edible COLUMBUS | Summer 2013 | Issue No. 14

Member of Edible Communities

edible Columbus

Complimentary

®

Issue No. 14

Celebrating Local Foods, Season by Season

Sunny Meadows Flowers Summertime Crepes • French Lick Springs Little Eater • Oink Moo Cluck Farms A Deeply Local “I Do” • Cultivating Lavender

Summer 2013

Summer Departments Letter from the Publisher

Features 39

The battle over the future of food and farming in America

By Wenonah Hauter

Letter from the Editor The Seasoned Farmhouse

48

The Flower Children The story of Steve and Gretel Adams’ sustainable flower farm

By Kit Yoon • Photography by Catherine Murray

Delicious Collaborations Local and In Season

Foodopoly

54

A Deeply Local “I Do” The Martin-Pickens wedding at Jorgensen Farms

By Molly Hays • Photography by Sarah Warda

From the Kitchen Worth the Trip

RECIPES

Young Palates Food for Health From the Good Earth Food Forward In the Garden

19 21 22 26 33 56 57 60

Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomatoes Savory Crepes Brown Sugar Bourbon Peach Crepes Corn Relish Zucchini with Basil, Mint and Ricotta Spicy Pickens Cocktail Fingerling Potato Salad with Creamy Mustard Dressing Lavender Mandelbrot (Almond Bread)

Advertiser Directory Last Seed

About the cover: Sarah Warda captured the bride’s bouquet full of flowers sourced from Sunny Meadows Flower Farm for the Martin-Pickens wedding against an old tree at Jorgensen Farms. Nothing says summer like sunflowers and an old, shady tree. Learn more about Sarah’s work at sarahwarda.com.

2

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

PHOTO BY © CATHERINE MURRAY, PHOTOKITCHEN.NET

4 6 8 10 19 20 24 28 31 35 44 58 62 64

Contents 2013

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

3

letter from the publisher

edible Columbus Publisher & Editor in Chief

Tricia Wheeler Managing Editor & Editor

Colleen Leonardi Copy Editors

Doug Adrianson Susanna Cantor Editorial assistant

Leah Wolf Design

eventy-seven. This is the number of days my daughter has for her summer break.

My challenge is to figure out how to make them memorable, for her and for me.

I always start with the little things. I plan ahead which festivals we want to attend, which outdoor movies we want to see and which parks we want to explore. I layer in the bigger things, like trips to the beach and visits with out-of-town friends, and then I make sure we have plenty of opportunities for picnics, ice cream, farmers market visits and bike rides. I often find my daughter’s favorite times are when we do something unexpected. Those are the things I remember about my own childhood summers—the unexpected yeses—like the time my Mom let my best friend and me wear our roller skates to the grocery store. We had the best time skating up and down the aisles of the Akron Acme. That little “yes” is something I still remember today.

In case you are looking for some kitchen inspiration this summer, we have worked hard to put together a dynamic schedule of classes and events at our new cooking school—The Seasoned Farmhouse. If your child enjoys cooking, take a look at the new kids’ classes and camps that we’ve added to our line-up. Because of the expanded schedule, we were unable to print all of the descriptions in the magazine; there are just too many! The full schedule is online at theseasonedfarmhouse.com.

4

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

This issue of Edible Columbus is full of ideas, people and places to connect with during your 77 days of summer. I hope you find inspiration for some memorable encounters this summer and you leave some time for unexpected yeses.

Wishing you a very joyous summer!

Tricia P.S.—We’re always looking for ways to connect with new friends. This summer, you’ll continue to find us sharing both fun and informative food stories on our Edible Columbus blog, Facebook and Twitter. We’re building our online presence for The Seasoned Farmhouse, where we hope to share cooking and gardening tips and post short instructional videos.

Connect with us at: www.ediblecolumbus.com Facebook.com/Edible Columbus Twitter.com/ediblecbus www.theseasonedfarmhouse.com Facebook.com/TheSeasonedFarmhouse

Business Development

Shelly Strange WEB DEVELOPMENT

András Rátonyi Contributors

Samantha Beetler • Steve Coomes • Nijma Darwish • Bambi Edlund Wenonah Hauter • Molly Hays Claire Hoppens • Debra Knapke Colleen Leonardi • Nancy McKibben Catherine Murray • Jessica Opremcak Carole Topalian • Sarah Warda Leah Wolf • Kit Yoon Contact Us

P.O. Box 21-8376, Columbus, Ohio 43221 info@ediblecolumbus.com ediblecolumbus.com Edible Columbus

@ediblecbus

Advertising Inquiries

tricia@ediblecolumbus.com shelly@ediblecolumbus.com Edible Columbus is published quarterly and distributed throughout Central Ohio. Subscription rate is $25 annually. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used without written permission from the publisher. Every effort is 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.

PHOTO BY © CATHERINE MURRAY, PHOTOKITCHEN.NET

S

Melissa Petersen

“The way to know life is to love many things.”

—Vincent Van Gogh

we face as eaters and growers in the U.S.—it’s a reality that demands a lot of love on all our parts. The good food movement in all its goodness is facing a tipping point where the relationship between pleasure and policy is changing. And I believe it’s our role as citizens to be actively involved in the shift.

Swainway and Mike Laughlin of Swainway Urban Farm and Northridge Organics; Jennifer Boren of Hellwig Farm; Amy Forrest of A Tasteful Garden; the brother-sister team of Oink, Moo, Cluck Farm, Tricia Woods and Todd Neczeporenko; and Steve and Gretel Adams from Sunny Meadows Flower Farm.

