Mmm ... Monadnock!

Alyson’s Opening Day 2008

Lisa — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 10:44:56 +0000

Alyson’s Orchard was chosen by New Hampshire Magazine as the “Best Agricultural Experience” in NH 2008

Join us for Alyson’s Opening Day 2008! “A Season of Family Fun”

Saturday, August 16 (Rain Date: Sunday, August 17) 10AM – 6 PM

• Farm stand opens for the season – pies, jams, honey, cheese, maple syrup, chicken pies, gifts & more!
• Pick Your Own Paula Red Apples & Blueberries.
• Seasonal fruits (peaches, plums & berries) available at our farm stand
• Cook-out food & corn on the cob
• Free Hot dogs!
• Wine tasting - Sample our Apple Wines (12-3PM)
• Wagon Rides in our Fire truck wagon – free hats for the first 100 kids who take a ride.
• Face Painting for the kids
• 3-legged race with prizes!
• Live Music with “Chops” Polcari & friends

Located on Route 12 in Walpole, NH, 12 miles north of Keene and 4.7 miles south of the Route 123 bridge.
www.alysonsorchard.com
E-mail: info@alysonsorchard.com
Phone: 603-756-9800

Farmers’ Summer Feast

Lisa — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:39:41 +0000

Sunday August 17th 5:00pm

Slow Food & Herban Living

Join to Present

Farmers’ Summer Feast

Herban Living Farm
242 General Miller Highway
Temple, New Hampshire

Our Menu Features From Local Farms and Gardens:

Fresh Bread
Churro Sheep Sausage, with Peppers & Onions
Freshly Picked Squash
Corn on the Cob
Heirloom Tomatoes
Salads of Tantalizing Varieties
Handpicked-for-You Blueberry Delicacies
Fresh Baked Cookies
Fresh Whipped Cream
Refreshing Iced Tea

All ingredients from local sources!

This is an Event not to be missed!

Limited Seating, Reserve NOW!
$12 per person
Children under 6 Free
BYOB

Call Aasta at 603-547-2301 and send checks to:
Slow Food Monadnock
121 East Road
Greenfield, NH 03047

Slow Food Raffle
Tickets on sale now
1 for $5
5 for $20

Grand Prize

2009 Herban Living CSA Share
a $500 value

Grand Prize will be drawn August 17th

All other prizes will be drawn Sunday September 14th

(At Our Pizza Party, Details Will Follow)

* Garden Tour with Roger Swain
*Dinner for 8 by Aasta & Nell
*Slow Food Membership for 1 year
*Ben Watson’s Guide to Cider
*Slow Food Cookbooks
*Gift Certificates to local Establishments
and much, much more…

All proceeds will be used to sponsor our Terra Madre Delegate, Lisa Beaudoin of Herban Living.

www.herbanlivingbandb.com

All remaining proceeds will be donated to our local food pantries.

Nell Conkright

Tracie’s farm newsletter July 28-August 4

Tracie — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:09:32 +0000

We are continuing to trellis tomatoes as well as cleaning up some of the crops that have been harvested. We are harvesting, almost full time now. It’s been a big week for harvesting and hanging garlic. We are also seeding mesclun along with spinach, lettuce, radishes and cilantro so we will have these for the fall. We will also be sowing buckwheat (a cover crop that adds organic matter to the soil, keeps the ground covered to prevent erosion and leaching, and smothers weeds, all leading to improved soil conditions).

One of the many sustainable farming methods that Tracie uses on the farm is to plant cover crops. This year, growing right next to your summer squash, cucumbers, zucchini and melons is lots and lots of clover. Cover crops like clover help to: fix nitrogen in the soil, attract pests away from our veggies, increase organic matter in the soil, reduce soil erosion, increase water retention, and reduce weeds by out-competing them. All this means there’s no need for Tracie to spray chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides on the fields. Therefore, there’s less chemicals in the surrounding environment, and delicious, healthy, organic vegetables for us to eat! (Submitted by Meg Fairchild, a farm intern from Antioch New England, who also loves to educate you all!)

