Strawberries First Blush at Restoration Farm

A carpet of green, accented by brilliant jewels of red, signals the start of a festive season. It’s not the yuletide, but the start of summer.

The strawberries fields of Restoration Farm offer the bright young things of summer.  Red to the core, they are like sweet pockets of juice that glitter under the late spring sky.  

I can’t fully embrace the summer until I’ve waded into the field and picked my first basket of fresh strawberries. These blushing berries belong to us, the first fruits of the season.  As always I celebrate their arrival by sneaking a taste of few berries right in the field.   It’s a little miracle to savor the dripping, delicious sweetness of a fresh strawberry, drenched by the sun and plucked right from the field.

The first strawberries of summer make for a particularly whimsical dinner salad of berries and slivered almonds tossed with local Long Island lettuce and asparagus.  

A taste of a single berry in the field at Restoration Farm is a miracle. A bowlful is a guilty pleasure! They are like no other berries on Earth!  

©2013 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved 

Heirlooms and Happiness

There are smiles aplenty at Restoration Farm.   The heirloom tomatoes - the crown jewels of the summer harvest  - are in full array.  

At distribution, we are each offered pounds upon pounds of colorful tomatoes – heirlooms, slicers, Sun Gold, grape tomatoes and cherry tomatoes.   My biceps flex as I lift the bag.

Heirlooms are that sweet spot where the sun just briefly kisses the earth leaving swatches of brilliant color.  And they are exceptionally sweet this season at Restoration Farm.  

The taste is almost impossible to describe – tart, bright, sweet, meaty, clean, sunny, fruity, acidic, rich – or the sum of all such adjectives.    Words just don’t seem sufficient.

Pop them like candy …

Or slice them atop sandwiches …

Just don’t cook the life out of them.

For me, a fresh Heirloom Caprese Salad is the way to go, adorned with fresh mozzarella and basil from the garden.  

No recipe.  No heat.  Just sweet, brilliant summer glistening on a platter.  Sheer happiness.  

©2012 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved 

Crisp and Tender – The First Greens of Restoration Farm

You come to expect an abundance of greens at the start of the growing season at Restoration Farm.   In late spring, the produce should be like the weather – brisk, full of vitality – and very, very green. 

The first distribution of the 2012 growing season means salads and greens will be the menu item of choice for some time to come.   If one tires of lettuce, there is a bounty of arugula, mizuna and bok choy to enjoy. 

The ubiquitous and super-nutritious kale is in fine form and in the field, hearty Swiss Chard is reaching towards the sky.  

As always, the farm is a busy place on weekends, and on this day, the fields resemble a lush, romantic landscape painting.  Head Grower Dan Holmes is working the tractor, and chatting with CSA members from his perch atop the vehicle. 

A cow from the historic village has wandered over for a visit.

We all greet the first distribution of the season with great anticipation.  The first greens of Restoration Farm are abundant, but precious, and not to be taken for granted.  The chance to eat these healthful and tender green shoots – just hours old – is a rare pleasure, and I celebrate the inauguration of the 2012 season with salads of freshly picked spinach leaves, adorned with red onion, mandarin oranges and sunflower seeds.   

Eating the bright and vivacious salad is just like tasting the potential of the youthful growing season with each forkful. 

©2012 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved  

Field of Greens at Restoration Farm

The heat wave has broken, the haze has cleared, and I wake to a glorious late spring morning. It is not just the rejuvenating weather that makes me smile. It is my first distribution of vegetables at Restoration Farm and the abundance of fresh spring greens brings a sense of renewal and promise as well.

I arrive early to help with the morning harvest. I am more experienced after several years as a CSA member, but there is more I can do. I am committed to helping more at the farm this season, learning about pasture raised chickens and fresh herbs, cooking more kale in creative ways and getting to know more of the volunteers who make up the community.

I always enjoy chatting with head grower Dan Holmes to get insights into the rhythms of the farm. The addition of animals has changed the pace. There are more people passing through, and there’s a level of excitement. And he, as the farmer, is constantly gauging and assessing and building on the collective events and experiences that take root in the soil. The farm is ever a work in progress.

Dan pairs me up with Leslie, a regular volunteer, and we begin to harvest spinach. I’ve never picked spinach before, and Leslie teaches me that you pick the large, outer leaves, allowing the new leaves to fill in the center of the plant. I learn that Leslie has a brick oven, loves to read books about food, and wants to learn more about baking bread. We agree to compare notes. A warm breeze buffets the field, tugging at my t-shirt as I stoop to gather spinach. In a short time, we have filled four milk crates with luscious green leaves.

Next we are joined by Dennis and move to the field of kale and Swiss chard.

We pluck the leaves and gather them into large bouquets for the afternoon distribution.

We take a jaunty ride on the back hatch of the truck to the garlic field at the north end of the historic village. I haven’t visited the field since last October when we planted hundreds of cloves. Now, the tall green shoots are waist high. We harvest the long curly garlic scapes at the center of each cluster. My fingers are fragrant with garlic.

Our pastured chickens are showing great progress. I’m amazed at how quickly they’ve grown in a few short weeks, simply by foraging in the fields.

