edibleWOW Summer 2012 No. 19

edible WOW

The story on local food in Southeast Michigan

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No. 19 Summer 2012

The Future of Food Celebrating

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Michigan's Young Farmers

Member of Edible Communities

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food for thought

edible WOW Publishers Kate & Robb Harper

edible WOW

summer

Executive Editor Chris Hardman

A

ccording to the most recent USDA Census of Agriculture the average age of the American farmer is 57 and the fastest growing group of farmers is 65 and older. With that in mind we ask ourselves, who will grow the food of the future? To answer that question, our staff and writers spent the last year getting to know some of Southeast Michigan’s young farmers. What we found was so inspiring that we are devoting an entire issue to tell their stories.

Our young farmers are creative. They are pushing the boundaries of traditional farming, extending the growing season and producing food without the use of harmful chemicals. They are motivated by a love of the earth and a desire to protect it. They have chosen farming not only as a profession but also as a lifestyle that will nourish their family and their community.

We encourage our readers to support our young farmers as they grow their businesses and their farms. In their careful hands, the future of food in Southeast Michigan looks better than ever.

— Chris Hardman Executive Editor edibleWOW Magazine

Food Editor Pam Aughe, R.D.

2012

Copy Editor Doug Adrianson Web Manager Jessie Harper Writers Cara Catallo l Nina Misuraca Ignaczak Annette Kingsbury l Nicole Rupersburg Photographers Roxanne Adair l Lisa Dunlap l Kate Harper l Toby Millman Trevor Newman l Carole Topalian RECIPE ContributORS Pam Aughe R.D. l The Flint Crepe Co. Chef Andrew Hollyday l Chef Brandon Johns Intern John McKenna Contact Us edible WOW P.O. Box 257, Birmingham, MI 48012 248-731-7578 Advertising Sales Pam Aughe: pam@ediblewow.com Nancy Faralisz: nancy@ediblewow.com Robb Harper: robb@ediblewow.com Subscriptions Julie Blom Editorial Information

To write to the editor or to submit an article query, write to the address above or, for the quickest response, email editor@ediblewow.com. edibleWOW is published quarterly by edibleWOW LLC. All rights reserved. Subscription rate is $28.

No part of this publication may be reprinted or used in any way without written permission of the publisher. © 2012 Every effort has been made to avoid errors, misspellings and omissions.

If, however, an error comes to your attention, please accept our sincere apologies and notify us. Thank you.

Features

Departments

16

Sunseed Farm

8

Farm to Plate

23

Urban Pioneers

14

In the Kitchen

26

Roots to Fruits

20

In the Spotlight

30

Working at Nature’s Pace

42

Cooking Fresh

35

Animal Farm, 2012

38

Young Farmer Coalition

most “ Even weediest of weeds, the

edibleWOW is printed on 20% recycled (10% post-consumer waste) paper. All inks used contain a percentage of soy base. Our printer meets or exceeds all federal Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) Standards.

“

a purpose. has — Mark Angelini

Find us on

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Layout and Design Susanne Dudzik

You will have the opportunity to meet our young farmers on August 25 at the Greening of Detroit Live, Love, Local event at Eastern Market. We will honor all of the young farmers featured in this issue and recognize one farm with a Young Farmer of the Year Award. Watch our Facebook page for ticket information.

2011 James Beard Foundation Publication of the Year

June, July, August

Cover photo by Lisa Dunlap Content page by Carole Topalian

p. 27

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farm to plate

Rising Pheasant Farms

By Nicole Rupersburg l Photos By Kate Harper

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arloyn Leadley of Rising Pheasant Farms does not have a background in farming. She didn’t grow up on a farm and had absolutely no exposure to farming culture until she was 20 years old. “I worked on my first farm as a student at University of Michigan,” Leadley says. “It was a farm outside of Ann Arbor and I took to it instantly.”

She describes her first time harvesting carrots and how that moment was a game-changer for her. “I didn’t realize how strongly they smelled right out of the ground; it just blew me away!” She loved farming immediately and felt that something inside her clicked. That summer she spent tossing around the idea of becoming a farmer. She then continued with college, studying plant ecology with plans of becoming a professor.

When she graduated she didn’t know what to do next. “I was going to do landscape architecture or some type of ecological-type work in graduate school, but instead I saw a job announcement from the Greening of Detroit for the Catherine Ferguson Academy.” This Detroit charter school for pregnant girls and teen mothers, has made national news for its academic success from such programs as its urban farming program, which teaches young women about natural foods, making healthy food choices and basic life skills.

The Academy was looking for someone to work on the farm and incorporate the farm work with the school’s curriculum. “I thought, ‘This sounds really cool,’ and for some reason I got the job. So I said, ‘OK, it’s time to make a life-altering decision.’ Pretty much after the first year of doing urban agriculture in Detroit I said, ‘I want my own farm.’ The possibilities are incredible and I definitely wanted to stick around.” Leadley spent two years at the Catherine Ferguson Academy and another year at the Capuchin Earthworks Urban Farm, both in the city. While interning at Earthworks 40 hours a week, she started her own farm.

In Detroit’s Farnsworth community on the Eastside, Leadley planted her first farm in 2009 under the name Raw Detroit Community Farms. She began by growing sunflower shoots and sprouts.

“I kind of rigged up an indoor sprouting setup with [industrial] coolers; I put shelves and lights in there and just kind of gave it a go to see if it worked.” She began selling her produce through the Grown in Detroit co-op that Greening of Detroit orchestrates, which sells locally grown produce to restaurants and Eastern Market.

After spending a couple of years learning the market and demand for the product, Leadley grew her business and more produce from there.

In 2011, when they started setting up their own table at Eastern Market and becoming individually defined as their own entity, Leadley and her husband, Jack VanDyke, changed the name of the EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 9

farm to Rising Pheasant Farms, a name they felt more accurately represented their vision. “The name Rising Pheasant Farms was inspired by the city’s motto, ‘We hope for better days; it will rise from the ashes’ [in Latin: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus],” Leadley explains. “Also, we have a lot of pheasants on the Eastside and many of us feel they are a symbol of Detroit’s rebirth. They have taken vacant land, what to many is a negative, and found a home and flourished there.”

For their first two years, Leadley grew most of her produce on one lot that a neighbor owned; last year they were working two and a half lots in addition to having their own table at the market. “Last year was the really big year,” she says.

They now grow several different varieties of heirloom and non-heirloom tomatoes, scallions, leeks, garlic, head lettuce and spinach. This year they’ll have three lots to work—two are city-owned, which they are working to acquire, and another is their own property—and they will be focusing on having more variety and introducing perennial crops like straw and asparagus. With more space to grow and more variety to offer, they’ll have more diversity at the market table. They’ll also be setting up a little farm stand on-site so the neighbors will have easier access to what they’re growing.

One unique element they really try to emphasize about their farm is that they transport all of their supplies and produce by bicycle. “It allows us to be a part of our environment instead of closed off from it in a vehicle,” Leadley explains. “It gives daily opportunities to interact with [our] world and the people in it. Plus we like the price tag. Transportation costs are huge for most farmers. We just have to pay an employee for the 20-minute ride to market. It makes environmental, social and economic sense and is only really possible for an urban farm.”

They work to be a model of small-scale, low-resource, communitybased agriculture. “The triple bottom line, so to speak,” Leadley notes, referring to environmental, social, economic factors.

Leadley is particularly passionate about working in the city of Detroit and having a truly urban farm, not just for the ways in which urban agriculture can support a community but because of the community spirit that exists in the city. “Detroiters are incredibly resilient and creative people, and I was so impressed when I moved here five years ago with all the amazing work that was going on in the city,” she says. “I wanted to be a part of a movement that was not only growing food but growing community and relationships between neighbors.

“The phrase ‘putting the neighbor back in the ’hood’ is exactly why we are here and doing what we do. More than growing food we want to grow relationships with our neighbors—who often come from a different background than ourselves—and help foster a sense of goodwill, security, pride and happiness in our little part of Detroit.” eW Rising Pheasant Farms: risingpheasant@gmail.com; risingpheasantfarms. blogspot.com Nicole Rupersburg is a frequent contributor to edibleWOW. 10 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

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Photograph: Toby Millman

in the kitchen

Nightshade Army A business built on leftover tomatoes

By Annette Kingsbury

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ou’d never guess it to look at the modest plots of earth scattered around Ypsilanti, but an army of nightshades—tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos—planted for pennies was the beginning of a food business that sold out of its salsa, chili paste and hot sauce last year. And turned a profit.

Grower, business owner, cook and PhD candidate Stefanie Stauffer has found Michigan a land of opportunity for someone interested in being part of the local food movement. “I don’t think I could have started this business in California,” she says. “A lot of people say, ‘Why Michigan?’ I think we have a lot of advantages.”

A native of Boston, Stauffer came to Ann Arbor in 1998 to attend the University of Michigan. Since then, she’s lived in California and earned two master’s degrees. She participated in the urban farming movement in California while working at the Watts Farmers’ Market. “I’ve always grown up around food,” says Stauffer, whose grandfather emigrated from northern Italy and later owned a restaurant 14 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

in Massachusetts. She earned her undergraduate degree in Spanish and general studies, then her first master’s in political science before turning to sociology and the issues of food security and food justice.

After some friends moved to Detroit and urged her to come back, Stauffer moved to Ypsilanti in 2008 to research her dissertation. She dove into organizing, started growing food and got a job at Beezy’s Café in downtown Ypsi.

Her first garden was at the Frog Island Community Garden in 2009. “I called it my totally free gardening experiment,” she said.

Committed to spend nothing except the $5 rent for a patch of earth along the Huron River, she found free seeds at a Toledo seed swap and leftover seeds from Growing Hope, an Ypsi-based nonprofit.

“My results were really pretty staggering,” she said. With more toma-

toes than she could use or sell, she offered Beezy’s the excess. “And that’s what got me started in food sourcing.”

Stauffer added a second garden at the Thomason Micro Eco Urban Farm, which was the site of Growing Hope’s original greenhouse and is across the street from where she lives. By 2010, Stauffer had three gardens in production. As the growing season ended, she began experimenting in the kitchen. “I had lived in California, so I was desperate for authentic salsa,” she explains. She took leftover green tomatoes and produced three varieties of hot sauce. All three sold out.

Along the way she learned that the product didn’t fall under Michigan’s 2010 Cottage Food Law, which allows certain foods to be produced for sale in unlicensed kitchens. As she took the next steps toward getting legal—a food handler’s license, processing school and product testing—she began a blog, Adventures in Local Food. She calls it “my rant space.” “I went through the process so I could be a resource to people,” she says. “It’s real hard for small producers. This is where being the grower helps me, because I don’t have to pay for products.”

Last year she produced a total of 900 units, including two kinds of salsa, two garlic chili pastes and four varieties of hot sauce. They sold for $4–$8 each. She’s added spice blends and even jewelry made out of dried chili peppers and tomatillo husks.

With five gardens now in use around Ypsilanti, Stauffer is planning to grow 40 varieties of heirloom tomatoes and just as many peppers this year. In spring, racks of seedlings were growing indoors, waiting to be planted. It was easy to see where she got the inspiration for the name of her company, Nightshade Army Industries. Stauffer has also served on a zoning committee to help ease the way for agriculture in the city. Though not a total food desert, Ypsilanti lacks major chain grocery stores. “There are definitely access problems,” she says.

Beezy’s owner Bee Mayhew said Stauffer is “somehow connected to seemingly everyone” and has a gift for putting places with people to make connections. “She's a natural marketer and promoter, and when she believes in something she goes above and beyond to push her message, which from the day I met her is resoundingly consistent and positive and food centered,” Mayhew says. “It’s easy to see when talking to her how one person can really make a difference with education, persistence and a real connection to not just how things work, but how people work with things.”

Having seen what can be done with networking, organizing, elbow grease and very little money, Stauffer would like to share what she’s learned. “I want to show that it is possible to make a locally sourced, locally produced product that is seasonal.” eW Nightshade Army Industries: stefanie@michiganyoungfarmercoalition.org

Annette Kingsbury is a freelance writer in Oakland County.

EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 15

Sunseed Farm Growing Food and Community

By Cara Catallo Photos By Kate Harper

On an August day in 2009,

roughly 40 people gathered in a field five miles north of downtown Ann Arbor to help a young farmer install his first hoop house. Building that 30- by 96-foot agricultural structure brought together likeminded local-food-loving folks, but it also reiterated something farmer Tomm Becker already espoused: the importance of interweaving the community with the food system that serves it.

“It was an amazing welcome to the community,” Becker, 29, says about that day. SELMA Café, a local foods breakfast salon, raises funds for loans that help create local food infrastructure like this.

“We were the second one to get a hoop.”

Even before Becker made the move to Ann Arbor, he contacted area farmers, food buyers, chefs and others in the food business to make sure he was launching his farm dream in the right place.

Becker had ramped up to that moment since he was a sophomore English major at Michigan State University and started working at the school’s Student Organic Farm. About a year after graduation Becker became production manager there. “It was a great experience for me,” says Becker. “I knew how to run a farm, but I didn’t have the confidence to start my own business.”

With the knowledge and skills he developed, Becker was ready to do his own thing, he says, and headed to local food-friendly Ann Arbor in 2009. Under an old white oak tree near that first hoop house, he married Trilby, a Manhattan native he met at a potluck when they were at MSU. They welcomed their first child, Silas, in February.

“I thought it would be a great place to grow and sell vegetables

16 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

because it’s a place that appreciates local food,” Becker says. “I love Michigan.”

Becker now has four hoop houses on 10 of the 18 acres he leases.

He grows 100 different varieties of 70 distinct kinds of vegetables.

The farm made a profit in its first year, doubled production its second year and is poised to redouble production in 2012. In that same time period Sunseed grew from 1.5 full-time employees to three full-time employees. Becker says Sunseed Farm was one of Ann Arbor’s first successful year-round CSAs, working in three 16-week increments he caps at 100 shares. June through October Sunseed sells any excess vegetables at the Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market and at SELMA. “It’s a great way to farm. We get to know the people that eat our food. That makes everything more meaningful,” says Becker, who believes that building relationships with his customers creates a partnership. “It’s more than just an exchange of food and money. It sort of creates a community around this farm. They get to know how the food system works sustainably.”

Those relationships speak volumes. Becker hopes his CSA members build upon that base and look to each other for their other needs as well, he says. “It’s about building a local economy that starts with food,” Becker says. “Once we start working on that level, we start finding other connections that are valuable.”

Becker’s mission with Sunseed goes beyond providing good food.

He strives to educate and connect people with the land and local EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 17

ecological systems, and, he says, to create life-changing experiences for people through farm visits and tours. “That experience can be transformational for people who have never done that kind of work before. You can see something click in people’s minds,” says Becker.

While the experience may be meaningful, it might also feed what Becker considers a paradigm of low worker pay. “A lot of farms depend on volunteers and low-paid interns. It shouldn’t be that way.

People working on a farm should make a living wage,” he says. So Sunseed works to set a high bar: “That’s important to us.”

Becker wants more than a workforce; he wants to empower farm workers to succeed and make a good living. It’s not just about money, he says.