“Changing our food system is a political act.

We must build the political power to do so. It is a matter of survival,” writes Wenonah Hauter in her book Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America.

With exacting detail and rigor, she takes readers through the reality of sustainable farming and rural life and why it is in jeopardy. We’re honored to share an excerpt from her book in our summer issue.

Love is bittersweet. Anyone who has been in love will tell you that. But it’s no reason to not love and continue loving “many things,” as Van Gogh once said. As each season rolls around and each issue of Edible Columbus emerges I fall in love with so many things.

And then I see the reality of what farmers face, what families face, and I want to help everyone. My bittersweet lesson is always the same: that the stories we share with you are helpful in some way and spur you onwards to effect change and consider where our food system is headed, not just with your head but also with your heart.

hen I first started visiting small, sustainable farms in Central Ohio I fell in love.

I loved the way the land made me feel. I loved the kindness farmers showed me as they walked me through their rows of vegetables and talked to me about their passion for growing food. And I loved it when they shared their harvest with me, fresh and right off the vine.

We’re also excited to share the story of the Martin-Pickens wedding with you. When we learned about Zach and Manda we saw something so special in their union. Here are two young folks originally from Ohio who wanted to share the beauty of their home state with family and friends as an offering of their love.

And who better to make that happen then the local team of rockstars from Two Caterers, Jorgensen Farms and Sunny Meadows Flower Farm. We are ever so thankful to Zach and Manda for sharing the story of their blessed day with us.

As with any first love, though, the romanticism eventually wore off. My love for sustainable farms and farmers remains as strong as ever, but over the past three years I’ve seen how broken our food system is and where it’s headed. I’ve awakened to the reality of what

And since summer is the height of the growing season, we looked at farmers in Central Ohio and how they’re continuing to innovate and grow not just good food but new models of sustainability. This list includes Barry Adler of RainFresh Harvests; Joseph

W

This summer, may the beauty of what the Earth is creating underneath your feet at this very moment and what the farmers are giving life to with their hands and hearts grace you and those you hold dear, making each day as irresistible as true love.

With joy & gratitude,

Colleen

Subscribe today to Edible Columbus Never miss a single issue with pristine copies delivered right to your door! Subscribe for yourself, or as a thoughtful gift for one of your favorite food lovers. Subscribe online at: ediblecolumbus.com, or mail a check for $25.00 payable to: Edible Columbus, PO. Box 21-8376, Columbus, Ohio 43221 Edible Columbus is supported by our advertisers and subscribers. With your paid subscription, you help support our mission by sharing the stories of our local farmers, chefs, growers and food artisans.

6

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

PHOTO BY © SARAH WARDA, SARAHWARDA.COM

letter from the editor

the seasoned farmhouse

The Seasoned Farmhouse, created by Chef Tricia Wheeler, is a recreational cooking school, learning garden, cookbook library, specialty culinary boutique and private event space located in Clintonville. The year-round cookery, gardening and educational programming celebrates seasonal ingredients from the bountiful farms and artisan producers throughout Ohio. Instructors come from near and far to share their craft and their passions. We believe nothing is more rewarding than cooking for those you love. The Seasoned Farmhouse is a place to learn and connect with our food and our community.

Fresh Seasonal Classes July 10: Exploring the Foods of Northern Michigan, featuring artisan foods from the beautiful Grand Traverse area.

July 17: Summer Salads, celebrating the art of making wonderful seasonal salads that can easily be served as a main course.

July 31: Taste of Ohio Summer with the best of Ohio summer flavors—all sourced from the farmers market.

8

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

August 1: Soft Shell Crab Season on how to prepare and cook soft shell crabs while enjoying complimentary dishes.

August 8: Cooking with Lavender with expert ideas on how to incorporate lavender into your cooking with recipes like herbs de Provence roast chicken and lavender crème brûlée.

August 15: 4th Annual Heirloom Tomato Tasting: Northridge Organic Farm’s extraordinary tomato growers Mike and Laura Laughlin share their knowledge about heirloom tomatoes as we taste 12 varieties and enjoy tomato dishes.

August 21: Southwest Cuisine featuring Ohio Hot Peppers celebrating the bounty of pepper varieties growing here in August with a spicy, seasonal, Southwestern-inspired meal.

PHOTO: CATHERINE MURRAY, PHOTOKITCHEN.NET

We hope you will join us for classes at our French Country-inspired cooking school at 3674 N. High St. near the Clintonville Farmers Market. Questions can be sent to classes@theseasonedfarmhouse.com. For full class descriptions and to register, please visit theseasonedfarmhouse.com.

August 27: Getting Green in the Kitchen: Learn how to make a three-course meal from tasty, healthy greens and get tips on living a healthier lifestyle.

September 13: New England–Style Clam & Lobster Bake: We source lobsters from Maine and shellfish from Cape Cod in our authentic clam & lobster bake, complemented

by Ohio potatoes and sweet corn.

Homesteading July 16: Basic Fermentation, exploring the basics of fermentation hands-on, including making a jar of food to ferment at home.

July 21: Home Dairy, learning how to transform cream into butter, fresh milk into cultured foods like kefir and yogurt, and gently heated milk into farmer’s cheeses, paneer and ricotta.

August 10: Advanced Fermentation, a hands-on class designed to expand on your basic fermentation knowledge and help you dive deeper into the art of fermentation.

August 13: Herbal Liquor, Tonic and Healthy Apertif Workshop, examining the healthy side of small beers, homemade wines, tinctures and herbal liquors, and the history and folklore behind these drinks.

