Collection AFTER being wiped out by friends and family!

I’ve been making this recipe ever since, well worth sacrificing prime real estate in my refrigerator (along with some other spicy ice box pickling projects).

But I’ve been wanting to find a method of making this so that I could store it outside the refrigerator. I don’t can much, but when I do, I only use tested recipes from the experts.

Serendipitously, I saw an announcement at Sport Hill Farm for a Sherri Brooks Vinton food preservation demo with a book signing of her new book, Put ‘Em Up.

Sherri, just getting started

Up in the loft of Patti Popp’s new barn, Sherri shared the secrets and safety measures for home canning.

Pickled Asparagus was the cold-pack demo. Cold-packing is when the food goes into the jar raw. Classic Strawberry Jam was the hot-pack demo. Hot-packing is when you cook the food before canning. The strawberry Jam was made in the old style, with no pectin. You need to cook it for a long time, to let the sugars thicken the jam. You can also use a commercial pectin or you can make your own pectin.

Class in the loft at Sport Hill Farm

Like baking, canning is more about chemistry. The ratio of ingredients is paramount. Luckily for us, the recipes have all been worked out and we just need to follow them exactly and faithfully for safe results.

The book is fantastic. Sherri takes you through the various food preparation and preservation techniques. It is chock full of advice for economics, time savings, and safety. It reads well and you feel like the author is in the kitchen with you. (A trait I have previously admired in Julia Child!) It is organized by food for the purpose of making it easy for those who may have come home from the market with too much of a good thing. Sherri suggests having canning parties to make it more interesting.

The book, like Sherri, is centered around locally-sourced foods. She says, “For home food preservation, sourcing local food really is the only choice.” I guess you could preserve food from the Big Y, but why would you? Almost everything they sell, they sell year round (it’s always in season somewhere in the world) and it was grown by a stranger.

I made the scapes in olive oil (preservation method is freezing) and I am looking forward to getting a crock and trying out fermenting vegetables.

You can catch another demo and signing at the Westport Farmers Market on June 24,2010 from 11 AM – 1 PM. The market is at Imperial Avenue, Westport CT.

Saturday, June 19, 2010, 2-3 PM
Sherri Brooks Vinton, author of Put ‘Em Up,  at Sport Hill Farm
Demo on preserving food and book signing.
Register through Sport Hill’s Web site.

Sunday, June 20, 2010 1-4 PM
McLaughlin Vineyards Reggae under the tent
Bring a picnic or order a boxed lunch. Sangria will be available while supplies last. Reservations recommended.
Tickets $15 advance/$18 door. Includes a wine tasting or glass of wine.

Markets in my near circle that I frequent regularly:

• Bethel Farmers Market
  Saturdays, 9 AM – 1 PM, July 10 – November
  67 Stony Hill Road, Bethel, CT
• Brewster Farmers Market
  Wednesdays & Saturdays, 9 AM–2 PM, June 16 – November
  208 East Main St, (junction Routes 22 & 6) Brewster, NY
• Monroe Farmers’ Market
  Fridays 3 PM – 6 PM, June 25 – October
  Monroe Town Green, Corner of Fan Hill Road & Rte. 111, Monroe, CT
• New Milford Farmers Market
  Saturdays 9 AM – 12 PM, May 8 – October 30
  Town Green, Main Street, New Milford, CT
• Sandy Hook Organic Farmers Market
  Tuesdays, 2 PM – 6 PM, June 22 – October 12
  Fairfield Hills Campus, Wasserman Way, Newtown, CT
• Woodbury Farmers Market
  Wednesdays, 3 PM – 6 PM, July 7 – September
  Hollow Park, 43 Hollow Road, Woodbury, CT

Markets in my far circle, compelling enough to make the trek periodically:

• Millbrook Farmers Market
  Saturdays, May 29 – October, 9 AM – 1 PM
  Front St. and Franklin Ave., Millbrook, NY
• Coventry Regional Farmers Market
  Sundays 11 AM – 2 PM, June 6 – October 24
  Nathan Hale Homestead, 2299 South Street, Coventry, CT
• Litchfield Hills Farm Fresh Market
  Saturdays,10 AM – 1 PM, June – October
  Center School, Litchfield, CT
• Gossett Nursery Farmers Market
  Saturdays, 9 AM – 1 PM, April 3 – November 15
  1202 Old Post Road (Route 35), South Salem, NY

Directories, maps, and listings for even more Farmers Markets:

• CT-NOFA
• CT DOAG by county
• Map at CT Grown
• CT Farm Fresh
• Hartford Courant
• NY Farmers Markets

Market Advice

Farmers markets are an excellent way to know your farmer and know your food. Realize that not every vendor selling food at the market is a farmer.