He also works toward having a model of ecological reciprocity: to give more than you take from the land. To do so, he engages in cover cropping, composting, crop rotation, crop diversity and other practices that build healthy soil and microbial diversity on the land.

“There’s a lot of work to be done to get to that point. It’s not a goal. It’s a long-term mission,” Becker explains. He describes his method as ecological farming. “The whole point of farming is to build soil health. If you have healthy soil you have healthy plants.

Healthy plants don’t have to be rescued from attackers. If I have healthy soil, [my crops] are going to be healthy enough to fight off things that want to eat them.”

While Sunseed took what Becker calls a big hit in 2011—losing crops to an exorbitantly wet springtime, having an employee leave suddenly, and Becker getting injured—he took time to reevaluate his plans. He became active with Tilian Farm Development Center, where he is a member of the steering committee. Tilian serves two purposes: First, it is two-year residency program that helps new farmers hone all-important farm management skills by running a five-acre farm and CSA. It is also a farm incubator that provides an opportunity for new farmers who plan to stay in the area, enabling them to build clientele.

Becker also recently became a member of the Ann Arbor Township Farmland and Open Space Preservation Board. He hopes to help create language so agricultural land easement programs protect not just the resource, but also access for small farms that might need some infrastructure. “It’s fun to start to give back in those ways and work to help develop those ventures,” says Becker.

As one of the area’s experts on extending the growing season with hoop houses, Becker is determined to be a mentor to new farmers.

He views other farmers as allies and teammates rather than competitors. “We can really do a lot of work together to turn around our whole food system,” he explains. eW Sunseed Farm: 734-224-4228; sunseed@farmsunseed.com; farmsunseed.com Cara Catallo is a regular contributor to edibleWOW magazine.

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in the spotlight

Edible Flower Biscotti

Edible Flowers Nasturtium Richly colored red, orange and yellow flower with a radish-like, zesty taste. A great substitute for mustard in sandwiches.

Discover The resurgence of Michigan agriculture has created an appetite for locally grown food. Whether the reason is environmental, ecological or economical, eating our own food is becoming more the norm. Riding the wave of this renewed interest is the consumption of edible flowers. Edible flowers are grown along with herbs and specialty lettuces to complement a local grower’s products. Michigan’s climate can maintain many varieties of edible flowers such as nasturtiums, violets, hibiscus and roses, to just name a few.

Taste Edible flowers can be peppery, citrusy, tangy or even sweet; this all depends on the variety. All edible flowers are gorgeous as a garnish, but they are much more adaptable. They can be used in salads, jams and teas as well as infused in syrups and liquor. Dried flowers add a lovely perfume to cookies, cakes and biscuits. For best flavor, remove the stamens, pistils and sepals from the flower. This can also help prevent allergic reactions.

Fortify Because we eat with our eyes first, edible flowers create a visual delight. They add color and contrast to our diet. Enjoyment of our meals through beautiful presentation and good company creates a healthy well-being. Many of the brightly colored edible flowers can be a good source of vitamin C and other antioxidants and are low in calories.

Preserve Purchase or pick pesticide-free flowers that are specifically grown for eating. Blossoms should be open and perky-looking. For the highest-quality product, use edible flowers on the same day of picking or purchase and rinse just before preparing. If the flowers must be stored, wrap shorter flowers in a damp paper towel and place in a plastic bag, or store long-stemmed flowers in a glass of water. Both need to be stored in the refrigerator. Edible flowers can be preserved for later use in ice cubes but otherwise do not freeze well.

—Pam Aughe, R.D.

Candied Flowers

All edible flowers used in the recipes were graciously donated

by Michigan Fine Herbs (www.herbco.net). They are a grower, packer and shipper of certified organic culinary herbs in Shelbyville.

1 cup edible flower pedals, packed ¾ cup regular oats, ground ¾ cup all-purpose flour ⅓ cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt 1 whole egg 1 egg white 1 tablespoon canola oil ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 1 ½ teaspoon infused edible flower sugar

Large petal flowers, stamens removed Pasteurized egg whites Super-fine granulated sugar Clean and dry flowers thoroughly. Paint flower with a thin layer of egg white using a soft brush and dust with sugar until well coated. Place on wax paper to dry for at least 8 hours. Store candied flowers in an airtight container at room temperature. Candied flowers dress up fruit tarts and pies, a simple dish of ice cream, and are beautiful for cake decorating.

Flower Butter

1. Preheat oven to 200°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread flower petals on a single layer on prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until fully dried; set aside to cool.

Crush dried petals to make 2 tablespoons.

2. Increase oven heat to 350°. Coat a baking sheet with vegetable cooking spray.

3. Combine oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and dried flowers in a large bowl; set aside.

4. Whisk together egg, egg white, canola oil and vanilla in a small bowl. Add to dry ingredients stirring until well blended.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 6 to 8 times. Place dough onto prepared baking sheet and shape into a 10-inch log and flatten to 1-inch thickness. Sprinkle with infused sugar and press into dough.

5. Bake dough for 20 to 25 minutes then remove log to wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.

6. Lower oven temperature to 325°. Place cooled dough onto a cutting board and cut into about 14 1-inch slices. Place cut side down on baking sheet and bake 10 minutes. Turn cookies over and bake an additional 10 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and let cool completely on wire rack.

1 cup packed flowers such as, nasturtium, violets or chives Pinch of coarse salt 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature Place flowers in a large bowl of water and swirl around to remove any dirt. Remove flowers and place on a towel to dry. Remove stamen and stems setting aside the pedals.

Dry petals well and finely chop. Combine chopped petals, salt, and butter in a small bowl until well incorporated.

Place in plastic wrap, roll together and refrigerate or freeze until firm. Serve a pad of this compound butter on top of grilled meats, chicken, fish or baked potatoes.

Yield: approximately 14 cookies Cook’s Tip: Make infused sugar by layering ¼ cup edible flower petals with 1 cup sugar in an airtight container for 2 weeks shaking occasionally to distribute flowers. Sift to remove flowers when ready to use.

Violets Different shades of purple flowers with a sweet, wintergreen or perfumed flavor.

Great in fruit salads.

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Zucchini Blossoms A bright yellow flower that tastes like a mild version of the vegetable. Typically stuffed and fried. Try adding to omelets.

EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 21

Urban

Pioneers The Flint River Farm

By Annette Kingsbury

J

ust a block outside Flint’s central business district, the Flint River Farm is turning 17 vacant residential lots to farmland. Neighbors include a strip club, a pawn-

Rewarding

shop and a liquor store, as well as a residential neighborhood

with enough mature trees to give it a leafy feel. Here, two hoop

Careers

houses have been erected along with beds for growing fruit and vegetables. Joanna Lehrman, 27, and Roxanne Adair, 29, began their business venture in 2010. They’ve purchased three lots for $100 each

Rewarding Careers in the Culinary and Hospitality Field Begins Here

from the Genesee County Land Bank and lease the others for $1

a year, for a total of about two acres. The lots were acquired by the land bank through tax foreclosures.

Lehrman earned a degree in urban planning from Hunter College and completed a one-year certificate program in organic farming at Michigan State University. After working at an urban farm in New York City and a rural organic farm in Vermont, she came to Michigan looking for land. Adair said she “grew up with hippie parents” who were comfortable sustaining themselves. A Flint native, she had a farm stand for a few years. Educated in fisheries, wildlife and biology, she was working at the land bank when her job’s funding

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Photograph: Courtesy of Flint River Farm

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Photograph: Courtesy of Flint River Farm Photograph: Courtesy of Flint River Farm

was cut and Lehrman approached her about starting a farm. “It was my job at the land bank to help people find land,” Adair said. “It was really good timing.”

Now the two are co-owners and the only employees of a not-forprofit business. A grant from the Ruth Mott Foundation helped them get started, along with partnerships with MSU, the land bank and their neighborhood association. Their original idea was to locate in a city park and serve as an incubator for MSU farm graduates.

When that site didn’t work out, they found a new one and changed their focus to community-supported agriculture, where customers sustain the farm by purchasing an annual share of the product.

Last year they had nine members. “The CSA, even with just nine members, has completely supported everything we do here,” Adair says. This year, they are offering 20 shares, including two set aside for AmeriCorps volunteers working on the farm.

The two women are dedicated do-it-yourselfers. For example, they’ve built evaporator tubs and a filtering and bottling unit to convert sap to maple syrup over an open fire. “We call it untapped resources—literally,” Lehrman says. This spring, they produced nine and a half gallons of finished syrup. They’ve been learning as they go.

The first year they made syrup, 2010, “was a total disaster,” Lehrman remembers.

They tapped 50 trees on land-bank property abutting the Flint River Trail. “We thought it was the perfect spot,” Adair says. Then in mid-March came a thaw and thigh-deep water. “We emptied the buckets for the last two times in chest waders,” she says.

It was hard work, but the result was “the best maple syrup you’ll ever have,” Lehrman says. “We drank it all day when we were boiling it.” The next year, they turned to the trees in their neighborhood, meeting with neighbors for permission. Even the city administrator participated.

The farm’s mission is to improve access to fresh, affordable, locally produced food year-round. Last year crops included collards, chard, Brussels sprouts, beets, carrots, parsley, corn, strawberries, herbs, okra, currants, melons, blackberries, asparagus, tomatoes and pumpkins. The women also foraged for wild foods such as rosehips and black raspberries; their wild mulberry jam was a big seller. They also

dried herbs and made teas and bread for sale through local farmers’ markets and the CSA. In May 2011, a group of volunteers helped the Flint River Farm erect a 30- by 48-foot hoop house on tracks. Coverage in the Flint Journal prompted a stop-work order from a city official, who said it was not allowed in a residential zone. That proved not to be the case; further research found that state code allows the structures in residential zones, as long as sales don’t occur on site. The second hoop house, twice as large and stationary, went up in December. By spring, a dozen or more crops were started inside, “So we’re going to have a jump on the season,” Adair explains.

Now in its third growing season, Flint River Farm has three beehives. The hives have forced both women to get past their fears of being stung. Although Lehrman is allergic, she housed 10,000 bees in her bedroom one weekend. This year the farm has added a well for irrigation, the only one in the city. Previously, water came from a metered fire hydrant. Now the farm is no longer dependent on city water, which had seen steady cost increases. Plans call for adding a drip irrigation system as well.

With their grant funding up for renewal this summer, the women were committed to seeing the season through for their shareholders.

When asked if she feels like a pioneer, Adair allowed that sometimes she does. “It’s not a new idea, growing food in the city and getting food where you live,” she says. “When it comes to taking it to the next level . . . we’ve brought some new light on the subject.

“Sometimes it really is like living in the wild, wild West. If you can’t find what you need, if you can’t afford what you need, you make it.”

Acknowledging Flint’s hard times, Adair remembers when things were better for the city. “Because of that, our generation has become really distant from anything having to do with working outside with your hands. We’re just really longing for something a little more simple. It’s time to get back to something that’s right.” eW The Flint River Farm: flintriverfarm@gmail.com; flintriverfarmers.blogspot.com.

Joanna Lehrman and Roxanne Adair 24 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

Photograph: Kate Harper

Photograph: Lisa Dunlap

Annette Kingsbury is a freelance writer in Oakland County.

EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 25

Bounty in the Backyard

Photograph: Trevor Newman

Roots to Fruits

By Cara Catallo Photos By Kate Harper

W

ait! Don’t pull that

weed! It might just be delicious. Just ask Mark Angelini, 23, and Trevor Newman, 20, of Roots to Fruits Ecological Design.

The pair started their regenerative design and edible landscaping company in 2011 to guide homeowners and businesses into building landscape designs around edible and useful plants. They also aim to educate people on how to live a more ecologically friendly lifestyle. From yard to dinner table, they spread the gospel of the local food system right in our own backyards.

Grafted Apple Tree 26 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

Gooseberries

“We’re teaching people to recognize ecosystems,” says Angelini.

“Part of what we’re doing is being aware of what we have. Every wild plant, even the most weediest of weeds, has a purpose.” The duo works to build on the current popularity of Permaculture design: mapping out a home and landscape with natural ecosystems as a guide. Their approach to landscaping is a holistic one that aims to minimize bringing in material from offsite. “It’s a process,” Angelini says. “We have seen clients who don’t know anything about plants.

The big thing is teaching people how to be more observant.”

Friends since childhood, both Newman and Angelini credit their parents’ interests in natural foods and nutrition as providing a base for their interest in botany. Today, they say a looming future scenario for their generation is a huge impetus for their work.

Although their vision is to expand into all aspects of sustainability, the pair started by selling homegrown produce because everyone has to eat, Newman jokes. “In our culture there’s an immense lack of understanding of what food is,” Angelini says. “It was a natural fit to grow food because we were already so passionate about food.”

After two seasons at the Clarkston Farmers’ Market, the pair opted to hone their business more toward education and design.

Newman interned at Oikos Tree Crops in Kalamazoo, a mail-order plant nursery that specializes in edible and useful plants. Angelini interned at Appleseed Permaculture design firm in High Falls, New York. He farmed and worked with an herbalist and explored foraging—finding edible plants around sites—and site repair and regeneration.

“We want to start where things are degraded and regenerate it to facilitate positive change,” says Angelini. That could include weeds or plants sometimes considered invasive species or nonnatives. “Our standpoint is we like all plants.”

“Ecosystems are dynamic and they’re always changing and plants, like animals, travel,” expands Newman. “They’re all native to earth.”

Roots to Fruits’ goal is to map out systems and plantings that minimize the amount of “failure” so their customers don’t become discouraged. Through trialing, the pair learns what is most likely to work. “That’s a big thing for us: making it more accessible and more fun,” Angelini explains.

They help clients see not just amazing flowers, but also the nutrient quality of what they plant. Angelini and Newman often guide homeowners toward useful plant choices such as chestnuts, currants,

EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 27

Dandelion Blossom Pakoras Mark Angelini, Roots to Fruits Pakoras are a fried snack fritter traditionally made with spinach, cheese or potatoes. These pakoras are made with dandelions that are “wildly” available and are at their best when picked mid to late afternoon when in full bloom.

Sunflower oil 1 ⅓ cups chickpea flour 2 teaspoons ground cumin 2 teaspoons ground coriander 1 teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon ground red pepper ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup water 2 to 3 cups dandelion blossoms with

stems, packed ¼ cups chopped parsley Coarse salt

28 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

Quince

Mark Angelini and Trevor Newman

gooseberries and the pawpaw tree, which is gaining recognition as a possible superfood. “We’re trying to drill home the idea we can grow superfoods here in Michigan,” says Newman.

“There are a lot of different avenues for unusual crops in America.

The pawpaw is a good example,” Newman says. “We’re involved in a kind of looking beyond grocery store shelves. We utilize a lot of uncommon fruits. Instead of planting an acre of corn, why not plant an acre of chestnut trees?”

The pair also hopes to establish community orchards of fruit and nut trees. They work on their own sites grafting different varieties together to try to increase production and diversity. “Right here on this tree there are four different plum varieties which stagger the harvest throughout the season,” says Newman.

