Vicariously On My Way to Burning Man

Despite Burning Man's limits on photography and videography, I'm hoping my Cali Sista can email me some good shots of the event this year.

Unfortunately, I'm not expecting much, at least not until she returns to Southern California. I'm told cell service is rotten to non-existent in Black Rock City [Though the San Fran Chronicle reports there's added bandwidth this year.]

If she's unable to email me pix right away, I'll just let my imagination run a bit and follow any dribbles of coverage that make it out of the free spirit, free expression gathering that draws some 50,000 to a dry lake bed in Nevada.

I am for sure going to be impatient to see pix of her in her carefully planned wardrobe, something about summer dresses, knee high socks, boots and pigtails.

And I'm eager for photos of her bike, which apparently have message enabled spokes and some dozen horns.

Super cute.

'Mamma. I Have a New Favorite Restaurant'

That's what my son said as we were wrapping up supper this evening. We've been out and about quite a bit lately, so I was curious.

"Oh, really," I inquired. "Where?"

"Home," he said.

I was thrilled and not just because he knows how to make his mommy happy. I'm happy because I took a gamble that the kids would actually eat all of the adult meal I'd planned, without having to flesh out the menu with kid-friendly items.

Admittedly, they weren't thrilled with the idea at first. I sent Future Farmboy out to the grill about midway through meal prep when he started to complain about the kabobs.

Future Farmgirl wasn't going to have any of the rosemary roasted new potatoes until I explained that, yes, those are just potatoes. She didn't even mind the rosemary (as much) when I pointed out the plants that it came from off our back porch.

In the end, the kids were asking for second, third and fourth helpings of the dishes they feared the most.

I'm not expecting this will happen with every meal going forward. But I'll sure try more often.

VFG Test Kitchen Note: Photo above is the rosemary new potatoes (from King's Hill Farm). I slightly altered a recipe I found at Simply Recipes (my new favorite recipe spot). My one fail was the garlic, which burned to a crispy black if it wasn't right on top of a potato. Might need to reposition the baking pan.

From Cob to Freezer

I haven't read a great explanation yet about why the corn I received from my CSA is so underdeveloped.

I've seen a few reports about underdeveloped ears being more likely in organic crops. But I'm thinking another likely explanation is the very cool summer we've had. It's hardly been hot or sunny enough to get my tomatoes to grow.

The cool delayed corn inclusion in our bi-weekly CSA and was late to our farmers market, so I can only think that it had an impact on the kernel development too. Jai Kellum from King's Hill Farm (our CSA) didn't have an explanation, but was just happy the electric fence kept the raccoons out of the corn field.

So...here's what an underdeveloped, but still delicious ear of corn looks like:


I just slice off those sad little tops and move on:


All's better after a hot bath (see the steam?):


Now all they need is a shave:


There you have it, corn ready for use in soups, side dishes, fritters, whatever we can dream up:


VFG Test Kitchen Note: I separated these into four one-cup bags, then packed them in another freezer bag.

Couldn't Sleep, So I Got Busy in the Kitchen

What is it about my days off that I can't sleep in, not even an extra hour?

Because I couldn't sleep and had nowhere to go, I decided to use the time to finish up a bunch of CSA goodies that were on the verge of turning. Whatever I couldn't freeze whole, I chopped up and either salsa'ed or cooked and froze.

Now I have a very aromatic veggie stock on the stove featuring celery, corn cob bones, onions, bell pepper and a large handful of herbs from my backyard.

Not too bad for what should have been a lazy Saturday morning.

Organic. It's What's For Dinner

I had a fairly hectic day, so that's why it was even more satisfying to come home to an unopened CSA box and pull together a pretty simple, but mostly locally grown (freshly harvested) meal.

I'd already thawed out a grass-fed, corn finished tri-tip from Heartland Meats, which sells at the Oak Park Farmers Market.

I seasoned the tri-tip with a Back of the Yards Garlic Pepper Butcher's Rub from The Spice House, then turned the cooking honors over to the grill master.

While the iFarmer was outside, firing up the grill and checking the meat in between thunder showers, I chopped up heirloom tomatoes, a fairly hot jalapeno, yellow onion and cilantro (all from King's Hill Farm) and mixed it into a chunky salsa, then paired it with organic corn chips.