August 25: Herbal Candy Workshop, learning to make herbal remedies and treats at home.

September 17: Bread at Home: We’ll talk knead and no-knead, flours, sourdough and leavening, giving you the confidence to make special-occasion or daily bread for your friends and family.

Global Cuisine

Pastry

July 18: The Garden of France: Specialties from the Loire Valley,

August 7: All About Summer Pies, on how to prepare a batch of pastry dough and complete a double-crust summer pie to bake at home.

learning how to make a popular pâté and terrific terrine while sampling cheese and wines from the lush Loire Valley and discussing food traditions of the region.

July 25: Saffron Patch: Indian Comfort Food at Home, Indian home cooking made easy with authentic vegetarian recipes and helpful tips on where to shop for these ingredients in Columbus.

July 13: Planning Your Own Landscape Design, an introduction to basic design and planning principles, plus individualized advice for your landscape design.

Thank you to our Pantry Sponsor

September 15: Puff Pastry Basics, learning how to make buttery, flaky puff pastry at home.

September 18: Bakeless Sweets, an

August 11: French Country Brunch, learning how to make a few shared brunch dishes popular in the southern regions of France, and enjoying samples of each dish.

introduction to the basic techniques of homemade pudding, panna cotta and no-bake desserts (and you’ll get to taste them all too!).

Gluten-free Classes

Technique

July 30: Strategies for Gluten-free Meals, finding delicious new inspiration for

July 24: Wine 101, exploring the basics of wine to take your appreciation to another level.

a gluten-free diet.

September 24: Delectable Gluten-free Desserts, learning how to make a variety of gluten-free desserts and discussing the health benefits of less gluten in your diet.

August 17: Farmers Market Shopping & Lunch, starting at The Seasoned Farmhouse and walking to the Clintonville Farmers Market together to shop for ingredients for a seasonal lunch.

August 28: Summer Wines, a full tasting

Kids’ Classes

and discussion of a variety of wines that pair well with your patio dining or next BBQ.

July 11: Science in the Kitchen,

September 8: ½ Day Part 1: ABC’s of Cooking, a course for those at an early stage

transforming everyday pantry items like cream, eggs and yeast into delicious food experiments as you learn the scientific processes behind foods like ice cream, rolls or soufflés. Ages 8–12.

in the culinary journey. We start at breakfast and go through lunch, learning a variety of important skills and delicious recipes.

July 23: Garden Delight, creating tasty

Begins Oct 1: Classical French Training

works of art using a variety of fruits and vegetables from the garden. Ages 7–12.

Tuesdays 6–9pm (limited to 9 people) The Étoile Series, for our most serious students.

Taught in four sessions, this 30 week course is designed for both beginners and more experienced home cooks. The format is modeled upon the intensive French Culinary Institute curriculum, attended by Chef Tricia Wheeler. If you always wanted to go to culinary school, or if you have dreamed of a taking a comprehensive training program, the Étoile Series may be a perfect fit.

August 6-9: Global Foods Camp,

From the Garden

September 10: Pâte à Choux Pastry, a hands-on introduction to pâte à choux\choux pastry, both savory and sweet.

learning kitchen fundamentals while preparing mouthwatering dishes using authentic ingredients and kitchen tools from Asia and the Mediterranean. Ages 8–12.

August 18: Etiquette 101, learning some basic etiquette and social graces while enjoying an afternoon tea. Ages 9–13

We would love to host your special event at The Seasoned Farmhouse, from private classes to special dinners and everything in between. We are happy to customize something unique and memorable for your occasion. Please email events@theseasonedfarmhouse or check out the “Private Events” tab at theseasonedfarmhouse.com for more information.

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

9

delicious Collaborations

A

historic grist mill in Utica, Ohio, sits in the midst of 20 acres of gently sloping hills and a beautiful thick green forest. The aged walls inside the mill speak of centuries of hard work, dedication and strong core values.

Built in 1817, the Ye Olde’ Mill became home to Velvet Ice Cream in 1960. It was a perfect site to accommodate the growing company and symbolize Velvet’s strong beliefs.

“It became an icon. It represented the oldfashion goodness and quality of our company and of the county,” says Vice President of Guest Services Andre Dager.

Velvet Ice Cream has been a family-owned and operated business for nearly a century. Generations of the Dager family have made people scream for ice cream with their delicious flavors and continuing dedication to tradition.

“We started small, in a basement of a confection factory with three flavors and only delivered in a certain area,” says Dager.

Filled with rustic elements, antique equipment and undeniable charm, Ye Olde’ Mill inevitably became the company’s trademark and appears on Velvet’s packaging today.

“The mill means memories…” says Dager. “It’s a slower-pace lifestyle and simplicity.”

The now-restored mill features Ohio’s only ice cream museum, an 1817 ice cream parlor, the company headquarters and a restaurant that attracts more than 150,000 visitors a year.

“Season after season they come back; it’s a tradition for families,” says Dager.

From May to the end of October, guests are able to learn about the history of Velvet Ice Cream while taking a dip into creamery culture. The adventure begins as visitors take a step back in time enjoying old-fashion tools and a giant water wheel. The production factory tours offer a glimpse into how Velvet makes its ice cream, and outside the journey continues with a barnyard, children’s farm and petting zoo and scenic natural trails.

Each year Velvet Ice Cream produces more than six million gallons of ice cream. Its ice creams

10

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

The Ye Olde’ Mill at Velvet Ice Cream

can be found in freezer cases across the nation with more than 500 flavors to choose from. Despite changes in technology and evolution into a national brand, the Dagers continue to focus on basics as much as possible.

“It’s amazing how much we produce in our small facility, making small batches with three production lines. We don’t like to replace workers with machines,” says Dager.

When the Dagers came across the mill years ago they were unaware of the natural bond that the company and Ye Olde’ Mill would share to this day. The mill became a manifestation of both old-fashioned sincerity and loving care that patriarch Joseph Dager put into his first handcranked batch of ice cream.

“It really shows the longevity of a great product and flavors,” says Dager. “ My dad and uncle always said never sacrifice quality.”

2

To learn more about Velvet Ice Cream and Ye Olde’ Mill visit velveticecream.com.

—Nijma Darwish

PHOTO COURTESY OF © VELVET ICE CREAM

Velvet Ice Cream

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

11

delicious Collaborations

A Tasteful Garden

Born to farming parents, Forrest inevitably adopted an agricultural lifestyle, farming full-time and selling produce to local vendors. Demand grew and planted a seed for her company, A Tasteful Garden, in 2004. The earthly haven is nestled among three acres of organically and naturally grown vegetables, fingerling potatoes and salad greens. The pastureland on the farm produces grass-fed beef from a herd of miniature Hereford cattle, flavorful pasture-raised poultry and brown eggs from laying hens.

A few years later, in 2007, Forrest found a way to combine two of her passions—cooking and farming—by launching In Good Taste Catering Company. This unique collaboration proved successful. The farm provides nearly 90% of the ingredients used for the meals and the remaining needs are locally sourced when possible. “Working with other local farmers helps keep farmer grounds growing and sustainable,” says Forrest.

in antioxidants and filled with nutrients. They also wanted to offer their clients “Wellness Boxes” filled with fresh flowers, power greens and medicinal herbs, along with recipes on how to use what’s there.

“It’s wellness for our bodies; smells and sights that make our soul and body happier,” says Garrison. “They’re packed with items boasting healing and nurturing capabilities.”

The attention to detail and love that goes into the Tasteful Garden and In Good Taste Catering has been noticed by local organizations and appreciated by clientele. The Ohio Future Farmers of America (FFA) says they use Forrest’s catering company exclusively for all of their organization’s events.

“I love the fact that she [Forrest] grows and produces the ingredients that she uses,” says Katy Endsley, program manager for the group. “She is connected to the land and she then brings it to the meals she serves.”

2

To experience A Tasteful Garden and In Good Taste Catering visit ingoodtastecateringco.com for more information.

The catering company has since taken off and Forrest’s sister, Lorie Garrison, has stepped in to help as manager of the garden. The farm continues to be family-run with three generations actively involved in day-to-day operations.

After Forrest recently faced a health scare, it wasn’t a surprise when she turned to her secret garden and enlisted Mother Nature’s help to provide a healthy supplement. Forrest and her sister began to plant power herbs, flowers and vegetables such as beet greens, kale and spinach that are higher

12

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

—Nijma Darwish

Left to right: Amy Forrest of A Tasteful Garden; Farm-fresh eggs from Amy’s farm; Part of the herd of miniature Hereford cattle Amy raises on her farm in Mechanicsburg, Ohio

PHOTOS BY © JESSICA OPREMCAK, OPREMCAKPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

S

ecret gardens do exist for Mechanicsburg resident Amy Forrest, whose family farm sits on nearly 800 acres of green rolling hills, natural woodlands and beautiful ponds.

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

13

delicious Collaborations

Northridge Organics + Swainway Urban Farm

W

hen a farmer wants to retire, the question is always: What happens to the farm? Mike and Laura Laughlin of Northridge Organic Farm are asking that question, and the answer they’ve come up with offers a contemporary, collaborative model. As Mike and Laura plan for their retirement, they have begun to hand their farm and all of Northridge’s connections in the community over to Joseph Swainway of Swainway Urban Farm.

Northridge Organic grows delicious organic vegetables. That will not change. Joseph grows delicious microgreens and mushrooms. And that will not change. Currently, Mike is mentoring Joseph, helping him learn the lifestyle that they have been leading for the past several years. The plan is to have Joseph take charge in the next year or two at Northridge Organic and run the two operations as separate farms with a shared market.

“Urban farming has always limited me on how much food I am able to grow and it has always been a goal of mine to be able to provide more food to Central Ohioans. Partnering with Mike not only accomplishes this goal but is a great opportunity to learn from one of the best on how food is grown on a larger scale,” says Joseph. “It’s very challenging for young farmers to establish themselves and to have the resources [land and infrastructure] to own and operate a large scale vegetable operation, and this venture provides the best opportunity to move my farming career forward and to ensure the local food supply continues to flourish.”

For Mike, preserving an organic local food supply to Central Ohio is equally as important as the preservation of the relationships he’s developed with local restaurants and customers.

“I really have this strong feeling that we owe something to our customers,” says Mike, “not only at the farm markets but with the chefs and the owners we worked with for years.”

His goal is to see those relationships left intact and stronger than when he and Laura first started farming. Call it a sense of stewardship or just a plain, old good heart, Mike feels those relationships matter to sustaining his farm and the good food he grows.

“They’ve helped us become what we are today. I don’t want to just say…we’re done. We’ve got a lot of customers that have become good friends of ours.”

The current partnership between Mike and Joseph is an experiment and there are a lot of uncertainties to how the move will happen when the time comes to hand everything over to Joseph. What’s clear is that the model they’ve generated is about more than simply passing on farmland. Mike sees the hand-over as a call to share the community he’s cultivated around his farm for years so the relationships, partnerships and friendships remain. The food will come. What is most important is the people Northridge has serviced all these years and their values for organic locally grown food.

“My hope for the future is that our partnership will give me that opportunity to play a larger role in the production of organic food in Ohio,” says Joseph, “and at the same time will allow Mike to fulfill his goals and to feel confident that the farm he has built up over the last 20-plus years will continue to produce food for his customers and our community.”

And while Mike shares Joseph’s hope, he’s also hoping to spend a lot more time with his family after retirement, particularly his grandchildren.

“When I really think about backing out of the farm it’s bothersome to me,” says Mike. “I’m really going to miss it. I don’t want to give it up. But I think about what I want to do, and that’s more important to me.”

2

—Colleen Leonardi

PHOTOS BY © CATHERINE MURRAY, PHOTOKITCHEN.NET

Left: Mike Laughlin (left) of Northridge Organic and Joseph Swain (right) of Swainway Urban Farm; Right: Starter plants from Swainway Urban Farm

14

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

delicious Collaborations

Hellwig Farm

J

ennifer Boren loves to garden and farm.

It’s in her blood. So when her father was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, she knew healthy food had to be a part of his healthcare regimen. It was seeing her father struggle while ill and other patients’ struggles to access healthy food that flipped the switch for Jennifer. After her father passed, Jennifer and her husband bought their farm in Alexandria, Hellwig Farm, with the intention of starting both an onsite farm market and a special service. That was 2010.

Today Jennifer runs her successful farm market during the growing season. The surrounding community thinks of it as a peaceful place where people gather for iced tea and sit on the porch watching an afternoon pass. “I just like that it’s a happy place,” says Jennifer.

So Jennifer delivers coolers stocked with fresh, seasonal produce to family’s doorstep with a note describing what vegetables she’s growing and some recipes for how to prepare the produce.

Families can then leave a note in the cooler, listing what vegetables they like, don’t like and if they’d like to receive her complimentary service. If not, Jennifer asks if they know of someone who is sick who would like the cooler instead. Jennifer makes deliveries once a week all growing season long.

She never knocks on doors or expects anything in return. She knows that when people are sick they want their privacy.

“I know my Dad would not have actively asked for anything like this,” she says. “I think it’s so important when people are struggling with any

16

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

Clockwise from top left: Jennifer Boren tending plants in her greenhouse; Jennifer’s farm market at Hellwig Farm and the swing she built for her daughter to play on while Jennifer spends her afternoon’s harvesting on the farm; A batch of fresh lettuce and nasturtiums from Hellwig Farm

kind of health crisis…that healthy aspect is a hard component at the end of the day.”

Jennifer learns by word of mouth who might benefit from her service. “I live in a small town…,” she says. “Everybody knows when somebody is sick.”

It’s a model of care Jennifer innovated. When the idea first came to her she sought out healthcare professionals and asked for advice, possibly collaborations of some kind. Time and again she was met with the question, “Who does that?” People had a hard time believing her desire to give free vegetables to people who were sick or dying.

“I realized something so simple shouldn’t be so hard,” she says. “I realized no one was going to be a good partner with me in this and I just needed to do it. I don’t know that I’m doing it right but I know so far, so good, and I think that’s gotta be the most important part.”

This year, Jennifer is servicing 17 families. She talks about last year and how some of people she serviced passed away while some got better and traveled.

“I’m not looking to be big,” she says. “I just want to do this really small community thing.”

Jennifer’s husband, mother and friends help out and her kids enjoy working on the farm. She hopes some of the families come to visit the farm market and enjoy the peace it has to offer. Between the farm and her service, Jennifer radiates well-being to families in need out of pure passion. “It feeds my soul way more than it’s ever going to feed theirs.”

2

To learn more about Hellwig Farm, visit them on Facebook at: facebook.com/HellwigFarmMarket. And visit the Farm Market at 8215 Worthington Road in Alexandria.

—Colleen Leonardi

PHOTOS BY © CATHERINE MURRAY, PHOTOKITCHEN.NET

The farm market helps support her other passion—delivering fresh produce to people in her community who are facing a health crisis.

Jennifer knows how hard it is for a family to access and prepare good food when someone is sick. Between the doctors’ visits, tests and all the time in between, families often return home exhausted with little energy to shop let alone cook.

local & In Season

Early Harvest: June Fruits: Black, Purple and Red Raspberries; Strawberries; Gooseberries Vegetables: Broccoli, Green Peas, Asparagus, Lettuces and Greens, Rhubarb

Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomatoes

By Tricia Wheeler I love recipes that are delicious and easy to execute, and that celebrate the best of the season. For me, this dish is perfect for summer breakfast, lunch or dinner when you need a trusty go-to meal and tomatoes and peppers are abundant. Its origins hail from the Middle East, where they refer to this dish as Shakshuka, or from Italy where they call it Eggs in Purgatory. My best guess is the “purgatory” refers to the heat in the tomato sauce from yummy hot peppers. I hope you enjoy!

