From the Field | FRESH Picked

From the Field

May 8, 2013

FROM DAIRY COWS TO VEGETABLES: LOVE DOVE FARMS

When John Dove was a kid helping his Dad on their 200-acre farm in Howard County Maryland he did not realize that one day he would be transitioning the family business from hay and soybeans to a diversity of naturally-grown vegetable crops. Johns says that he must have always been a farmer at heart though, because after studying Environmental Science at Towson University, he enrolled in the New Farmer Training Program at Calvert’s Gift Farm. Through the program, John immersed himself in a different sort of agriculture: one where there were not just two or three crops, but 30. Working with Jack and Beckie Gurley at Calvert’s Gift Farm, was at first overwhelming, but while the style of farming was different, the strong work ethic of the farmers was familiar. It was this experience that gave John the inspiration and confidence to think that he could make a living in agriculture.

Shortly after completing the internship, John carved out one acre of his family’s land and established Love Dove Farms. The 200 acres of land, currently owned by his grandmother and farmed for four generations, was originally purchased as a dairy farm. In the late 1980s, John’s parents sold the last of the dairy cows and began growing sweet corn, soybeans and hay. While John’s father still grows hay on about 100 acres, John is expanding vegetable production on his section.

Now entering his third season in operation, John hopes to cultivate five to six acres with the help of his girlfriend, Courtney, who returns from her full-time job every day to work in the fields and sell at farmers markets. The two grow a wide variety of vegetables from radishes to garlic, lettuce mix to sweet potatoes, all “naturally grown.” For John, naturally grown means that they use no chemicals or pesticides. The natural biodiversity on the farm is his biggest defense against pests. For example, by dispersing the potatoes in several sections over the cultivated acres, he’s able to confuse the potato beetles enough that they don’t get a strong foothold – although he does still need to do a fair amount of hand-squishing.

John has considered pursuing a certification system such as the national organic program. But he finds the face-to-face marketing at farmers markets and being able to share his story and farming practices directly with customers is much more important than any label. For now at least, John plans to focus on growing delicious vegetables and developing the business one step at a time. Visit John and Courtney on Saturdays at the Downtown Silver Spring FRESHFARM Market this season, and also check out their CSA.

Post by Laura Genello, FRESHFARM Markets Newsletter

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April 16, 2013

NUMBER 1 SONS: CAN YOU PICKLE THAT?

“Most people don’t realize how much of the food they eat every day is fermented,” says Caitlin Roberts of Number 1 Sons, a fermented foods producer new to FRESHFARM Markets. Sourdough bread, cheese, beer, chocolate, miso and wine are all the result of a fermentation process, and are far more mainstream than other fermented products like Kombucha. While fermented foods all have certain health benefits, it was taste that inspired Number 1 Sons to start making their fermented pickles, krouts and kimchi.

Growing up, Caitlin and her older brother Yi Wah ate well. Their mother was an advocate for vegetables and fermented foods play an important role in Chinese food culture. Years later, Yi Wah had accumulated nearly 15 years experience in the food industry working in a variety of high end restaurants in the DC area. While passionate about food, he was ready for a change of pace. He started experimenting with pickles using traditional fermentation methods instead of the more modern vinegar methods, and before long he recruited Caitlin, a current senior at William and Mary College, to the business venture. Number 1 Sons will celebrate a full year selling at farmers markets this May.

Yi Wah makes all of Number 1 Sons’ products at their production facility in Arlington, Virginia, carefully crafting the spice blends for each recipe. Unlike canning which creates a sterile environment, fermented foods embrace bacteria. Whether making their kale-chi or kicky kosher pickles, Yi Wah packs the veggies in barrels along with salt and spices. The naturally anaerobic environment inside the barrels encourages specific bacteria to go to work breaking down the sugars and starches, while the salt discourages other non-desirable bacteria from interfering. The bacteria release natural enzymes from the plant material in addition to lactic acid, and the pH inside the barrel gradually drops while the flavor deepens and develops. Yi Wah and Caitlin can tell when a particular product is ready by monitoring the taste and the pH. When the pH drops below a certain point, not only does the product generally have the “right” taste, but the acidity assures the safety of the food. While this process would happen on it’s own, Yi Wah and Caitlin can help facilitate it by adding mother brine from previous batches to the barrels.

While Caitlin says some of her customers swear their products could cure the common cold, there is a real science behind the health benefits of fermented foods. Not only do the live cultures present in fermented foods help aid in digestion, but often the nutrients in the vegetables are more readily available because of the enzymes released in the fermentation process. Plus, fermentation gives food layers of flavors. They taste really good.

You can find Number 1 Sons at the Downtown Silver Spring FRESHFARM Market and the FRESHFARM Market by the White House this year. Many of the ingredients for their products come from other FRESHFARM Markets farmers, such as Bigg Riggs Farm and Spring Valley Farm and Orchard. Yi Wah and Caitlin scoop all of their products at market directly from the barrels, allowing customers to choose the size they want, anywhere from 8 oz to half a gallon. For Caitlin, selling at farmers markets is a rewarding way to do business: she enjoys meeting her customers and seeing their instantaneous reaction as they try things for the first time.

Post by Laura Genello, FRESHFARM Markets Newsletter

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March 26, 2013

GROWING AGAINST THE GRAIN AT NEXT STEP PRODUCE

It’s now officially spring and the new growing season approaches with the first signs of its arrival: watercress plucked from streams, morels and ramps foraged from woods, and soon, green garlic, asparagus and rhubarb. However, the weather is not the only source of new things at the Dupont Circle FRESHFARM Market. As you gather bunches of tulips and kale, a newly purchased stone mill heads all the way from Germany towards Charles County, Maryland. By the end of April, you may be baking bread from locally grown, locally milled, organic flour.

Three years ago, Next Step Produce began offering whole barley, oats, rye and wheat at the Dupont market, another distinctive product from the certified organic farm that has long brought such rare items as Kiwi berries, persimmons and, last summer, a curtain of yard-long Sicilian squash. Nearly half of Next Step’s cultivated acres are currently dedicated to growing a diverse array of grains, from oats to barley, wheat to rye. Some crops like millet, sorghum and rice are still in the experimental stages as farmers Heinz Thomet and Gabrielle Lajoie determine suitable varieties, ideal planting times, harvesting and cleaning techniques and culinary qualities. With others, such as wheat and rye, they feel more confident and are ready to move to the next step: flour production.

The white flours of the grocery store, Heinz says, have an unlimited shelf life, but are lifeless. The bleaching process is an accelerated aging process that destroys the nutrients and enzymes, yet endows the grain with that fluffy, Wonder Bread baking quality so sought after half a century ago. Heinz plans to mill his grains fresh in an old fashioned way to preserve their nutrients and natural baking qualities. But since unbleached flours have a limited shelf-life, the process represents a substantial business investment and a risk.

Grain production requires land, time, knowledge and equipment. While growing grains may not be all that intimidating, harvesting, cleaning and processing them is another matter. Even purchasing seeds can be difficult, as many of the grains grown in the U.S. are used for animal feed and do not meet food-quality expectations. In learning about grains, Heinz found an ally in Mike Bergstrom of Great Falls, Montana, who has been cleaning grains for years and was able to offer some much needed guidance.

Heinz uses a tractor pulled combine to harvest. The machine cuts, threshes and roughly cleans the crop, separating the grain from the straw; however, it does not separate wheat from weeds. Vetch from the field and weed seeds must be removed. Heinz uses a different set of cleaning machines depending on the specific conditions: some machines sort broken kernels from whole kernels, while others are specifically geared towards removing vetch or separating round seeds from oblong. But, first everything goes through an air screen cleaner, which separates the chaff from the seeds and grades the kernels. Perfecting the method of cleaning grain takes experimentation, finesse, patience.

While the expansion from produce to whole grains and flours signals new growth for Next Step Produce, the move is not surprising for its farmer. Heinz Thomet grew up on an archetypical, Swiss farm with fields devoted to grain. His grandfather’s occupation was mainstream at that time, with the majority of the population still involved in agriculture in one way or another. Rural families maintained subsistence farms: diverse crops, fruit-bearing trees, a few hens and pigs for self-sufficiency with one or two cash crops. Upon coming to the U.S., Heinz continued gaining experience on farms in New York State and New Jersey, before leasing the land in Charles County, which then became his own family farm.

You have to respect the earth, he says, when you ask why he decided to grow what many consider a midwestern crop in the Mid-Atlantic region. Think about the first photograph taken from space: our planet revealed as a fragile, finite orb in a vast universe. If you live on Earth, you have to take responsibility and take care of what you have. Nothing begins on impulse, he maintains. Impulses mature gradually for farmers. In the beginning, he says, when you start farming your own land, you stoop. You cast your eyes down, work hard and keep the banker pleased. Things grow. A rhythm develops, and you have a chance to look up and around. Every day you look at your land, evaluate what is there and think about what it offers on its own.

For Heinz and Gabrielle of Next Step Produce, to be farmers should mean to leave the land in a better condition than when they found it. A mission to grow nutrient-dense food from richer, finer soil underpins life at Next Step Produce. After a decade of vegetable and fruit production, moving forward with grains simply fits into this vision.

Post by Elizabeth Dunn and Laura Genello. Photo: Elizabeth Dunn

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March 12, 2013

SEEDING IN THE CLASSROOM WITH BIGG RIGGS FARM

This time of year, many farmers spend a fair amount of their time in the greenhouse, hunched over an endless supply of soil-filled trays, seeding. Calvin Rigglman of Bigg Riggs Farm, spends much of his time instead in the classroom of a local West Virginia High School. He is busily seeding, too, but he is doing so with the 40+ students in the high school’s Greenhouse Management and Horticulture Class.

Every year, Calvin starts about 60% of the seeds for his 18 acres of vegetables with the high school students. Calvin spends two to three days/week in class, showing the students not just how to seed, but sharing his farm’s story and giving them valuable insights into seeding schedules and methods. While Calvin claims to spend more time now sitting in class and paying attention than he did in high school, the program has been mutually beneficial. The students are able to learn from an experienced farmer, and Calvin not only gets valuable help at a busy time of year, but also meets many future employees in the classes. Most of his market staff were once students in the seeding program.

For those of us in the cities or suburbs, a high school with an agricultural class may seem a bit exotic, but in Hampshire County, West Virginia it’s an established part of the curriculum. In fact, the school where Calvin works offers a wide variety of agriculture-related courses, such as a Veterinary Science Program where students get the opportunity to raise animals. Calvin said he wished he had been more aware of the benefits of the ag-based classes when he was in high school. Instead, he says, it wasn’t until after he deployed to Iraq during his time in the Marine Corps that he realized that farmers markets could play a roll in his family’s business. Upon completing his service in the military, Calvin returned to his family’s farm, and expanded the business beyond a simple roadside stand to a thriving farm and orchard, whose products can be found at several FRESHFARM Markets, including by the White House and Crystal City, as well as major retailers such as Whole Foods. Calvin shows no signs of slowing down, constantly thinking of ways to expand or improve his farm. Working with the local high school students is just one way he can give back to the community and help the next generation of farmers.

Post by Laura Genello, FRESHFARM Markets Newsletter.

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March 5, 2013

NORTH COVE MUSHROOMS COME TO SILVER SPRING

Every year, the FRESHFARM Markets staff reviews hundreds of applications from new farmers and producers for a handful of spots at market. We comb through piles of paperwork, make phone calls and visit farms and kitchens all over the mid-Atlantic to try to make the best admission decisions. Making these decisions is a heartbreaking process, but visiting farms and learning the growers stories is always fun. In less than a month, newly admitted North Cove Mushrooms will begin selling their oyster and shiitake mushrooms every week at the Silver Spring FRESHFARM Market. Their story began just over two years ago.

Robin Serne and her partner Eason Burke knew they wanted to try their hand at organic farming. Robin had worked on various vegetable farms in North Carolina, but they struggled to find land that would suit their purpose. When a piece of land on Eason’s family’s property became available, Robin and Eason faced a tough decision. The land was forested, the trees serving to protect the valuable mountain soil. Cutting down the trees would have felt wrong. But, Robin read a few books on mushrooms, and became inspired. After visiting local mushroom farms, the couple decided to take a leap of faith and try it for themselves.

Today, two years later, Robin and Eason have an indoor mushroom cultivation facility they built themselves and a year of solid experience growing mushrooms for restaurant sales. Their facility looks a bit like a greenhouse, but rather than clear plastic, the frame is covered with a thick layer of R-30 insulation sandwiched between two heavy duty sheets of opaque plastic. The grow chamber requires a climate controlled environment with impermeable floors, walls and ceiling that can be pressure washed for sanitation. Inside the facility, Robin and Eason spend their time tending mushrooms.