Angelini and Newman like to create food forests, a layered model that mimics the function and structure of a young woodland. Part of the plan is having a variety of plants brought together in support of each other. That includes herbaceous plants and weedy plants. The common trait is that each serves a purpose either as an edible or as a support plant by providing fertility, pest control or some other way.

“Instead of just plopping a tree down, we’re planting an ecosystem,” Newman says.

Beyond their design and consulting services, Angelini and Newman spread their word through workshops and seminars where they teach edible landscaping, composting, and rainwater collection.

Each has a side business that complements Roots to Fruits. Newman’s Terra New is a small nursery that grows and sells culinary

herbs and young berry bushes. He assesses figs, Asian persimmons and other fruits normally not grown in Michigan, and mainly sells his plants at the Clarkston Farmers’ Market.

Angelini runs the Eat Here Now (eatherenow.org) blog that focuses on wild food foraging education and offers courses and recipes.

Roots to Fruits client Kelly Minnick and her family have become foragers thanks to Angelini and Newman. “The girls absolutely love chickweed,” says Minnick. “They prefer it over spinach. They’ll come out here everyday.”

“I just needed some help. I didn’t know where to start in my yard.

We took their information and apply it to everyday life now,” says Minnick, who volunteers at the Clarkston Farmers’ Market. Angelini and Newman walked her through her Waterford property to point out what is edible. Minnick also now makes dandelion fritters from a recipe Angelini provided. “Their knowledge was quite inspiring and I was able to find out what I had.”

Next Minnick plans to extend her front garden bed to add gooseberry and currant bushes, and possibly a pear tree. She says she appreciates that Roots to Fruits enables her to do these projects without spending a lot of money. “That’s a key thing,” she says, plus, “It really is fun.” eW

1. Heat ½-inch of oil over medium heat in a medium stock pot.

2. Place flour, cumin, coriander, turmeric, baking powder, pepper and salt in a large bowl. Pour in water to make a thick batter.

3. Remove dandelion blossoms from stems and add blossoms to batter. Chop dandelion stalks and add to batter; stir to combine.

4. Place 2 tablespoons of batter per fritter into heated oil. Cook 1 minute per side or until dark golden brown. Place on a paper bag to drain and repeat until all batter is gone. Sprinkle with salt and chopped parsley. Serve hot.

Yield: approximately 20 Cook’s Tip: 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour can be used in place of chickpea flour.

Roots to Fruits: 248-535-9419; design@rootstofruits.biz; rootstofruits.biz

Cara Catallo is a frequent contributor to edibleWOW magazine.

EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 29

Working at Nature’s Pace

By Cara Catallo l Photos By Lisa Dunlap

J

acob and Katie Mullane-Bach give fresh faces to the notion of the family farm. Within a year and

a half, the Mullane-Bachs bought 20 acres, built five high tunnels, installed irrigation pipes, built a chicken wagon, built a decagonal house for apprentices, planted countless vegetables and 31 fruit trees, and in January welcomed the arrival of baby Freeda, who joined her 5-year-old brother Forrest. It’s no wonder they’d tell you—free of pretense or complaint—that they can’t name anyone who physically toils harder than they do. “Even though it’s a lot of

work, I love it,” says 29-year-old Jacob.

The family’s Nature’s Pace Organics farm is indeed a model of efficiency, considering this is only the second year at the Mayville location. Like climbing rungs on a ladder, the Mullane-Bachs have worked carefully stepping up to their permanent location, after establishing their 100-share-capped CSA before the move and creating a loyal following in four years at the Birmingham Farmers’ Market. Just recently they began selling at the Royal Oak Farmers’ Market.

Cara Catallo first met Katie and Jacob at the Birmingham Farmers’ Market. She visited their farm in April.

30 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

“Last year I wanted to get the infrastructure built. This year is the year of organization,” says Jacob, who is finishing the washing-andpacking pavilion and readying the shipping-container-turned-root cellar partially buried nearby. “It’s all work in progress.”

The couple met at Western Michigan University, where Jacob received a master’s degree in anthropology and Katie earned a bachelor’s degree after studying German, international business and environmental studies. They had their sites set on farming and became AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTAs) in Brookville, Pennsylvania, at Quiet Creek Herb Farm and School of Country Living, an experience that set a particularly positive tone for them.

“We got to see this family work together,” explains Katie, who already had Forrest in tow. “We thought we were going there to learn about growing food, but really we learned about a great way to raise a family.”

Next the family interned at the 40-acre organic Eaters’ Guild farm in Bangor, Michigan, before setting out to start their own farm.

They leased four acres in Grand Blanc for two years, living nearby in their yurt, and worked to overcome one giant hurdle farmers face starting out: loan eligibility. “How do you purchase land? That’s a problem with being a young farmer,” says Katie. Once they set up EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 31

their farm as a CSA (community-supported agriculture harvest subscription program, in which members buy shares in the farm) Katie and Jacob had established enough revenue to receive Greenstone Farm Credit.

Even beyond financing, finding just the right property wasn’t easy. They looked for three years before they came across the parcel in Mayville, in the southwestern part of the thumb. It met all their criteria: four sides with woods around it; no adjacent farmlands spraying pesticides; no high-tension power lines; and a small log cabin perfect for their young family. “We lived in a yurt. We saw how efficient a small living space is,” says Katie. “We had to go further north than we wanted to, but we get the stars as a tradeoff.”

The rural location isn’t a deterrent for the two to five farm apprentices who work in exchange for the experience, room and board—including fresh produce, of course—and a small stipend.

“We have a separate house we built for them in about a month,” says Katie, referring to what they warmly call the Deca. “We’re fortunate there are a lot of people who want to learn right now.”

The Mullane-Bachs have criteria for their apprentices, too. “We want people really serious about what they do. They’re not here for a finding experience,” says Jacob. The apprentices gain valuable insight on how to manage a farm—from planting to managing CSAs to markets—and help the Mullane-Bachs tend the nine tillable acres,

32 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

six of which are in produce, including high tunnel space, and three in cover crops.

“One of the challenges is being really adaptive,” says Jacob. He maps out action plans with the apprentice farmers, scouting the property to see what the farm might need next. “We have weekly meals together,” he adds, describing how one person will take the opportunity to explain a topic to the others, often about a soil nutrient or insect. “We’re getting educated at the same time we’re educating.”

Jacob also culls inspiration from his grandfather, who before Jacob was the last in a long line of Ohio farmers dating back to the 1840s and running all the way through to the 1970s. “Growing vegetables is in my blood,” says Jacob. He began gardening at age 6, and now his son Forrest has started even earlier.

Having their children onsite is part of the reason that the Mullane-Bachs set such high standards and grow their vegetables in a “beyond certified organic” manner. They do not even use any organic pesticides. “A lot of organic farmers have spray protocols too,” Katie says. “We are all about soil health and preventing issues.

We’d much rather lose a crop than spray it with organic-approved pesticides. That really defines us. And I think that’s really a huge reason we have great-tasting crops.” eW Nature’s Pace Organics: 810-513-7633; email@naturespaceorganics.com; naturespaceorganics.com

EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 33

Animal Farm, 2012 Bending Sickle Farm offers meat via CSA

By Nicole Rupersburg

34 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

l

Photos By Kate Harper

EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 35

O

n a windswept field just outside Ann Arbor, a motley crew of heritage-

breed hogs, sheep, goats, ducks and chickens live comfortably on Ben Fidler’s Bending Sickle Community Farm. Bending Sickle is a “community farm” in that it operates as a community-supported agriculture (CSA) harvest subscription program with local shareholders.

Although Fidler produces meat rather than vegetables, he was drawn to the CSA model because he wanted to invite shareholders to his farm to see animals living a good life. Shareholders can buy five-month shares that run February through June and can choose from a six-pound-a-month subscription or a 10-pound-a-month subscription. Each share includes a variety of meats. Fidler also offers duck egg shares, honey and goat cheese.

During his first year, Fidler had nine shareholders, and now that he is in his second year, that number has grown to 25. Bending Sickle is producing just enough meat to satisfy the CSA subscribers, so for now he only sells through his CSA. “Demand is growing like crazy,” he says. “Part of it just has to do with [the fact that] my name is out there now. I feel like this whole local organic food [concept] really started with vegetables and produce and people are really coming around to the idea that they get can get their whole diet locally.”

Fidler is one of Southeastern Michigan’s ambitious young farmers, a growing number of young people who embrace local, sustainable food systems and work towards making them a reality. He studied 36 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

literature and poetry at Eastern Michigan University, and then after graduating college he decided he was much more interested in farming. He jokes that he asked himself, “How can I make less money?”

So he decided to become a farmer.

The physical lifestyle of farming was ultimately more appealing than the cerebral world of literature and poetry. Reading more about local food systems instilled in Ben a passion to become a part of Michigan’s local food system. “I read one article and it opened the floodgates.” He continues, “The first time I became acutely aware of my food was maybe a decade ago. Someone sent me an article about trans-fat—I had no clue what that was or where it came from. It was just an awakening.”

Fidler grew up in a household with a mother who has a degree in culinary arts, so food and cooking have always been a large part of his life. “Then I graduated and had no real job prospects so I tried working on a farm and just absolutely fell in love with it.”

He spent several years apprenticing on farms on both the east and west coasts, and after working on a farm in California that had a lot of meat herds and dairy, he decided to pursue livestock. He notes that there are a lot of small farms popping up in Michigan, but not many that are growing cattle and “nutrient-dense” food. “It’s really important to have sources of grain and meat and eggs that are grown locally,” he explains.

Ben ensures that his herd stays healthy by rotating organic grains from a farm in the Thumb with pasture-feeding. For example, the hogs will get whole grains like corn and oats, but also feed naturally on clover and alfalfa. The animals are outdoors year-round but are never on pasture for more than two days. Fidler says it’s healthier for

the animals to avoid the extreme temperature shock of being moved from a heated barn to the frigid outdoors and back again. The rotation of pasture and hay or grains means that parasites don’t have time to form a population, keeping Ben’s animals healthy without the use of antibiotics. “They get as natural a diet as I can provide,” he says. “It’s really about management. The animals want to be healthy—that’s their natural state.”

He makes no pretenses about how physically demanding the work can be: “Having goat kids I’m out there every five hours milking,” but he emphasizes the importance of young farmers growing calories locally for the sake of building the local foodshed.

Bending Sickle Community Farm in Ann Arbor is now in its second year of production as part of the Tilian Farm Development Center. Tilian is a farm business incubator program that supplies young farmers with the facilities, infrastructure and land to get their farms started. “The biggest challenge [in farming] is finding land,” says Fidler. “It’s so expensive and we make so little money.”

2011 was the pilot year for Tilian, and Bending Sickle has been part of the program from the beginning. Tilian farmers are granted two years rent-free—with access to utilities—on an incubator farm.

Although Fidler’s two years are coming to an end soon, he has already been able to acquire his own land. This summer he will move to Stockbridge, where he will serve Ann Arbor, Lansing, Jackson and Brighton. eW Bending Sickle: 616-819-0968; bendingsicklecommunityfarm.com Nicole Rupersburg is a frequent contributor to edibleWOW.

Ben Fidler EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 37

“

“

Young means young to farming.

There is no age discrimination.

Member profile: Trevor Johnson

Jared Bogdanova-Hanna with OU students

Michigan Young Farmer Coalition

A

merican farmers are old, and they get older every year.

Since 1950, the average age of the American farmer has been on the rise. The most recent USDA census, in 2007, reported the average age of principal farm operators at 57.1 years, with only 8% below the age of 34. A quarter of American farmers are expected to retire by 2030.

Meanwhile, formidable barriers make it difficult for prospective farmers to take to the soil. Access to capital, land and health care are major challenges, according to a 2011 survey conducted by the National Young Farmers’ Coalition (NYFC).

“We focus on helping people who have already decided to farm 38 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

l

Photos By Kate Harper

get on their feet and establish successful businesses,” says Alex Brian, 27, NYFC board member and owner of Food Field in Detroit. The NYFC’s mission includes advocacy, education and helping to form local young farmers’ coalitions.

The Michigan Young Farmer Coalition (MYFC) was the first statewide organization to be formed beneath the NYFC umbrella (groups have since formed in Texas and Washington). MYFC was conceived during the 2009 Bioneers Conference in Detroit

by Michigan State Organic Farming Certificate graduate Alexis Bogdanova-Hanna, 28; her brother Jared Bogdanova-Hanna, 26; and friends Lindsey Scalera, 28, and Evan Dayringer, 30. The found-

Photograph: Kate Harper

By Nina Misuraca Ignaczak

Trevor Johnson, 27, is strongly committed to the City of Ferndale, where he has lived since age 9. “I’m one in a million on the West Coast,” he says. “Michigan is a special place. I want to develop capacity where I live.” After receiving his horticulture degree from MSU in 2006, he worked with the Ferndale Public School District to establish the Good Neighbors Garden, Ferndale’s first community garden, on a 1.75-acre site at his old elementary school. He also served on the Ferndale Environmental Sustainability Commission, a group that advises city government on sustainability matters.

Johnson’s design ethic is heavily grounded in Permaculture, a philosophy of design for sustainable living developed by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the 1970s. Permaculture emphasizes synergy, seeking to design systems that achieve multiple functions with restorative outcomes. For example, Permaculture advocates for perennial agriculture without chemical pesticides and fertilizers to provide soil restoration, wildlife habitat and crops for people. Johnson completed a Permaculture Design Certificate from the Stelle Ecovillage in Stelle, Illinois, in 2006.

This spring, Johnson is developing a new project in partnership with the City of Ferndale. The project, called Ferndale Farm, is a 50- by 100-foot plot in Garbutt Park on 8 Mile Road and includes a small community-supported agriculture (CSA) harvest subscription program. One share will grow produce directly for two local restaurants: Torino Espresso + Bar and LOCAL Kitchen & Bar. In addition to his community activities, Johnson owns and operates his own business, New Dawn Gardenscapes, which provides Permaculture design and consulting services to clients ranging from homeowners to the Eisenhower Center, a 48-acre brain-injury rehabilitation campus near Ann Arbor. New Dawn also offers educational workshops to K–12 groups and adults. Johnson supplements his business during the slow season with work at Green Thumb Garden Center in Ferndale.

His professional service activities include participation on boards of the Golightly Agriscience program, the Michigan Young Farmer Coalition, and Replanting Roots.

—Nina Misuraca Ignaczak

EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 39

Photograph: Kate Harper 40 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

ing group joined forces with MSU horticulture graduates Benjamin Gluck, 24, Mikey Formisano, 26, and Trevor Johnson, 27, to conduct the first MYFC retreat in December 2009.

The MYFC operates in an informal, decentralized manner, communicating via a listserv that currently has 311 subscribers. Six regional hubs (Oakland-Macomb, Grand Rapids, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Lansing) focus on local issues. The group has no legal status and no membership fee; anyone can join by subscribing to the listserv. “‘Young’ means young to farming,” says Alexis BogdanovaHanna. “There is no age discrimination. Members range in age from 18 to 60-plus, from urban gardeners to those who own and operate their own farms, to food activists, artisanal producers and those who just want to learn and network.”

MYFC’s third annual retreat was held in March in Highland Park. Approximately 70 individuals took part in potlucks, skill shares, technical sessions and a community service project to reconfigure a hoop house for production agriculture, which will provide food to an economically distressed neighborhood this summer. “Once a year, we come together, face-to-face, to celebrate, eat food that we grew, and have those conversations that only happen in person,” says Bogdanova-Hanna.

MYFC’s accomplishments include the establishment of a vegetable garden for residents of the HAVEN domestic violence shelter in Pontiac, now in its third year. A new cold frame was constructed in 2012 at HAVEN to extend the growing season. Jared Bogdanova-Hanna and Oakland University biology professor Fay Hansen established a new partnership in 2012 to establish a student farm and teach urban agriculture courses on the OU Campus. The listserv has been instrumental in linking employers with farmers.

Rick Halberg, owner and chef at LOCAL Kitchen & Bar, a new Ferndale eatery, was able to secure a share at the new Ferndale Farm through the listserv.

Emily Eisele, 27, also found employment through the MYFC listserv as farm manager at HAVEN. Eisele, who commutes via bicycle between Hamtramck and Pontiac, exemplifies the passion, ethics and dedication of young farmers. “The idea of burning fossil fuels to grow organic produce for such an incredible organization is contradictory,” she says of her commute. “It is really part of my commitment to the job.” eW

Nina Misuraca Ignaczak lives, writes and eats in Rochester, Michigan.

EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 41

cooking fresh

Summer

Pam Aughe, R.D.

P

rotect your health and the environment by making

conscientious food choices. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, eating “healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way” is important to repair our food system. Spending some of your food dollars on food produced locally secures our food system by decreasing pollution from long-haul transportation and health scares created by cheap, industrial-scale agriculture.

The advantage of knowing where your food comes from, who grows it and how they treat the land, and knowing your money is going right back into your community is significant. The freshest, ripest, best-tasting foods are easy to find right now at your local farmers’ markets and community farms.

June

July

Asparagus Edible Flowers Fava Beans Garlic Scapes Greens (lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, kale) Green Onions Herbs Horseradish Root Kohlrabi Peas Peppers Radishes Strawberries Tomatillos Turnips Wild Mushrooms

Apricots Blackberries Blueberries Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Celery Cherries Cucumbers Eggplant Endive Garlic Gooseberries Grapes Green Beans Huckleberries Peaches Raspberries Summer Squash (yellow, zucchini)

August Apples Beets Cauliflower Celeriac Corn Cucumbers Grapes Muskmelon Nectarines Onions Pears Plums Potatoes Tomatoes Watermelons

Knickerbocker Crepe

Owners and Staff of Flint Crepe Company, Flint Crepe Batter Cheesecake Sauce 3 cups milk 4 ounces cream cheese, room 2 whole eggs temperature 3 cups Westwind Milling 1 ½ tablespoon sugar Company Wild Rose 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice Unbleached Bread Flour 2 teaspoons water 4 tablespoons butter, melted Pinch of salt 3 teaspoons vanilla extract 4 ounces heavy whipping cream Pinch of salt Graham Crumble 5 ounces graham crackers (about 9 full sheets) 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon brown sugar 1 ½ teaspoons sugar ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract Pinch of salt 24 large strawberries, sliced 1. Combine milk, eggs, flour, butter, vanilla and pinch of salt in a blender. Mix well on a medium speed, scraping down the sides as needed.

Set aside batter while assembling the other ingredients.

2. Combine cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, water and pinch of salt in a food processor; set aside. Place cream in a cold bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture and refrigerate until ready to use.

3. Place graham crackers, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and pinch of salt in a food processor until it forms crumbs; set aside.

4. Place a prepared crepe on a dessert plate and spread 1 tablespoon of cream cheese filling on half of crepe. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of graham cracker crumble over filling and top with 1 large sliced strawberry. Fold over half of crepe and fold over again. Sprinkle with additional graham crumble and serve.

Yield: 24 crepes, 1 ¼ cups cheesecake sauce, 1 ½ cups graham crumble

42 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

Scallops with Michigan Creamed Corn Chef Andrew Hollyday, Michael Symon’s Roast, Detroit Corn Stock 5 cups water 5 Michigan corn cobs, kernels removed and set aside 1 stalk celery, cut into 3 pieces 1 whole onion, cut into quarters 1 whole carrot, peeled and cut into 3 pieces 1 bay leaf 6 whole peppercorns Creamed Corn 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil ¼ pound thick-cut bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 medium onion, diced 1 clove garlic, minced 5 ears of Michigan corn kernels 1 teaspoon kosher salt 2 cups corn stock ½ cup crème fraiche 1 tablespoon unsalted butter ½ cup packed fresh cilantro, chopped Zest of 1 whole lime

Shrimp with Wilted Greens and Romesco Sauce Chef Brandon Johns, Grange Kitchen and Bar, Ann Arbor Romesco Sauce 1 whole head fresh garlic 2 red bell peppers, halved and seeds removed 2 whole Roma tomatoes, halved and seeded ½ cup blanched almonds ½ cup aged sherry vinegar ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon kosher salt ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper ⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper Shrimp 2 tablespoons olive oil 24 large shrimp, peeled and deveined ½ teaspoon kosher salt ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 4 cups fresh greens (such as arugula, mustard, young

kale or spinach)

Yield: 3 cups creamed corn and 12 scallops to serve 6 appetizer portions.

1. Preheat oven to 425°. Cut ¼ inch off top of garlic head. Place on a small square of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap loosely in the foil. Bake for about 45 minutes or until garlic is tender. Set aside to cool, then squeeze out roasted garlic.

2. Preheat oven to broil and raise the oven rack to the highest level. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and top with prepared peppers and tomatoes. Broil until all pieces are evenly charred. Remove from oven and place peppers in a sealed container for 10 minutes, then remove skin. Set aside tomatoes to cool.

3. Place roasted garlic, skinned peppers, roasted tomatoes, almonds, vinegar, oil, salt, pepper and cayenne in a blender. Purée until smooth; set aside.

4. Heat 2 tablespoon olive oil in a large sauté pan.

Cook shrimp 1 to 2 minutes per side or until fully pink in color. Toss cooked shrimp in a medium bowl with 1 cup of the prepared Romesco Sauce; set aside.

5. Reheat the same sauté pan. Cook greens, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper in pan until greens are wilted, 1–2 minutes. Place greens on 4 serving plates and top each with 6 shrimp. Drizzle with extra sauce, if desired. Remaining sauce can be tossed with hot or cold pasta or served with grilled chicken, fish, pork or beef.

Cook’s Tip: Corn stock can be stored in the refrigerator to up to 1 week or frozen in a freezer-safe container for up to 1 year.

Yield: 2¾ cups Romesco Sauce and 24 shrimp to serve 6 with extra sauce.

Scallops 12 large (U-10) sea scallops ½ teaspoon kosher salt ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1. Place water, corn cobs, celery, onion, carrot, bay leaf and peppercorns in a large stockpot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for 45 minutes. Pour stock through a strainer into a bowl, reserving the stock and discarding the solids; set aside.

2. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add bacon and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Add onion and cook for about 1 minute. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds; constantly stirring. Add corn kernels and 1 teaspoon kosher salt; cook for 2 minutes.

3. Pour in 2 cups reserved corn stock and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until liquid reduces to about 1 cup. Add crème fraiche, stirring to incorporate, and simmer until the corn mixture begins to thicken; about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the butter and remove from heat. Add cilantro and lime zest. Set aside; cover and keep warm on very low heat.

4. Preheat grill to medium. Dry scallops well with a paper towel and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Place on heated grill and cook 2 to 3 minutes per side. Place even amounts of creamed corn among 6 plates, top with 2 scallops each and serve.

EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 43

44 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 45

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EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012 47

ADVERTISERS' DIRECTORY

Support your neigborhood business

Dear Readers,

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48 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

Chartreuse 2837 W. Jefferson Trenton, MI 48183 866-315-7832 chartreuseltd.com Coffee Express Company 47722 Clipper St Plymouth, MI 48170 800-466-9000 coffeeexpressco.com Commonwealth Café 300 Hamilton Row Birmingham, MI 48009 248-792-9766 gocommonwealth.com Corridor Sausage Co. Sold at Detroit’s Eastern Market corridorsausage.com Crossroads Creamery 313-31-Cheese crosroadscreamery.com Culinary Studio 29673 Northwestern Hwy Southfield, MI 48034 248-353-2500 myculinarystudio.com Dorsey Schools 390 N. Telegraph Road Waterford, MI 48341 248-333-1814 dorsey.edu East River Organic Farm 440 N. Wheeler Rd Snover, MI 48472 810-672-9430 eastriverorganic.com EcoChic 248-978-2300 ecochiclandscape.com Eden foods 701 Tecumseh Rd Clinton, MI 49236 517-456-7424 edenfoods.com

Erie Bread Company 317 S Monroe St Monroe, MI 48161 734-241-4644 Dundee 98 Main Dundee, MI 48133 Espresso Elevado 606 S Main St Plymouth, MI 48170 734-904-8323 espressoelevado.com Essence On Main 4 South Main St Clarkston, MI 48346 248-942-4949 essenceonmain.com Farm Boy Tortilla Chips 5321 North Branch Rd North Branch, MI 48461 810-614-2305 farmboytortillachips.com

The Greening of Detroit 1418 Michigan Avenue Detroit, MI 48216 313-237-8737 greeningofdetroit.com Harnois Farm 9260 Scully Rd Whitmore Lake, MI 48189 734-449-7172 Henry Ford W. Bloomfield Hospital 6777 West Maple Rd West Bloomfield, MI 48322 248-325-1000 henryfordwestbloomfield.com Hollander's 410 N. Fourth Ave Ann Arbor, MI 48104 734-741-7531 hollanders.com Inn Season Cafe’ 500 East Fourth St Royal Oak, MI 48067 248-547-7916 theinnseasoncafe.com

Farmington Farmers & Artisan Market 248-473-7276 market@downtownfarmington.org

Jolly Pumpkin Café & Brewery 311 S Main St Ann Arbor, MI 48104 734-913-2730 jollypumpkin.com

Good People Popcorn 633 Beaubien Detroit, MI 48207 313-963-249 goodpeoplepopcorn.com

Lockwood Manufacturing Co 31251 Industrial Rd Livonia, MI 48150 734-425-5330 lockwoodusa.com

Goodwells Organic Food Market 418 W Willis St Detroit, MI 48201 313-831-2130

Lunasa Market Ann Arbor Garden City, MI contact@lunasa.us lunasa.us

Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co 389 Enterprise Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302 800-645-6077 greatlakescoffee.com Greengo’s 15104 Kercheval Grosse Pointe Park, MI 48230 313-432-2373 urbangreengos.com

Meadow Montessori School 1670 S Raisinville Rd Monroe, MI 48161 734-241-9496 meadowmontessori.org Mill Pond Bread 1534 Sugarloaf Lake Rd. Chelsea, MI 734-475-7088 millpondbread.com

ADVERTISERS' DIRECTORY

Support your neigborhood business

Mighty Good Coffee 217 N Main St Ann Arbor, MI 48104 734-222-4514 mightygoodcoffee.com

The Henry Ford 20900 Oakwood Blvd Dearborn, MI 48124 313-271-1620 thehenryford.org

Ypsilanti Food Co-Op 312 North River St Ypsilanti, MI 48198 734-483-1520 ypsifoodcoop.org

Zingerman’s Creamery 3723 Plaza Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48108 734-929-0500 zingermanscreamery.com

Mumby’s Pie Company 586-549-4778 mumbypie.com

The Old Winery Farmers Market 31505 Grand River Av Farmington, MI 48336 theoldwinerymarket.com

Zingerman’s Delicatessen 422 Detroit St Ann Arbor, MI 48104 734-663-3354 zingermansdeli.com

Zingerman’s Zingtrain 734-930-1919 zingtrain.com

Old Pine Farm oldpinefarm123@yahoo.com oldpinefarm.com People’s Food Co Op 216 N Fourth Ave Ann Arbor, MI 48104 734-994-9174 peoplesfood.coop Peteet’s Famous Cheesecakes 13835 Nine Mile Rd Oak Park, MI 48237 248-545- CAKE peteetscheesecakes.com Pure Food 2 U 4303 Delemere Court Royal Oak, MI 48073 248-549-5242 purefood2u.com Royal Oak Farmers' Market 316 E 11 Mile Rd Royal Oak, MI 248-246-3276 ci.royal-oak.mi.us Sandhill Crane Vineyards 4724 Walz Rd Jackson, MI 49201 517-764-0679 sandhillcranevineyards.com Slows BAR B Q 2138 Michigan Ave Detroit, MI 48226 313-962-9828 slowsbarbq.com Sweet Lorraine’s Restaurant Livonia 17100 N Laural Park Dr Livonia, MI 48152 734-953-7480 Southfield 29101 Greenfield Rd Southfield, MI 48076 248-559-5985 sweetlorraines.com

The Ravens Club 207 S Main St Ann Arbor, MI 48103 734-214-0400 theravensclub.com Toasted Oak 27790 Novi RD Novi, MI 48377 248-277-6000 toastedoak.com

Zingerman’s Roadhouse 2501 Jackson Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 734-663-3663 zingermansroadhouse.com

United Way of Southeastern MI 660 Woodward Ave Detroit, MI 48226 313-226-9355 myles.romero@liveunitedsem.org Westwind Milling 8572 Silver Lake Rd Linden, MI 48451 810-735-9192 westwindmilling.com Whole Foods Market Ann Arbor 990 West Eisenhower Pkwy Ann Arbor, MI 48103 734-997-7500 Ann Arbor 3135 Washtenaw Ave Ann Arbor, MI 48104 743-975-4500 Rochester Hills 2918 Walton Blvd Rochester Hills, MI 48309 248-371-1400 Troy Sommerset Plaza 2880 West Maple Rd Troy, MI 48084 248-649-9600 West Bloomfield 7350 Orchard Lake Rd West Bloomfield, MI 48322 248-538-4600 wholefoodsmarket.com

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Do you know where your food comes from...

Featuring an abundance of locally grown produce and plants picked within 24 hours!

In addition, there are several antibiotic & hormone free meats and cheeses, free range eggs & chicken, assorted breads and baked goods, fresh made salsa, pasta & sauces and many other specialty food vendors.

Know your farmer, know your food.

GanDy Boy Gardens Baby and Toddler meals prepared with locally grown and organic ingredients. www.gandyboygardens.com l gandyboygardens@yahoo.com

Happy Belly Bakery 248-514-7417 www.happybellybakeries.com Find us on Facebook!

Lissa's Belgian Biscuitere Fine Belgian Biscuits & Confections Special Orders Welcome 586-854-1269

Perkins Pickles is a Detroit-based, homegrown label offering a unique formula recipe of delicious cold, crisp and fresh refrigerator pickles. They are made in small batches and pulled out of the barrel each Friday, meaning you never get a pickle more than several hours or days old. Winners of the Leelanau Peninsula Pickle Off. Find us on Facebook!

...WE DO!!

Fridays & Saturdays 7:00 AM - 1:00 PM (Open Saturdays all year round)

Buy Local!

www.ci.royal-oak.mi.us/farmersmkt 248-246-3276 50 EDIBLE WOW SUMMER 2012

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