Blueberry Crisp Wheat Waffles

Jen — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:21:54 +0000

From Mad River Localvores

1 ½ cups cooked wheat berries*
2 Tbsp. softened & chopped butter
1/2 cup cornmeal
½ tsp. sea salt
1 cup milk
4 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
Blueberries*

To cook wheat berries, combine in a ratio of 1 part berries: 2 parts water and simmer 50 minutes.

Place wheat berries and milk in food processor and blend on high until smooth. Add all other ingredients, except blueberries, and mix. Fold in blueberries. Cook in waffle iron set on high for 6 to 7 minutes. Cooking longer will add crispness but watch closely as they can burn. These can work in a Belgian waffle iron, but work better in a regular iron.

Top with maple syrup, honey, other fresh fruit, maple ice cream, whipped cream, maple yogurt, mint syrup, or honeyed butter.

More NH Eat Local Challange Information

Jen — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:16:28 +0000

New Hampshire Eat Local Challenge
August 3 -9

The Seacoast Eat Local program, in coordination with the NH Department of Agriculture, is promoting a NH Eat Local week to coincide with farmers’ market week on August 3 - 9, 2008.

Celebrate the bounty of New Hampshire grown food! Mix and match challenges from any of the categories and see what a difference you can make for your local economy, your health, your community, and your environment.

Sprout
- Visit and buy at a farmers’ market or farm stand
- Cook and eat two meals from NH grown foods*
- Find a new farm to buy from
- Share NH grown food with a friend (either a meal, some fruit or vegetables, cheese, whatever works!)
- Eat out at a restaurant that supports local agriculture and order the most local menu item

Seedling
- Try a vegetable new to you from a farmers’ market or farm stand
- Find and buy a NH grown foodstuff that will be available year-round (maple syrup, honey, cheese, milk, butter, meat, etc.)
- Cook and eat 6 meals from NH grown foods*
- Bring a friend, who’s never been, to a farmers’ market or farm stand
- Eat out at a restaurant that supports local agriculture - let your waiter know why you chose to dine at that restaurant

Perennial
- Buy an in-season food in bulk and can, freeze or dry some for the winter
- Cook and eat 12 meals from NH grown foods (bonus points for inviting friends or neighbors over for one of these meals)*
- Replace a purchased foodstuff with one you’ve made yourself with mostly local ingredients: ex: ketchup, salad dressing, pickles
- Teach a friend or family member to cook a new recipe based on local food
- Encourage a local restaurant to increase their support for local agriculture-talk to the manager, chef or owner or provide information about local farms

* Exemptions for spices, salt, and small amounts of other ingredients are allowed

Share your commitments and ideas with others by clicking here.

- Elisabeth Farrell of UNH’s Office of Sustainability will be eating locally and blogging about it at Discover(ing) Sustainability

- Chef Gary Caron of the Dolphin Striker in Portsmouth, NH will be creating a special three or four course prix fix menu based on local foods for the week.

- Rachel Forrest of The Portsmouth Herald and Seacoast Online will be eating locally and blogging about it at www.seacoastonline.com/food

- Seacoast Eat Local will be encouraging individuals to take a NH Eat Local Week Challenge, in which consumers find new sources of local food, stock up for the winter, learn new cooking techniques, and find restaurants that support farmers.

Also, VT Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee is inviting his fellow Commissioners of Agriculture from all 50 states to join him in an Eat Local Challenge. Send an email to the NH Commissioner of Agriculture, Lorraine Merrill, asking her to join the Eat Local Challenge too - LMerrill@agr.state.nh.us.

NH Eat Local Week

Lisa — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:53:18 +0000

I saw this article from the Union Leader on MSNBC today.

This summer, for the first time, the state is trying a new sort of challenge to get residents to eat local. Merrill said next month’s New Hampshire Eat Local Week will coincide with Farmers Market Week.

There’s a website all about NH Eat Local Week, coming up on August 3rd to the 9th.

I think it would be great if we had a great showing from the Monadnock region. Even in New Hampshire, you could totally get all of your food that week from our food shed and even your own garden.

Grass Fed Beef Cooking Workshop

Jen — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:59:01 +0000

Have you ever grilled a steak and found that it tasted like a pair of shoes? Looking for a healthier, more local source of beef? The Hannah Grimes Localvore Project sponsors a Grass Fed Beef Cooking Workshop on Sunday, July 20 at 2:00pm, hosted by Brookfield Farm in Walpole. Learn cooking techniques and sample tasty recipes using less common and more economical cuts, like short ribs and round steaks.

Since 2000, Holly and Christian Gowdy of Brookfield Farm have raised Black Angus Beef Cattle on a grass diet on their own pastures or with hay that they produce themselves. They are in the final stages of transitioning their cattle to organic production. The Grass Fed Beef Cooking Workshop will take place at Brookfield Farm and there is a $5 workshop fee.

When : July 20th, 2008 2:00 PM through 03:30 PM
Location: Brookfield Farm, Walpole,
Phone: 603-352-5063
Email: tjm@hannahgrimes.com

Tracie’s CSA

Tracie — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 03:20:34 +0000

As well as organizing deliveries, making the packing area more efficient, harvesting, washing and bagging, last week was filled with weeding, planting the 4th seeding of mesclun, 2^nd planting of basil, 4^th planting of carrots, and 2nd seeding of summer squash, zucchini and cucumbers, planting sweet potatoes, staking tomato plants, trellising pole beans, spreading mulch and mowing.

There’s a lot that goes into growing and delivering these delicious healthy vegetables. Working shares are a vital piece in getting the farm work done. This year 15% of members are working in exchange for their share. 32 members come out once each week and help with all the aspects of getting this food to your door, from planting, to mulching, weeding, harvesting, washing, bagging, packing to delivering.

It takes a lot of work to get this food to your door and we couldn’t do it all without many hands helping out.

Last week I had snap peas on the list-sorry about that, it was a mistake, they are flowering and should be ready next week.

-Mesclun, Lettuce, Radishes, Spinach, Chinese Cabbage

-Herbs-Basil, Mint, Lemon Balm Rosemary, Savory, Cilantro or Parsley call or email for specific requests

-Kale/Collards or Chard One this week, another the next

-Bread: From Orchard Hill Bakery in Alstead, 835-7845

-Jam: Bee Tree Farm in Chesterfield 363-4631 or Barbara Fraser in Nelson 847-9555.

Strawberries are here!

Lisa — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:07:24 +0000

Oh, how I love strawberry season! My favorite little farm stand and nursery in Alstead (Bershear’s) has them, and I’m also getting some from my own garden.

I received this on the Monadnock Farmers‘ mailing list today:

We invite you to bring your family to enjoy an opportunity to pick strawberries from our 10 acres of scenic strawberry fields.

These luscious vine ripened berries are available everyday from mid-June to mid-July 8 AM to 6 PM.

Please call (603) 878-2351 for picking conditions.

We update the message daily.

http://www.barretthillfarm.com/

In the news

Lisa — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:59:23 +0000

I meant to post this when I first heard it but forgot, but luckily NHPR has it online.

On the exchange, John Greenburg interviewed the new Agricultural Commissioner Lorraine Stewart Merrill and there was a real focus on the Eat Local movement in New Hampshire.

Here’s where you can hear it:

http://www.nhpr.org/node/16101

Then today, MSNBC has a lead story about locavorism — (I hate that spelling!)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24994028/

For years, the idea of eating only food grown locally and in season was reserved for upscale chefs like Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., or serious hippies living off the grid, while the rest of us didn’t think twice about gulping down blueberries from Chile or avocadoes from Mexico.