Sometimes farmers send friends and family members in their place, particularly when a small family farm has to cover several markets on a Saturday. Sometimes farmers partner with other farmers for the same reassons. Often, these proxies won’t be able to answer your questions (regarding varieties, how to cook something, how it was grown). Still, the products are local.

Other vendors are really only produce dealers, who buy wholesale and sell at the farmers markets for the better return. The food they sell may not be local to your region. It might not even be from your country! The produce dealers compete against the real local farmers for your dollars.

You may willing to purchase an item regardless of its origin or growing style. Even some local foodie purists are willing to make exceptions for some reason or another. Since you are paying a premium when you shop at a farmers market, the minimum you should be given for your premium is the truth so you can make your own informed decisions. Otherwise, there’s no difference between the farmers market and Stop & Shop. Ask the vendors to label their offerings.

How can you tell the difference between a produce dealer and a real farm? It’s not always easy.

• Ask specific questions about growing practices and varieties. It’s not a guaranteed method, because, as mentioned, the booth could be staffed by a farmer’s proxy. Still, a real farmer will be able to answer questions about farming practices in great detail. In fact, they will be enthusiastic! If the vendor rolls their eyeballs at your questions, move on!
• Consider their offerings. Are there items out-of-season for your region? Are they selling items that don’t even grow in your region? Are their items vastly different from most of the other vendors?
• Ask the market master. Some markets have rules for product origin.

If you are not satisfied with the interaction or are feeling uncomfortable about a particular vendor, move on. You are under no obligation to buy from anyone simply because they have a booth at the market. Much of the local food movement is built on trust and it makes no sense to reward those who don’t honor it.

Why can’t everyone be like John Holbrook? His farm stand offers a variety of products in addition to his own produce. Practically everything in his farm stand is labeled with information such as: conventionally grown, organic, the name of the farm, and whatever other information may be of value to a consumer. If you have a question and he doesn’t readily know the answer (rare, but it happens), he says he’ll look into it. And he does! Sure enough, next time you walk in, he has your answer. Often, he makes the phone call on the spot. Granted, Holbrook’s is not a Farmers Market. It is his farm stand, bearing his name.

On a practical level, the USDA’s policies and regulations are skewed towards the industrial producers. It is difficult and often impossible for a small farm to take advantage of their opportunities or to comply with many of the regulations.

Among the many stories in USDA’s Small Farm Focus Gets Mixed Review, this is an example of just how inane some of the regulations are:

The Crains have also run into snags interpreting requirements of the EQIP program. After a new fence was built, they were told it didn’t qualify because they had used the wrong wire and it would have to be torn down and rebuilt if they wanted to collect a cost share. “I could see it if he used baling twine to cut cost, or something like that, but my husband knows how to build a fence,” she said.

A frequent complaint is that the USDA imposes a one-size-fits-all culture and the one size is huge. From USDA Red Tape Stands in the Way of Humane Slaughter Techniques and Local, Sustainable Meat Production:

Many of the problems forcing small operations out of business (and preventing would-be investors from building new plants) can be traced back to red tape imposed by the USDA. According to the Food and Water Watch report, the USDA’s regulations favor huge facilities that can spread the costs over hundreds of thousands of animals. Complying with policies is too onerous for many small operators. Extensive record-keeping and ever-fluctuating safety criteria add additional burdens. And Food and Water Watch reports that there have even been accusations of USDA inspectors singling out small facilities for harsh treatment because they make easier targets than national corporations with their staff scientists, legal experts, and well-paid government lobbyists.

There aer similar sentiments in this article: Will USDA Food Safety Plan Squeeze Out the Little Guy?

So, frankly, I don’t know what to make of the USDA’s Know Your Farmer Know Your Food program.

But meanwhile in Washington:

Three Republican senators have complained that a USDA effort to educate the public about where food comes from slights “conventional farmers who produce the vast majority of our nation’s food supply.”

Sens. Pat Roberts of Kansas, John McCain of Arizona and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia complained in a recent letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that his agency spent $65 million last year on a program “aimed at small, hobbyist and organic producers whose customers generally consist of affluent patrons at urban farmers markets.”

To make their point, they try to scare people by threatening starvation:

Roberts is a former chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and currently sits on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee along with Chambliss, the panel’s ranking member.

He said this week that they never meant to sound dismissive of small farmers and niche producers, or their customers.

“The more people that go to the farmers markets, the more people understand agriculture and they eat a better diet,” Roberts said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. As a matter of fact, it ought to be encouraged. . . . But you can’t go back to Walden Pond agriculture and expect to feed America.”

Contrary to popular perception, there is plenty of evidence that small farms are more productive than large ones. In agricultural economics, this is known as the “inverse size-productivity relationship,” first pointed out by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. If you stop to think about it, it makes perfect sense. A farmer who has only five acres of land knows every square foot of that land. She knows the best spots for the corn, the tomatoes, and the beans. She also plants a diversity of crops that are adapted to the various microclimatic and soil conditions; by doing that, she optimizes the use of her land. On a large farm, frequently only one crop is planted in a field regardless of the variation in soil conditions, and wide swaths of land can be wasted every time the large tractor turns a corner.

On the other hand, mega-farms are simply successful at feeding themselves. The largest 10% get 70% of the subsidy money (that’s our tax dollars, going to help really rich people). By the way, ever wonder why everything in your supermarket seems to come from California? Ever wonder why California cows are happy cows? California leads the nation in farm subsidies.

Anyway, it’s still good advice to know your farmer and know your food, even if the USDA is supporting it. As the saying goes, a stopped watch is still right twice a day.

• lamb chops from Sepe Farm, Sandy Hook, CT. Served medium-rare by grilling them 2-3 minutes a side to an internal temperature of 140°, then five minutes of rest.
  
• spinach from Holbrook Farm, sauteed in olive oil with spring garlic from Riverbank Farm. Spring garlic is regular garlic, but harvested early. It doesn’t have a bulb yet. Its shape is somewhere between a scallion and a leek, but the flavor is all garlic.
• biscuits made from Wild Hive Farm and Micro Mill whole wheat flour, lard from Butcher’s Best Market made from Rowland Farm hogs, buttermilk from Stone Wall Dairy (yes, I made butter). We slathered these with Ronny Brook Farm Dairy butter.
  
• applesauce, defrosted, made right here from Blue Jay Orchards Macouns, 9/2009.
  
• Cabernet Franc from Hopkins Vineyard. (They said it would go well with lamb and they were right!)

Yummmmm… I’m not much of a lamb eater. I was surprised at how tender and flavorful it was, not gamey as people say. I guess I’ve never had it cooked properly before! Isn’t local food great!

• arugula
• spinach
• a lovely potted lavender plant

The new barn at Sport Hill is really coming along. It is beautiful. Sorry, no photo since this was an impromptu visit! Next time.

Cecelia is up for a weekend of wine trailing for the 2010 Passport contest, so we planned on an abbreviated Saturday forage.

Serendipitous score: at the Newtown Deli, there’s a (newish) fresh meat market called Butcher’s Best Market. Their lamb and pork are from local farms. I scored

• lamb chops from Sepe Farm, Sandy Hook, CT
• a container of lard, made from Rowland Farm hogs

At the New Milford Farmers Market (on the green, Saturdays from 9 AM to noon), I scored:

• patchouli soap from Goatboy Soap (for my eternal collection)
• cilantro and spring garlic from Riverbank Farm
• bacon from Grayledge Farm (thanks to Riverbank Farm)
• and had a couple of apple cider donuts from Averill Farm

Lots of folks at this market were selling seedling starts for the garden.

At the Hopkins Vineyard Barrel Tasting (more on that in another post), I scored

• Womanchego cheese from Cato Corner Farm and Asiago chese Cherry Grove Farm, Lawrenceville, NJ and goat milk Feta from Beltane Farm, all provided by Artisan Made, Northeast of Southbury.
• Raspberry Peach jam from Twin Pines Farm, Thomaston, CT

At Chapel Hill Farm in Sherman, I scored blueberry and peach jam.

At Bluestone Farm, I scored

• Cavolo Nero starts (Tuscan Kale)
• Maple syrup (2010)

And at New Morning Natural Foods, I scored:

• Stone Wall Dairy raw milk
• Deerfield Farm yogurt

And that was it!

Seems there are as many ways to make oatmeal as there are people who love it. Here’s my oatmeal recipe:

1. Bring 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt to a boil.
2. Stir in 1 cup of oats and reduce heat to medium.
3. Keep stirring for about 5 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let rest for about 8 minutes.
5. If there’s any excess liquid, crank the heat back up and cook it off, stirring constantly.

I like to add a glug of milk then drizzle on some honey.