Every week, they order mushroom blocks made out of saw dust and grain (recycled industry byproducts that would otherwise be destined for a landfill). The blocks come inoculated with mycelium, the web of fungal hyphae that would be somewhat analogous to the roots of a plant. Robin and Eason immediately clean the blocks to remove any mold; then they are soaked, rinsed and cleaned again. Finally, the blocks are moved to the grow room where they sit for seven days. They receive light for 12 hours/day to enhance mushroom color and nutritional properties, the temperature is kept at 65 degrees, and every hour fresh air is flushed through the system. After a week, the mushroom fruiting bodies develop and Robin and Eason begin harvesting. They pick from each block for four days; then clean and move the blocks to a separate drying room for a week of rest. After seven days, they soak the blocks and the process starts over. Each block is grown out in this way twice before being composted.

Robin says the time they spend removing mold from the blocks makes their operation a bit unique. Mold, she says, is like their version of a cabbage-moth, that voracious agricultural pest that is the bane of any Brassica. She says many growers either don’t do anything to prevent mold-growth, or they will spray their blocks with a bleach solution or even a formaldehyde-based chemical. Robin and Eason physically cut the mold from each block and use only food-grade hydrogen peroxide to sanitize the wound. Hydrogen peroxide won’t harm the mushrooms, and some species even excrete hydrogen peroxide through their mycelium as a natural pest control.

This season, Robin and Eason will be expanding from three to four farmers markets, but they also hope to continue developing their farm as well. They are currently working on building a machine that they can use to pasteurize media and make their own blocks. They hope to experiment with other varieties, and maybe even forage wild mushrooms. Find them in Silver Spring starting this April!

Post by Laura Genello, FRESHFARM Markets Newsletter.

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February 26, 2013

GREEN ZEBRAS & YELLOW PEARS: SEED STARTING FOR THE GARDEN

I am always surprised by how seed starting time sneaks up on me. One day, I’m ripping frost bitten tomato plants from the ground in preparation for winter, and the next, panic strikes as I realize I am already seeding my onions late. Agriculture is a year round occupation, and while winter on the farm is different than July or August, the farmer starts thinking about those hot summer months often before he or she has finished thinking about fall.

While every farm or garden is different, generally seed starting begins in late January or February, and if you are interested in having a garden this year, it’s not too late! While seedlings will be readily available at market, starting seeds can be rewarding. Not only do you get the satisfaction of taking a plant from seeding to harvest, but you can select the varieties that are best suited to your conditions and taste. Here’s a brief guide on seed starting for anyone who doesn’t have the luxury of a greenhouse.

1. Come up with a Plan and Buy Seeds: While the planning part may sound daunting, the buying seeds part is easy. Most seed catalogs are available online, and will carry more plant varieties than you have ever heard of. My personal favorites are High Mowing Seeds (all certified organic) and Johnny’s. Use caution, it can be easy to over-order with all those beautiful pictures, but remember you don’t need 20 tomato varieties for your family of five (try 5 to 10 plants instead and you’ll still be making sauce). For planning, turn to a “planting date” chart like this one…. or this one. With the exception of onions, tomatoes and peppers, which are generally started a couple of months before the anticipated transplant date, most crops are seeded approximately a month before transplant. These planting charts will also tell you which crops, like radishes, carrots or arugula do best direct seeded in the ground.

2. Invest in the Right Equipment:

Lights: If you have a really sunny home, it is possible to start seeds in trays on the windowsill, but for those without plentiful south facing windows, grow lights make all of this possible. Don’t go out and buy an expensive hanging grow light set-up: you can make your own. I use four, 48’’ fluorescent bulbs, mounted in two “shop light” fixtures. Not all light bulbs are created equal: look for a full spectrum bulb that has high output in both the red and blue frequencies. You’ll also want to pick up an inexpensive light timer as well, so you don’t have to flip a switch twice a day. While a heat mat will help jump start germination, it is not at all necessary in a warm home or heated garage

Containers: You can use almost anything to start seedlings and grow plants: old yogurt containers, egg cartons, peat pots, as long as you allow for water drainage from the bottom. I prefer using seeding trays. While a professional will choose trays with the minimum cell-size needed for each plant variety, I find four, 50-cell trays more than adequate for anything I grow (plus, they fit perfectly under my 48” light fixtures).

Finally, have fun! Don’t stress if you miss a seeding date. Most plants are more forgiving than the planting charts or seed catalogs would imply. Be sure to water your seeds daily, and make arrangements with an obliging partner, roommate or neighbor to take care of them if you’re away. Some of your seedlings will fail, but don’t stress about it, you’ll have enough success to make it well worth your time, and you can always purchase seedlings at farmers markets in the spring as a back up plan.

Post by Laura Genello, FRESHFARM Markets Newsletter

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