Tricia, who is managing the Hardscrabble Chickens project, has been researching techniques and learning as much as she can to assure the best possible results when the first share of chickens is harvested. There is already a second flock of broilers in the brooder that will soon move to the field. It is a rare and special opportunity to be able to have a conversation with someone who has put so much thought, care, energy and enthusiasm into raising a product that I will eventually cook and eat.

There is an unexpected pleasure. While they weren’t anticipated for a week or two, the strawberries in the Sweet Field have ripened quickly in the past several days. I eat my first warm, juicy berry in the field and leave with a brimming quart of dazzling red fruit.

At the afternoon distribution the tables are a vision of greens.

For my evening meal, I celebrate the first spring harvest with an enormous just-picked salad of fresh spinach leaves garnished with orange slices, red onion and hard cooked egg. I eat the strawberries for dessert, au natural.

Greetings to the 2011 growing season at Restoration Farm. It feels just like a warm and welcoming spring sunrise.

©2011 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

Amber Waves of Grain

Late last fall as I was picking up my share of vegetables at Restoration Farm, I was pleasantly surprised to see some autumn lettuce had become available. Another member was picking up her share and offered me two heads of lettuce.

“I can’t think about salad anymore,” she told me. “I want something warm and comforting.” I gladly accepted the tender leaves of red and green lettuce.

Now, months after – and some two feet of snow later – I often wonder if that woman is longing for a green salad. The late spring lettuce is still a long way off, so I’ve been contemplating salad of the cold weather variety. At the final farm pot luck of the season, I tasted a wheat berry salad, and I’ve been considering the possibility ever since. I loved the bite and nutty flavor. But, wheat berries – also called hard red winter wheat berries – can be tough to find in your average supermarket. I finally made a trip to Whole Foods to buy it in bulk for literally pennies.

The wheat berry is a whole-wheat kernel packed with fiber and nutrients – vitamins B6 and E, magnesium, niacin, iron and zinc. The bran and the germ contain the majority of nutrients found in the kernel. The tawny grains are soaked overnight and then simmered for an hour on the stove. If anything defines the word “toothsome” it is the wheat berry. The plump, cooked grains have a hearty, chewy taste, and “pop” nicely in the mouth.

Once cooked, it’s simple to dress the wheat berry up a variety of ways and create a hearty winter main course salad. This recipe is a rainbow of color against the monochrome of winter white and combines the sparkle of orange zest, earthy red beets, crunchy orange carrot, sweet raisins, sharp scallions and plenty of those legendary amber waves of grain. One serving has 10 grams of dietary fiber. That’s plenty of nutrition, comfort – and salad – for a chilly night.

©2011 T.W. Barritt all Rights Reserved

Strange Visitors

Halloween is approaching and it’s time to revisit those spine-chilling horror film classics like War of the Worlds and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. At Restoration Farm, there has been an invasion of extraterrestrial produce. Are you ready for Attack of the Kohlrabi?

Invasion of the Daikon Radish?

Night of the Chinese Cabbage?

We have two options, Earthlings. Run for our lives … or make slaw!

Kohlrabi is a relative of broccoli, and is thought by some to be a hybrid of cabbage and turnip. The globe is actually a swollen stem. It can be eaten raw or cooked, and is similar to a crisp Granny Smith apple, although not as sweet.

The Daikon radish resembles a giant ghostly carrot. The white flesh can be eaten raw or cooked, and has the sharp, slightly pungent taste of turnip.

Chinese Cabbage invaded planet Earth in Asia in 500 A.D. While not offering much in terms of nutritional value, the lacy leaves are great in stir fries and soups, delivering lots of fiber and few calories.

The best thing about slaw is you really don’t need a recipe. The food processor is your best weapon against attack. Mine contains a full head of cabbage, one large radish, one head of kohlrabi and some sliced peppers. The dressing is 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 4 tablespoons sesame oil, 3 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon honey and 1 teaspoon dry mustard whisked together. Toss with chopped peanuts and black sesame seeds.

So, if you happen to hear something go bump in the night, or come face-to-face with an alien at the farm stand, make peace with a big bowl of slaw.

May the Fork be with you.

©2009 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

The Season of Greens – First Pickup at Restoration Farm

I’ve looked forward to the day like a 4-year-old anticipates Christmas. It’s the first CSA pickup at Restoration Farm.

The shimmering green lettuce entices me as I approach the distribution tent. There will be many salad days ahead. The board is precisely lettered with a list of the first yields of the season. There are tidy, beautifully-formed heads of lettuce, red kale, garlic scapes, arugula and mizuna greens and sweet crisp emerald-green snap peas. The produce is all clean and neatly ordered with care. The sense of excitement is evident among the other members who are picking up. Head grower Caroline Fanning is there, relaxed and chatting with members, although she is apparently days away from giving birth. It feels like a little community celebration. We are all connected through this first picking.

I stroll down the path to look over the activity in the fields ...

Volunteers are bent over tilling and weeding the fields. Yes, the weeds have arrived, but the first pickup has been welcomed with a glorious day.

The lettuce will be first on the menu for lunches and dinners. The kale is blanched and frozen for a future stir fry. I am determined this year to waste as little as possible and savor all that comes my way.

The season of greens is welcomed with a composed luncheon salad of lettuce, arugula, mizuna, chopped egg, tuna and kidney beans. The lettuce is only hours from the field, and it snaps with with all the history, community, care and good will nurtured at Restoration Farm.

©2009 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved