Locavores

Late Bloomers Farm

2008-08-21T22:01:00.003-04:00

I have moved this blog to my own domain, latebloomersfarm.com. Please join me there for the continuing adventures of my life as a locavore.

CSA, Week 9

2008-08-20T20:53:00.004-04:00

August 20 was the ninth week of our CSA (Waldingfield Farm, pick-up point Sandy Hook Organic Farmer's Market).

Our bounty:

- patty pan squash
- kale
- green onions
- Asian eggplant
- blue potatoes
- lots of different tomatoes
I'm not sure which is which---here are the choices:

Local meal, no challenge:
- grilled beef filet from Laurel Ridge Farm in Litchfield, CT
- baked blue potato from Waldingfield
- patty pan squash sauteed with green onions and tomato (all from Waldingfield) in olive oil and a tad of chicken broth, salt and pepper (from out there). I used very little seasoning to allow the natural flavors of the vegetables to dominate.

In a Jam

2008-08-14T10:47:00.007-04:00

Even on vacation, I can't resist foraging. I find myself collecting food, particularly items that can take me through the winter. Yesterday, we visited Dalton Farmstand, which I think is in Manchester and I got two 32 oz jars of jam (raspberry and mixed berry). They have a berry farm in another town, not too far from the farmstand. My thinking is that it's local here and I'm here and I'm already using the fossil fuels to cart myself here and back.

UPDATED (8/19/2008):
I like to put a big rounded teaspoon of berry jam on my morning yogurt. Several varieties of yogurts that have fruit also contain high fructose corn syrup (like Dannon, Columbo, and Yoplait). In the previous edition of this post, I mistakenly wrote that Stonyfield yogurt contained high fructose corn syrup. It does not. Thank you Sarah Badger for pointing that out. None of the Stonyfield yogurts contain that ingredient! My apologies to Stonyfield.

Another Locavore Vacation Day

2008-08-12T20:59:00.005-04:00

After spending most of the day in outlets in Manchester buying clothing made in China and Indonesia, we went down to Bennington to their Farmers Market.

We scored:
- organic beets, carrots, garlic, purple "green" beans, Chinese eggplant, and eggs from Wildstone Farm
- organic watermelon from Mighty Food Farm
- corn from Darling Farmstand
- San Marino plum tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, and peppers from the Youth Horticulture Project (grown at Mount Anthony Middle School)
- blueberries (no spray) from Apple Hill Orchard
- multi-grain bread from Avonlea Farm Brick Oven Bakery

We feasted:

The "casserole" consists of a bottom layer of hamburger, topped with a sauteed vegetable medley (one of every vegetable we bought, except for the beets and corn, shown separately), topped with Cabot extra sharp cheddar (it's local here!) and baked just enough to melt the cheese.

Local Meal on Vacation

2008-08-12T08:00:00.001-04:00

Frankly, I wasn't sure if we'd be able to keep up with local fooding on vacation, considering how much of it depends on knowing where to go to get the good stuff. Sure, we packed up provisions in the cooler, but certainly not enough to eat for over a week's worth of time. So, an adventure awaits.

When we stopped at Chase Hill Farm in Warwick, MA for raw milk, we also picked up some farmstead cheese and two pounds of hamburger meat (from organic, grass fed cows!). Here's Monday night's dinner:

The tomato came from Waldingfield Farm via the cooler. The bun came from Shaw's in Arlington, VT and who knows where they got it.

(Not enrolled in any formal challenge.)

Raw Milk Detour

2008-08-11T13:32:00.004-04:00

Sometimes, life just takes you to wonderful places.

We left the NOFA Conference and segued into our summer vacation: visiting friends and enjoying some down time in the great state of VT. I decided to pick up some raw milk at a farm along the way--well, slightly off the beaten path. This required us to move our driving plans off of a major interstate and on to a local "highway." (It has a number, so it's a highway...other than that, it's a back road.) Good move--the scenic route was the better way.

Chase Hill Farm is in Warwick, MA (Google map) and has organic raw milk, farmstead cheeses, grass-fed beef and veal, and whey-fed pork. They are members of NOFA MA (that's how I found them--in the NOFA guide!). The milk has an excellent creamline and tastes great. For more information, see the dairy page of the NOFA MA site (scroll down to the bottom of the page) .

NOFA Conference Impressions

2008-08-11T13:25:00.002-04:00

I went to the 2008 NOFA Conference as an eater, not a farmer. My expectations ran the gamut until ultimately, I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting at all. Some questions I had were: Would it be boring? Would it be aimed at specifically at farmers? Could a small gardener/big eater glean enough to make the trip worthwhile?

The workshop topics were varied enough that anybody could have attended this conference and found something of interest. There were practical and instructional "how to" topics, environmental topics, political and theoretical topics, and more. It was anything but boring!

Kudos to the UMass Amherst kitchen staff that served exclusively organic meals, with Saturday night's dinner being both organic and local!

I'll probably post more about the specific workshops I attended and my impressions of the keynote speakers in upcoming blog entries.

NOFA Conference

2008-08-07T07:30:00.002-04:00

If you're looking for us this weekend, we'll be at the 34th Annual NOFA Conference, At UMASS, Amherst.

Keynote speakers are Dr. Arden Andersen, holistic medical practitioner, expert in human and agricultural nutrition, author, and educator and Mark McAfee, founder of the Organic Pastures Dairy Company in California.

The workshops cover the spectrum of topics of interest from farmers to eaters. It will be hard to choose!

NOFA is the Northeast Organic Farming Association. You don't need to be a farmer to become a member. Here's the site for CT NOFA.

CSA, Week 7

2008-08-05T21:47:00.007-04:00

I'm not usually the member of the household who gets to go to the Sandy Hook Organic Farmers' Market for our CSA pick-up. The market is open from 2-6 PM and I'm not generally in the neighborhood during those hours. However, this week it needed to be me and so I went.

Boy, have I been missing out. This is a most excellent Farmer's Market. There's music, fresh popcorn, and the pop-up tents are arranged like like a little village.

August 5 was the seventh week of our CSA (Waldingfield Farm, pick-up point Sandy Hook Organic Farmer's Market). Our bounty included:

- lots of red lettuce
- green beans
- patty pan squash
- cucumbers
- green bell peppers
- heirloom tomatoes
- yellow squash
- kale
- jalapeno and chili peppers

Patrick of Waldingfield Farm, serving a customer:

My local dinner (no challenge) was:
A salad of red lettuce (from Waldingfield), a sliced hard-boiled egg (from Arno's in Kent), shaved cheese (from Sankow's Beaver Brook), basil (from Stoneledge Hollow), and a sliced pickled jalapeno (from Sister CG at Bluestone Farm). I drizzled some of Waldingfield's salad dressing over it.

CSA, Week 6

2008-07-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

July 29 was the sixth week of our CSA (Waldingfield Farm, pick-up point Sandy Hook Organic Farmer's Market). Our bounty included:
- mixed salad greens
- sugar snap peas
- green beans
- Swiss chard
- patty pan squash
- cucumbers
- green bell peppers
- Chinese eggplant
- sun gold cherry tomatoes

Our local dinner (no challenge) was:
- patty pan squash (from Waldingfield) stuffed with sauteed pork sausage from Ox Hollow farm, peppers, garlic, onions (from various farms), and cheese from Sankow's Beaver Brook.

2008-07-29T21:16:00.003-04:00

I finally made a decent raw milk yogurt! I had the flavor I wanted, but couldn't get the consistency. I kept getting something that would properly be called a yogurt shake. The problem was that I wasn't heating the milk enough. Heat destroys the enzymes and natural good bacteria in the milk and I wanted to keep those. Otherwise, why not just use pasteurized milk? But it turns out that the milk's bacteria was competing with the starter culture! So, do you lose the benefits of using raw milk if you heat it to 180 degrees (as many yogurt recipes suggest)?

According to Linda Joyce Forristal (care of the Weston Price site):

Whatever temperature the milk will be heated to, in my opinion it is best to begin with raw milk. It is not homogenized so you get a wonderful cream on top. It has not had milk solids added to it, so it won’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Most important, raw milk has not been pasteurized, which is a violent, rapid-heating process that has a very detrimental effect on the proteins in the milk. A slow, gentle heating on your stove top will more effectively preserve the integrity of fragile milk proteins, especially if you remove the milk from the stove as soon as the desired temperature has been reached.

Here's my recipe:
1 quart of raw milk
1/4 cup of good commercial organic yogurt as a starter (I used Seven Stars)

Measure out the starter and allow to come to room temperature while heating the milk. In a saucepan, slowly bring the milk up to 180 degrees, stirring periodically (it took me one hour). Allow the milk to cool back down to 110 degrees, again stirring periodically. Put the milk and starter into jars, twist on a lid, and place in a dehydrator for 8 to 10 hours. (I did 10.) Refrigerate the jars. Since the milk had not been homogenized, there is a lovely cream line.

Local Meal, No Challenge

2008-07-28T07:00:00.002-04:00

Last night's local meal is not a part of any of the ongoing organized challenges, but a local delight nonetheless.

Rib eye steaks from Stuarts.

Home made pasta, using:
- all purpose wheat flour, wheat from Lightning Tree Farm, milled and sold by Wild Hive Farm, both in Millbrook, NY (local wheat!!)
- eggs from Arno's Farm in Kent, CT
- olive oil from Italy
tossed with a sauteed medley of:
- tomatoes from Mitchell's Farm in Southbury, CT
- arugula from Newtown Cedar Hill Farm
- garlic from Smith Acres Farm, Niantic, CT
- shaved Parmigiano Reggiano, from Italy

Delicious and fun to make!

Bluestone Farm

2008-07-27T23:45:00.001-04:00

To cap off a perfect day, we spent Saturday evening with the Sisters at Bluestone Farm, where we sampled many of their delectables as they were puttin' 'em by.

The Sisters had harvested some Nero Italian kale and some rutabagas. I learned that rutabagas can be cut into strips and deep fried, like French fries. I also learned that Sister CG makes an excellent Habanero hot sauce (not to mentioned those pickled jalapenos).

I got to witness the great wall of garlic and regret not having the foresight to snap a photo of it. Numerous varieties of garlic (all neatly labeled) cover about 10 linear feet of wall space, from top to bottom. They need to dry out before they can be braided.

I also got to have a visit with the duckings, who are currently at the adorable stage. And I had the opportunity to admire their prolific fields.

The Sisters sent us home with Italian Kale (nero), Bok Choy, Habanero hot sauce, and pickled jalapenos.

New York Breadbasket

2008-07-27T15:12:00.013-04:00

Regular readers of this blog (if there are any) know that I have been complaining periodically (or maybe incessantly) about my inability to find local wheat. Well, have I got news for you--I found some! Lightning Tree Farm in Millbrook, NY grows several varieties and I saw it with my own eyes and tasted it in my own mouth. It's real.

Yesterday, over 80 people showed up for the Growing Bread Locally workshop, which was well over the expectations of the organizers. They'd initially expected a smaller audience of farmers and bakers but were pleasantly surprised to see so many consumers take an interest in local wheat and local wheat products.

Once everyone signed in and checked out the literature and grain samples, the organizers made their introductions. Al Earnhart is the farm manager at Lightning Tree Farm. Jeanine Connolly is also from Lightning Tree. Eli Kaufman is with the Wheat Heritage Conservancy. Elizabeth Dyck from NOFA-NY is the coordinator of the Northeast Organic Wheat Project. Don Lewis is the owner of Wild Hive Farm, a micro-mill and bakery exclusively using local grains.

Left to Right: Don Lewis, Jeanine Connolly, Eli Kaufman, Al Earnhart

Al Earnhart gave us a demo of the combine, an indispensable machine in wheat farming. A combine, according to Wikipedia is "a machine that combines the tasks of harvesting, threshing, and cleaning grain crops." First you drive the combine around the field to harvest the wheat. Then the combine threshes the wheat, separating the grain from the straw. The straw is left on the field as compost. Then there are multiple phases of cleaning and filtering. We saw a demo of the seed cleaner, where screen sizes are based on the grain as well as the year. Then there is the drying. The wheat must be dried properly to prevent molding yet retain viability. Once dry, grains destined for human consumption are stored in a metal-lined storage facility.

Lightning Tree Farm uses the COWS method of farming. They rotate corn, oats, wheat, and sod (clover) on each field in the 425 acres. In the late 1700s, wheat was over-farmed on this land until the soil could no longer produce anything. Those farmers moved west. Today, because of these sustainable farming practices, the land is fertile and able to produce wheat once again.

Elizabeth Dyck spoke about the Northeast Organic Wheat Project, which among other things is looking for folks to keep the heritage seeds going simply by growing the wheat and saving the seeds. Eli Kaufman travels the world researching and growing wheat. She spoke of the resurgence of some of the ancient wheat, such as emmer and spelt.

Then we got to the audience participation portion of the program. Don Lewis (of Wild Hive Farm) brought his mobile oven and baked bread samples with AC Barrie, Triticale, Frederick (soft white winter), and Red Fife wheat. His oven is his own design, crafted by Fletcher Coddington of Arrowsmith Forge. It is a mobile, wood-fired hearth oven. It has seven dampers to control the hot spots. It is a thing of engineering beauty indeed.

The bread was delicious. It was interesting to taste the differences between the different grains. It was intensely satisfying to finally eat bread made from local wheat. The butter was out of this world, locally made and as far as I know, not commercially available. Oh yeah, we had corn on the cob too, roasted in Don's oven.

I left the event with a ton of information, several bags of flour and grains, a loaf of bread, and great hope for the future.