To top it off, I gave our sweet corn a quick hot bath. I thought the OPFM corn was good. But this was pretty amazing. It was a happy result considering the corn looked pretty small and underdeveloped, causing me to essentially chop these already shrimpy ears in half.

They might have not been pretty, but they tasted like dessert.

I won't doubt my farmers again.

Bruised, Battered and Worth the Risk

Here's a prime example of why heirloom varieties are not commercially marketed.


They simply don't travel well. But they sure do smell and taste fantastic, much better than the increasingly opaque and uniform tomatoes I see at the grocery.

Even the hothouse, vine-ripened varieties don't come close to these heirlooms.

So I have no problem getting one or two beaten up tomatoes in my CSA box every other week.

What I do worry about is the spread of blight, which is threatening organic farmers across the country. If you don't know what blight is or how serious a threat, think Irish potato famine. (See Washington Post from last week.)

The ordeal has me rethinking the need for hybrids, you know the kind you see in the supermarket that are resistant to blight.

But for me to go back to a commercial hybrid, food scientists will have to start selecting for taste and not just size and travel compatibility.

Editor's note: no tomatoes were wasted in the writing of this piece. This mutilated heirloom was pulverized and mixed into a tasty organic salsa.

Critter Alert: Was That a Red-Tailed Hawk?

Birders may need to help confirm the identity of this bird, but I think it's a juvenile red-tailed hawk.
This little guy was perched on the fence protecting our neighborhood Sled Hill, which is being re-seeded and restored for what we hope will be a snowy sled-friendly winter.

He let me get pretty close, but flew to the next fence level when I crossed the line.

Here he is with Future Farm Boy, who is proving he can climb the biggest rock all by himself.
He got up...though I had to help him get down.

Best Burgers Ever

I wish I could take credit for this delectable creation. But no, these little as-yet-to-be-named butter burgers are the iFarmer's...all the way.

He continues to improve upon them. But here are the basics:

Organic ground beef, mixed with hearty slivers of garlic, toasted walnuts, salt & pepper; topped with caramelized onions and goat cheese.

He's started using whole wheat buttered rolls slathered with a homemade Cajun mayo to pull it all together.

Absolutely fantastic.

Guerrilla Gardners Take on Chicagoland

So fun to see this article at MatadorChange about how guerrilla gardeners known as "Trowels on the Prowl" have taken on parts of Chicago and Evanston.

One of the really neat community consequences of guerrilla gardening is that a more beautified community feeds on the positive energy.

But there are downsides...like that the guerrilla gardeners don't actually have a right to garden (nor do they have permission to garden) their targets. Hence the battle up in Evanston, where the owners of an empty lot and gardeners are at odds over whether to allow the GG's "seed bombs" to result in prairie flowers or just mow it down so it doesn't look unkempt.

See Chicago Trib article, "Evanston 'guerrilla gardeners' want t know who cut their wildflowers."

At this point, it seems to me that there will be no winners here until there's some face-to-face discussion.

See photographic evidence of the first action by Trowels on the Prowl, about this time last year, memorialized in a Flickr slideshow. Click the image to view.

Straw hat tip to @Richard_001.

Is Your Farmers Market One of America's Favorites?

I have to only imagine that the Oak Park Farmers Market wasn't a contender in American Farmland Trust's contest naming America's Favorite Farmers Market.

Had I been paying attention, I would have submitted a nomination or urged one of my favorite farmers to submit the market, which is truly a treat. [I won't go on about the live bluegrass or donuts.]

Plus, I'm sure the 60 markets that received the most votes are all fine markets.

Indeed, it was a thrill to see the Minnetrista market in Muncie, where my families strawberries are sold, was No. 3 on the medium-sized market list.

But it only needed 323 votes to be No. 3.

Here were the top three in each category:

Small
Collingswood Farmers Market
Collingswood, NJ
Votes: 1031

Medium
Williamsburg Farmers Market
Williamsburg, VA
Votes: 725

Large
Davis Farmers Market
Davis, CA
Votes: 3064

Other Midwest markets on the large market list included:

Bloomington (IN) Community Farmers Market, which came in at No. 8, with 162 votes.

Chicago's Green City Farmers Market, which came in at No. 15, with 122 votes.

Feel cheated? There's still time to cast your fresh local food vote at Care2.com’s Love Your Farmers Market Contest (voting through Sept. 17).

