It may not fit the traditional definition, but there is some very exciting economic development happening in Lake County this summer that is of special interest to folks who love local food.  This week, the first fruits of the Hispanic Growers Project will arrive at farmers’ markets in Painesville, Lake Farm Park, and Mentor as a result of a wide collaboration and the hard work of five Lake County families.

Maurine Orndorff, Agriculture Programs Technician with the Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District, is working together with team that won grants from OSU’s Center for Farmland Policy Innovation and the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Rehabilitation Program to launch the program.  Veronica Dahlberg, Executive Director of HOLA (Hispanas Organizadas de Lake y Ashtabula) helped select the first families to participate.  Jeff Hyrne, owner of Lake County Nursery, donated land, irrigation, and technical support.  Even though planting started late because of delays in finding land, the families are growing onions, squash, cilantro, corn, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, three kinds of beans, watermelons, purslane and tomatillos.

Bruce Cormack of Cormack’s Market Garden and Nacho Villa from the Hershey Montessori School have given technical assistance to the growers.  Parker Bosley has been working to find farmers’ markets and restaurants for the products.  Professor Tom Lix from Lake Erie College is documenting the experiment for future expansion. 

On July 9, 2009, John Niedzialek invited the entire Western Reserve RC&D Council, which had endorsed the project, to visit the garden plots at Lake County Nursery and meet some of the families.  It was truly exciting to witness the hard work and enthusiasm of these five families as they succeeded in turning vacant land into beautiful crops which starting this week they will sell to eager customers.  In South America, this effort is known as “La Milpa” which means “homestead”, a chance for independence and success.  If that’s not economic development, I don’t know what is.

Check back here for updates on the Hispanic Growers Project!

It all came together pretty easily. Maybe because it was all so local. Maybe because a group of interested people were committed to making it work. Maybe this will be the beginning of a larger local food movement for our own area.

We recently participated in hosting a screening of the documentary, “Polycultures: Food Where We Live” on a Monday evening in a nearby community. It was slated to be shown at an outdoor location, the Warren Community Amphitheatre, a beautiful venue built into the hillside rising up from the Mahoning River in the historic section of downtown Warren.

Bobbie Brown, Director of the Fine Arts Council of Trumbull County (FACT) coordinated the event. She’s a dedicated supporter of local food, really anything local, as she is a Trumbull County native and relies on her strong connections to the community to do her job. She is also a subscriber to the CSA we coordinate for a group of local farmers in our area.

The director of Polycultures, Tom Kondilas has a connection to the Warren area. His parents are both from Warren.  He graduated from school here, and had many relatives present at the screening to offer him support.

Interviewed in the film in his role as Ohio Farmers Union president, is Joe Logan, a life-long resident of Gustavus, in northern Trumbull County.  His family has farmed there for  five generations. Joe currently serves as Director of Governmental Affairs for OFU; years ago we custom-raised dairy heifers for him.

On this evening our goal was to showcase farmers who are working hard to produce food that is raised locally and naturally and bring their products to the attention of a wider audience.  

Here’s what we served, free of charge before the film screening:

Grass-fed Beef Sliders with caramelized onions and cheese– grass-fed beef produced by us at Miller Livestock, Kinsman, Ohio topped with grassfed cheddar cheese. The cheese is made from milk produced by a group of dairy graziers in New Wilmington PA who Aaron has had a longstanding relationship with; this is the same group who grows vegetables for the CSA we subscribe to. The onions were from KJ Greens in Bristolville, OH.

Savory Bread Pudding with Tomatoes  - tomatoes grown at Red Basket Farms, Kinsman, Ohio, milk from Hartzler Dairy, which is featured in the film, and eggs from Broadview Farms.

And a Blueberry Crisp made with blueberries picked locally. We also made a light, refreshing summer drink by putting cucumbers, which Bobbie is growing in her plot at a community garden in Warren, and mint from another CSA subscriber, Kim Mascarella, who coordinates a farmer’s market in Howland Ohio as a part of her job as Assistant Planning and Zoning Director for that community, into icy cold water and served milk from Hartzler’s.

