Farm Market Time

Farm Market time is almost approaching and I can't wait! Farm markets are a great way to get fresh, usually local, fruits, vegetables and other home made goods. Prices vary by location, my current favorites are Logan Square and the Nettlehorst French Market. While Green City is big, I find it is often picked over and over priced. I made a google calendar to help keep track of what is happenning when and have made it public so I can share with anyone who wants it. Enjoy the flavors of the season!

Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm

About the Farm:

The first CSA I am going to feature is Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm. This CSA offers Beef, Pork, Poultry, and Eggs and is located north of Ottawa Illinois, on the banks of Indian Creek. That makes the farm approximately 84 miles from my home, well within my 100 mile radius.

The land is farmed by Jody and Beth Osmund and their children. The Osmunds were more than happy to provide me with information, pictures, and advice. Beth and Jody are committed to the local foods movement and re-establishing local economies. They also work in farmer education hosting workshops and teaching courses in several venues throughout the year. Jody informs me that "Sustainability is our watchword. What we do has to be sustainable in all aspects - environmentally, personally, agriculturally, and financially. Sometimes there is tension between these, our most important job is balancing these tensions and making the best decisions for our family, our customers, our farm, and our livestock."

Getting the opportunity to meet wonderful people, with such a strong commitment to change is just one more benefit of joining a CSA. Cedar Valley offers several ways for members to get to know their farm, including a spring farm tour, and a summer cook out.

About the products:

Now let’s get into specifics, Meat shares are sold in 3, 6, and 12 month increments. A 3 month share will cost you $255, or $85 per month, for which you will receive a box that will vary each month, but will always contain a variety of farm raised meat and eggs. One share usually contains 2-3 packages each of beef, pork, and chicken, and a dozen eggs.

Below is a sample of what a monthly share might contain:

Sample Monthly Share:

3 lb roast

2 lbs hamburger

1 lb Italian sausage

1 package (2) pork chops

1 pasture raised chickens (whole)

1 pasture raised chicken (cut-up)

1 doz. Farm fresh eggs

The 6 month will cost you $500, or about $83 per month, and the 12 month share will cost you $985, or $82 a month for a full years worth of local, healthy, humanely raised meat products. Cedar Valley also offers large quantity meats for those who would prefer to get it all at once and have room for storage. You can purchase beef by the whole, half, or mixed quarter. Pork is sold by whole or half hog, and pasture raised turkeys are available with deposit.

About the Animals and Husbandry Methods:

Cedar Valley's laying hen flock consists of a variety of breeds, most of which lay brown eggs. Thinking about sustainability is every aspect; the hens they choose are good foragers and are capable of surviving our cold Midwestern winters without supplemental heat. That is pretty amazing to me! The chickens raised for meat are Cornish cross chosen because of their taste and ability to adapt well to their farming methods. Cedar Valley's chickens are a truly free range, moving to fresh pasture twice a day. They eat locally grown grains, forage for bugs, and worms, grass, alfalfa, clover, and weeds. This highly diverse diet makes for healthy, happy, and tasty chickens.

The healthy looking animals at the top of the page are Hampshire/Duroc crosses. They are known to have a high quality of meat. Jody says that "cross breeds are healthier and grow faster, and these breeds offered the best available genetics, locally." All of Cedar Valley's animals are raised in such a way that they don't require drugs or antibiotics to promote growth or maintain health. For me, especially with pork, this is a very important fact.

The cows are Angus beef, a breed most of us are familiar with. The cattle are allowed to graze freely in small groups in the pasture, and fed on locally grown hay and grains.

Delivery Options:

Cedar Valley currently has the following drop off points, but these can change due to demand. While the Lincoln Square drop off works for me, I am happy to learn that a possible drop off at the Green City Markey in Lincoln Park/Lakeview is on the table.

Beverly
1^st Saturday of each month
1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Blue Moon Coffeehouse
1742 W 99th St Chicago

Oak Park
2^nd Saturday of each month
1:30-2:30 p.m.
100 S. Marion Street
Marion Street Cheese Market

Naperville
2^nd Friday of each month
6:30 – 7:45 p.m.
Cabernet & Co.
88 W. Gartner Rd, Naperville

Logan Square
3^rd Saturday of each month
1:30 – 3:30
Provenance Food & Wine
2528 N. California Ave.

Lincoln Square
4^th Saturday of each month
1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Provenance Food & Wine
2312 W. Leland Ave.

If you by chance are unable to pick up your box, a friend, neighbor or family member can pick it up for you, or you can skip that month and get the next delivery - while adding a month onto the end of their share.

Overview:

Cedar Valley farms is a great option for local meats. Sustainable farming techniques, sound decision making, good people, and great products make it a stand out choice for me. I have just joined this C.S.A and cannot wait to receive my first shipment. I know that price is a deterrent for many people, but I feel this is a great bargain. It is much better for us, and for the environment if we limit the amount of animal products we consume by ensuring that the meat we eat is responsibly raised and of the highest quality.

Special thanks to Jody and Beth and Cedar Valley Farm for all the help and answers to questions, as well as the great photographs shown above. For more information on this farm, please visit http://www.cedarvalleysustainable.com/index.html

Eat Local

I'm back, and I am about to embark on big experiment. I am in the initial planning phases of a plan to see if it is possible, plausible, and affordable to eat an almost entirely locally grown diet (within a 100 mile radius). I admit, I have my doubts about this. A recent article in the Chicago Reader , entitled The Whole Hog Project, Eat Local Year Round was my inspiration. I am in the research phase right now, and plan to begin implementation in the summer, when local crops are abundant.


It seems the days of Co-Ops are giving way to something new (at least to me) called CSA's or Community Supported Agriculture. It works in much the same way as a co-op. Essentially, you pre-purchase shares in a farm and when its time to butcher/harvest, you are given back a portion. This is a shared risk/shared reward venture, if crops yield is low, if it's another bad year for tomatoes, you feel that as well. One thing I really enjoy about most of the CSA's I have been looking into is the availability of information. Most sites give information on the breeds of animals they raise, their animal husbandry techniques, their farming methods (ie: biodynamic, perma-culture, etc.) and many encourage you to visit the farm to meet the people making your food and to touch the soil.

I plan to put this into action this summer when the crops are at their peak. I am going to purchase shares in selected CSA's and supplement this with trips to local farm markets to buy extras for canning and freezing to get us through the winter. One thing I have not yet figured out is where to get my grains, and dairy. Most of the CSA's I have seen do not offer dairy products or grains. I know that some grocery stores around me offer local milk at least. Grains I am at a loss for so that will be my next area of research. In my next few posts I will be highlighting some of the farms I am considering and highlight their offerings, and the costs associated with it.

Canning and Preserving Grapes and Plums

Autumn is my favorite time of year, and as we are winding down our harvests, it is a great time to open the kitchen window to let in the crisp Fall breeze and set to work storing goods for the coming Winter. I received a comment the other day from my lovely Sister-in-Law, asking what to do with the plums and grapes that she has in her yard, and since I was planning on making some food specific canning and preserve blogs, I figured this was a great place to start.


Grape Juice:

Start with any sweet grape, keep in mind 1 pound of grapes will only make about 1/2 cup of juice, so you will need a lot of them to make it worth your while.

1. Place your grapes bunches in a large stock pot or the kitchen sink filled with cool water. Separate each grape from the bunch and discard unripe or shriveled grapes.
   
2. Once you have finished this, divide your grapes into batches easy for you to handle, some recipe suggest this is about 4 pounds, and set about mashing them, you can use a potato masher, food processor, a food strainer, (I use the Victorio, but Kitchen Aid also makes good attachments) or you can use your bare or gloved hands.
   
3. Once you have all the grapes mashed, slowly bring them to a low boil, then simmer them over medium heat for 10 minutes.
4. Pour the cooked grape mixture onto a fine mesh sieve, or a double layer of cheesecloth placed over a large bowl and let the juice drain, once it has done so, gather up the cheesecloth and wring out any remaining juice into the bowl, or lightly compress the mash in the sieve. You may want to run it through one more time to make sure and keep out any impurities.
5. you can put the juice in the refrigerator and serve as is, or can or freeze it for future use.

Grape Jelly

1. Take 5 cups of finished juice from the above recipe, mix in 1 box of sure-jell and bring to a boil.
2. Stir in 7 cups of sugar and bring to a roiling boil. Let it boil for 1 minute then remove from heat.
3. Remove the froth from the top with a metal spoon, the ladle or pour into sterilized canning jars.
   
4. Using the boiled water canning method described in a earlier post, boil the filled jars for 10 minutes, then remove from water bath and set on heat resistant surface.
5. Tighten the ring 1 more time then wait for the satisfying POP that lets your know the jars are sealed.
6. Let sit for a few days to thicken and cool and then enjoy!
   

Asian Plum Sauce:

In a large pot mix the following:

• 4 crushed garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoons grater fresh ginger
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 2 cups water (use filtered or purified if you have hard or mineral rich water as this can spoil the canning process)
• 1/8 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 lbs plums pitted, peeled, and chopped
• the juice of 1 lemon

2. Run this mix through a food processor or on the puree setting of a blender then return to the large pot.

3. Bring the mix to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes

4. Mix together 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water mix out all lumps, then add to the heated sauce.

5. Continue cooking the sauce until it thickens, then pour into your sterilized jars and using the hot water bath method, cook the filled, sealed jars for 10 minutes.


Plum Preserves:

1. In a large pan combine5 cups pitted diced plums, 1 cup water, and 4 cups sugar.
2. Bring this mixture to a boil then reduce heat a bit and continue cooking
3. The preserves will begin to thicken and once desired thickness is reached, pour or ladle into sterilized jars.
4. Using the hot water bath method, heat the filled and sealed jars for 15 minutes.

Victory Gardens

As most of you know, home gardens, also known as Victory Gardens, were encouraged by the government during World War II to help lower food prices by decreasing demand. Nearly 20 million American's joined in the effort and from 1943-1945 it is believed that produce garnered from these Victory Gardens accounting for about 40% of produce consumed nationally, and may have been equivalent to the amount of commercial production in those years. Not only did home gardening increase, but home preservation as well. In 1942, 66,000 pressure cookers (used in only one method of canning) were sold, and it 1943, that number skyrocketed to over 315,000.

What was truly amazing about this effort was not the amount of food produced, but WHO was producing it. It was people without a traditional farm, people living in townhouses, apartments, and suburbs. People grew these vegetables in their front yards, on terraces, fire escapes, and even rooftops. Communities worked together, different neighbors growing different items and sharing, community gardens were built, and it became not only a act of patriotism, but a national pass time. With oil prices at an all time high, the cost of food production, and transportation is rising as well, especially with the average commercial food item in the United States being shipped over 1500 miles from farm to table.

In todays' Hot topic politics, it is unlikely the government will work on such an effort, so its up to us to do it for ourselves, and encourage our friends and neighbors. It may seem an odd time, early fall, to start talking about gardening, but it is the best time to get your plots preapred for the abundant planting in the Spring and Summer.

What you will need:

Garden Shovel





Rake







Hoe


Twine
Scrap wood posts (paint sticks actually work well)
Time
Soil test kit

How to do it in 10 easy steps:

1. Choose a spot in your yard with a good mix of direct and indirect sunlight
2. Decide what you want to grow, and do some research as to how much room you will need for each plant, this will help you estimate the size you want your plot to be.
3. Measure out your garden, place your stakes in the ground at each corner and a few along the edge lines for added support if your plot is large.
4. Rope off your area with the twine by wrapping it around the stakes.
5. Using a shovel (you can rent a rotor tiller from local rental places if you don't want to do the work by hand, this does release emissions, but you will more than make up for it by growing your own) dig into the sod and turn it over. Repeat this until your whole area is overturned.
6. Use your hoe to break up the sod clumps, the grass will most likely die on its own, but if you want to be sure, shake the soil out of the sod clumps and no not put them back in the garden.
7. Once your area is relatively broken up, run over the area with your rake to spread the dirt evenly. Perform a soil test to see the basic composition of your soil and determine what you will need to add to make the most of it.
8. Take any organic matter you have such as grass clippings from the lawn mower, leave you have raked up, etc. and spread it in an even layer over. You may need to add some other nutrients to your soil, a good mix is bagged manure and blood meal for nitrogen, bone meal for phosphate, and oyster shell lime for acidic soils. You may also wish to use Shellfish fertilizer, derived from Blue Crab shells and Shrimp Meal, which provides a wide variety of nutrients. Mix any of these additives into your compost and keep this up until you have a layer at least 2-3 inches thick.
9. Just before the first snows, cover your plot with a thin layer of hay or straw, this will help insulate and create an ideal environment for decomposition, which will turn your compost into healthy rich soil.
10. It's a long wait, but when Spring is finally here, use your rake to get rid of the straw/hay, and get the hoe and shovel out and turn the soil. You may want to test your soil again and see if it needs anything so that you have time to add some more nutrients early in the Spring so they have time to work into the soil before growing season.

There you have it, and it may seem like a lot of work, but once you have good soil and a cultivated plot, you have it for life. Once you see, and taste the fruits of your labor, you will know that your hard work was worth it.

A few sidenotes....

• If your soil is particularly poor, don't be afraid to bring in some top soil, or peat to help get you started.
• If you don't have space for a garden, consider mixing some vegetables and herbs in your flower beds, utilize patio, porch, or balcony space for container gardens, try to find, or better yet start a community garden, see if a neighbor with space would let you use some in exchange for fresh produce.
  
• While I encourage organic gardening when possible, weigh your options and decide what is best for you, I fully admit using some miracle grow when starting plants from seed.
  

Look for future posts on gardening techniques, organic pest control, and recipes.

Farm Markets

Eating locally is a very good thing for yourself, and for the environment. Eating locally produced foods often means that you are eating natural ingredients without preservatives, and things that are not pre-prepared. While they might seem overwhelming at first, once you get a feel for the flow of the market near you, you will be shopping with the best of them.

Below are some tips that might help you save some time, and money on your trip:

1. Don't be afraid to browse:Take a look around before you buy, compare the freshness and quantity of items at different sellers as well as the prices.
2. Think seasonal, and be Flexible: Don't go with a list of items you want, just see what is there and plan your meals after. Crops are greatly affected by weather and changes in rainfall, temperature, and sunlight can change the time your favorite produce is ripe by weeks.
   
3. Go Early, Go Late: If your market is busy, going early may be the best way to ensure you have your pick of the freshest and best looking produce. The earlier you go the better your selection will be. That being said, those who come near the end often get some great deals from Farmer's who would rather not carry leftovers home.
   
4. More than just Fruit and Vegetables: Farm markets often carry much more than fruits and veggies, try out locally made baked goods, farm fresh eggs and dairy products, honey, jams, and meats. If you wonder about the difference between farm fresh eggs and store bought, take 2 clear glasses, crack a farm egg in one and a store egg in the other and just look at the difference. Store egg will have a thick sticky white with a pale yellow yolk. The Farm egg will have a thin, runny white and a bright golden yellow to a early orange yolk. The shell is different too, you may notice it is a bit harder to crack the farm egg, its shell is thicker, harder, and break into pieces rather than shatters.
   
5. Get to know your farmer: After you go a few times, you will no doubt develop some favorite booths, get to know the people who run these, chat with them, and who knows, maybe they will cut you a deal, or thow in a freebie.
6. Buy in Bulk: Love fresh peaches? Wish you could savor that flavor all year round? You can! Simply peel, pit and slice your peaches, set them in 1 layer on a cookie sheet and stick in the freezer, after a few hours, move them into a freezer storage bag and they will last all winter. This method works for many fruits, vegetables, and herbs. You can also try your hand at canning.

Still not convinced the farm market is right for you? Many cities have local Food Co-ops, or private companies that obtain, deliver, and distribute fresh local produce for you. Here a few to check out and see how they work:

Irv and Shelly's Fresh Picks : Providing year-round home delivery of local and organic produce, meat, dairy and eggs.

Kalamazoo People's Food Co-Op :Full service natural grocery owned by its customers with goals of stimulating the local economy, creating a sense of community, and providing healthy, fresh food.

Project Fresh: Provides people receiving WIC, Low income seniors, and people receiving other forms of assistance with the ability to select fresh local produce from farm markets. Project Fresh is the name of the program in Michigan, and it is available in several other states as well.