The Oak Park Farmers Market is here: http://www.care2.com/farmersmarket/3299 and only has 115 votes as of this posting, not even enough to get it into the top 100.

Straw hat tip to Rhea Kennedy at Examiner.com.

Now Even the Politicians Are in Favor of Urban Ag

Nice to see the Associated Press do a bylined story about how large cities are growing community gardens in as many vacant spaces as they can find.

Here's the trend AP's identifying:

In the grittiest, grimiest, most unlikely neighborhoods, in cities including Los Angeles, Detroit and Miami, volunteer farmers are growing food that provides not only for those who work the gardens, but also for neighbors, food kitchens and school lunchrooms.

How do they know? Well, LocalHarvest.org, has registered hundreds of new community gardens since 2008.

One city on the forefront of the trend is San Francisco, where Mayor Gavin Newsom has ordered "all city departments to identify unused land, including empty lots, rooftops, windowsills and median strips, that could be turned into community gardens."

The volunteer/city-run Alemany Farm, a 4 1/2 acre organic farm, is one of its showcases.

It's a bold social experiment that, if it succeeds, will be a win win for the city and a model for other urban (and suburban) areas.

Even Veggie Waste Can Be Delicious

One of the biggest challenges of shifting my family's eating habits from grocery to farm fresh is the amount of waste.

When I buy fresh beets at the local Jewel, I don't often find them attached to their same-colored stems and leafy greens. That's a shame, because those greens, as I have recently learned, are edible.

So is so much of what gets tossed in the name of convenience and efficiency in order to display it to us in clean piles or neatly wrapped packages.

I didn't really know what to do with all these extras either. And I admit that I don't always feel inspired to find out how.

That's one advantage to the folks who are already composting. Those veggie extras make for excellent soil.

I haven't started composting yet, but I am saving many of the extra stems, leaves, etc., and turning those into veggie and/or extra rich chicken stock for soups later.

BTW, the above photo is of the completed version of this easy recipe for sauteed beet greens from Simply Recipes, one of my favorite spots for kitchen how-tos.

VFG Test Kitchen Notes: To kick it up a notch, use extra red pepper flakes. I used a torpedo onion, which is pretty sweet when sauteed. Doing it over again, I'd cut the sugar in half.

My New Favorite CSA Discovery: The Torpedo Onion

I think besides learning how many new ways I can enjoy cabbage, my favorite new thing in my twice monthly CSA box is the torpedo onion.

It's not nearly as strong as a red onion, so don't judge it by the color of its skin.

To me, it's closer in flavor to a shallot or leek, but sweeter. That's how we used it tonight in our CSA-modified tortilla soup recipe.

Needless to say, I was delighted to see these Italian heirlooms in our half-share this week. [More on torpedo onions from the Wise Geek.]

I just love unpacking our CSA box on Wednesdays. Even though Kings Hill Farm sends me an inventory in a weekly newsletter, it's always a surprise, like opening a treasure chest and taking time to marvel at each jewel.

In addition to the torpedoes, I was thrilled to unpack a hearty supply of beautiful heirloom tomatoes. I immediately chopped up two that had been damaged in transport.

I tossed those with a cucumber from the box, a torpedo onion, basil, feta, salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Delish.

Also in this week's box:

Green and Red Cabbage
Summer Squash
Sweet Onion
Pablano Peppers
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Green Pepper
Jalepeno
Kale Medley
Cilantro
Red New Potatoes
Cauliflower
Cherry Tomatoes
Celery
Celeriac

This Green Vehicle Will Get You Where You're Going & Feed You Too

My favorite King Corn filmmakers are at it again, out to show the world - or at least Brooklyn - that fresh, local food can be grown in the most unlikely places.

Their vehicle of choice is, well, an actual vehicle.

Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, the guys who brought us the corn-free challenge and inspired my corn diary, have taken an '86 Dodge pickup and loaded its flatbed full of rich soil and heirloom veggies.

My favorite complaint from the filmmakers? Some neighborhood kid keeps eating up their basil.

Best part of this innovative urban agriculture pursuit? It's community supported agriculture.

The two have attracted 20 people to give them $20 to receive fresh veggies at each harvest.

Awesome.

Can't wait to see the documentary out of their latest experiment.

Read stories about Truck Farm in the New York Daily News and Village Voice.

See their Truck Farm Webisode 1 and Webisode 2.

Also, check out video of Truck Farm's teaser: