Drumlin Farm, Lincoln MA

Drumlin Farm

208 South Great Road, Lincoln MA 01773

http://www.massaudubon.org/drumlin

Today was the last pick up for Drumlin Farm's winter vegetable CSA. So sad. This is the first time I've belonged to a winter CSA and it's been nice having fresh local vegetables all winter. I don't know if I can wait until June when Springdell Farm's summer vegetable CSA begins.

How can they grow vegetables in the winter in New England? Well, they don't. At least for this one--Drumlin Farm also has winter greens CSA (which was full, so I couldn't join this year) and I believe that they grow them in a greenhouse. At least, I wandered into the greenhouse a few weeks ago and noticed some salad greens ready for picking so I figure that's probably where they come from.

Anyway, the winter vegetable CSA is mainly root vegetables and squash, with some kale, onions, and garlic thrown in at the beginning of the season (it started in December). These are grown during the summer/fall growing season and they store them under optimal conditions, doling out two weeks' worth at a time for those of us without root cellars. You only pick up every other week, which is convenient, as opposed to every week like during the summer/fall. We ate a lot of root vegetable soups and stews this year. And yesterday, another shareholder donated her daikon to me (lucky for me she doesn't like it). I've been craving Korean food lately, so I'm going to make a big batch of radish kimchi. Yum!

Next month Drumlin Farm will hold its annual Sap-to-Syrup Farmer's Breakfast (Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm--contact the farm to reserve your spot). It's a pancake breakfast featuring their own potatoes, sausage, and maple syrup. This is the third year in a row that I've gone to this breakfast and it's been delicious and fun every time. You can go on tours of the farm and learn the origins of maple sugaring, and you can also visit the sugar house to learn about and watch the maple syrup being made. And, of course, you can buy some maple syrup to bring home with you.

Just as a heads-up, starting in a couple of weeks, maple sugar houses all around New England will open their doors for pancake breakfasts for the few shorts weeks they're producing maple syrup. Try to check at least one of them out this year--in my book, there are few things finer than New England sugaring season. If you're interested, you can find information from the Massachusetts Maple Producer's Association, the New Hampshire Maple Producers, the Vermont Maple Foundation/Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association, the Maple Syrup Producers Association of Connecticut, and the Maine Maple Producers Association. Sorry Rhode Island, I couldn't find information about your maple syrup.

Chestnut Farms, Hardwick MA

Chestnut Farms

P.O. Box 545; 404 Turkey Street

Hardwick MA 01037

www.chestnutfarms.org

My freezer doth floweth over... with meat from Chestnut Farms! Since last May, my family has belonged to a meat CSA--how great is that? As an omnivore, I appreciate that now most of the meat I eat is humanely-raised. Twice each year, they host an open barn where you get to see just how the animals live before they end up in your freezer: Meet Your Meat, as they say. We went to the one they had last October and were pretty impressed! The farmers, Kim and Rich, really work hard and take wonderful care of all the animals. And, they are pretty tasty, too. How it works is that once a month we pick up a cooler of frozen assorted meat from a pick-up spot (there are several--ours is in Harvard center). It's a mystery cooler full of surprise cuts. In the summer months, there were many cuts suited for grilling; now that it's winter, we've gotten a lot of cuts good for stewing. We've gotten all types of meat: ground beef/pork/lamb, bacon, sausage, filet mignon (only once but, man, was it delicious!), ribs, rack of lamb, ham steak, chicken breast, pork loin, etc., etc. We also ordered a Thanksgiving turkey (not included in the monthly share) which was fantastic. Everything has been absolutely top notch. I would highly recommend this farm if you are looking to join a meat CSA.

I am under the impression that this is the only meat CSA in the state, but don't quote me on that. However, there is a new one at Springdell Farm, in Littleton, MA, starting this year. So, now that makes two. Springdell Farm started a vegetable CSA last year and we signed up for this coming season. Once the crops are ready for eating, I'll post an update on that.

Michael Pollen's "Food Rules" and "Nourish" restaurant in Lexington, MA

Nourish

1727 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington MA 02420

www.nourishlexington.com

Ok, so this is a bit of a cop-out post in that I haven't yet read Michael Pollen's new book, Food Rules, and I haven't yet eaten at Nourish in Lexington. But, I figured I'd get all this out there and maybe someone will beat me to doing one or both. So be it...

Michael Pollen was a guest on yesterday's On Point on NPR. Definitely worth a listen--here's a link to the show, if you're interested. This new book is sort of a primer on how to eat responsibly. Timely advice/information, if you ask me. Especially as more and more details on how our national food system works are surfacing. Pink slime (yes, that IS a technical term) in fast food burgers? No thanks! Anyway, I'm recommending this book based on the thoughtful and well-researched information Mr. Pollen has delivered in the past.