Do a web search for services such as these near you! Still not convinced, here are just a few reasons to give it a try:

1) Freshness: Local food gets to the consumer more quickly, meaning it is fresher, and eating it at the peak of its ripeness means it has a higher vitamins and minerals content.

2) Cost of Transport: Most food travels an average of 1500 miles before it gets to you, and that's a lot of time, money, fuel, and pollution. Higher fuel prices means higher transportation costs, which are passed on to you, the buyer.

3) Supporting small, local, business: When you buy from a market or local co-op, you are most likely buying from small family farms rather than large corporations (which is where most of the food in this country now comes from) Breaking out of the corporate food cycle is a great way to take back control of how our food in produced.

4) It's Fun: To me there are few things more awesome than running out to the farm market on a Saturday morning, enjoying the interaction of people, sampling nature's bounty, and coming home with healthy treasures. It's also a great way to meet people in your community, and feel a part of something.

5) It's Educational: Take the kiddies along, let them learn where there food comes from and about the hard work it takes to grow it. Kids may even be more interested in eating there veggies when they are choosing them from a stand rather than taking them out of the freezer.

Canning

There has been so much buzz lately about eating locally, and I think it is a great idea! The problem is, for a majority of people living in climates that have vastly different seasons, getting fresh fruits and produce locally year round is not an option. How, you may ask, did people get past this before there were semi trucks and airplanes transporting food across the country and even the world? The answer is simple my friend, and it is canning.

Canning is a lost art, and because of the ease of buying canned goods from stores, most people don't do it any more, but luckily, I spent many a summer helping my family preserve the fruits of our labors. Mind you, I grew up in the city, so this is possible to do with even a small yard, and if you have no outdoor space or no desire to grown your own vegetables (although I highly recommend it) you can utilize you local farm market. If I can do it in a one bedroom Chicago apartment, you can to.

There are two basic methods of canning, the first is called a hot water bath method and the second is the pressure cooker method. I myself, have always used, and prefer the Hot Water bath and it is very simple. You cook and prepare the food to be canned, then pour it into sterilized canning jars, leaving about 1/4" inch headspace. Wipe any mess from the top of the jar with a clean towel, and place a clean lid that has been heated in boiling water over the top, the place the ring on and screw it down tight, but leaving a slight give for the glass to expand as it heats. You then place your jars in a canning kettle of water, once the water hits boiling, you start timing, and the jars must heat for 30 minutes.

Once the jars have been heated for 30 minutes, remove them from the water bath and set them on a stable, heat resistant surface. Using heat resistant gloves or a thick dishtowel, ensure the rings and screwed tightly on the jars. After the jars start to cool, you will hear popping noises, and this is a happy sound as it means your jars are sealing. You will see the lid has become concave and this means the jar has sealed. If a jar does not seal, you do not need to throw it away, simply remove the lid and ring, and replace with a fresh lid (you can always reuse the rings) and repeat the process.

Different foods may require different ingredients and cooking methods prior to putting the in the jar, for example, when canning tomatoes, it is best to put a small amount of salt and lemon juice in each jar to ensure the proper acid content. If you are ready to try it on your own, consult a book, Better Home and Gardens cookbook has a great section on canning and it my favorite tool when trying to preserve a new item. Ball also has an excellent website with tips and tricks at http://www.freshpreserving.com/pages/home/1.php


Definitions:

Sterilized Canning Jars: Jars that have been thoroughly washed and then heated either in a dishwashers hot cycle or boiled in hot water to ensure they are sterile for the canning process.

Lid: The flat metal piece that forms the seal with the jar.

Ring: Metal ring which screws on the jar to hold down the lid.

Headspace: The amount of empty spaces left in the jar for air, this usually is some portion of the rim of the jar.


Canning Kettle: The large pot used for boiled water canning, traditionally these are enamel, but come in several varieties. Inside, they have a rack which will hold the canning jars in place, racks are made for either quart or pint size jars. If your rack is not the right size for your jars, use dishtowels to keep the jars from banging into each other.





What's on my shelf?

• diced tomatoes
• tomato juice
• salsa
• pickles
• pickled peppers
• dilly beans
• chili sauce
• raspberry jam
• strawberry rhubarb jam
• peach jam