Sources for the oatmeal pictured above:

• milk from Stone Wall Dairy
• honey from McLaughlin Vineyards

How do you make your oatmeal?

Freidberg spent a year living in Burkina Faso, a landlocked West African country (Google map), and uses examples from that experience to explain her thinking about about fresh food and locavorism.

In Fresh, Friedberg writes:

The health of a local food economy depends to a large degree on its wealth — not only in terms of household spending power, but also (and arguably, more importantly) in the public resources available for everything from road maintenance to irrigation to community gardens. … So many farmers, with encouragement from American and European aid agencies, instead depend on the kind of export trade that local food activists love to hate.

At the talk, Friedberg said,

Eating local food is great,
but it will not solve any global food problems.

True enough, but is the primary goal of the local food movement to solve global food problems? I’m hoping the local food movement solves our local food problems and that by extension, alleviates the pressure that traditional western consumption habits place on the rest of the world on many levels.

My personal food model is to eat local fare for the foods that can be grown locally and to source the other foods. I eat fresh CT fruits and vegetables in season and I freeze, can, or dry them for the off-season. I have access to local dairy and meat products year-round. For those foods that can’t deal with a New England climate (coffee, chocolate, tropical fruits, and Mediterranean delights like olives and pistachios), I am open to the world market and make my selections based on other criteria (organic, fair trade, relative proximity, and so on). I am not suggesting that my model is perfect or that it be adopted by anyone else. It works really well for me so I make information available on this blog for anyone who is interested in this model or wants to make their own variation on a theme.

Is the author trying to say that we locavores in the world’s wealthiest nation[s] are creating economic problems for those in the poorest nations because we failed to consider the downstream effects of our actions? And which author? I need to read the book to determine if this is the premise of Freidberg’s book or the point Pasanen chose to hone in on. It seems as though one or both of them is pinning global food problems on the locavore movement!

I see our locavore movement as a series of small but powerful steps that can be taken by ordinary individuals to address the many food security issues we face as people, states, and countries. We are slowly repairing our own damaged food systems here in America. I am convinced that as more people, states, and countries adopt similar models, more and more global food problems will be solved.

To suggest that the pioneers in this movement need a “little more humility, a little more questioning, a little more moral ambiguity” hardly seems fair or helpful. That this movement, still in its infancy, has not solved all of the global food problems yet or possibly even made some things worse before most things can get better, hardly makes it a legitimate target for those who profess to care about food systems or global economics.

According to Wikpedia, “Agriculture represents 32% of [Burkina Faso's] gross domestic product and occupies 80% of the working population.” That locavores somehow bear any responsibility to the economy of Burkina Faso seems somewhat manipulative. Does Burkina Faso’s own political history (with French and English meddling, followed by factional infighting and coups) bear no responsibility? Does the country’s current political system bear no responsibility? Are there any corporations involved in Burkina Faso’s food supply chain? Just wondering…

Pasanen wrote,

It is a privilege, Freidberg inferred, to be able to choose among the huge variety of fresh foods shipped in from around the world, or to choose to eat only locally grown foods.

I’m hoping that American locavores use our privilege for good. I’m hoping that we keep doing what we’re doing and when we solve the problems in our own damaged food system, we will have a brilliant model to offer the rest of the world.

Note: In the interest of full disclosure, during the writing of this post, I have consumed a papaya (organic from Hawai’i) and a glass of CT fresh raw milk (not at the same time).

Holbrook Farm, where I scored:

• spinach
• arugula
• mustard greens
• ramps
• cilantro
• greenhouse tomatoes from March Farm
• Kenyon’s Rhode Island sea salt (Yay! It’s back!)
• Holbrook’s own bread and butter pickles
• Beltane Farm Goat milk
• Womanchego cheese from Cato Corner Farm
• Roma tomato starts

Then on to Opening Day at the New Milford Farmers Market. I arrived at the new Milford green at 12:20 PM but the market runs from 9-12. I’ll say this, they sure clean up well after themselves because there wasn’t a trace when I got there! I’ll just need to get started earlier next week.

Then on to Maple Bank Farm, where I scored:

• something that looks like long radishes from Riverbank Farm
• bok choy from Riverbank Farm
• bacon from Greyledge Farm
• organic potting soil from McEnroe in Millerton, NY

And winding up at New Morning Natural Foods, where I picked up these local items:

• arugula from Riverbank Farm
• raw milk from Stone Wall Dairy
• yogurt from Deerfield Farm
• Woodbury Farm eggs
• San Marzano tomato starts from Fort Hill Farm

And then to Rich Farm for a treat!