For those looking to do something, here are some actions you can take:
Farmers and Gardeners: "adopt-a-crop" of rare heritage wheat, trial commercial wheat varieties and partner with local bakers
Artisan Bakers: work with local farmers to test wheat varieties for flavor and baking quality
Regular People: Buy and eat the products created by the artisan bakers. Buy the grains and flours and experiment with some recipes of your own.

Contacts:
Elizabeth Dyck
Eli Kaufman

Resources:
Heritage Wheat Conservancy
SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education)

Footnote:
In case you want to grow your own wheat, here's the math to produce one loaf of bread per day. Consider that it takes about 1-1/2 lbs of sifted milled flour to make the loaf. Since you lose about 20% of your weight in the sifting, you need to mill about 1-7/8 lbs of grain. In a year, you'd need 685 lbs of grain. If you save and sow your own seeds, the ratio of seeds to yield is 1:10, so you need to produce 760 lbs of wheat to take some seed off the top for planting. You can get about 900 lbs of grain from 1/2 an acre. So, you'd need to plant just under 1/2 and acre to make a loaf of bread a day.

Grains at Last

2008-07-25T07:00:00.002-04:00

It looks like I may have found local grains!

Lightning Tree Farm is offering a free workshop tomorrow (Saturday, July 26, 1-4 p.m.) called Growing Bread Locally. The event is a cooperative effort between Lightning Tree and Wild Hive Farm (a micro-mill and bakery). Here's the description from the NOFA NY site:

Get an in-depth look at an innovative enterprise we hope will soon become common: a working partnership between an organic grain farm and a baker producing artisan breads for local markets. At Lightning Tree Farm, tour the fields to see modern and heirloom wheats that produce high-quality bread flour including Red Fife, a classic hard red bread wheat developed by a Canadian farmer over 150 years ago. Follow the bread-making process through harvesting and milling and taste loaves baked in a traveling wood-fired hearth oven. Farmers Alton Earnhart and Jeanine Connolly and baker Don Lewis of Wild Hive Farm will be on hand to discuss the ingredients and know-how needed to make this type of enterprise a success. This workshop is made possible through the NE SARE funded Northeast Organic Wheat project.

Lightning Tree Farm is located at 132 Andrew Haight Rd, Millbrook, NY (Dutchess Co.) For more information, contact Elizabeth Dyck (607-895-6913).

DIRECTIONS: From Taconic Parkway South Take US44 Ramp to Poughkeepsie/Millbrook. Turn left toward Millbrook taking NY-44A which becomes US-44 Turn left onto N. Mabbettsville Rd (CR-98).

I'll be attending this workshop and will report back my findings.

CSA, Week 5

2008-07-22T22:54:00.003-04:00

July 22 (today) is the fifth week of our CSA (Waldingfield Farm, pick-up point Sandy Hook Organic Farmer's Market). Our bounty included:
- mixed salad greens
- sugar peas (or are these snap peas?)
- kale
- Swiss chard
- yellow summer squash
- patty pan squash
- broccoli

Our local dinner (no challenge) was Stuarts beef filets, tossed salad with Waldingfield dressing, and Brussels sprouts. The wine: McLaughlin.

We also put by the Swiss chard, sauteed with olive oil and garlic scapes.

Outsourcing Locavores

2008-07-22T07:30:00.002-04:00

This NY Times article about lazy locavores proves that just about anything can be outsourced.

For a fee, Mr. Paque, who lives in San Francisco, will build an organic garden in your backyard, weed it weekly and even harvest the bounty, gently placing a box of vegetables on the back porch when he leaves.

As a result of interest in local food and rising grocery bills, backyard gardens have been enjoying a renaissance across the country, but what might be called the remote-control backyard garden — no planting, no weeding, no dirt under the fingernails — is a twist. “They want to have a garden, they don’t want to garden,” said the cookbook author Deborah Madison, who lives in Santa Fe, N.M. (Emphasis mine.)

Is anybody doing this in Connecticut?

Puttin' By

2008-07-20T21:21:00.004-04:00

When I started this local eating thing, I had no intention of puttin' food by (storing it either by canning, freezing, drying, or some other method). I was to be a grasshopper, patron of the ants of the world. It turns out that there are not enough ants to feed locavore grasshoppers. While we made it through the winter, we did so with lots non-local veggies. You can get meat and dairy products all winter long, but fruits and veggies are hard to come by. No offense to Two Guys from Woodbridge, but hydroponic salad greens start to get to you. And you want something you can eat hot.

So, the plan this year is to freeze and dehydrate as we go. We may even explore canning.

This weekend, we cooked and froze:
- two bunches of beets
- beet greens from said bunches (sauteed with garlic and olive oil--pretty much how I cook most greens)
- corn off the cob (two ears)
- summer squash melee (from Simply Recipes, but without the cheese).
- roasted peppers
- kale (sauteed with olive oil and pancetta)
- a head of broccoli (blanched)

We store it in freezer bags using the FoodSaver home vacuum-packaging system. It sucks out the air and seals the bag. Nice (except when the food has a significant amount of liquid).

Looking back over the list, it doesn't seem like as much now as it did while we were preparing it.

Foraging, 7/19/08

2008-07-19T15:05:00.008-04:00

Today's forage was a solo effort. I packed up the cooler, camera, and a notebook. And coffee. Can't forget the coffee. (Yes, I'm the kind of locavore that consumes things that don't or won't grow here.)

The first stop was the Bethel Farmer's Market. The season opening was last week, but I missed that one. As you can see from the photo, the place was humming. Since I belong to a CSA, I really don't need much more food, but I like to see what's available and you never know, someone could be growing something that my farmer isn't. I scored:
- arugula from Newtown Cedar Hill Farm (Hi Frank!)
- blueberries from East Windsor and eggs from Arno's Farm in Kent, both from Maple Bank's tent.

Goatboy soaps (with the kids) and Vaszauskas Farm from Middlebury, CT were also there.

Additionally, there were some tents with locally produced handcrafts. I generally go to these looking for food, but locally crafted merchandise certainly fits in with the basic idea.

Then it was off to New Morning in Woodbury to get my raw milk and a few other sundries. I really like their dried organic mangoes better than anyone else's (even Trader Joe's). Theirs actually taste like mangoes. No, they're not local and I suspect mangoes will never be (well, as long as the climate in zone 6 doesn't change).

CSA, Week 4

2008-07-16T20:34:00.005-04:00

July 15 was the fourth week of our CSA (Waldingfield Farm, pick-up point Sandy Hook Organic Farmer's Market). Our bounty included:
- lots of beets (with the greens)
- red leaf lettuce
- sugar peas
- kale (a lot)
- swiss chard (a lot)
- pattypan sqash
- zucchini
- leeks
- an heirloom cucumber

Mostly local dinner: I'm cooking some of the kale with pancetta. They don't make pancetta locally, so I have no qualms about importing it. This is an experimental dish and I hope it works out. We'll be having that with boiled (then cooled) beets, and porterhouse steaks from Stuarts.

Speaking of Stuarts, their new farm stand hours are:
Tues - Fri: 12-5 PM
Sat: 10 AM to 4 PM
Sun: 12-4 PM

CSA, Week 3

2008-07-09T12:00:00.001-04:00

July 8 was the third week of our CSA (Waldingfield Farm, pick-up point Sandy Hook Organic Farmer's Market). Our bounty included:
- bunch of large beets with the greens
- zucchini, green and heirloom
- pattypan squash
- sugar peas
- mixedgreens
- brocolli heads
- swiss chard
- leeks

Eating locally, no challenge:
Most of our meals for the week have been mostly local (except for the usual suspects: olive oil, grains, beans & legumes). Meat, dairy, and veggies are around 90-95% local. The highlight dish of the week was escarole from my own garden, with cannelini beans (like I used to have when I was a kid). Yum.

Foraging, Sunday 7/6

2008-07-08T12:00:00.000-04:00

We tried out a new Farmer's Market, the Sandy Hook Village Farmer's Market (Glen Rd). This one's not restricted to organic farms, although the area's organic farms are well represented here.

- Mitchell Farms, Southbury, CT
- Smith Acres Farm, Niantic, CT
- Shortt's Farm, Sandy Hook, CT
- Beldotti (baked goods, cheese, prepared foods), Stamford, CT

Apologies for not listing all of the items I got from each vendor, but I did not take great notes and the memory isn't what is used to be. Off the top of my head, green beans, zucchini (and zucchini flowers), and greens were most prevalent.

CSA, Week 2

2008-07-01T22:30:00.000-04:00

Today was week two of our CSA with Waldingfield Farm. This week's bounty was beets, mixed greens, yellow squash, zucchini, and sugar peas.

Our pick-up point is the Sandy Hook Organic Farmer's Market, where we also got some prepared pesto, fresh mozzarella, and whole wheat flax seed bread. These delectables were made by a company based in Stamford, CT (deepest apologies for not getting their name).

So, with all of that good fresh food in the house, we went out to dinner tonight to Sal E Pepe, our local favorite. Apart from the excellent food and service, Angelo (the owner) makes a point of having local items on the menu.

Sunday Dinner, No Challenge

2008-07-01T22:00:00.001-04:00

On Sunday, we invited a friend over to help us plant a tree (a white pine) and enjoy a meal. She ended up getting on the roof and cleaning our gutters! Now that's a friend!

For dinner, we fed her pork ribs from Ox Hollow, with a curry dry rub, ribeye steak from Stuarts, salad from the numerous greens from Waldingfield, with some slice fennel from Riverbank on top. The dressing was from Waldenfield. We also had spinach from Holbrooks, sauteed with garlic and olive oil and Wave Hill bread. The wine was from McLaughlin's. She was drinking Mojitos with mint she brought from her own garden.

Fair trade?

Saturday's Forage, 6/28/2008

2008-07-01T21:30:00.001-04:00

We packed up the cooler and the camera and headed north to the New Milford Farmers Market. We got:
- bread from Wave Hill Bread
- pork cuts from Ox Hollow Farm
- beets and fennel bulb from Riverbank Farm
- blueberry/raspberry jam, strawberries, and shortbread from Rose's Berry Farm
-strawberry jam and scallion scapes from Mountain View Farm.
-more soap Goatboy Soap (My purple sweatshirt is in, but not at this location this week. No worries--given the temperature lately, I'm not in a big rush.)

Waldingfield Farms was there and this week's offerings looked good...can't wait for Tuesday for our CSA drop.

Goat Boy's brother with some of the kids:

Mountain View Farm, from Kent, CT

Rose's Berry Farm, from South Glastonbury, CT

Seriously, the folks at supermarkets will not take the time to explain to you how things grow or how to cook something new to you like these folks will. Where have I been all my life?!

Okay, enough time marveling...back on the road and off to Stuarts to pick up our order. Jim was his usual jovial self and we made off with several thick ribeye's porterhouses, a few packs of burgers, and several other items to see us through the next few weeks.

That night, we enjoyed some burgers with fresh mozz (from New Pond), some greenhouse tomatoes from Maple Bank Farms, lettuce from Waldingfield, all on Wave Hill bread.

Local Meal, Not a Challenge

2008-06-27T21:35:00.003-04:00

Tonight was a 95% local meal:
- beef tenderloins from Stuarts
- Sauteed greens (mustard greens and swiss chard from Waldingfield, garlic scapes from from Holbrook's, kale from our garden, olive oil, garlic and fennel from the world)
- boiled beets from Holbrook's
- water from our well

Delicious, nutritious, and local!

Our CSA!

2008-06-24T21:30:00.000-04:00

Our CSA did start this week! Today!

Our CSA is with Waldingfield Farm in Washington, CT. Our pick-up point is the Sandy Hook Organic Farmers' Market at St. John's Episcopal Church, on Washington Ave in Sandy Hook (co-inciding with the Farmer's Market here on Tuesdays from 2-6 PM).

This week we got greens; lots of greens. We got Bibb lettuce, red lettuce, mixed salad greens, mustard greens, Swiss chard, and Chinese greens that I don't know the name of. Lots of greens. A very impressive first for us. We also bought some of Waldingfield's own salad dressing.

So tonight we had salad! We mixed the Bibb lettuce, red lettuce, mixed salad greens. We used the radishes, fennel, and carrots from the organic market as toppings. We also chopped the garlic scapes and cut some strawberries (from Holbrook's) for more toppings. For the protein, we crumbled some cheese we had from Sankow's Beaver Brook Farm. And we used Waldingfield's own salad dressing. A very delicious meal.

Thank you Daniel, Patrick, and Quincy!

Our Victory Garden

2008-06-22T10:00:00.006-04:00

I have been meaning to blog about our victory garden since January. Here's the picture from then.

I haven't quite gotten the dance down: live life, shoot photos, blog about it.

This is closer to how it looks now, taken on June 7.

Like children, these things grow fast and the gardens look different today. It's time for a new shot.

Our garden consists of three 4x4 raised beds, divided into one-foot squares, based on Mel Bartholomew's All New Square Foot Gardening. We also have several pots on the deck with tomatoes, and various herbs planted in pots and garden beds throughout the yard.

We mostly planted items from seeds. Organic seeds. Where seedlings were required, we got help from the Sisters at Bluestone Farm. Most of their seedlings come from their own harvested seeds. The Sisters are indispensable mentors, coaches, and cheerleaders for us.

We don't imagine we'll be able to feed ourselves from this garden. It's not that big, our garden needs more sun (and I'd have to take out a few trees to make that happen), there's really no protien, and I'm a lousy gardener.

It's primarily an educational effort. How do things grow? How do you manage pests without chemicals? I planted one square of lentils because I've been eating them my entire life and have no idea what they look like growing. I think I planted too many and that they won't survive because of that.

So far, we've harvested the spinach (as it was bolting), some kale, and two broccoli crowns. The broccoli rabe went to seed before it was harvestable. I understand we get a second chance on the spinach and broccoli rabe at the end of the season.

Saturdays Forage (6/21)

2008-06-22T08:42:00.003-04:00

Our first stop was the Brewster Farmer's Market.
- From Bluestone Farm (Brewster, NY) we got maple syrup, strawberry jam, duck eggs, and some seedlings.
- From the Groovy Baker (East Fishkill, NY), we got biscotti. Lisa Wolf is the Groovy Baker, offerring a variety of organic and gluten-free confections.
- And from someone else from NYC (sorry I didn't get your name), we got imported (from Italy) suprasatta and provolone. Okay, not local but definitely legitimate Marco Polo items. I loved his apron, which said, "The problem with Italian food is that three days later, you're hungry again."

Our second stop was Holbrook's (Bethel, CT). We got beets, sugar peas, gorgeous fresh cut flowers, honey, bread, garlic scapes, early garlic (more like scallions), strawberries, peaches, spinach, raw milk, and fresh mozzerella. John and Lynn are looking forward to Sunday's CT NOFA Farm Tour.

We did some yardwork in the afternoon, and then had ourselves a local dinner:
- BBQ'd chicken from Herondale Farm, (Ancramdale, NY)
- BBQ'd pork tenderloin from Ox Hollow Farm, (Roxbury, CT)
- Sauteed beet greens and early garlic (from today's forage)
- Sauteed spinach and garlic (also from today's forage)
- McLaughlin Vista Reposa (of course)

My Local Farmer's Markets

2008-06-21T08:22:00.002-04:00

There are lots of farmer's markets in the region. These are just the very local markets that I'll be frequenting regularly. Here's a complete listing of CT Farmer's Markets from the Hartford Courant.

Brewster Farmers' Market
- Wednesday & Saturday, June 18 – November 22, 9 AM–2 PM

Wholesome Wave (Westport Farmer's Market)
- Thursdays, June - October 23, 10 AM-2 PM, Westport Country Playhouse
- Sundays, June 29 - October, 10 AM-2 PM, Theatre Company

Sandy Hook Organic Farmers' Market
- Tuesdays, June 24 - October 14, 2-6 PM

Sandy Hook Village Farmers' Market
- Sundays, June 1 - October 12, 9AM-2 PM

Bethel Farmers' Market
- Saturdays, July 12 - November 1, 9 AM-1 PM

Weekly local meal, not a challenge

2008-06-21T07:58:00.002-04:00

I'm not currently active in any of the challenges going on (like One Local Summer), but we're certainly still eating locally. Mostly, local foods are well integrated into our daily menus and often we are delighted that an entire meal came from local fare. Like last night...

Bok Choy and Garlic Scapes with Beef. Here's the recipe, courtesy of Maple Bank Farm (ingredients annotated with origin.)

2 garlic scapes (Maple Bank Farm)
1 bok choy (Maple Bank Farm)
Sesame oil
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp honey (Dave's Honey Farm, Easton, CT)
Salt and Pepper

Wash the bok choy and garlic scapes. Slice garlic scapes diagonally. Cut bok choy stems separately from the leaves. Cut bok choy stems in quarters. Slightly cut up the leaves.

Saute the garlic scapes in the sesame and olive oils.

Add the bok choy stems, then add the honey, salt, and pepper to caramelize as cooking. Cook slowly until stems are tender.

Add the chopped leaves and cook an additional two to three minutes on medium high heat.

At this point, we added some sliced beef (left over from the huge top sirloin we cooked the other night - from Stuarts).

Of course, we served McLaughlin's Vista Reposa.

Saturday's Forage (6/14)

2008-06-18T21:33:00.002-04:00

We're back on the road in search of food.

First stop was Stuart's in Bridgewater for some beef stuffs for the family Father's Day BBQ. We got a bunch of burgers and a couple of huge top sirloin for the event and a bunch of other goodies to round out the freezer stock.

Then on to Maple Bank Farm in Roxbury for some fresh veggies. We got spinach, radishes, garlic scapes, bok choy, and greenhouse tomatoes (for those burgers)? By the way, they also carry goat cheese from Beltane.

Serendipitously, we found Earth Tones (Woodbury) on our Saturday circuit. (This is my favorite part of Locavoring: new discoveries.) Earth Tones a native plants nursery and a lovely place to visit just for the joy of it.

Then off to New Morning in Woodbury for a number of things, especially raw milk. A sign from Stone Wall Dairy announced that the cows were back on grass. I picked up the latest issue of Edible Nutmeg. As usual, their cover art is stunning.

I think (hope) my CSA starts next week...

Conference on the Environment

2008-05-29T23:07:00.001-04:00

Saturday, May 31, 2008, the Episcopal Diocese of NY is having an event called, Conference on the Environment: The Christian Care of Creation: Reconnecting With Your Community at St. Matthew's Church in Bedford.

The Workshops are:
- Greening Your Life (Your buildings and lifestyle, in city and country )
- Advocacy (Affecting your neighborhood, village, or city policy)
- What Has Changed and What Needs Changing (The negative effects of environmental change, and what to do about it)
- What We Eat (Farmers markets, community supported agriculture. How upstate food nourishes city neighbors)

Back

2008-05-29T22:56:00.001-04:00

It's been awhile since I've posted and I do apologize. My calendar got taken over by aliens and I've just wrested it back.

Yes, I'm still eating local. My milk, eggs, and beef are exclusively local and my cheese and other meats mostly are. My grains never were. (Yes, I'm still on that.) My vegetables are not--we've exhausted our put-by freezer supply. We joined a CSA this year, which will be starting soon, so fresh veggies are on the way. Hallelujah!

Among other things, we've been planting and tending our gardens. I'll be posting on that soon (with pictures, even).

While I was out, I attended a reteat at Trinity Conference Center, in West Cornwall, CT. The space is lovely and the weekend was good, but the food was fabulous. Chef Corey prepares exquisite items and several selections at each meal. I had an opportunity to meet him and we ended up having a long discussion about raw milk. (No, they don't serve or have raw milk at the Conference Center because it is against the law to serve it. In the nearby vicinity there are at least three dairy farms selling raw milk, which is perfectly legal.) Anyway, the best news is that several of these dishes were made using local, in-season ingredients. We had fiddleheads and ramps! Chef Corey showed me his map with a 120 mile circle radiating from West Cornwall. His goal is to source as much as possible from this foodshed.

If you ever have an opportunity to attend an event at the Trinity Conference Center, take it--at least for the food.

Foraging, 4/19/2008

2008-04-20T08:39:00.010-04:00

This week's foraging trek began at the Fairfield Winter Market, greeted by Amber.

We scored:
- Patchouli soap from Goat Boy Soaps. Yes, the Patchouli is back in stock and I got an entire block of it! I'll be squeaky clean for a very long time. We also got some hand and body lotion and Lisa treated us to some of her absolutely divine fudge. The most delightful surprise of the day was their new arrival: a three-day-old baby goat. Here's a shot of Lisa with the Goat Boy's "kid" brother:

- French Country Bread from Wave Hill Bread, Wilton, CT.

- Soft herb cheese (without the herbs), a sheep cheese (much like pecorino romano), and a prepared lamb curry from Sankow's Beaver Brook Farm. Here's Patricia.

- Pork chops and steaks and a smoked ham from Ox Hollow Farm.
- A potted herb garden from Moorefield Herb Farm in Trumbull. Absolutely beautiful, Mary!

Then it was on to Holbrook's in Bethel. This was our first visit of the season. After a happy reunion, we left with greens, snap peas, several varieties of seed potatoes, eating potatoes, and Cat Mint and Astilbe for the garden.

Onward north by northwest to Blue Stone Farm and the Community of the Holy Spirit where we got some seedlings and seeds for our garden. Today we got cabbage, two kinds of brocolli, brussels sprouts, two kinds of kale, and cauliflower. The exciting thing about these seeds is that they are the Sister's own, so they're both organic and acclimated to our zone. Seeings how they're also Goat Boy afficionados, we shared our fudge with them. They agreed it was divine (and I tend to trust the Sisters' opinions when it comes to recognizing divinity).

Special Note: Ferris Acres Creamery in Newtown opens for the season on April 21.

Blight Resistant Chestnut

2008-04-12T22:54:00.002-04:00

Back at the turn of the century (the previous one, not the recent one), up to four billion American Chestnut tree were killed in a blight. The linked article is a good read, after which, you might wonder, well how far have we progressed in developing a blight-resistant American Chestnut? According to this article at newsday.com:

Now, Guilford's Conservation Commission, along with the Connecticut Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation, is working to establish a blight-resistant chestnut tree in a 1 1/2-acre orchard in the town's Nut Plains Park.

Their test orchard (last year) worked out and now they're planting in earnest this year!

I have gotten local chestnuts from Cherry Grove Farm in Newtown. These may have been Chinese chestnuts, which are blight-resistant.

The Farmer's Pledge

2008-04-09T06:30:00.002-04:00

I often see signs at farmer's markets that say something like, We took the Farmer's Pledge. If you're curious about what it is and how it compares to certified organic, check out the Farmer's Pledge (PDF file) .

In a very small nutshell, some farmers take the pledge in addition to being certified organic, looking to drive home the social justice and land stewardship aspects of their farming practices. Other farmers have opted out of the certification process because of the record keeping and cost, the fact that industrial CAFOs can be certified, so the meaning is diluted, and the consumer is deluded and go strictly with the pledge. The bottom line for farmers in either category is that "organic" doesn't go far enough.

Another interesting read: How the Farmer's Pledge began.

Patchouli is in!

2008-04-08T21:07:00.003-04:00

Apparently, there was a run on patchouli Goatboy soap and they were out of it a few weeks ago. Goatboy's patchouli is an excellent implementation of this earthy fragrance. Not all patchoulis are good like this. I've been using the Lavender Oat soap in the meanwhile, which I've been calling "methadone for patchouli lovers" and it's pleasant enough, but it's not patchouli.

Lisa Agee, the goat boy's mom, said she'd let me know when it's in. Well, it's in! Patchouli is now available and you can get it at the Goatboy booth at the Fairfield Winter Market.

Lisa, if you're reading this, PLEASE save some for me!

Chewing on Guar Gum

2008-04-08T07:23:00.002-04:00

I've been wondering about guar gum for while--is it evil or benign. I thought it might be evil based on the tone of voice Michael Pollan used when he said the words but I got some yogurt at a farmer's market that listed guar gum as one of the ingredients. Here's a recap of the comments from the folks over at The Ethicurian (answering my query under a completely different topic):

Ali said: Re, guar gum - I did some research on it a while back. I don’t think it’s anything to fear. Goopy stuff, made from a seed, nothing to suggest it’s harmful. http://cleanerplateclub.wordpress.com/2007/02/22/the-guar-gum-story-told-in-nine-haiku/.

Migraineur said: use guar in my own kitchen occasionally. My problem with guar in commercial food products is that it is one of those shortcuts that is used to make up for poor quality. For example, you can whip 42% cream practically with a fork, but lower butterfat cream needs some help. With yogurt, I’d guess it’s because Americans are so conditioned to artificially thickened yogurt that your farmer feels he needs a little help to make the texture a bit more like what his customers expect.

Anna said: In addition to thickening, the added gums help products like yogurt stay emulsified, instead of naturally “weeping” a bit of liquid whey.

So, guar gum is not evil, could even be organic, but is probably not local. Thanks Ethicurian commenters, for helping me sort this out.

Now that's what I'm talking about!

2008-04-06T10:49:00.004-04:00

In this article in The Newtown Bee (or simply The Bee), Local Farms Improve The Menu In Newtown Restaurants, Kendra Bobowick reports that at least two Newtown restaurants (Sal e Pepe and The Inn at Newtown) are using local ingredients on their menus. The farms providing these menu items are Cherry Grove Farm and Ferris Acres Creamery.

Interestingly, Connecticut has a Farm to Chef program, but these chefs just did it on their own! They are delighted to offer local food because, among other reasons, the produce is "harvested at the peak of ripeness" and they're able to use items that ordinarily wouldn't ship well. Additionally, Angelo Marini of Sal e Pepe, a neighbor of Cherry Grove Farm, picked out the seeds he wanted them to plant. Try doing that with Archer Daniels Midland!

Now, can we add McLaughlin wine to the menu?

Dark Days Local Challenge

2008-03-31T22:44:00.001-04:00

Saturday's dinner consisted of pork chops from Ox Hollow Farm covered with sauteed onion and mango chutney (not local, but homemade by a friend). The sauteed spinach is from Starlight Farm, Durham, CT. The red wine, of course, is from McLaughlin.

Check out the challenge recaps at: http://urbanhennery.com/

Raw Milk Yogurt

2008-03-30T20:48:00.011-04:00

My biggest barrier to making my own raw milk yogurt was in finding a reliable low-heat source. My electric oven does not have a pilot and the light bulb lights intermittently. With the arrival of my Excalibur Dehydrator, I am ready to go!

I do like the organic local Hawthorne Valley yogurt as well as the organic regional brands from Seven Stars Farm (Phoenixville, PA) and Stonyfield Farm (Londonderry, NH). The problem for me is that these are all made from pasteurized milk because that is the law. Apparently, the few states that allow raw milk sales do not allow for the production and sale of raw milk yogurt. It seems to me that the food laws that are designed to protect us are the strangest of all.

So, I researched several recipes and it comes down to
- how much to heat the milk
- how much starter yogurt to add (for the live cultures)
- the incubation temperature
- the incubation time

The most popular milk-heating temperature is 110°. I did see one recipe that called for heating the milk to 180° and then letting it cool to 110°, but it seems it would defeat the purpose of using raw milk. I thought that the enzymes and beneficial bacteria are killed at 130°.

The recommended amount of starter yogurt to add varies from 1/8 of a cup to 1/4 (if you're using commercial, which by default means pasteurized, yogurt). Most say to use about twice as much if you're using your own previous batch of raw milk yogurt.

The suggested incubation temperature ranges from 90° to 110° and an often-suggested period is eight hours.

I got another recipe that called for heating the milk to 90°, adding 1/2 of a cup of (commercial) starter and incubating it at 90° to 100° for 18-36 hours. I have had this yogurt and it is exceptional, but this being my first time, I wanted something that would be ready sooner!

I went for heating the milk to 110°, and incubating it in the dehydrator at 105° for 8 hours. I did make two jars using 1/2 cup each of starter and two other jars using 1/4 cup each of starter.

My yogurt came out similar in consistency to the Hawthorne Valley, perhaps slightly "looser." There was no noticeable difference between the ones with 1/4 cup of starter vs. those with 1/2. It tastes amazingly like yogurt!

Saturday's Forage (3/29/08)

2008-03-29T18:22:00.004-04:00

We headed out bright and early today to the Fairfield Winter Market. Lots of folks were there--vendors and customers. I did bring my camera but got so caught up in being a participant that I forgot to be an observer. My apologies to those who like pictures. Our catch of the day:
- Ricotta cheese from Sankow's Beaver Brook Farm.
- Chevre from Beltane Farm.
- Frissee and lettuce from one of the Two Guys from Woodbridge, Hamden, CT.
- Lavendar Oat soap from Goat Boy Soaps. (They were out of patchouli, but assure me that the next batch is on the roster.)
- Bee Pollen from Andrew's Local Honey.
- French Country Bread from Wave Hill Bread, Wilton, CT.
- Potatoes and parsnips from Riverbank Farm, Roxbury, CT.
- Spinach and salad dressing from Starlight Farm, Durham, CT.
- Pork chops from Ox Hollow Farm.

We are happy campers with stuff in the fridge!

After that, it was off to Snow's Farm in Easton, CT where we got some Humus Loam (super duper soil) because, yes, we are having a victory garden this year. Not only am I behind in blogging about it, I am behind in creating it. The raised beds are built, I have soil, and as you will soon see if you keep reading, seeds.

And then, to New Morning in Woodbury to get:
- some organic fruits and veggies to round out our meals.
- seeds (they carry Johnny Seeds and some Seeds of Change seeds).
- two gallons of raw milk and a container of yogurt. Why? Because my Excalibur Dehydrator arrived today and I'm going to make raw milk yogurt. The store-bought yogurt is organic and regional and has the much-needed starter effect for making yogurt on your own.

That's it!

Dark Days Challenge

2008-03-26T23:10:00.005-04:00

Another couple of accidental local meals...

Last night, we had burgers (ready made ground beef patties) from Stuarts. I made mine a cheeseburger, courtesy of Sankow's Beaver Brook Farm, with lettuce from Two Guys from Woodbridge, on French country bread slices from Wave Hill Bakery. And of course, red wine from McLaughlin.

Tonight was leftover ribeyes from Stuarts, sauteed sliced potatoes from Riverbank, and not local baby bok choy (and of course, red wine from McLaughlin).

I find that as time goes by, I'm not doing as many deliberate 90% local meals, but have local food integrated in just about each meal or snack.

For example, almost every morning I have yogurt from Hawthorne Valley Farms with a dollop of jam from Stoneledge Farm.

I drink several cups of coffee throughout the day--all of them with local raw milk, lately from Foxfire Farm. I also drink one cup of tea a day with local honey.

I usually have cheese and crackers, the cheese being local and the crackers being worldly. Lately, I'm into those pretzel slices. Excellent with Sankow's soft white cheese (the herbless version of the herbed cheese).

While it lasts, I have my Macoun applesauce (from the freezer, sauced by me, apples by Apple Ridge Farm in Brookfield).

My dinners generally include at least one local item, sometimes two, sometimes more.

I'm liking this!

Finding Farms

2008-03-22T15:21:00.003-04:00

CT NOFA has a Google Map featuring the farms, farmers markets and businesses listed in the 2008 CT NOFA Farm & Food Guide. Very cool.

NOFA = Northeast Organic Farming Association.

Farm Watch

2008-03-21T18:00:00.003-04:00

I've been getting excited with the bulb shoots starting to peek up out of the ground. I'm looking forward to the upcoming growing season in a way that I never have before. I guess I should order some seeds already.

I miss "my" farms. I miss the variety of fresh vegetables at the farmers markets. I miss the super-extendo foraging runs that the nice weather encourages. (I don't like driving in snow or ice.)

So, with that, I offer you my first announcements of Season 2008 openings:
- April - Ferris Acres Creamery, Newtown, CT
- April 1 - Holbrook Farm, Bethel, CT

Dark Days Local Challenge

2008-03-20T22:27:00.003-04:00

On Sunday, we had a respectable Palm Sunday Dinner featuring a smoked ham from Ox Hollow Farm in Roxbury (obtained at the Fairfield Winter Market).

The ham was absolutely delicious. I'd intended to use some apple cider as the liquid in the roasting pan, but none of my cider was defrosted. Time to improvise. I did have some pineapple juice in the pantry, but it turned out that it had expired long ago so it was going down the drain and not on my prize ham. Keep looking. Believe it or not, we had a mason jar of maple tree sap in the fridge, a gift from the Sisters (they know I love sweet tea--a hot beverage, ready around the midpoint between sap and syrup), so I used that. It was perfect-o-mundo!

I knew it!

2008-03-18T06:32:00.001-04:00

Over the course of the past year, I've been replacing white sugar with honey or maple syrup whenever possible, partly because sugar's not local and partly because of that diet I've been on.

When my partner invited me to try some Stevia, I protested saying I don't want food to taste sweet, I want it to be sweet. It turns out that my body and subconscious might have known something that my conscious mind did not. According to a study at Purdue University, when the tongues tastes sweet, the body is looking for the caloric reward and may compensate by eating even more to make up for the input mismatch.

Wooo hooo! One for food. Zero for edible food-like substances.

Makes you wonder about the other deconstructed/reformulated ingredients on any given label.

Today's forage and challenge meal

2008-03-15T22:01:00.003-04:00

What a luxurious life I lead; today I had to chose between two farmer's markets. The CitySeed Year-Round Market in New Haven is on once a month and today was it's day. And of course, the Westport Indoor Market (in Fairfield) is still going strong.

With lots more to choose from, I took home:
- herbed soft cheese and a quart of lamb Bolognese from Sankow's Beaver Brook Farm, Lyme CT
- spuds and parsnips from Riverbank Farm, Roxbury, CT
- littleneck clams from Westport Aquaculture, Westport, CT

I went a few doors down to The Pantry for my loaf of Wave Hill French Country Bread. The Wave Hill folks missed this week, but are expected to be back next week.

We went on to New Morning in Woodbury and rounded out our shopping there:
- lettuce from Two Guys From Woodbridge
- eggs from Stoneridge Farm, Bethlehem, CT
and some other items of organic but unknown origins

And the Winter Dark Days challenge meal was, of course, spaghetti and white clam sauce. The Westport Aquaculture clams were outstanding!

NOTES:
- The next and final CitySeed Year-Round Market date is Saturday, April 19, 2008. In May, they begin their regular weekly season.
- The Westport Indoor Market (in Fairfield) continues every Saturday through April.

Wheat Futures

2008-03-11T22:07:00.001-04:00

I'm still trying to decide if this means it will get harder or easier for me to find local wheat.

The Meatrix

2008-03-10T22:00:00.000-04:00

There's a well done parody animation about factory farming called The Meatrix. I thought I was the last to see this, but apparently, there are lots of folks who still haven't.

Cultivating An Organic Connecticut Conference

2008-03-05T20:51:00.004-05:00

This Saturday (March 8) is the CT NOFA Cultivating An Organic Connecticut Conference. It's from 8:30 AM - 4:45 PM at Windsor High School, Windsor, CT.

They called and invited me to be on a panel, but alas, I have other plans this weekend. Nonetheless, it looks like it should be a very interesting event.

Non Local Clean Up Progress

2008-03-05T19:50:00.004-05:00

Yikes! Where does the time go?!

My plan to finish up all the freezer and pantry non-local fare turned out to be a non-event. The only thing in the freezer that isn't local is one Big Y whole chicken. The pantry is filled with predominantly carbohydrates and I am still keeping to a moderate food plan, so I'm certainly not going to finish up these things before the season. Most will probably run out of shelf before they see the light of day.

Full Moon Fireside

2008-02-21T22:28:00.003-05:00

Wednesday night was the February Full Moon Fireside at the Community of the Holy Spirit (aka the Sisters at Bluestone Farm in Brewster, NY). An ordinary Fireside begins with half an hour of drumming, followed by half and hour of meditation, and then an hour and a half of discussion on the topic of the evening. This Fireside began with the drumming and then a movie, The Future of Food, and then a discussion. The movie is a well-made 2005 documentary discussing genetically modified foods, how life came to be patentable, and corporate control over the world's food system. It was horrifying. As you might imagine, the discussion was intense. Some things we can do: grow our own food. Buy from local farmers. Do not buy food grown from Monsanto seeds, even if the farm is next door. By the way, if the farm is next door, don't eat anything you've grown--you never know what the wind blew in.

Despite Monsanto, the evening ended up on sweet note, literally. We ventured out into the cold to watch the lunar eclipse but kept warm sipping sweet tea. Sweet tea is a liquid mid-stage between sap and maple syrup. It's light and sweet and so very warm.

Winter 2008 Dark Days Challenge

2008-02-21T22:04:00.005-05:00

Curious about the Winter 2008 Dark Days Challenge? Check it out at Urban Hennery. I'm quite behind in my posting and have three challenge meals with pix for this two-week stint.

On 2/14 (Valentine's Day), we made heart shaped ravioli, stuffed with a mixture of butternut squash, a soft cow cheese whose flavor is a cross between ricotta salata and goat cheese, and sage drizzled with a brown butter hazelnut sauce. The ravioli stuffing was all local. The usual disclaimers about the ravioli shell (home made pasta using flour of unknown origins and a local egg and an Italian olive oil).

On 2/17, we had a beef short rib ragout over tagliatelle. The short ribs are from Stuart's. The wine is McLaughlin's Vista Reposa. The same disclaimer about the tagliatelle.

On 2/19, we had ribeyes from Stuart's accompanied by butternut squash, sauteed mushrooms, a frisse salad courtesy of Two Guys From Woodbridge, and wine by McLaughlin. The mushrooms were from Stop-N-Shop.

Hope your meals have been happy, healthy, and satisfying.

What we're eating!

2008-02-19T22:29:00.002-05:00

When I think about it in a particular way, I think, how weird is it that I'm telling complete strangers what I'm eating and where I got it from. Yet such is the nature of the various local food challenges: a commitment to eat locally (your definition) for a given period of time; share your experiences, adventures, lessons, good futune, and encouragement (mostly menus, recipes, and perhaps leads on where to find a coveted item).

All in all, I've been viewing it as a positive experience. I've met (and virtually met) some interesting and wonderful people by taking these challenges. But I was wondering, what if there's blowback? What if someone in North Dakota reads my blog, and based on my prose, simply must have CT cheese for his (potentially local) macaroni? If he orders CT cheese online, do I have any carbon liability?

Seriously though, I'm going to spend the next few weeks eating non-locally except for the challenge-meal-of-the-week. We still have numerous items in our pantry and freezer from before and we'd like to use them up, prepare for spring, and make some space. It will be strange to do this deliberately, for sure! It will be cool when we are unequivocally able to say, "We know exactly where everything in there came from."

Dark Days Challenge 2008

2008-02-07T22:48:00.000-05:00

Well, there have been several local meals over the course of the two weeks, but this one was my favorite: pork chops, macaroni, and gravy. When I say gravy, I mean the Italian-American red stuff which some might call sauce. I reserve the word sauce for the meatless varieties. The simmer-all-day-and-eat-at-three-in-the-afternoon stuff has meat (typically braciole, sausages, and meatballs) and thus, is a gravy.

I made this gravy by pan searing the pork chops (from Ox Hollow Farm) then adding two jars of Waldingfield Farm's organic tomato-basil pasta sauce. I let that simmer while I made the macaroni. I made rigatoni from scratch using Hodgson Mills semolina flour (not local, but as close as I can get to my home that I know of). The olive oil is from Italy (Marco Polo). I boiled the macaroni in water that came from my own well with salt that came from Rhode Island.

I grated some cheese from Sankow's Beaver Brook Farm, that was rather similar to a pecorino romano, although it's cow cheese. And of course, the wine was Vista Reposa from McLaughlin Vineyards.

Fairfield Winter Market

2008-02-02T21:45:00.001-05:00

The Fairfield Winter Market (a new venture of the Westport Farmers Market) opened last week. It's indoors at the Fairfield Theatre Company at 70 Sanford Street, Fairfield, CT.

I finally got there today and as one who has done outdoors in New Haven, I am sure grateful for an indoor market! Of course, today it was unseasonably mild--a gentle 48 degrees. Sigh.

Some of my favorite vendors from New Haven were there: Two Guys from Woodbridge, Sankow's Beaver Brook Farm, and Beltane Farm.

Some of my favorites from other venues were there: Wave Hill Bread (Yeah!) and Goatboy Soaps.

A new vendor I met for the first time today was Ox Hollow Farm. I got some pork chops and a ham. They also have chicken (yipee!).

Westport Aquaculture had clams on the half shell and oysters. Two bakeries had delectabilities one expects from bakeries. I'm still dieting, so I tried to keep a respectable distance. One bakery, from Ridgefield (very sorry I did not get the name) had these wonderful oatmeal breakfast cookies that did not contain added sugar. All the sweetness came from apple sauce and fruit juice. Very nice.

A good time was had by all.

The Accidental Challenge Dinner

2008-01-23T22:02:00.000-05:00

I'd defrosted some chicken from Herondale Farm (just over the border in NY). Tonight we roasted it with shallots from Cherry Grove Farm in Newtown, organic carrots (locals long since been eaten), some store-bought chicken broth, some red peppers we had on hand (origins unknown), and thyme and sage from Missy's Farm in Warwick, NY (dried and bagged by us).

For our vegetable or carb (however you want to call it), we had acorn squash from Waldingfield Farm (acquired at the New Haven Farmer's Market this weekend). We quartered and seasoned that with a little butter, pumpkin pie spice, and a few drizzles of maple syrup from the Community of the Holy Spirit's Bluestone Farm in Brewster, NY.

The funny thing (to me) is that we weren't even trying to create a mostly local meal. It was an easy after-a-workday meal made from the stuff we had on hand! Wish every day could be like this.

A Funny Thing Happened at the Winery

2008-01-21T18:59:00.000-05:00

It sounds like the begining of a joke, which could as easily have begun: a Priest and a Locavore walk into a winery...

Anyway, we did (walk into a winery); McLaughlin Vineyards. It was Saturday afternoon and we'd spent the day Locavoring around New Haven. On the way home, we decided to stop into our neighborhood winery to replenish our Vista Riposa.

McLaughlin also sells eggs from Rough Cut Ranch, their neighbor. These are the most beautiful eggs I have ever seen. I wish I had a better camera to do them justice.

At McLaughlin's, Dee Dee's domain is the tastings and Frank (Francis) runs the retail store, among other things. We all got to talking about, what else, local food (and drink) and where you could get local honey. I told them that Holbrook's carries honey and the Stuart's carry honey. Frank wanted really local honey. I said that Cherry Grove Farm in Newtown has their own organic honey. And so the conversation continued.

As a matter of interest, Frank told me about this 93-year-old locavore in Newtown who keeps a Web site reporting on local foods and farms. I was intrigued--a kindred spirit, and a neighbor no less. He was impressed that this old biddy could still get around! I gave him my e-mail address so he could send me the link. He went on to talk about her Thanksgiving dinner of local foods and how she served McLaughlin wine. "So did I," I told him. He continued, saying that she felt bad that the Tom turkey wasn't local, but was a Butterball. The way he said it, got me thinking... That sure sounds like my Thanksgiving! "Are you sure she's 93," I asked? He was sure. He'd checked the profile at her blog and it said she was 93.

"Wait," I said, "it's me!" But I'm not 93. When I created my blogger.com account, I had refused to enter my year of birth and the original version inserted a year from the turn of the century (the other one). I recalled a friend making a joke about it several months ago. It turns out that the upgraded version allows you to leave it blank without making a wild guess. So, I've fixed it. I am sorry if anyone felt misled. Kind of comical, though...

So, while I am old by some standards, I'm young by others. I do have gray hair. (I might dye it if they start to grow hair color in my 100 miles.) If you really want to know how old I am, when I was a kid:
- We had to get up to change television channels (though we did have TV, even color, but only seven channels).
- Water wasn't bottled.
- Coffee only came in one flavor: coffee.
- People smoked everywhere: in the grocery store (in every store for that matter), on buses, trains, and, airplanes, even in the doctor's office. Really. (It was legal back then.)
- Cars only had AM radio and you actually got exercise opening and closing the windows.
- Soda did not have high fructose corn syrup.
- Margarine was thought to be good for you and butter was unhealthy.
- Jack LaLane was the only one working out on TV. Julia Child and Graham Kerr were the only ones cooking on TV.
I could go on--but you get the idea. Suffice it to say, I was too young for the first Woodstock and too old for the second.

Anyway, I hope you're here for the local food information and not just marveling that an old lady can drive from farm to farm. If it's any consolation, I've been told that I do drive like an old lady.

Dark Days Eat Local Challenge

2008-01-20T07:49:00.000-05:00

Mostly local meal of the week, 1/19/2008:

- Meatballs, made from Stuart Family Farm ground beef
- Home made pasta
- Gravy (a red, meat based "sauce") from the freezer from "before"
- Bread, from Apicella's Bakery, New Haven
- Salad, lettuce from Two Guys from Woodbridge (organic and hydroponic greens)
- Wine, Vista Riposa, from McLaughlin Vineyards

Year Round Farmer's Market, New Haven 1/19/08

2008-01-19T22:00:00.000-05:00

CitySeed's Year-Round Farmer's Market

2008-01-17T20:49:00.000-05:00

The CitySeed's Year-Round Farmer's Market is this Saturday (1/19) from 10 AM to 1 PM at Wooster Square in New Haven, CT. Many of CitySeed's summer vendors come out for this.

Dress warmly!

Wheat

2008-01-14T20:37:00.000-05:00

This hardly qualifies as a true confession since I've been complaining about it incessantly, but I have no idea where my wheat is coming from.

I would like to buy wheat from my foodshed (100 miles from Newtown, CT) or at least regionally (New England/Mid-Atlantic). I would like to get it whole, as in buy a mill and grind it on my countertop. I would like it to be durum wheat and hard red winter wheat. I was told (at a local Farmer's Market) that CT is not a good region for growing wheat--it's too humid. I guess they weren't so picky about their wheat in 1875.

I generally use King Arthur's, Hodgson Mill, and even (gasp) Pillsbury and Gold Medal, but I have no idea where these guys are getting it. King Arthur's Web site does not say where they get their wheat but it does say that they enrich it. Their semolina ingredients are durum wheat, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, and folic acid. I was looking to get the plain kind. It seems Hodgson Mill sells the plain kind, but they're in the Ozarks, so they're not even a regional producer. Yet they may very well be the closest source to my home.

So where are these companies getting their raw wheat? Here's a PDF of where wheat is grown in the US (HINT: Not New England or the Mid-Atlantic). Mostly North Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, Kansas, Colorado, and even Washington (not DC). Looks like you can get durum and hard red winter wheat in California too. Is there anything they don't grow in that state?

It's equally possible that we (meaning American corporations) are selling our domestic wheat to other countries and buying ours from still other countries. We could just be trading between the same countries. Food migration is turning out to be weird. According to the North American Grain Export Association, "as much as one third of all grain produced in the U.S. moves into export" More from their site:

Exporting grain is both a competitive and a capital-intensive industry. Since the margin of profit to be earned from moving a ton of grain can be quite small, exporters depend upon moving large volumes very quickly. They seek to achieve an economy of scale that lowers their average fixed costs per unit of volume handled, provides operating flexibility, increases bargaining power in chartering for shipping, and improves the services they can provide worldwide.

It seems that to purchase US Wheat, I need to be a big company (think commodity trader) or another country looking to do business with a big American company. See US Wheat Associates.

Buying wheat is a serious enterprise, especially since there is a high financial risk due to the large volumes of the commodity traded. Thus, in order for an inquiry to be considered by a reputable exporter, a buyer should be prepared to provide ... information.
An importer who is ready to buy will typically seek offers from exporters through either direct negotiations with specific suppliers or through an invitation for bids. Buyers who negotiate directly usually watch the U.S. cash market for advantageous times to make their purchase and then negotiate private transactions. Those issuing an invitation operate through a public or private tender system.

I really didn't want that much...maybe a few pounds a month...

Dark Days Local Challenge, Winter Extension, Week 1

2008-01-12T20:33:00.000-05:00

Thanks to an enthusiastic response, Laura over at Urban Hennery has extended the Dark Days Eat Local Challenge...

My mostly local meal for the week was tonight:
- Roast beef, top round from Stuart Family Farm in Bridgewater, CT. Delicious.
- Broccoli in a garlic, olive oil, & chicken broth. The garlic is local. Sorry to say, the broccoli was Bird's Eye.
- Semolina egg noodles with butter (Cabot, regional). Okay, so the semolina is not local. It's probably from North Dakota (which produces 2/3 of America's durum wheat. So, if you buy a box of pasta from Italy, it may very well have come from North Dakota). BUT--I'm hoping to get redemption points for making these noodles myself (yes, from prime ingredients: semolina, egg, olive oil)! (Plus, the egg I used came from McLaughlin's Vineyard's neighbor!)
- Wine, from McLaughlin Vineyards.

Looking forward to the nextie.

Michael Pollan in Connecticut: A Review (of sorts)

2008-01-08T22:04:00.000-05:00

This post is a follow up to this post.

With all due respect to the Jersey Boys: Oh what a night! The Station Square in Madison, CT. was packed! I had e-mailed for reservations but the author's talk was already booked solid. My party was even too late to get on the waiting list. And yet, we got in! Pollan turned out to be excellent. He is one of those rare authors who speaks as well as he writes.

The Farmer's Market side of the venue was packed as well. There wasn't room to turn around. And yet, it was exhiliarating--all of us there to get the good stuff.

I scored:
- French Country Bread from Wave Hill Bakers.
- Empire Apples from Palazzi Orchard.
- Two cheeses, one with a Jalapeno and tequila rind from Meadow Stone Farm. (Sorry about not knowing the names of the cheeses. I bought what I sampled and didn't write them down.)
- A taste of Cabernet Franc from Chamard Vineyards. (They were not allowed to sell any at this venue, so I'm going to have to make the road trip!)
- Pleasant Son cheese and soft cheese from Beaver Brook Farm.
- Lettuce from Two Guys from Woodbridge.
- The latest edition of The Edible Nutmeg.
- A family membership to NOFA.
- Michael Pollan's new book, In Defense of Food (signed).

There were many, many other treats and not enough time to check them all out. It was so wonderful and wild. It was definitely worth staying out late on a school night. I am so sorry that I didn't get any pictures. Maybe next time!

UPDATE: Sue Spencer has done a much better job than I have at recapping the evening.

Michael Pollan in CT!

2008-01-05T22:05:00.000-05:00

Michael Pollan's speaking tours launching his new book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto includes a stop in Madison CT. It's about a 60 mile drive for me and IMHO, well worth it. It's on Monday, January 7, 2008 from 4-8 PM at Station Square, 28 Durham Rd., Madison, CT.

The talk is sponsored by R.J. Julia Booksellers and is turning into the midwinter locavore event of the season. From their site:

To celebrate Michael Pollan's book launch of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, we have joined forces with Connecticut Grown and CitySeed to bring you fresh local breads, produce, cheeses, wine, meat, and much more. Vendors include: Two Guys Farm, Reingoat Farm, Sugar Maple Farms, Dove & Boar Farm, Palazzi Orchards, Natures Edge Farm, Guilford Foodworks, 18th Century Purity Farm, Four Mile River Farm, Chamard Vineyards, Beaver Brook Farm, Mama Manju's Salsa, Lisa Ann Skincare, Belltame Farm of Lebanon, Dinners on the Farm from River Tavern, Ashlawn Farm Coffee, Claire's Corner Copia of New Haven, Wave Hill Breads, Meadow Stone Farm, Bird Song Farm. There will be delicious tastings to sample, locally grown and baked items for purchase, and information to share. [links added]

Some of you may have heard me go on (and on) about Wave Hill Breads...their French Country bread is the best Italian bread in Fairfield County! I have been jonesin' for this stuff ever since Holbrook Farm scaled down for the winter.

Beaver Brook Farm and Beltane Farm have absolutely magnificent cheeses.

Who says nothing exciting happens in Connecticut?!

Extending the Eat Local Challenge

2008-01-05T11:11:00.000-05:00

Laura at Urban Hennery is extending the Dark Days Eat Local Challenge through March! Visit her site/blog to vote and weigh in.

There is no way to fail. You set your own rules and report your results at the end of the week. Even if you can't keep up with your own rules, the experience of trying is a real eye-opener.

Organic Food Trail

2008-01-03T06:48:00.000-05:00

The more I research the sources of my food and how it gets to my table, the more astonished I am at the discoveries. More reasons to favor local growers over corporate organics.

Cornucopia.org features Dr. Phil Howard's chart of major corporate ownership and involvement in the organic food sector. The graphic is called Organic Industry Structure: Acquisitions by the Top 25 Food Processors in North America.

In an article discussing Monsanto vs. the rest of the world, there's a list of Organic and Natural Product Companies Associated with Monsanto:

Brand Name(s): Arrowhead Mills, Bearitos, Breadshop, Celestial Seasonings, Earth's Best Baby Food, Garden of Eatin, Health Valley, Imagine Foods, Terra
Chips, Westbrae, Millina's, Mountain Sun, Shari Ann's, Walnut Acres
Owned By: Hain Food Group
Principle Stockholders: Bank of America, Entergy Nuclear, ExxonMobil, H.J. Heinz, Lockheed Martin, Merck, Monsanto, Pfizer, Philip Morris, Walmart, Waste Mangement Inc.
Significantly Owned By: Citigroup

Brand Name(s): Cascadian Farms, Muir Glen
Owned By: Small Planet Foods
Principle Stockholders: General Mills
Significantly Owned By: Alcoa, Chevron, Disney, Dupont, ExxonMobil, General Electric, McDonalds, Monsanto, Nike, Pepsico, Pfizer, Philip Morris, Starbucks, Target, Texas Instruments

This information is not on the label. Whatever did we do before Google?

Searching for Food

2007-12-31T13:11:00.000-05:00

We live in interesting times. Neither hunter nor gatherer in the traditional sense, yet both in a contemporary sense. Armed with Google, a GPS device, or both, we can track and find much of what is locally available.

Here is my current list of places to find out where to find local food:
- Eat Well Guide. Search for local foods by entering a zip code and mileage.
- Connecticut Farm Map. Intended to be the online companion to the paper map.
- BuyCTGrown. Search by item, zip code, and mileage.
- Eat Wild. Find grass-fed food.
- CT Northeast Organic Farming Association Farms. Includes Farmer's Market information.
- DOAG Diversified Dairy Farms in Connecticut.
- Local Harvest.
- Pick Your Own.
- CT Farm Fresh. Farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area. Includes a catalog for items you cannot find locally.
- Connecticut Wine Trail.
- Edible Nutmeg. A quarterly newsletter that celebrates the harvest of the Nutmeg state. Publication includes directories.
- City Seed Farmer's Markets.
- Farm & Food. A New York Resource. (A significant portion of my foodshed lies in NY.)

Saturday's Forage

2007-12-15T22:56:00.000-05:00

I have to say, being a grasshopper locavore--one who did not spend the summer storing up for the winter--causes one to take some pretty desperate measures, like going to an outdoor Farmer's Market in the middle of the winter in search of sustenance. (Okay, it's technically not winter yet, but it's cold and white out there!)

This Saturday (12/15), we followed up on a lead to City Seed's Holiday Market at Wooster Square in New Haven (map). City Seed's criteria for vendors are:
1. All farm products sold at the market must be grown in Connecticut.
2. City Farmers' Markets are "Producer Only" markets at which farmers sell what they grow and other vendors sell what they themselves have produced.
Works for me!

I regret to say that I did not take notes about which vendors came out on Saturday. In my defense, it was pretty darn cold and I wasn't interested in taking off my gloves, except to pay or sample cheeses! City Seed has a Web page listing of their usual Wooster Square vendors. Most of them were there on Saturday, which was rather impressive because, like I said, it was pretty darn cold. For this grasshopper locavore, it was well worth the 32-mile trip. City Seed maintains a Web page with the schedule for their Year-Round markets. The next market dates are: Jan 19, Feb 16, Mar 15, Apr 19 -- 10AM - 1PM.

I came home with:
- Artisinal cheeses from Sankow's Beaver Brook Farm in Lyme, CT.
- Chevre from Belthane Farm in Lebanon, CT.
- Fresh yogurt from Trinity Dairy Farm in Ensfield, CT
- Organic kale, butternut squash, brussels sprouts, carrots, and potatoes from Waldingfield Farm in Washington, CT.
- Salad greens. (Deep apologies, but I can't recall the farm name.)

I am delighted that I can continue eating local, sustainable food throughout the winter. I cannot express enough gratitude to these farmers who left the warm comfort of their homes to feed me (and others like me) good and healthy food.

And as an added bonus, Wooster Street is the Little Italy of New Haven, CT! It is home to the original Pepe's Pizzeria, the legendary Sally's Apizza, and a host of other restaurants.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

2007-12-14T22:30:00.000-05:00

I finally ordered and read the other locavore book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. Like Kingsolver, Pollan is an exceptional writer and his story is well-told. While he provides a plethora of research details, it is never boring; in fact, it's fascinating. If you really want to know where your food comes from (mostly corn) and why it comes that way, read this book.

One of the things I took away from the book is that farming doesn't really scale well past a certain point. Factory farms and feedlots are not in the best interests of the country, the environment, the economy, and the health and well-being of the eaters (us).

One of the book's segments discusses Polyface Farm in Swoope, VA, a model of sustainability. The farm belongs to Joel Salatin, who is one guy I'd love to meet. I wish there were more farms adopting Salatin's model.

Among many other things, Salatin said, "We don't need a law against McDonald's or a law against slaughterhouse abuse--we ask for too much salvation by legislation. All we need to do is empower individuals with the right philosophy and the right information to opt out en masse."

Working the Land

2007-12-14T21:11:00.000-05:00

I came across the Working the Land Web site which is a site devoted to Connecticut farm land and a documentary about the same.

The site describes it as: "Working the Land, a new documentary from SimonPure Productions, tells the compelling story of state agriculture – from its earliest history to its present-day diversity. The program also explores trends affecting farming in the state and the public policy that shapes its future. Along the way, we visit many picturesque state farms and meet the farmers who work the land and waters of Connecticut."

I ordered the Working the Land video on DVD and watched it. It's an interesting and well-made documentary, narrated by Sam Waterston. I learned quite a few things and I'd recommend this video to anyone with even a remote interest in Connecticut farming.

Since becoming a local foodie, I've been researching farms in my spare time, trying to replace my old, worldly pantry with a new, sustainable pantry. I have lists: lists of farms I've visited, lists of farms I intend to visit, and lists of farms that feed me that I've never visited (Farmer's Market and Natural food stores vendors). Much of the video featured farmers talking about their farms. I had to laugh at myself--whenever there was a farmer from one of my lists, I was cheering at the screen: that's one of my farms!

Cranberry Sauce

2007-12-10T23:22:00.000-05:00

Cranberries are one of three fruits indigenous to North America. In case you were wondering, the other two are blueberries and concord grapes.

One of my "rules" for defining local is 100 miles. These cranberries come from just under 200 miles away so I'm calling them mezza-local.

This year, something bothered me about the typical fresh whole-berry cranberry sauce recipe: one cup of water, one cup of sugar, a bag of cranberries. Maybe because it was boring, or maybe it was the blatant and singular use of refined white sugar. (Not that I am swearing off refined white sugar--it just doesn't grow near here...other sweetners do.)

So, I thought I'd try a local sweetner: maple syrup. Here's the recipe and I thought it was pretty darn good.

1 - 12 oz bag of cranberries
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup apple cider
1 cinnamon stick

Bring the syrup and cider to a boil. Add the cranberries and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil again until the cranberries stop popping. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick. Serve warm or chill.

Some variations could include dried whole hot pepper along with the cinnamon, more syrup and less cider, maybe nuts...whatever strikes your fancy.

The cider and syrup are local. The cranberries are mezza-local. The cinnamon stick is the Marco Polo exception.

Saturday's Forage

2007-12-08T20:24:00.000-05:00

Today (12/8) took us to Rich Farm in Oxford, CT for raw milk, New Morning Natural Foods for various sundries, including Murray's Chicken, and Waldingfield Farm in Washington, CT.

Murray's chickens are local to Pennsylvania. They are humanely raised by a number of family farms in PA. They are not given growth hormones or antibiotics. They guarantee that all of their retailers are within 300 miles of their farms. Okay, so not 100 miles for me, more like 200, but given the issues with getting chickens in CT (regulations), this is as good as it is for now. I'm not giving up, but Murray's is not Perdue either.

The drive to Waldingfield Farm was lovely...from Oxford, through Southbury and Woodbury...looked like a postcard from Connecticut. I met Patrick Horan (one of three brothers running the farm) last week at the Sandy Hook Holiday Farmer's Market. He had lots of jars of his pasta sauce. The organic tomatoes are from his farm, the basil, onions, and garlic are from friends (in CT), and the olive oil is of course, from the world.

I am Italian (4th generation American, but still full-blooded Italian) and I generally do not eat pasta sauces that are not made by blood relatives. It's not snobbery per se; let's just say that my expectations have been well managed over the years. But seeings how I am in the dark days of winter and did not spend many of the light days of summer "putting by" the local bounty, Patrick's sauce, if it worked out, could be a life saver.

Well, it worked out. It is a delightfully delicious marinara. I'm jealous because it takes me longer to make one pot of marinara than it took him to make 5000 jars. The recipe is Waldingfield's and is produced at Palmieri's in New Haven, CT. According to Patrick, it's "one of the last old school Italian tomato processing facilities around."

This pasta sauce is good, real good. It has a good flavor. So I went to his farm in search of more.

I met his parents and his brother Quincy, the full time farmer. It turns out that the farm first belonged to their mother's grandfather and has been in the family ever since. I met the dogs too, although I forget their names (because I'm a cat person). But they were good dogs.

Anyway, I left with a case of pasta sauce and very happy.

By the way, those who know me are probably flipping out that I'm calling this "pasta sauce." Well, that's what the Waldingfield folks are calling it. And it is a marinara (meatless), so the name "sauce" applies. The meat-based, red tomato, divine-simmered-all-day-Sunday stuff is still gravy in my vocabulary. No meat = sauce. Meat (pork & beef) = gravy.

Raw Milk Experiment

2007-12-07T22:15:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, I found a new raw milk supplier, Rich Farm in Oxford, CT. My usual supplier won't be supplying over the winter, and having had raw milk for all of these months, I am not willing to go back to cooked milk.

Rich Farm is a locally famous Ice Cream venue run by David Rich. The raw milk side of the business is run by his brother Don Rich. The ice cream stand is closed for the season, but the raw milk is available throughout the winter. The milk bears the Ajello label, named for their grandfather, Thomas Ajello, who began the dairy farm.

To get raw milk, put your order in a day in advance (203-888-3171) and pick up your milk at the farm.

Since I'm purchasing a small quantity (I only go through about a half a gallon a week), I looked into freezing raw milk. I read in an online forum that the only negative side effect is that the fat does not defrost well, so you could end up with globules of fat on top of your cereal, which would not be visually appealing. Someone on the forum suggested using a stick blender (aka a boat motor) to recombine the milk and said it would be fine.

I told Don of my plan and he gave me a quart to test. I did two experiments. I put the quart directly in the freezer and I poured about a pint from the half gallon into a mason freezer jar and put that in the freezer as well.

A few days later, I defrosted the pint in the mason jar and blended it with the boat motor. Due to the blending, it was rather foamy, like latte. The foam went down in about an hour. The milk tasted and behaved the same as never-been-frozen milk.

A few more days later, I defrosted the quart. I did not blend it; I merely shook the bottle (because it's creamline milk), and poured it right on top of my cereal. It too looked, behaved, and tasted like never-been-frozen milk.

So, the experiements were a success and I can keep a backup in my freezer in case weather prevents me from getting out.

Much thanks to Don for participating in this great experiment!

December Forage

2007-12-06T20:08:00.000-05:00

This week's foraging adventures were on the light side.

On Saturday (12/1), I went to Holbrook Farm. Although they're winding down for the season, I did get some broccoli and beets. They're going to be doing something different for the winter. The Newtown Chocolatier will be minding the store, offering baked goods, coffee, and of course, chocolate. There will be little if any eggs (the chickens have slowed down tremendously). There will be no raw milk and no veggies.

My next stop was Rich Farm in Oxford, a new raw milk source. The link is to their ice cream stand Web site, run by David Rich, which is closed for the season. The raw milk side of the business is run by his brother Don, and is available through the winter. Put your order in a day in advance (203-888-3171) and pick up your milk at the farm.

On the way home, I saw a small "Fresh Eggs" sign and instantly pulled over. Talk about fortuitous!

On Sunday (12/1), we went looking for a Christmas tree. Their are numerous places in Connecticut to get a local tree, but the weather (snow) put a damper on my willingness to drive around much. I went to Masons Farm Market (map only) on Route 25 in Monroe. They have a wonderful selection, reasonable prices, and Connecticut trees.

On this particular day, there was also a special Farmer's Market and Crafts Day going on at St. John's Episcopal Church (Google map) in Sandy Hook. I got some home made jams from Stoneledge Hollow and some pasta sauce from Patrick of Waldingfield Farms in Washington, CT.

Thinking about rules

2007-11-29T21:43:00.000-05:00

I'm thinking about my rules...what constitutes a true locavore to me? Idealy, I'd like to be a 90% local foodie. The only non-local items would be stuff that just doesn't happen in the 100-mile foodshed around Newtown, Connecticut.

Those who have been reading along know that I haven't been doing this long enough to have significant stores. I got more serious about puttin' by at the beginning of the Fall. Somehow it hit me that the bounty party was about to end. You also know I never planned on puttin' by. I was hoping to be able to find what I needed as I needed it. Well, you can't get there from here.

The Farmer's Markets are done. The Brewster's Farmer's Market stayed open until the weekend before Thanksgiving, but all the other ones in my area were long closed. Holbrook's Farm Stand is winding down, and once Christmas comes, it's closed for the season.

I'm not even in the bad months yet and I can't even hold 60%. Today (fairly typical mix), I had (not in this order):
- Sliced fennell bulb (from the world)
- Beef loin steak (local, Stuart, Bridgewater)
- broccoli (worldly, California)
- chestnuts (local, Cherry Grove, Newtown)
- Macoun apple (old, falling apart, but local! Blue Jay, Bethel)
- hard-boiled egg (local, Holbrook's, Bethel)
- coffee, Kona and Sumatra (worldly)
- milk (some from who knows where and some from the CT Farmers)
- tea (worldly)
- honey (Cherry Grove, Newtown)
- leftover turkey (worldly--Butterball)
- leftover mashed potatoes (local, Holbrook's)
- sauteed red and yellow peppers (local, Cherry Grove, Newtown)
- sauteed mushrooms (worldly, California)
- wine (local, McLaughlin's, Sandy Hook)

I really don't want to drop below 50%. It's going to be an experience for sure!

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T09:36:00.000-05:00

We are hosting the annual celebration of the harvest bounty.

