in our greenhouse.

Polenta Corn Crushed it This Year

Last year challenged the corn we grow for polenta. We dried it in the fields, as always, but much of it was lost to mold.

This year? We have so much polenta corn that it amounts to an over-abundance for the restaurants and the farmers’ market. So the pigs will likely benefit at some point.

The next step for us is milling the dried corn into flour, which we will use with abandon in the restaurants. Finding certified organic polenta flour in the marketplace is not easy. And it’s expensive.

We grew somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 pounds of it.

Popcorn from corn Black Cat Organic Farm in Boulder, Colorado — Shucked, fried in hot oil until it pops, bathed in melted butter and salt. Ambrosia.

Our popcorn, too, thrived this year for the first time. We have toyed with popcorn before, but never did our crop prosper. This year, it triumphed.

We grew a variety called Snow Puff. Its kernels are small. As Eric says, “It’s not like big, fat mall kiosk popcorn.” This popcorn comes packed with flavor. Instead of fluffy, airy, flavorless popcorn, Snow Puff is crispy-crunch-delicious popcorn.

We think it’s fun to just rub the cobs with thumbs to remove the kernels. So that’s how we will be selling our popcorn at the Market: by the ear.

We serve popcorn in the restaurants, but it’s not something you ever will encounter at the Cineplex. We dehydrate lobster roe, mill it into a powder, and dust the popcorn with what amounts to distilled lobster. It’s gobsmacking.

Don’t Forget About Winter Market in December — We Will Be There

We look forward to seeing you at the restaurants and the Market this weekend! This is the last Saturday farmers’ market in downtown Boulder for the season. Do think about Thanksgiving provisions as you wander. Potatoes. Onions. Parsnips. Beets. Carrots. Celery. You get the picture.

Also, again, we will have a stand at the Boulder County Farmers’ Markets Winter Market, Dec. 7 & 8, at the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont. We look forward to connecting with you there, as you dig into the holiday season.