The Road to Farm-ville

Ok, so I am not the sporty or outdoorsy type.  I do not have a wide assortment of sports shoes, and I am afraid of bugs.  I love flowers (in vases) and animals (domesticated, non-rabid varieties), but I am not prone to even lingering for long stretches of time on our patio.  As I type this, some kind of gopher or hedgehoggy thing atop the hill outside is looking at me through the french doors.  (When he stands on his back legs, does that mean he's planning to attack?)

So, I never thought I'd be the type to say it, but I think I am going to run away and live on a farm.  See, it all started a couple years ago with Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.  (I suspect you may have either read it or heard about it by now, but if not, I highly recommend it.  If you like food, you'll like this book -- and it will also change the way you think about words like organic, local, seasonal, etc.)

Anyway, I think a lot of food standards are different in Europe than in the US, and it was easier to find organic (bio), non-GMO food.  There were weekly food markets year-round where I bought lots of local produce, meat and eggs, and often got to talk to the grower as well.  Here in New Jersey our closest approximation was Whole Foods -- until we heard about a local organic farm selling boxed share memberships in their cooperative.  Of course, we joined, and come spring we started to receive weekly allottments of the most succulent and delicious things I'd never seen before - garlic snapes, all kinds of new greens, varigated beets, etc.

As part of our membership, we also have picking rights to certain fields throughout the growing season.  Primarily it's been herbs, which I have frozen and/or dried in enough quantities to keep myself and my relations flavorfully sustained through the dark winter months.  My counters have been over-run with herbs for a while:

Oregano, Thyme, Summer Savory, Horehound, Assorted Mints...

But it's now the height of summer, and this week was the most luscious week yet.  Our boxes have been filled with dozens of tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, peppers, zucchini and herbs.  This means I have been making pasta sauces and stews like the Italian army is coming to stay. I also made my own ricotta to go with it - simple but messy, hence no pictures of any of that.  My kitchen still looks like spies ransacked it looking for the microfiche...

The picking fields are bursting with goodness too, and it's meant all kinds of herbs, flowers and berries are now available.  I spent much of Friday morning rooting around in the dirt, not caring a lick about the red earth caked around my shoes.  I shoed away bumblebees hanging from clusters of raspberries, and competed with the blackbirds for blackberries.  I even saw a skunk (thankfully from afar), which had it not been for the intense desire to collect my berries, would have ordinarily made me scream and run away.

I am still far from being a nature-girl, but it is the most fun I have had outside, ever.  There is a joy in collecting the food you are going to eat, in seeing where it comes from and picking it yourself.  There is of course a joy in eating it too - immensely tasty when it is so fresh and lovely.  But also I have had an immense increase in my understanding and appreciation of what it means to make food.  I know just spending a day out in the sun rifling around for ripe eggplants and pretty flowers does not a true farm experience make, but it's a lot more than I ever did before.  It is hot, hard work, and a profession to be respected and admired.  Thank you, farm and farmer, thank you!
 
Anyway, I'll leave you with a few shots of my day at the farm.  Have you had any food revelations lately?

Fields of flowers, which you are actually allowed to pick!

Globe Amaranth, which look like little red pom-poms.

Ok, am I the only one who didn't know that unripe blackberries look like raspberries?

Stevia in its natural state.  Prevents tooth decay?  Neato!

Fields (left to right) of maturing Pepper plants, assorted Basils (including that dark purple row), and Sunflowers (far right).

A heap of farm-fresh flowers, iced Mint and Stevia tea, and blackberries and raspberries.
A real treat after a hot day in the sun! 

Le Weekend

I have been awol the past few days in preparation of and in the enjoyment of the most delicious weekend.  Friday I organized a special evening at home to celebrate the completion of a major work project.  It involved flower arrangements and hand-written menus, favorite foods and chilled cava and strawberries.  Needless to say, the evening passed most deliciously and it was very difficult to rise at 5am the following morning.  However, that is exactly what we did because we were due for a full day in New York City and had to make the early train.

Saturday in New York was exhausting but thoroughly enjoyable.  It merits its own post, which I will prepare for tomorrow.  In the meantime, I will share with you a moment from our much more relaxed Sunday.  We rose quite late (alright, one of us later than the other, what can I say, I have the gift of sleep?) and drove out to buy cheese from our local organic dairy.  After hob-nobbing with the goats, we continued our lazy Sunday drive and hit a couple roadside stands and organic farms.  'Tis the season here in New Jersey, and summer tomatoes are in their prime.  We lunched on the tomatoes, still sun-warmed, with just a hint of good olive oil, salt and pepper, and crusty baguette.

Here is a view from one of the farms where we stopped.  Hope your weekend was delightful as well!