Our guests will be my parents, my siblings, their spouses and children. All together, there are 10 of us. Our diets are an interesting mix. We have one vegetarian, one salt-free, one post-tonsilectomy, one on Weight Watchers core, one post-gastric bypass, one allergic to nuts and chocolate, one locavore and a few who will not try new things.

This year's Thanksgiving menu is a mix of local and "worldly" foods.

Appetizers include a fresh vegetable platter, hummus dip, and bread. The beets and carrots are local. The bread is from Wave Hill Bakery in Wilton, CT (thanks to Holbrook's Farm Stand). Everything else in this course is of unknown but organic origins.

The soup is pumpkin & butternut squash and includes carrots and an apple. All of these items are from local farms (Don Taylor, Kandew, Missy's Greenhouse). The herbs: sage, rosemary, and thyme, are from my back yard. The chicken broth is from the health food store and the label says organic and free-range, but the known history ends there.

The main course is of course a roasted turkey. It is (sigh) a Butterball. A fresh, not frozen specimen, but a Butterball nonetheless. My guests were not keen on a local free-range heritage turkey and I don't have any experience to make a convincing case. Bummer, but moving on...

Tom will be stuffed with a wild rice stuffing. The wild rice came from Canada--big place and the box didn't say exactly where in that big place. Curious, that they can grow rice in Canada, but not Connecticut. The long grain rice came from Carolina, so the box said. Connecticut really doesn't have much to offer in the way of grains. However, the carrots, onions, and thyme in the recipe are local. The parsley is ours, potted and brought in for the winter.

The gravy is, well, from the turkey and flour. Nuff said.

Alongside Tom will be:
- Fresh whole-berry cranberry sauce: The cranberries are from Lakeville, Massachussets. A great deal of MA is within my 100 miles, but this particular cranberry bog is a 167 mile drive from my house. (Cranberries are one of three fruits native to North America. Concord grapes and blueberries are the other two.)
- Applesauce. Made from 100% Connecticut Macouns, sauced in my own kitchen. A very pretty pink.
- Smashed Potatoes: like mashed, but with some chunks and the red skins still on. Potatoes from Holbrook's farm in Bethel, CT.
- Baked Sweet Potatoes: Also from Holbrook's.
- Artichokes: From the Big Y (a grocery chain in the northeast). Big Y got them from California.
- Herb Roasted Butternut Squash & Turnips: butternut squash from Don Taylor's farm in Danbury, CT and turnips from Cherry Grove Farm in Newtown, CT. Herbs from my back yard, either dried in my kitchen or wintering in pots by the sliding glass door.

For dessert we'll have:
- Apple Pie. Not home made this year, but made by the folks at Blue Jay Orchards in Bethel, CT.
- Pumpkin Pie. Home made with actual pumpkins acquired from Don Taylor's farm in Danbury, CT and fresh eggs from Holbrook's. The rest of the ingredients are worldly. Even the nutmeg, despite CT being the Nutmeg state.
- Ice Cream. From Ferris Acres Creamery (up the road).
- Fresh Whipped Cream. Unfortunately from the ultra pasteurized variety of heavy cream from somewhere else in the country. It turns out that my local milk source does not provide a heavy cream, and although their milk is cream line and you can separate out the cream, it won't whip.

Beverages:
The apple cider is local (Blue Jay Orchards). The wine is local (McLaughlin Vineyards). The water is local (my own well). The Pellegrino is from Italy (as were our ancesters.) The coffees are quite worldly, but predominantly fair trade. (The milk is from CT--both whole and raw varieties.) The teas are also worldly, but the honey is from right here!

All in all, not bad for Thanksgiving three months into my first locavore year. My hope for next year is to discover more local food sources earlier so I can put some favorites by and of course, get some experience cooking a local Tom.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Whatever you eat, wherever it came from, may it nourish and sustain you.

Word of the Year

2007-11-15T23:41:00.000-05:00

I heard on NPR today that the Oxford English Dictionary Word of the Year for 2007 is Locavore. Four women in San Francisco are credited with coining the phrase (http://www.locavores.com/).

Talk about jump-starting the effort to raise people's awareness!

I find it ironic though, that this phrase came out of San Francisco. How hard can it be in California to restrict your diet to a 100 mile radius? I can eat more easily from their foodshed here in Connecticut than I can from my own--especially at this time of year. In my local Stop & Shop, the produce aisles are filled with the great California Bounty (unless they're growing avacados and pistachios in Massachussetts these days).

Edible Nutmeg

2007-11-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

I picked up the Fall 2007 Edible Nutmeg magazine at New Morning. It's a great idea and I found it to be mostly a good read but was somewhat disappointed in the lack of follow-through in some parts. For example:

In their Letter from the Publishers of the Fall 2007 issue, they pointed out that people were writing in to find out where to get pasture-raised hogs in Litchfield and a CT source of true free-range chickens. While they were looking to make a certain point with their editorial, they never mentioned where one might actually fined pastured chicken and pork in CT?

They prominently features an ad for the BuyCTGrown Web site, which looked promising, yet the site is still not ready.

The entries in the Edible Events and Fall Farmer's Markets sections are about to expire. I am not sure exactly when this issue was publicly available, but I am fairly certain that it was past mid-October. I know of one nearby Farmer's market open until mid-November and one farm stand that will remain open until Christmas and that's it. Are there others? It would have been more useful to those in the market for local foods to continue these calendars into the date range of the next issue.

The article on wine discussed the difficulty of growing red wine grapes in the CT climate but pointed out that there are good Cab Francs here, yet they didn't say which vineyards were offering them.

Still, it's an interesting magazine and I look forward to future issues.

UPDATE: I sent an e-mail to Robert Lockhart, the publisher of Edible Nutmeg, and he personally (and quickly) responded to several of my points. I am absolutely fascinated with this!

Dark Days Eat Local Challenge

2007-10-25T21:55:00.000-04:00

Laura at Urban Hennery posed a Dark Days Eat Local Challenge. She's posted her personal rules and encourages others to make their own.

I'm in! I'm thinking that if I can't get to 90%, I can at least have one local ingredient per meal. Does that sounds too easy? Wow-- what progress! Three months ago, I probably had about one local item per month!

Freezing Food

2007-10-23T22:00:00.000-04:00

To save my precious applesauce, pureed pumpkins, pumpkin soup, and various other locally produced and personally processed items, I purchased a FoodSaver home vacuum-packaging system. It sucks out the air and seals the bag. I have beautiful blocks of frozen fare in my freezer!

Raw Milk

2007-10-20T22:00:00.000-04:00

I finally tried raw milk. I read a few articles, like How Raw Milk Got a Bad Rap, The Raw Deal (Washington Post) and What is Real Milk? According to this last reference:

Pasteurization destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamins C, B12 and B6, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer.

In my 100 mile radius, raw milk is legal in Connecticut, New York, Massachussets, and Vermont. It is not legal in New Jersey or Rhode Island.

I decided that the health benefits were significant enough if I mitigated the risks. All articles agree: know where your raw milk is comes from. I got mine at Holbrook Farms, a reseller I trust. They get raw milk from Deerfield Farm in Durham, CT.

I understand that Caraluzzi Market in Bethel, CT will begin carrying Deerfield's raw milk in addition to raw milk from Grassy Hill Dairy in Woodbury, CT.

I'm not much of a milk drinker--you generally won't find me pouring a tall glass of ice cold milk. I do however take milk in my coffee and on my cereal. Pasteurization occurs at 161 degrees F for 15-20 seconds. My coffee is 160 from the machine and drops instantly to 105 when I add the milk (from the refrigerator). I don't know if I'm killing my raw milk in my coffee, but I am fairly certain that I'm not doing any worse than I would be with the pasteurized kind.

Applesauce

2007-10-12T20:32:00.000-04:00

I know I said I wasn't going to be "puttting by" foods; that I wanted to get my foods already prepared, just local, sustainable, and as organic as possible. So much for what I said.

I live in Connecticut and I come from New York. We make the best apples in the world in this region. I can't rationalize getting apples from New Zealand. Furthermore, Macouns (my favorite apples) have an incredibly short run. So what's a Locavore to do?

I gave in and got an OXO Good Grips Food Mill and set about making applesauce.

It turned out to be simpler than I expected. I cut a bag of the apples into sections and put them in a pot, skins, cores and all. I poured in about an inch of cider. I turned up the heat and covered the pot. When the apples were soft all the way through, I cranked them through the food mill using the medium grinding disc.

The applesauce really worked out! It was a lovely light pinkish color and tasted delicious. I did not add any sugar or spices. Just apples (and some cider).

Next step, buy enough apples to make enough applesauce for the equivalent of an apple a day until this time next year. Maybe I need a bigger freezer.

Nutmeg State. NOT!

2007-10-09T06:30:00.000-04:00

Connecticut is known as the nutmeg state, but don't waste your time trying to find locally-grown nutmeg.

According to Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, from the Know Your Ingredient section of his Web site:

The nutmeg tree requires a hot, moist climate and well-drained soil with partial shade. With a history rooted deep into the distant past, Nutmeg had its origin in the Moluccas [Spice Islands].

The British introduced this spice to India at end of the 19th century.

Nutmeg was heavily used in foods in the U. S. Colonial period. Early recipes for such diverse foods as lobster, mussels, chicken, puddings and many desserts included nutmeg as a flavoring. It was so highly prized that it was common for unscrupulous Yankee peddlers (mostly from Connecticut) to carve nutmeg look-alikes, store them with real nutmegs to absorb the scent and then sell them to gullible housewives. This is how Connecticut came to be called the Nutmeg State.

So, the bottom line is that you cannot get Connecticut-grown nutmegs!

Saturday's Forage

2007-10-08T20:47:00.000-04:00

We hit the road again this Saturday, concentrating on the Bethel area. I must admit, hunting for and gathering our weekly food in this manner beats the heck out of grocery shopping in the supermarket.

Our first stop was Bethel Farmer's market. The farmers are thinning out, but Don Taylor is still there and so are my favorite apples from Apple Ridge Farm. I couldn't resist getting another bucket of Macouns. I can't find a Web site for them, but the here's the Google Map link. I can't find a Web site for Don Taylor either, but did find an interesting article. The Bethel Farmer's Market's last day is Saturday, October 27.

Then it was off to find Holbrook Farm. We did find it, pretty much exactly where their directions said it would be. The place is surreal--barely noticable from the road, but chock full of the good stuff we're looking for.
In particular:
Holbrook's own fresh eggs: we are now addicted to fresh eggs and would not go back to the bleached variety. These were just being washed and set out as we walked in!
Vegetables galore. Carol (I think that was her name) was particularly helpful, letting us know how we could prepare some of the more exotic vegetables. John completely surprised me when he offered me some raw corn (on the cob) to taste. I have never eaten raw corn in my life, nor have I heard of anyone else doing so. John says if the corn isn't good raw, it's not going to be good cooked. He cautions us not to buy corn from a farm that won't let us taste it raw. Let me tell you, this corn was divine. It was quite possibly the best corn I've ever eaten. Of course we got some for home. Did I mention that it was raw? (I still haven't gotten over that!)

Holbrooks carries dairy products from New Pond Farm. We picked up some milk, yogurt, and fresh mozzarella.

And then there were the baked goods; pies, delectabilities (like the raspberry chocolate whatever it was called that I broke my diet for), and breads, including a three-grain French Country bread from Wave Hill Breads--the best "Italian" bread I've had in Connecticut. I can't find a Web site for them, but here's the Google Map link and a review from roadfood.com.

We dipped that country bread in some Olive Oil from the Olive Oil Factory in Watertown, CT (also available at Holbrook's).

Whew! There's lots more there and I can't wait to go back--between the atmosphere, the education, and the exceptional inventory, this is THE place.

Here's a picture of John, Carol, and Lynn (John's wife)

Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped in at Redding Coffee Roasters where Bill O'Keefe gave us a free cup of coffee (Nicaraguan) and a tour of his coffee roaster. In case you didn't know, coffee is a passion of mine. (Marco Polo!)

Bill O'Keefe

Next stop was Chamomile in Bethel to fill in the the rest of our weekly grocery needs.

We looked for On the Rocks Farm in Newtown, traveled some undeveloped back roads, found the address, but it no longer seems to be a working farm.

My 100 Miles

2007-10-03T20:51:00.000-04:00

According to the 100 Mile Diet Web site, "a typical ingredient in a modern meal has traveled 1500 miles or more from farm to plate."

The popular standard for local eating is anything from within a 100-mile radius.

The 100 Mile Diet site includes a widget where you can enter your zip code to display a map with a nice big red circle defining your 100 miles.

My 100 miles go as far east as Providence, RI, as far north as just over the MA/VT border, as far west as the west edge of the Catskill State Park in NY, and a bit farther south than Point Pleasant, NJ. (Looks like I get Jersey peaches after all!)

This Week's Foraging Adventure

2007-10-01T20:28:00.000-04:00

We're getting our Saturday Adventures down to a routine: at least one farmer's market, one actual farm, and one whole/local foods retail store. It's a lovely way to explore the area, especially this time of year. We remembered to bring a cooler this time.

Our journey began at the Brewster Farmer's Market, located at Peaceable Hill Rd. at Routes 6 & 22 in Putnam County, NY. They're open every Wednesday & Saturday from June 9th - November 17th, 9 AM - 2 PM. They typically offer plants, herbs, honey, meat, cheese, bread, veggies, fruits, organics, and more.

The "and more" included Italian cheeses, breads, and prepared meats from Brooklyn, NY. Brooklyn is within 100 miles! I got fresh mozz and real NY Italian bread. (Connecticut is not famous for its Italian bread) I called Marco Polo for the provolone and soprasatta!