As for Nourish in Lexington, I found out about this place because the first caller during the Michael Pollen interview was the owner. She only gave her first name and the fact that she had a restaurant in Lexington (this was relevant to the discussion), but through the magic of Google, I found the place. I actually walked by it last week and wondered about it. Now I know. At least, enough to know I want to stop in and try it. From their website:

With our dual mission of RESPONSIBLY SOURCED – RESPECTFULLY PRICED we are working with area farms and other small businesses to work as much local and organic food into the menu as possible, while maintaining prices that allow a broad range of people to eat with us. It’s a challenging concept to pull off, to offer enough different dishes on a menu so that both the person who is looking for some tofu or tempeh AND the person who really doesn’t think dinner is dinner unless there’s meat on the plate can both be satisfied. To also factor in the importance of pricing so that you offer well-sourced food to a wide range of people and also allow them greater frequency is an additional challenge. But we’re committed to both.

Sounds about right to me!

Chip-in Farm, Bedford MA

Chip-in Farm

201 Hartwell Road, Bedford, MA 01730

www.chip-infarm.com

I went here with my 1-year-old today and had a blast. We've been buying their eggs (from free-running hens) for about a year from Cataldo's, a local nursery, and I finally made it out here to see the farm. Although it's a small place, you could easily spend a sunny afternoon letting your kids run around here. There's a free petting zoo (cows, sheep, goats, bunnies, a GIANT pig, and chickens, of course), mini tractors to ride around, and a farm store with a penny candy counter.

The store sells day-old eggs from the farm, random grocery staples, a selection of local meat and produce, and milk/ice cream from Shaw Farm in Dracut, MA (we get their milk from Cataldo's, too). I've been meaning to make it out to Shaw Farm all summer for ice cream, but haven't gotten there yet. There's not much time left of ice cream season, so I'd better hurry up if I don't want to wait until next year!

This was a fun trip we'll be repeating, especially since it's so close to home. And they have delicious eggs from happy chickens.

According to their website, you can have birthday parties here, which I think would be a blast for little kids.

Nashoba Valley Winery, Bolton MA

Nashoba Valley Winery

100 Wattaquadock Hill Road, Bolton MA 01740

www.nashobawinery.com

This place is definitely worth a visit. It's an an absolutely beautiful orchard where you can pick your own apples, peaches, pears, and berries. They also are, as their name points out, a winery, and they specialize in fruit wines. They have a large selection, so you will be able to find something you like without a problem. My favorite right now is their port-style blackberry wine. I went apple, peach, and plum picking here last weekend on a gorgeous day and found that they now carry micro-brewed beer, although I couldn't tell if they were the brewers and I forgot to ask.

Here are the plums that I picked. They were yellow in the trees, but have ripened to a blushing purple on my counter and are waiting to be baked into a plum tart.

Also worth checking out is their restaurant. I took my mom there for their Mother's Day brunch, have been there for dinner, and would definitely go back. Recently, I discovered that they also have picnic lunches you can order on-line. Pick them up when you get there, along with a bottle of wine or a beer, and you're ready to dine at a table on their large wrap-around farmer's porch. Or, bring a blanket and pick your own spot. They don't mind if you bring your own food to eat. I saw a large number of people who had brought their own along with them.

Definitely worth the trip and it's the perfect time of year to go. Next Sunday, they have a barbecue and a live folk band scheduled. October 25th is beer, bluegrass, and barbecue. Could it get any better?

Gibbet Hill, Groton MA

Gibbet Hill Grill and The Barn at Gibbet Hill

6 Lowell Road, Groton MA 01450

www.gibbethill.com

This place is fantastic. When you drive up, it's a beautiful farm with rolling hills studded with cows. It almost looks too picturesque to be real.

There is the Grill, serving traditional New England fare (and their own beef) nightly for dinner. And there is the Barn which can be rented out for functions. You can also just go out for drinks and appetizers (or just drinks), if you don't want dinner. One thing I like about this place is that it's fancy, but not pretentious. You could go in jeans and have a wonderful time and no one would care. Or, you could dress up for a fancy night out. This place reminds me of eating out in Northern California. Lucky for me, it's just down the street, so I can save myself the plane fare. I've been here twice and everything has been spot-on. Besides, any place that includes beets on the menu, is all right with me.

One really cool random fact about this place is that the land was bought in 2000 and the owners worked to place a conservation restriction on it so that it can never be developed-ever. Nice going, Webber family!

The other day, I received an email from them announcing their annual Summer Farm-to-Fork Wine Dinner, which will be held on August 17th. I couldn't find anything on their website about it, so here's the information:

Please Join Us for Our Annual

Summer Farm-to-Fork Wine Dinner!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Our summer wine dinners always feature farm fresh ingredients sourced from local farms. This year, for the first time, we will be serving produce from our own Gibbet Hill Farm!

Dinner will begin at 6:30pm with passed hors d’oeuvres, followed by a four-course meal with wines paired from family-owned wineries from around the world. Guests are invited to show up at 5:30pm to take a tour of our farm before dinner. Please see below for this year's menu.

Seats are limited, so we encourage people to make their reservations soon. We look forward to seeing you!

The evening's price of $95 includes tax and gratuity. For more details and to make a reservation please call 978-448-2900.

