The Grayslake Farmers Market Begins Again

This morning in the drizzling rain Naomi and I ventured to downtown Grayslake to once again stroll through the booths. I felt a giddy sense of spring as I went from one vendor to another. It felt good to say hi and see people again.

Of course tomorrow is Easter and I saw many people purchasing eggs. One couple purchased ten dozen farm fresh eggs from one vendor. Naomi and I bought cheese, bread, juice, and got my CSA share.

The Real Dirt on Farmer John-Review

This past Friday night Naomi, a friend, and myself went to the Byron Colby Barn to watch the movie The Real Dirt on Farmer John, which is a personal documentary or an autobiopic (is that even a genre). John Peterson is a farmer, artist, eccentric visionary who lives just outside of Rockford, IL. The film documents John's personal struggles from the deaths of his uncle and father, losing his farm in the 80's, and his hard fought rebirth back into farming. John faced prejudice, vicious rumors, and more from his rural neighbors. One gets a detailed look and feel of what rural America was like during the 80's for anyone who broke away from the norm of society.

In 1990 John Peterson returned back to what was left of his family farm. There he began farming again with the help of family and friends. However, with his return John brought a farming method that he had witnessed during his time in Mexico. A natural system that didn't degrade or sterilize the land, an organic way of farming. In the next few years John was taken by the writings of Rudolf Steiner, a philosopher and visionary from Austria, and began to introduce biodynamic farming to Angelic Organics in 1993. In that same year Angelic Organics became a Community Supported Agriculture or CSA farm. Angelic Organics has slowly grown and is now one of the largest CSAs in the United States with over 1400 families participating as shareholders.

All in all this is an entertaining and uplifting movie that shows us how one individual with the help of others can create a small food revolution in the heart of middle America.

Trailer

A Refreshing Night

Last night Naomi, Five Crows, Fractured Thoughts, and several others got together for a pot luck meal made from locally grown and raised food. We had salads, green bean casserole, pot roast, pork tenderloin, apple/ leek cheese pastries, and apple cranberry crumble for dessert. The food was excellent and the company was even better.

The impetus for this occasion was the screening of FRESH the movie at the barn in Prairie Crossing. There have been quite a few movies of late about the issue of agriculture and our food industry. I would not suggest this as someone's first movie about current issues in the food and agriculture industry, but it did have some informative insights as well as a thorough interview of Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms. Joel was as entertaining and informative as he was in Food Inc., however this movie covered his views and the reasons for his farming methods better than any other movie he has been featured in. Of course I think Michael Pollan, the founding father ofmodern food reform, explains him the best:

I asked Joel how he answers the charge that because food like his is more expensive, it is inherently elitist. “I don’t accept the premise,” he replied. “First off, those weren’t any ‘elitists’ you met on the farm this morning. We sell to all kinds of people. Second, whenever I hear people say clean food is expensive, I tell them it’s actually the cheapest food you can buy. That always gets their attention. Then I explain that, with our food, all of the costs are figured into the price. Society is not bearing the cost of water pollution, of antibiotic resistance, of food-borne illnesses, of crop subsidies, of subsidized oil and water — of all the hidden costs to the environment and the taxpayer that make cheap food seem cheap. No thinking person will tell you they don’t care about all that. I tell them the choice is simple: You can buy honestly priced food or you can buy irresponsibly priced food.” Source: No Bar Code, Mother Jones

Also Michael Pollan's book Omnivore's Dilemma best explains Joel Salatin's farming views and ideas.

The other main character of this movie is Will Allen, a self described food industry drop out. Will is the founder and president of Growing Power, which is an organization that has a simple goal; to grow food, to grow minds, and to grow community. Will started this organization simply enough. He wanted to find work for the teens in his community and to give them a job that would help them give back to their community. From this humble beginning this organization has transformed into a national commitment to sustainable food systems. Growing Power not only provides for its immediate neighborhoods, but also serves as a training facility to teach others how to replicate the methods that they use.

Will Allen produces about $850,000 of health fresh food on just three acres of land in the middle of an urban jungle. Growing Power has six greenhouses, ten hoophouses, pens for goats, turkeys, and chickens. They also have a sustainable system for raising 10,000 tiliapia and perch. Proving to everyone that you can grow a large amount of food on a small area and that people who live in the urban "food deserts" do not need to settle for just processed foods. Everyone is entitled to the right to enjoy fresh delicious produce and meat.

So my recomendation is go see the movie, but if this is your first trip into the world of Slow Food, or agriculture revolution then don't stop here and keep on reading and watching. Your body, mind and soul will thank you for it.

Upcoming screenings:

If there are no upcoming screenings in your area, please contact the director to get a DVD to host a local screening in your home or community center.

You can also become a fan on Facebook (they list the upcoming screenings on there, too).

CSA News

Last Saturday, Nick Janovski (better known as Farmer Nick) had his pick up for his meat and egg CSA. I picked up my quarter share at the Grayslake Farmers' Market. Farmer Nick sells pastrue raised pork and free range chicken. As his sign says,"Even better than organic!" His farm is in Walworth, Wisconsin. I am looking forward to the time I get to have a look at his farm. He is our Joel Salatin.

