🌱 From the Field: The Roots of Pahl Farms🌱

Today would have been Joanne Pahl’s 88th birthday. For many of our longtime customers, employees, friends, and family, Joanne was a familiar face and an important part of Pahl’s for many years. She was deeply loved, and she is deeply missed. In honor of her birthday, we thought this would be a fitting week to look back at the family farm she and Wayne helped build and how it grew into the Pahl’s Market you know today.

The Pahl family’s farming roots in Minnesota stretch back six generations to the early 1900s. The family originally farmed the Minnesota River bottoms in Bloomington, where Wayne Pahl grew up working alongside his family. Farming became a major responsibility for Wayne at just nine years old, after his father Leo was paralyzed in an accident.

Wayne married Joanne in 1959, and together they raised four children while continuing to grow the family farming operation. By the 1960s, Wayne was farming land in Eagan, Burnsville, and Apple Valley. Then, in 1979, Wayne and Joanne purchased land in Apple Valley, establishing the home base for the farm and market that remain here today.

Pahl’s Market itself had a pretty humble beginning. In 1982, Gary Pahl and his sister Lynn began selling vegetables out of the back of a semi on the Apple Valley property. Brian joined Gary the following year, and the family built its first shed for selling produce and storing tractors. Gary later married Jane, and together with Brian and the rest of the family, they continued expanding what had started as a simple roadside produce stand. Annual flowers arrived in 1988, followed by the first greenhouse in 1989, and Pahl’s gradually grew into the farm, market, and garden center our customers recognize today.

Through all that growth, Wayne and Joanne remained at the heart of the family’s farming story. In 1999, they were named the Dakota County Farm Family of the Year. The next generation continued to build on what they started, and in 2014, the CSA program began and Jack Pahl officially entered the business as the sixth generation. Today, Pahl Farms grows vegetables on hundreds of acres, but it remains connected to the same family farming tradition that began more than a century ago.

For those of us who knew Joanne, this history is about much more than dates, acres, buildings, and greenhouses. It’s about the people who worked hard, raised their families here, took chances, and built something that the next generation could carry forward.

Today, we’re especially thinking of Joanne and remembering the role she played in that story. We miss her, we’re grateful for the foundation she and Wayne helped create, and we’re proud that every CSA box we send home is another small piece of the Pahl family farming tradition.

What’s in the Box? 🍉🌶️

This week’s share brings together some of the boldest flavors of the season, plus a sweet addition that’s hard to beat on a summer day. Watermelon makes its way into the box alongside fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, collard greens, and a trio of peppers. With mild green and Anaheim peppers alongside jalapeños, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to add as much, or as little, heat as you’d like.

Here’s what’s inside:

• 🥬 Collard Greens
• 🍉 Watermelon
• 🫑 Green Peppers
• 🌶️ Anaheim Peppers
• 🌶️ Jalapeño Peppers
• 🥒 Cucumbers
• 🍅 Tomatoes
• 🧅 Onions

Need a little inspiration? Here are some simple ways to make the most of this week’s harvest:

🍉 Watermelon: A welcome treat during the final weeks of summer! Chill your watermelon before slicing for a refreshing snack, or cube it and combine with feta, fresh herbs, and a squeeze of lime for an easy summer salad. An uncut watermelon can be kept at room temperature for several days, but once cut, wrap or cover it and store it in the refrigerator.

🫑 Green Peppers: Crisp and slightly tangy when raw, green peppers become softer and sweeter when cooked. Slice them for snacking, add them to salads, toss them on the grill, or pair them with this week’s tomatoes and onions for fajitas, kebabs, or a fresh salsa.

🌶️ Anaheim Peppers: Anaheim peppers generally fall on the milder end of the heat scale, making them a great choice for roasting and grilling. Try charring the skin, peeling it away, and using the tender pepper in tacos, sandwiches, eggs, or sauces.

🌶️ Jalapeño Peppers: Looking for a little more kick? Dice jalapeños into salsa, slice them for tacos or burgers, or roast them alongside your Anaheim peppers. Remember that heat can vary considerably from pepper to pepper, so give them a taste before deciding how much to add!

🍅 Tomatoes & 🧅 Onions: These two don’t need much help. Slice them together for sandwiches and burgers, turn them into a simple tomato salad, or combine them with this week’s peppers for homemade salsa. Keep tomatoes at room temperature until fully ripe for the best flavor.

🥒 Cucumbers: Cool, crunchy cucumbers provide a nice contrast to all those peppers. Enjoy them fresh with dip, add them to sandwiches and salads, or make a batch of quick refrigerator pickles. Keep them refrigerated and wash just before using.

🥬 Collard Greens: Remove the tougher center stem, then slice the leaves into ribbons for cooking. Collards are traditionally cooked low and slow, but they don’t have to be. A quick sauté with olive oil, garlic, and onion makes an easy side dish, and a splash of vinegar or lemon juice at the end helps brighten their flavor.

This week’s vegetables practically invite you to mix and match. Tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and peppers can become salsa or a fresh chopped salad, while the watermelon offers something cool and sweet alongside it all. It’s a box that captures a lot of what we love about the August harvest.