Farm-to-Fork Dinner

Passed

GHG Potato Blini

Salmon roe and Stillman’s crème fraiche

Bolton Orchards Grilled Apricot

Goat cheese mousse

Duck Paté

Cherry mostarda

Compressed Macintosh Apples

Proscuitto di Parma

Island Creek Oysters

Escabèche

Iron Horse Brut, Russian River Valley, California 2004

First Course

Assiette of Summer Vegetables

River Rock Farms beef carpaccio, herbs and flowers

Groth Chardonnay, Napa Valley, California 2007

Second Course

Native Striped Bass

Morels, honey roasted heirloom tomatoes, aubergine

and sweet & hot pepper emulsion

Matua Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand 2008

Third Course

Long Island Duck

Butterball potato mille feuille, baby turnips, tatsoi and stewed mayflower plums

Hewitson “Miss Harry” GSM, Barossa Valley, Australia 2005

Dessert

“Raspberries and Beets”

Candied, parfait and textures with chocolate and Westfield Farms chèvre ice cream

Rutherglen Estates Muscat, Rutherglen, Australia NV

Ingredients subject to change due to availability

Brookfield Farm, Amherst MA

Brookfield Farm

24 Hulst Road

Amherst, MA 01002

brookfieldfarm.org

So, I thought I'd start out with a post on Brookfield Farm and its CSA program. If there is such a thing as a gateway drug to local agriculture, BF was certainly mine. Oh, it all started innocently enough: in the summer of 1995, my sister saw an advertisement somewhere while we were students at UMass Amherst, for a share of vegetables for the coming season. Would I sign up with her? Sure, I like vegetables. And when we figured out the weekly cost, it was a good deal for two broke college students. And organic, to boot!

And so the adventure began. I would pick up a stuffed brown grocery bag full of the week's harvest from behind the local breakfast joint. Pedalling home with the bag balanced precariously on my handlebars, I was excited to get back and see what it contained. When I arrived home the first day, we were relieved to find that, nestled in among the greens still damp from the fields and other earthy-smelling spring vegetables, lay a newsletter. Besides containing Farmer Dan's recount of the past week's activity on the farm (sprinkled with personal musings, of course), there was a list of what was in the bag. Sometimes we had to rely on process of elimination to match up the vegetable with its name. Sure, I've eaten different kinds of vegetables before, but what the heck are kohlrabi and garlic scapes? And what exactly do you DO with them?

My sister is not the biggest fan of cooking: her motivations for asking me to go in on the share with her were less than pure, since I love to cook and she loves to be cooked for. Luckily, she's not too picky. (Well, as long as the dish doesn't violate one of her bizarre food rules, but that's another post.) Not knowing how to prepare a lot of the vegetables we received, the default preparation was: steam everything separately and then bake it in a casserole with tomato sauce and cheese. It may sound boring, but with all the crazy vegetables and herbs we received, each casserole was an adventure. I had my first encounters with broccoli rabe, tatsoi, garlic scapes, big beautiful beets with their bright greens still attached (my favorite), kohlrabi, Swiss chard, and mustard greens, to name just a few.

I was hooked.

In following years, driving a lovable 1966 Volvo Amazon, whose passing I still lament, I was able to visit the farm and take advantage of the pick-your-own crops that never made it in the grocery bag. Raspberries, strawberries, sweet sugarsnap and snow peas. Tomatillos, edamame, cherry tomatoes, long purple beans. Herbs and more herbs. Flower bouquets. I could go on for a while longer, but you get the point. Since that first year, I continued to be a shareholder. Here and there I took a year off (like when I moved to Mount Desert Island, ME for six months) but most years I signed up. Finally, this year I decided to end my subscription. Now that I have a yard of my own, I have decided to try gardening in it, supplementing my small garden plot with produce from local farmer's markets. It makes me sad to see the end of an era, but the last several years, I had been picking up my share delivered at a drop-off spot near Boston. As the years passed, I made fewer and fewer trips out the the farm on weekends, so it just wasn't the same for me. I have a special relationship with Brookfield Farm, but my one-yeard-old daughter does not and I want her to know the joys of local food. Gardening in my backyard is the most local food of all.

I do want to thank Farmer Dan (Dan Kaplan), his family, and all the wonderful farmers who worked hard over the years, supplying me with delicious food while taking care of the earth on which it was grown.

Thank you. Really sincerely, thank you. Because of you, I became an obsessed vegetable lover. And then, slowly, I became an obsessed everything-local-you-can-grow-bake-raise-catch-or-culture lover. And then I decided to start this blog. Not that anyone but my family and friends will read this, but at least I can write it down and they can decide to listen or not. However, my sister who had the farm share with me will still continue to get emails ranting about random food items. Sorry, but you know I can't help it.

Back to the whole CSA thing... If anyone is ever considering joining one, but isn't sure if it's worth it, consider this: besides the fact that you are supporting local farmers, keeping land in use as a farm (as opposed to another condo complex or strip mall), and eating the best produce you will EVER taste--you are opening yourself up to a whole new way of looking at food, land, and the people who take care of that land by growing food on it.

Some of my happiest, most peaceful moments were spent at Brookfield Farm on quiet afternoons in the sun, barefoot beneath the vast blue sky. Maybe nodding to another shareholder or two, hearing little kids running and giggling at the far end of a long row, smelling the earth and popping the most perfect of perfect cherry tomatoes into my mouth.