Unlike many other CSAs the shares were not separated but made to order. For my order I told Nick that the only item I desperately wanted was the bacon. Fresh, thick cut bacon is just simply divine in my opinion and the bacon from his farm surpasses even that praise. As for the rest I told him to surprise me and give me whatever he wanted. So for the rest of my quarter share I took home a rack of ribs, a package of pork short ribs, a package of ground pork, a package of ground beef, and a pork tenderloin. You might ask how much is a quarter share?

Well that answer is just $40.

The End of Blossom End Rot

Well in the last three days Naomi and I have harvested about a half dozen of her aunt's family heirloom tomatoes. Their flirtation with blossom end rot has ended hopefully due to our application of bone meal and some calcium water solution. There are several more tomatoes with that promising orangish hue. It appears that my worries of no tomatoes were just a bit over blown. I will take some of the bigger ones and harvest it for its seeds so that we can plant more next year. This variety appears to be a bit like a roma but much larger.

Unfortunately not all tomato stories are end so well. Our local CSA's tomato plants developed late blight. For any who do not know this is the same disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine, which ended with approximately 1.5 million people dieing of starvation. Many other farms have had this disease attack their crops as well. In the New England states many farms have had to destroy entire fields of tomatoes. Luckily our CSA has only had to get rid of 600 of their 4000 tomato plants. This cool wet summer has not been beneficial to the tomato crops and I can only hope for hot weather for the rest of August.

Washington Post Article on Late Blight and Tomatoes

Arkansas Traveler Part III-Peaches, Pink Tomatoes, and Seed Saving

On our way back from Arkansas Naomi and I could not leave without stopping at a farmers' market and a roadside market while we were still in Arkansas. So it was that at 7:30 in the midst of a torrential down pour that we went to the Argenta Farmers' Market in downtown North Little Rock. Standing in the rain I got to speak to a couple of the farmers and bought two baskets of peaches and half dozen or so Arkansas heirloom tomatoes, the Arkansas Travelers Tomato.

The Arkansas Traveler is a pink tomato that is supposed to have less acidity than its red relatives. This tomato is beloved in Arkansas due to its natural resistance to cracking and splitting as well as its superb taste. Four of the tomatoes made their way to topping a pesto pizza last night, one was a gift to a good friend, and the last one I harvested its seeds.

Seed saving the tomato was much easier than I expected and to tell you the truth I wasn't expecting much. Here is the process:

Select to save seeds from a tomato that has a flavor that you love....if you're a home gardener and saving seeds from tomatoes that are growing in your garden choose tomatoes from the very healthiest looking plants.

Take your chosen tomato and slice it in half across the middle (it's "equator"). With a spoon or your well-washed fingers scoop out the seeds and their gelatinous "goo" into a clean cup or container. Add a couple of tablespoons of water to the seeds. Cover the container with a piece of plastic-wrap and then poke the plastic-wrap with a paring knife or pen point to put a small hole in it...this is to allow for air-transpiration. (A little fresh air needs to get in and out of the cup to help foster fermentation.)

Place the container of seeds in a warm location; a sunny windowsill or the top of the refrigerator are both excellent sites to place the container of seeds. Now Mother Nature will take over and begin to ferment the seed and water mixture. This takes about two or three days. Each night remove the plastic-wrap, stir the seed and water mixture, and then replace the plastic-wrap, if you use a new sheet of plastic-wrap then don't forget to put a small hole in it for air-transpiration. The top of the liquid will look "scummy" when the fermentation process has separated the "goo" from the seeds. It also helps destroy many of the possible tomato diseases that can be harbored by seeds.

Take the container of fermented seeds to the sink and with a spoon carefully remove the scummy surface. Then pour the container's contents into a fine kitchen sieve and rinse the seeds with water several times...stir them while they're in the sieve to assure that all surfaces are thoroughly rinsed. Give a few sharp taps to the sieve to help remove as much loose water as possible from the seeds.

Line an open plate with a piece of waxed paper or a large automatic-drip coffee filter. Place the rinsed seeds onto the wax paper or coffee filter and spread them about so they are in a single layer. Place the plate in a safe location where the seeds can dry for a few days. Stir the seeds a few times during the drying process to assure that all their surfaces are evenly dry. Spread them out again into a single layer after each time you've stirred them. Tomato seeds are thick and can take up to a week to dry thoroughly. If you're having a rainy week that drying time may lengthen by a few days.

These seeds I will save for next year and try to grow some of my own. This variety enjoys hot humid weather and takes approximately 85 days to bear ripen fruit.

We also bought peaches at the farmers' market and a roadside stand that was in the parking lot of a gas station in Brinkley. We bought a total of 48 peaches that Naomi used to make jelly, she canned some, and she froze some of them as well. Of course as luck would have it we got another dozen in our CSA share as well.

Birthday Party and some good local eating

This past Friday Naomi and I threw a birthday party for her mom. We decided as soon as we sent out the invitations that most of the food that we served would have to be grown locally. We did not go out and buy a bunch of stuff at the grocery store. In fact the majority of the produce came from either our garden or the CSA and the meat all came from the farmers' market. (The only main item that came from the grocery store was the pasta for the past salad.)

Naomi made some great salads; a pasta salad, a beet salad, a raddish salad, and lastly a fresh green salad. We also served some good buffalo summer sausage and some local cheeses from The Cheese People. All of the meat that we served was from Lester's Buffalo Farm which is just up in Wisconsin. We had ground buffalo for hamburgers, some bratwurst, and some hot dogs for the kids. I was told the hot dogs tasted a little different, but the brats were much better than conventional store bought ones in my opinion. Heck even the wine we served was from a local winery, Glunz. More on them in a future post.

For desert Naomi made two strawberry and red currant pies that were gloriously delectable. A perfect end of the meal.

Farmers Market Delight

Well this Saturday Naomi, my parents (who are in from Ohio for a visit), and myself ventured to the Grayslake Farmers Market.  This is a weekly event for Naomi and myself, but it was a first for my parents.  My mom remarked on the scope and size of the event and the variety of items for sale.  While there we picked up a few loafs of bread from Wild Flour Bakery and some buffalo steaks from Lester's Buffalo.  However I think the find of the week was a jar of heirloom tomato salsa made by River Valley Kitchens from a recipe made by Rick Bayless.  This salsa had a wonderful flavor and just a hint of spice that caught your taste buds in the backside of the flavor. The salsa however did not make it through the weekend as it was finished promptly the next day during lunch.  This was by far and away an exquisite find.  I will be looking for another jar next Saturday.

Later that night we  grilled the buffalo steaks and some asparagus we received in our CSA from Sandhill Organics.  With the steaks we had some sauteed mushrooms and a salad made with lettuce and turnips from the CSA and radishes from our garden.  To top off the feast we had some of the bread that we had bought from the farmers market with some garlic olive oil from the Olive Tap. 

We used a wood burning grill to grill up this tasty meal which may take a while but I do love the flavor of the wood with the meat.  It leaves a better taste than gas or charcoal grills.  However it does take the fire a bit longer to get to cooking readiness.  Of course that is just time for snaking and sitting around the fire.      

The CSA, Pac Choi, and Egg Rolls

Well two Thursdays ago was the second week of the CSA pick up (for more about CSA's in the Chicago area and Sandhill Organics see this news article).  Last week we recieved some potatoes, green garlic, spinach, radishes and a few mixed greens.  This prompted Naomi and I to cook potatoes over our wood fire grill and lounge on the deck last Friday night. We made some garlic, chive butter for the potatoes that was quite exquisite.  This Thursday we recieved pac choi, stone ground flour, mixed greens, and a few other items.  Last night the pac choi led to the making of 25 egg rolls.  The production of these egg rolls took about an hour and the feast took another full hour.  We had to take a short break in order to catch our second wind.  (I am not as young as I used to be)  Naomi tells me that I am quite the egg roll chef, but it all seems pretty simple and when your frying something how can it not taste good.

Egg Roll Recipe

This recipe is adapted from the Smith & Hawken Gardeners' Community Cookbook which was compiled and written by Victoria Wise.

1/2 cup of Sweet and Sour

3/4 pounds of pac choi finely chopped washed and spun dry

3 Green onions finely chopped

2 large garlic cloves minced

2 tablespoons of minced fresh cilantro leaves

1/2 tablespoon of ground ginger

6 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce

One package of Egg Roll wrappers

Vegetable Oil for deep Frying

Combine the pac choi, green onions, garlic, cilantro and ginger in a bowl then toss and mix

Add 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce to the bowl and then toss again.  Set aside

Take out the egg roll wrappers and place one on a plate in front of you.  Put one to two tablespoons of the filling in the middle of the wrapper.  Roll up the wrapper envelope style or by following the directions on the package.  Seal up the wrapper with some of the left over soy sauce to keep the wrapper from springing open.

Continue this process until all of the filling has been used or you run out of wrappers

Then in a frying pan or a wok pour oil until it is about 1 1/2 -2 inches deep

Fry egg rolls until they are golden in color.  You will have to turn them as they are cooking.  Frying of egg rolls will of course cause splattering so be careful.

When all done eat when they are hot and enjoy them

A Look Back at the Garden

For Chanukah I gave this Jeffersonian Raingauge to Naomi.  It adds a nice splash of something something to the vegetable garden.  However best of all it is quite accurate in measuring the amount of rainfall.  This is after a day and half of rain that we recieve in late April.  As you can see the gauge is reading about 2 inches of rain.  We were destined to get about a half inch more the day after this picture was taken.

Here are our young radishes reaching out for the sun.  They have grown quite large since this picture was taken.  Fairly soon we will be able to begin harvesting some of our radishes.  However, we have already recived some from the CSA which started last week.

A young pea sprout that has made its way through the dirt and looking for more sun and nourishment.  Which I have been dutifully and faithfully providing it.

Well here is the garlic that I planted last fall.  As you can see it has grown quite large.  I had about a week previously removed the excess hay from the top but left the bottom layer to help control weeds and to hold in the moisture. In a few weeks I should be able to harvest the scapes that are already coming up.