In addition to Macouns, carrots, potatoes, beets, and more, I scored some zucchini flowers. Very nice fried after an egg wash and a dredge through some flour.

Next it was off to the Stuart Family Farm in Bridgewater to get some beef. I was a bit concerned that there weren't any rib eyes listed on the Web site, since they are my favorite.

The shop proprietor/curator is Jim Winter, Deb Stuart's dad.

Jim explained that a Delmonico is a boneless rib eye. Happy me. (Further research revealed that the name Delmonico refers to a different cut depending on the region and the century.) Jim let us know that we can pre-order our meat and they will reserve it for our pick-up. Very convenient.

We got a few Delmonicos, some ground beef, and a roast. We also got some eggs, honey, and a couple of potatoes. I'd say we did all right for ourselves!

Then it was off to Green Planet Market in Watertown, CT.

On our way, we passed Maple Bank Farm in Roxbury, CT, and like those Saturday garage sale people, we instantly pulled over to check out their wares. We left there with some veggies and scones (baked at Ovens of France in Woodbury). They had lots of pumpkins, but no sugar pumpkins, but expected to next week.

We weren't so thrilled with Green Planet; their inventory is light compared to New Morning in Woodbury.

We're still looking for someone who's canning, freezing, drying, or otherwise putting by local foods for purchase. Any leads?

The Marco Polo Exception

2007-09-27T18:38:00.000-04:00

It turns out that there's already a locavore phrase for those foods that don't grow locally: the Marco Polo exception. Bill McKibben coined the phrase:

And I made what might be called the Marco Polo exception—
I considered fair game anything your average 13th century
explorer might have brought back from distant lands.
So: pepper, and turmeric, and even the odd knob of ginger
root stayed in the larder.

While I'm drinking my coffee, mixing cinnamon into my granola and apple cider, enjoying vanilla ice cream, and sautéing with olive oil, I'll be sure to call out "Marco Polo!"

How do you like them apples?

2007-09-26T22:30:00.000-04:00

I forgot to mention, we picked our own apples at Blue Jay Orchards. The Macouns were running!

Macouns (to me) are the perfect apple: crisp and juicy. It turns out they were invented in New York (like me) by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station (not like me). They are a cross between a MacIntosh and a Jersey Black.

You can cook with them or simply eat them raw! You can only get them for a few weeks from the end of September to early November.

Crunchy Granola

2007-09-26T21:12:00.000-04:00

Making granola is one of the easiest things to prepare and it may even qualify as baking. Wonderful smells emanate from the kitchen. And it's versatile: you can eat it right out of the bag, you can eat it like cereal, you can sprinkle it on yogurt or anything else that needs a crunch; the possibilites are nearly endless.

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup almonds
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 tsp salt
a sprinkle of cinnamon
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp Maple syrup
3 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Mix the dry ingredients.
Mix the wet ingredients.
Combine.
Let it rest for about 15 minutes.
Spread the mixture out on a cookie sheet.
Bake for about 45 -55 minutes, turning and stirring a few times in the middle.
It's done when it's golden brown and dry.
Cool completely.
You can add dried fruit at this point if you like.
Store in an airtight container.

I've been using this recipe since before and it needs to be localized. So far, only the water and the maple syrup are local. The water comes from my well, so that's definitely local.

The maple syrup comes from the Sisters (the Community of the Holy Spirit, Bluestone Farm, Brewster, NY --20 driving miles from here). It is made with, as they say, nothing but sap, fire, and love.

Between Terri's sprouts and my granola, I'm feeling a bit anachronistic. Think I'll go to a peace rally!

Sprouts

2007-09-26T07:30:00.000-04:00

My partner has been sprouting seeds on the kitchen counter. We have an alfalfa, radish sprout mix and a chick pea, pea, lentil mix going. The sprouts are delicious and nutritious.

I read that sprouts contain an enormous amount of vitamins and nutrients and that you could give up taking vitamin pills if you eat sprouts daily. The idea appeals to me because I don't believe in vitamin pills. How can we be sure that the chemists who formulated the vitamins took into account the associated food factors that make the vitamins actually work in human bodies. What's the point of taking something that your body can't absorb? What good is taking something that requires something else to be effective if the something else is missing? So, sprouts seemed like a great idea. It's a living food!

It turns out there's lots of disagreement on just how nutritious sprouts are. It seems some claims may have been overstated. So, I don't know. (Can anyone point me to some authoritative information?)

Funny thing, I have been feeling better since I've been eating them (could be the placebo effect, and I'll take it if it means feeling better!).

The bottom line: we grow them on our kitchen counter and you can't get any more local than that!

Delicious nutritious sandwich:
Spread tahini on 2 lightly toasted slices of bread (I like the sprouted wheat kind from Alvarado Street Bakery*. Pile sprouts on each slice. Place two thick slices of local heirloom tomatoes on one pile of sprouts and cover with the other. Enjoy!

*Yeah, I know--the bread traveled 3000 miles to get to me; I'm hoping it averages out since the sprouts came from my kitchen and the tomato came from my back yard.
Anyone know a local baker that can bake sprouted wheat bread like the Alvarado Street Bakery?

Beef: It's What's for Dinner

2007-09-24T07:27:00.000-04:00

Deciding to eat locally and sustainably does not (for me) preclude meat. I am an omnivore and make no apologies about it.

Meat gets a bad rap in the organic food community because of the methods used in raising animals and bringing them to market. For example, to quickly fatten cows (and increase profitability), conventional commercial operations feed them corn and grains and give them growth hormones. Corn and grain-fed cows gain about 5 pounds a day versus the 1.5-2 pounds a day a grass-fed cow gains. Since cows don't naturally eat corn and grains and live in very tight quarters, they also need antibiotics, which get passed on to the consumer.

Since those cows are not eating grass (their natural diet), there are nutrients they aren't getting and therefore, nutrients they aren't producing. Grass-fed beef is higher in vitamin E and Omega-3 Fatty acids as well as beta-carotene and conjugated linoleic acids. It is also lower in calories and fat than conventional grain or corn-fed beef.

The question is, where can I find locally raised and humanely produced meat products?

In a previous post, I mentioned that a natural foods store carried locally raised beef from Stuart Family Farm in Bridgewater, CT. I bought some to perform some cooking and palate experiments.

The price was high (a rib eye steak was about $20 a pound). You can get it significantly cheaper by going to the farm yourself, but even then, it's more expensive than supermarket beef. The high price is due to the additional land required to rotate grass fed beef and the quality of that land. Also, it takes seven months longer for a cow to come to weight naturally.

In the end, it comes down to taste. And as promised, I'm ready to share my results. We cooked the rib eye on the grill and the steak was fantastic! It was not gamey or strange tasting. There was less fat on the steak and it tasted less greasy. But it was tender and juicy. It was delicious. I would definitely do this again.

Now, where can I find chicken and pork?

Like Peapod, but not

2007-09-19T06:41:00.000-04:00

In a previous post, I expressed envy that a particular supermarket has a delivery service. You order groceries from their Web site and they bring it to your door. That's one of the perqs of living in the 21st century. Oh that local, sustainably-grown foods came with the same convenience.

As it happens, there are a few such services:
My Personal Farmers works with a number of local NY farms and will deliver anywhere in Westchester County, NY. Since I don't live in Westchester County, I cannot use the service and am therefore unable to provide a review or any guidance whatsoever. It does seem like a very cool thing. I invite anyone with any experience with this service to share their experiences in the comments.

Organic Connection in Brewster, NY delivers to Westchester and Putnam counties in NY and Fairfield County in CT. How excited am I?!
More on this service once I've had a chance to try it out.

Another Foraging Adventure

2007-09-16T18:32:00.000-04:00

Our second (deliberate) adventure in foraging brought us to New Morning Natural and Organic Store in Woodbury, CT., about 10 miles away.

It's a fairly large store (as natural foods stores go), but they carry so many items, the place seems small. This is a good thing since they are building a new store with lots more space!
They have a wide variety of products: organic/local produce, dairy products, meat products, prepared foods, boxed and frozen foods, household items, hygiene and heath care products, baked goods, coffee, and more.

I thought the produce section was rather small (comparing it only to the size of the farmer's market). And I wish their signs would have been more specific about the food origin--Connecticut Grown seems rather generic to me. For a small state, it's pretty big. (Happily, the entire state fits into our 100-mile local radius.)

The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, answering all kinds of scientific and sociological questions about their products.

Among many other items, we bought some locally raised beef from Stuart Family Farm in Bridgewater, CT. This is an experiment. Long ago, I bought some free-range beef from elsewhere to check it out and found it to be tough, gamey, and generally not tasty. I feared my palate had been socialized into corruption over the (many) years of my life. This is another chance. I bought a rib-eye steak and some ground beef. I plan to do the steak up on the grill and to make my much-loved meatballs out of the ground beef. (I'm having visions of chasing free-range meatballs around the kitchen.) I promise more information on this beef once we cook and taste it.

We bought Hautboy Hill Farm creamline milk, but I can't find a Web site to link to.

And finally, the sweet potatoes we bought were the sweetest sweet potatoes I have ever eaten.

Pumpkins

2007-09-14T07:17:00.000-04:00

The first local pumpkins of the season appeared on the scene. I found mine at Mason's Farm Market. (They don't have a Web site, but they're on Route 25 in Monroe, Ct. at the Bradford Drive intersection. Map here.)

It turns out that pumpkins are quite nutritious; they're rich in beta carotene, potassium, Vitamin C, calcium, and fiber.

I decided to attempt the pumpkin soup recipe (PDF) from Kingsolver's book, which calls for cooking the soup and serving it in its own shell.

I was very careful scraping the inside flesh and I am quite certain that I did not breach the skin/shell, but alas, the pumpkin did collapse and I was unable to use it as a tureen.

As for the taste--delicious, though not exactly what I was expecting; this is pumpkin herb, not pumpkin spice.

First Forage

2007-09-11T07:14:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday (9/8) , we ventured out on a foraging trip to a local Farmer's Market.

Finding a convenient Farmer's Market is not as easy as you'd think. This is how the supermarkets suck you in--they're ubiquitous and nearly always open. One even lets you shop online and delivers the food to your door. But they say anything worth having is worth working for.

I Googled on ct farmers markets and found the CT Farm Fresh Web site listed a few links down. (What did we do before Google?) Using their map, I found several farmer's markets in the county. Most are open one or two days a week during normal business hours. Not a great convenience for working people. However, the Bethel Farmer's Market (the nearest one by a lot) is open on Saturdays!

So we went. I was impressed with the selection and the number of participating farms. There were tomatoes, lettuces, kale, apples, peppers, onions, more tomatoes, herbs, pies, and much more. I picked a good week for my first forage! The prices were reasonable and for the most part, the quality was super. I left with cilantro, tomatoes, and McIntosh apples. Very happy.

I titled this post First Forage, although this is not my first-ever visit to a farmer's market; it is the first deliberate forage since reading Kingsolver's book. I still need to find a market that will solve my "putting by" issues. I also am on the lookout for (egads) meat!

Recap on Why

2007-09-10T20:17:00.000-04:00

With all due respect to Henry David Thoreau, I wish to eat more deliberately so that at the end of my days I would not realize that I hadn't eaten food at all.

Like I said, Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle awakened something in me and lit a match under my butt.

Corporate food favors items that look attractive, package well, ship well, and last through the journey. Local growers have the luxury of choosing genetic lines that taste better and contain more nutrients.

I don't want to eat food provided by one of the six major food corporations controlling the global food supply.
I don't want to eat food that can't reproduce itself.
I don't want to eat food that traveled 3000+ miles to get to me. I want to pay for food, not transportation.
I don't want to eat food that consists of hormones, pesticides, unnatural fertilizers, and genetic modifications.
I do want to eat food that is more nutritious and tastes better.
I do want to eat food that is grown sustainably.
I do want to be part of the solution.

I am keeping this blog as a place to ask for and share information and a catalog of what I have found.

A New Beginning

2007-09-10T07:03:00.000-04:00

I am just about finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. This book inspired me to begin this blog. Barbara Kingsolver is a brilliant writer; you may be familiar with some of her other works, such as The Poisonwood Bible or Prodigal Summer.

I'm not going to do a book review here---there are currently 110 of them at Amazon, and perhaps hundreds of others elsewhere. The basic premise of the book is that her family goes back to the farm in Appalachia and eats local foods for an entire year. Local includes their own farm, a neighbor's farm, or a farm within 100 miles of their home.

There are dozens of reasons to eat locally, not the least being that the bulk of our commercially available food is tasteless, nutritionless, and consumes more petroleum than our automotive vehicles. The book is informative and moving, practical and fantastic.

She made a believer out of me, perhaps because she's not one of those in-your-face health food nuts. She acknowledges that it's impossible to eat everything grown locally--take olive oil and pineapples for example (not in the same recipe). But if you take the time to think about it, you can make much better long-distance choices. The book has a companion Web site for more information.

I wondered if a suburban dweller with a full time day job and could take on an equivalent committment. My gardening skills are in their infancy. I do have a "victory garden" in my yard and it looks liks the Japanese beetles, deer, and chipmunks have declared victory. While Kingsolver's family spent about $0.50 per meal per person, my total garden yield this summer has been about a dozen tomatoes and a several dozen Jalapenos.

However, I am excited enough about the idea to begin this blog and hear about others adventures in local eating. Share your experiences, your successes (or not) in your attempts to eat closer to home.

I live in Connecticut, just east of Danbury. Can I amend my diet to favor locally produced fare? What's available in my neck of the woods? Where can I get it? Do I have to "put up" my own produce (canning and freezing) or can I retain my grasshopper-ness?