All of the food was prepared and served by Melissa and Steve Murphy who own the Blue Iris in downtown Warren; Melissa estimates they source about 80% of their food locally in season.

 The food was sourced from within a 50-mile radius. It was delicious, fresh, and full of flavor. People were blown away!

We passed out information about the sources for the food, the farmers’ market, and the restaurant before the screening. Kondilas spoke briefly to the assembled crowd and afterwards was available to talk with people and answer some questions.

So we made some connections. With other farmers, with chefs, between people we know as our customers and some we hope will become our customers in the future. Connections between people we’ve known for years or those we have recently met who were a part of the Polycultures documentary.  Between the people who were present at the Amphitheatre, who are completely new to the local food movement and those who’ve been working in it as their vocation, passion, or profession.

 Strengthening connections. Building community. A satisfying, successful evening.

Melissa Miller, Miller Livestock

Cilantro is a member of the carrot family and closely related to parsley. It is actually the leaves and stems of the coriander plant. It has a dark green leaf and distinctive aroma.

Cilantro can be used in a wide variety of Mexican and Asian dishes but my favorite use is to chop up several cups and add diced tomatoes, chili peppers and a bit of garlic and salt to make a simple and delicious salsa. Bring on the chips!

Cilantro is primarily used for flavor and is not a significant source of vitamins or minerals with the single exception of vitamin K, where 1/4 cup provides almost 20% of your daily need.

Cilantro begins to appear in our farmers’ markets in June and then you can find it all summer long. You don’t need to worry about storage, just buy it fresh as you need it.

Of course, in the fall, you can dry some to have through the winter. Like most herbs, you can simply hang the stems until dry and crumble the leaves into a glass jar for storage.

Cilantro is one of those herbs that you’ll find more and more uses for, once you begin enjoying its unique flavor.

Ken

Underpaid and Overworked - the old adage applies to farmers, ‘cottage’ vendors and market managers alike.  Farmers markets are full of folks working, not for the love of money, but in pursuit of lofty ideals.  Be it ‘local food’, sustainability or self employment, all of us have our reasons for doing what we do; and we toil long and hard for what we believe in.

The struggle continues as well intentioned government oversights create unintended consequences for small scale, independent businesses and farmers.  Cuyahoga County Health Inspectors are shutting down vendors at area markets in front of customers and damaging their reputations for violations which are subject to interpretation.  The issue is the cooling of meat and dairy products.  Inspectors can deem mechanical refrigeration necessary for any item containing dairy, even baked goods, at their discretion.  However, some items can be kept at the proper temperature with simple coolers.

The mechanical refrigeration requirement affects at least a third of all vendors at farmers markets as well as the markets themselves.  It is costly for vendors to purchase refrigeration units and it is costly for farmers markets to set up the infrastructure to provide electricity to these additional vendors.  These costs may be prohibitive, cutting in to vendor’s already slim profit margins and market’s tight budgets.  Perhaps inspectors could take these things into account as they ‘interpret’ the mechanical refrigeration requirement. 

Jenny Burger, Market Manager

Kamm’s Corner Farmers’ Market

Editor’s Note:

This issue is not new, nor is it going away.  Those of us who love our markets and the great food they provide must stay alert and active in supporting our rights to buy the kinds of foods we know are safe from farmers we trust.  Obviously, people have been selling meats, dairy, eggs, and bakery items safely for hundreds of years before there was electricity.

The City of Painesville is very excited to announce the return of the Main Street

Farmers’ Market.  The Market started in the middle of May with the farmers featuring early greens, beddings, hanging baskets, honey, baked goods; pies & breads, organic teas, coffee & beverages, candles, maple syrup & candy, jellies, vegetable plants, annuals, perennials, strawberries (when in season), craft items, early produce, hand crafted soap, herbs.  As the season changes from spring, to summer, then fall, an abundance of fresh, Ohio-grown fruits and vegetables will be added to the mix.  This marks the tenth year anniversary for the market and it will run every Thursday from 2 to 6 p.m.  The Farmer’s Market can be found in the parking lot of the Job & Family Services Building on Main Street between North State and North Saint Clair Streets through October 22.  Come and support your local farmers. 

For more information visit www.painesville.com.

Ears of corn that is. Fresh sweet corn cooked on the grill is something we look forward to all year.

Corn is a great source of several B vitamins and has quite a bit of vitamin C, phosphorus and manganese as well.

The most interesting thing about corn, however, may be new research showing it has very high levels of phytonutrients (read antioxidants!)! This is new, and the reason has to do with the form these nutrients take.

Foods like berries have very high levels of phytonutrients that are in a “free” form, easily and readily absorbed by the body. Similar nutrients in whole grains like corn, however, are in a “bound” form and not released until much later in the digestive cycle.

Using a new equivalency scoring system researchers found apples, bananas, spinach and broccoli all scored under 100 while corn came in at 181!

Grilling corn on the cob is simple. Soak the corn (leave those husks on!) in the sink for 20 minutes or so. Then, while still wet, individually wrap them in foil and put the foil packs on the grill for 20-30 minutes, turning occasionally.

If you are like me, I’m always short of grill space when we have guests over. Here’s a trick. You can cook corn the exact same way in your oven. Set the oven on 400 F and place the foil packs on the center rack. You and your guests won’t know the difference.

When the corn is done, you can remove it from the grill (or oven).  Something like OveGloves come in handy here. Remove both the foil and the husk and serve piping hot. You won’t believe how sweet the corn will be cooked this way.

Another favorite is corn and black bean salad.

Use a knife to remove the kernels from the cob to get 3 cups worth. Add in 3 cups of cooked/cooled black beans (rinsed from the can works just fine), two cups of diced tomatoes, one cup of crumbled feta cheese and two cups of chopped cilantro. Season with salt, pepper, chipotle powder and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

This tastes best if you can let it sit in the fridge over night to allow the flavors to develop.

Be sure to stop by your local farmers’ market to buy some corn now while it’s at its sweetest.

And ENJOY!

Ken

Well, blueBERRY, anyway.  Yes, it’s time to go to the market and find fresh, ripe blueberries grown right here in Northeast Ohio.

Blueberries are simply delicious when freshly picked at their peak.  Slightly tart, mixed with sweet they are wonderful all by themselves or cooked into pies, jams and other goodies. I like them mixed into a thick Greek style yogurt or as part of a blender smoothie.

Like strawberries, you can freeze blueberries to enjoy throughout the year. Like most fruits, it’s best to freeze them in a single layer (they freeze much faster this way) then put them in a freezer storage bag.

Blueberries are a great source of vitamins C and E and provide a decent amount of manganese as well.  But what you always hear about berries is they are high in antioxidants, right?

Well, blueberries are INSANELY high in antioxidants and top the food charts in that category. These antioxidants help prevent a wide range of health disorders from various cancers to macular degeneration. The key here is these wonderful nutrients develop at the very peak of ripeness….literally days before the berries spoil.  So how do you get all these healthful benefits? You have to find locally grown berries that don’t spend weeks in transit.  By now, you know where I’m going with this, don’t you???

The other thing to remember is these antioxidants are very delicate; so if you think you’re getting the same nutrition from some blueberry “product” you buy in a store, think again. The very highest levels are found in fresh and frozen blueberries. Even something that sounds like it SHOULD be nutritious, like, say, organic baby food, with processed blueberries contains almost no antioxidants whatsoever.

So enjoy your summer.  Enjoy these locally grown treats.  And enjoy knowing you are doing something good for yourself.

Ken

Editor’s note:  My daughter loves to snack on frozen blueberries while watching a movie in the dead of winter.  What a terrific alternative to popcorn!

All names for one of our favorite beans. Green beans are now arriving from local farms, fresh and ready to eat.

Green beans are a very low calorie vegetable with high nutritional value. They are a great source of vitamins K, C, A and manganese but they also contain a ton of other vitamins and minerals in lesser amounts.

Green beans can be found both fresh and frozen year round in your grocery, but nothing compares to the flavor found in freshly picked local varieties. Sweet and crispy, green beans can be added to salads, soups or casseroles. They are a great side dish on their own and are complimented well by the addition of a small amount of almonds or mushrooms. Steamed green beans can be added to potatoes and tuna for a delicious Salad Nicoise, a perfect summertime dinner.

Salad Nicoise:

14 oz canned light meat tuna in olive oil—drained and broken into chunks

3 eggs—hard-boiled, peeled and quartered

16 green beans—ends trimmed and halved    

2 small potatoes—peeled and cubed

4 cups lettuce leaves—washed and dried

2 tomatoes—cut into wedges

16 black olives

Dressing:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic—minced (crushed)

2 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon salt

STEAM the potatoes until tender (around 8-10 minutes), adding the beans for the last 5 minutes of cooking. Set aside to cool. ARRANGE the lettuce, potatoes, beans, tuna, tomatoes, eggs and olives on a serving platter. PLACE the remaining ingredients in a small jar with a screw-top lid and shake to combine. POUR the dressing evenly over the salad to serve.

Stop by your local farmers’ market and pick up some fresh green beans today. They’ll be delicious.

Ken

My memory is not the greatest, many details of my childhood seem to have slid into a slight remembrance of a feeling or mood, whereas, my sister quickly recalls everything.  Somehow my clearest memories are experiences related to food.  Lazy evenings spent on the couch while my mom made dinner listening to NPR; tomato fights in the backyard with the neighborhood kids—I’m sure my mom’s not too fond of that incident; picking raspberries and eating them until I couldn’t eat anymore.

Having evolved into a gardener, my brain touches on these experiences while I’m planting, weeding and harvesting.  Some of my fondest thoughts wander back to visiting my grandparents in British Columbia.  Having moved from a farm in Alberta, the climate in BC was much more tolerable; my grandfather was the gardener in a small town called Naramata in the Okanagon Valley, a haven for fruit growers.  Grandma canned everything from their garden and more, and I used to love to peruse the cold storage room, eyeing the neatly stacked jars of green beans, pickles, peaches, cherries and beets.  It was here that I remember Grandma taking us up the hill to hunt for wild asparagus. 

Later, Grandma and Grandpa rented a house on an orchard, and I would run through the cherry trees to the cliff that overlooked the Okanogan Lake.  My visits were in the summer, usually during peach and cherry season.  I would pick the ripe juicy peaches and bite right into them; outside it didn’t matter how messy we got.  That’s also when I got a taste for Bing cherries.  Now store bought cherries and peaches just don’t seem worth my money; they don’t even compare.  Bill June, the orchard owner, would employ my sister and me, paying us 5 cents for every bucket of cherries we picked.  And Grandpa taught us how to shoot the slippery cherry pits out from between thumb and forefinger.

G & G always had a wonderful vegetable garden.  Being the grazer then that I still am, I would rummage through their garden, munching whatever I could find, and that is when Grandma warned me not to eat the rhubarb.  I did try a bite, which fortunately was not very appetizing; and, believe it or not, I still love rhubarb!

My grandparents are no longer around, but they are with me all the time; when I put up my pea supports, or dig compost into the garden.  I also think about the lessons they taught me about frugality; lessons they learned and lived during the Depression.  And I’m not entirely sure why these memories are so sharp; I know smell is a memory trigger, and it could be related to that.  Or is it that food is a basic need, and being able to learn and remember plants is essential for survival.  Either way, I love fresh food; gardening is my therapy, and working as the market manager for the Tremont Farmers’ Market is one of the most gratifying jobs I’ve ever had.  Farmers are the salt of the earth, and I am proud to support them in any way I can.

Peace,

Jody Lathwell

Tremont Farmers’ Market Manager