Peak Harvest: July to August Serves 4–6 Edible Flowers Fruits: Black, Purple and Red Raspberries; Everbearing Strawberries; Blackberries; Gooseberries; Peaches; Currants; Tomatoes; Cantaloupe PHOTO BY © CATHERINE MURRAY, PHOTOKITCHEN.NET

Vegetables: Green Peas; Sweet Corn; Bell, Hot and Sweet Peppers; Cucumbers; Eggplant; Carrots; Garlic; Leeks; Okra; Lettuces and Greens; Potatoes

4 tablespoons olive oil 5–8 jalapeño or serrano peppers, based on your

peppers, garlic and onion. Sauté for a few minutes,

tolerance for heat

add tomatoes and stir in paprika, cumin and some

1 green pepper, charred, peeled and diced* 6 garlic cloves, chopped 1 small onion, diced 8–10 large tomatoes, blanched, peeled and the

Late Harvest: August to early September Edible Flowers Fruits: Apples; Everbearing Strawberries; Fall Raspberries; Blackberries; Peaches; Grapes; Tomatoes; Cantaloupe; Watermelon Vegetables: Sweet Corn; Bell, Hot and Sweet Peppers; Eggplant; Carrots; Garlic; Leeks; Okra;

In a large skillet, heat olive oil for a minute; add

seeds squeezed out, or 1 (28-ounce) can of diced

salt. Cook for about 15–20 minutes until sauce starts to thicken, then crack eggs into sauce and cover. Cook until egg whites set and yolks are how you prefer. Sprinkle with salt. Top with crumbled feta and parsley or cilantro. Serve with soft tortillas, Shagbark tortilla chips or pita bread.

tomatoes 1 tablespoon smoked paprika 2 teaspoons cumin Salt 6–8 fresh local eggs Crumbled feta Fresh parsley or cilantro

*Kitchen Note: To char peppers, place on top shelf in oven close to broiler, broil until skin blisters.

Turn peppers a few times and then place in a brown paper bag to cool; roll down top to seal in steam. Peel when cool. Charring red and green peppers adds flavor and smokiness.

2

Lettuces and Greens; Potatoes

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

19

from the Kitchen

Summertime Crepes

By Tricia Wheeler • Photography by Catherine Murray

Part of the magic of crepes comes from the wide variety of meals that can result from a simple crepe batter. Sweet, savory, breakfast, dinner—they can fill almost any role on a menu. Crepes originated in the northwest region of France, where they rarely had fillings and were used as bread in a manner similar to Indian dosas or Mexican tortillas. These crepes were large and paper-thin, and were usually eaten with a small amount of caster sugar on top. When sweet, the crepe batter is traditionally made with white wheat flour, while savory batter is traditionally made with gluten-free buckwheat flour. Modern crepe fillings range from fruits and creams to meats, sautéed vegetables and cheeses. An elaborate traditional crepe recipe is the famous Crêpe Suzette, in which a sugared crepe is covered in a liquor and flambéed, but don’t be intimidated—crepes can be very easy to make.

20

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

Crepe Batter Adapted from Alton Brown I have tried a lot of crepe recipes in search of the perfect crepe! I particularly like this recipe—it is simple to prepare and always turns out great. —TW 2 large eggs ¾ cup milk ½ cup water 1 cup flour 3 tablespoons melted butter Additional butter for coating the pan Savory Variation: Add ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ cup chopped fresh herbs, spinach or sun-dried tomatoes to the egg mixture.

Sweet Variation: Add 2½ tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of your favorite liqueur to the egg mixture.

In a blender, combine all the ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds.

Place the crepe batter in refrigerator for 1 hour.

This allows the bubbles to subside so the crepes will be less likely to tear during cooking. The batter will keep for up to 48 hours.

Heat a small non-stick pan. Add butter to coat.

Pour 1 ounce of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove to a cutting board. Lay crepe out flat so it can cool.

Continue until all batter is gone.

Kitchen Note: After crepes have cooled, you can stack them and store in sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for up to two months. When using frozen crepes, thaw on a rack before gently peeling apart.

Savory Crepe Fillings The following fillings are some of my favorite ways to make a savory crepe. These work perfectly as a lunch, dinner or elegant first course for a summer dinner party.

Crepes can always be accompanied by a nice seasonal salad.

•

Smoked salmon, green peas, Swiss cheese and tarragon cream

•

Blend of mushrooms, shallots and Gruyere cheese

•

Sweet corn, bacon and chive cream

Kitchen Note: To make a creamy filling for 8–10 crepes, take 2 cups of Snowville whipping cream, a handful of herbs you want to use for flavor, and then reduce the mixture to a thicker consistency in a saucepan on the stove for about 20–30 minutes. Cool the mixture slightly. Spoon some onto your crepe, insert your filling and sprinkle with your favorite cheese. It is a good strategy to bake the crepe for a few minutes at the end to melt the cheese and warm everything up.

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

21

Brown Sugar Bourbon Peach Crepes Serves 6–8

Prepare the sweet version of the crepe

Make crepes ahead. You can refrigerate the batter until ready to use. Place a piece of parchment between

batter for this recipe.

each crepe.

Ingredients for filling:

Combine peaches, bourbon and brown sugar in a saucepan. Cook over low to medium heat until soft. You

2–3 cups fresh peaches, or frozen peaches (we

might need to add a little water to fresh peaches; frozen peaches do not need to be defrosted before cooking.

love Branstool Peaches)* Whip cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until soft peak stage.

3 tablespoons bourbon 3 tablespoons brown sugar 1 cup Snowville whipping cream 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Assemble crepes with cream and peaches inside and then roll up. Garnish with a little more cream and some mint.

Kitchen Note: Freeze fresh Branstool peaches when they are in season and then enjoy them throughout the year. Peaches freeze perfectly. Clean them, cut them into chunks with the skin on, place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and let them freeze. Once frozen, place peaches in freezer-safe bag or container. When drizzly December arrives, you will be happy!

22

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

23

24

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

worth the trip

The Renaissance of French Lick A bygone era comes back to life at two period-correct, breathtaking properties

By Steve Coomes Photos courtesy of French Lick Springs Resort

A

century ago, wealthy Americans—even Europeans—spent their leisure time at secluded resorts and spas far removed from U.S. cities.

“These hotels were the Disney World of their time,” said Chris Bundy, author of West Baden Springs: Legacy of Dreams. “In those days, it was assumed that if you could afford to come to America [for vacation], you would go to French Lick. It was that well-known overseas.”

Connected by the Monon Railroad to the Midwest’s largest cities, the world’s sports and movie stars, power politicians and wealthy elite came to the area in southern Indiana to unwind, dine, gamble, golf and ride horseback.

But all that changed with the 1929 stock market crash and the dawn of the Great Depression. Worst hit was the luxurious West Baden Springs Hotel.

Despite three high-flying decades in operation and its recognition by some as “the eighth wonder of the world,” its owners couldn’t find a buyer for the property. Ultimately they donated the massive and lavish facility to an order of Jesuit monks.

The French Lick Springs Hotel fared better, serving before and long after the crash as the unofficial headquarters of the Democratic National Committee.

The Sheraton hotel company bought it in 1949 and maintained a brisk convention business, but chose not to maintain the hotel’s grand French Renaissance décor or repair its crumbling wood and concrete structure.

When preservationists moved to save both buildings in the 1990s, the French Lick was open, but haggard, and the West Baden, abandoned for a decade, was crumbling from the outside in. Preservation appeared hopeless until billionaire philanthropists William and Gayle Cook of Bloomington committed several million to shore them up.

When the hotel opened in 1903, its soaring, 200-foot-wide atrium was the world’s largest free-span domed structure

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

25

The couple eventually embarked on not only a full restoration, modernization and reopening of both as working hotels, they added a casino at a final cost of $450 million. The result is a pair of period-correct, breathtaking properties that reopened in 2007, now operated as one property, and that AAA named among its top 10 historic hotels in 2009.

That the resort’s incredible restoration is so little known can be attributed to bad timing, according to Mark Bommarito, French Lick Resort’s sales and marketing vice-president. Many people remember French Lick in decline, while at the same time they’re provided with so many more travel and entertainment possibilities.

“When people think of fine resorts of this quality, they think of the upper East Coast or the mountains in Colorado, not a small town near Louisville, Kentucky,” Bommarito said.

panse (and the hotel) are countless pieces of period-correct chairs and couches designed for lazy luxuriating. Lingering in the atrium with cocktails after sunset is an ethereal experience.

The French Lick Springs Hotel’s lobby is smaller, but also stunning. Colorful frescoes are framed in filigreed tray ceilings held aloft by painstakingly restored scagliola columns. An open mezzanine looking down on the lobby is a walking history tour, filled with charcoal sketches of famous visitors. A much larger and multi-structure hotel, French Lick boasts 443 rooms, a casino, conference center, sports complex and horse stables.

Opportunities for pampering are abundant at both hotels’ high-end spas.

And for golfers, there are three choices including the new 8,100-yard-long Pete Dye-designed course, carved into the hills above the resort. From the clubhouse at the top, you can see more than 35 miles in any direction on clear days.

A room with a jaw-dropping view The atrium of the West Baden Springs Hotel is an awe-inspiring space, a sixlevel, 246-room circular structure topped by a 200-foot-wide glass and steel free-spanning dome that was an architectural marvel in its day and, for years, the world’s largest of its kind. The floor is brilliantly patterned by millions of mosaic tiles and lengthy runways of sculpted carpet. Soaring from floor to dome are massive columns topped with gilded capitals. Throughout the ex-

Corn Relish This corn relish is served this over poblano chili–marinated flank steak from Briscoe Beef of Mitchell, Indiana.

At French Lick, they use something called “chilly dilly lemonade” as part of the marinade. It’s lemonade seasoned with sliced cucumber and fresh dill. You can substitute regular lemonade.—SC 5 or 6 ears corn on the cob ¼ cup diced red pepper ¼ cup diced green pepper 3 or 4 green onions, sliced very thin Fresh herbs (basil, dill and thyme suggested)

Fine food finds The resort features multiple casual cafés, bars and a pizzeria, but its two high-end restaurants—1875: The Steakhouse (French Lick), and Sinclair’s (West Baden)—are true destination stops. Chef Robbie Bellew oversees banquets at both hotels, where all menus get seasonal treatments drawing from abundant supplies of foods raised on nearby rolling farmlands.

“I’m constantly pushing our purchasing department to get all they can from as close to home as possible,” said Bellew. The task isn’t easy since the beef and pork requirements of a large resort alone “could wipe out one farmer’s whole herd. So we take a particular strip loin for 1875, another cut for the Power Plant [Bar & Grill] and something else for Sinclair’s.”

During the summer, Sinclair’s serves a tasting of locally grown heirloom tomatoes, as well as fresh vegetable dishes sometimes inspired by chefs’ visits to the Orange County Farmers’ Market. Wherever possible, producers’ farms are recognized on menus. “We’re always trying to make the statement that our food comes from around here, not from California or Mexico,” said Bellew.

For golfers, the ideal meal would be served at the restored mansion-cumclubhouse at the Pete Dye Course, but such an event is pricey for most: One must be a guest of either hotel, have played a round of golf that day ($350 for 18 holes) and still have enough funds for dinner.

2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 cup lemonade Sea salt, to taste

But since such extraordinary treats rarely come his way, author Bundy said he’d eat at any spot at either hotel and then cap it off with a long rest in one of dozens of high-backed rocking chairs spread throughout both hotels’ spacious verandas.

Fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Grill the corn to get some char on the husk. Allow it to cool and remove the charred husk and silk. Slice the corn off the cob and break it up in a bowl. Add the peppers, spring onions and chopped herbs to the bowl with the corn and toss.

In a separate bowl add the sugar and vinegar and whisk to dissolve the sugar. Add the olive oil and lemonade season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour this mixture over the corn mixture and allow it to sit as long as you can stand it. Overnight will work best. Serve with a slotted spoon.

26

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

“You can go to a nice restaurant, you can golf, ride horses or gamble, but when you allow yourself to sit in those rocking chairs and do nothing, your blood pressure will go down by 20 points,” he said. “That’s the calming effect both those hotels have on people.”

2 86 70 W. State Road 56, French Lick, Indiana 47432

For more information, visit frenchlick.com or call 888-936-9360.

Visitor’s tips: Depending on the time of year and frequently offered specials, stays at both hotels are relative bargains. Sign up for e-mail alerts to stay abreast of events.

Clockwise from top: West Baden Springs viewed from above. The lobby of the French Lick Springs Hotel is a stunning French themed space featuring frescoes framed in filigreed tray ceilings held aloft by painstakingly restored scagliola columns. Rocking chairs on the porch at French Lick Springs Hotel offer a relaxing place to enjoy the view.

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

27

young Palates

Destination Farming

By Samantha Beetler

T

wo years ago, when I was a high school senior on the edge of graduation, I was faced with the unavoidable question of what I was going to do next. Up until that time, I told myself I would be like so many of my classmates and go off to college, get a degree. But when the time came to pick my destination of higher education, the last place I wanted to go was back into the classroom.

With college on hold, I searched my heart to examine what exactly it was that made me feel alive—what was it that I loved? The answer was so simple that I didn’t see it right away. After school one day, I stood in the middle of a field bordering a farm. I watched as insects crawled on plants nearby and heard the many songs of birds. The grass moved in the wind and the colors of the setting sun made everything in my view glow a golden yellow. I could feel what was around me and felt irreplaceably peaceful. In that moment my intuition was awakened and I knew that wherever I was headed, I wanted to be outside.

The urge to surround myself with nature originated from my childhood days.

I spent them adventuring the four acres of land where my family and I lived, nestled off of a country road in the woods. There I was free to run barefoot in the tall summer grass, climb to the tops of oak trees, take my Barbies for a trip to the creek and stay up late to roast marshmallows over a bonfire.

Although as a kid I viewed tending the flowers and garden as a chore, as an adult the chore has become a most beloved hobby. When I stood in that field as a soon-to-be graduate, no longer a child running free in the country, my destiny presented itself. Not only did I love being immersed in nature, but I adopted my mother’s passion for tending to plants. For the first time, I realized I was meant to be a farmer.

That revelation gave me my missing coordinate, and I started to search out farms to work on. One e-mail and an interview later, I found myself inside of a large hoop house pulling weeds from rows of huge, luscious lettuce. The farm had three of these amazing structures where the majority of produce was grown, containing within its plastic walls a plethora of salad greens and herbs.

28

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

PHOTO BY © CAROLE TOPALIAN

But it wasn’t all play. Ever since I can recall, my mother has always kept flowerbeds and a vegetable garden. She would round up my sisters and me every Saturday morning, putting us to work extracting the many weeds that seemed to ceaselessly multiply before our eyes. I would start out strong, pulling the plants my mom designated as a “weed,” and then a half hour later my effort would diminish as I asked over and over again, “Can I go play now?”

I was able to get my first hands-on experience working on a farm, and not just any farm, an organic one. Before my pursuit began, I didn’t understand what made organically grown food so different from every other food at the grocery store. Mindy and Phil, the two farmers who took me under their wing, showed me just how big of a difference choosing organic made. I learned terms such as a genetically modified organism (GMO), familiarized myself with the infamous Monsanto seed company and started reading labels on food to find out just how far it had traveled to reach me.

Organic took on a whole new light. It became a guarantee that the food I bought wasn’t sprayed with pesticides or herbicides, which is not only bad for human consumption but also detrimental to the environment. Also, through buying organically raised meat, I knew that the animals had been treated humanely and not stuffed with hormones or antibiotics. The taste of the organic products was the ultimate characteristic that won my heart. I remember drinking organic milk for the first time and savoring the rich and creamy taste. My mind told me that organic farming was the right way, and my taste did too.

After high school graduation, I went on to work for two other organic farmers and currently do so as well. I just finished my first semester of college studying sustainable agriculture, and want to continue my education with the addition of social therapy. My dream is to do what I love—farming.

At the same time, I want to provide others with the opportunity to grow their own food, building life skills through nurturing plants and animals.

Food is a very intimate part of every day, and preserving it for not only this lifetime but those to come is of greatest importance. I choose to fight for an end to food deserts, genetically modified foods, nutrient-stripped lands, the eutrophication of lakes and the ignorance of where food comes from. All of this I can do by being an organic farmer, and by voting through my selections at the grocery store. The road to change comes through doing, and only when we take hold of our lives can we start to make a difference.

2 Samantha Beetler grew up in the countryside of Deerfield, Ohio. She writes: “The freedom to roam on the four acres of land where I lived instilled in me a desire to always be outside that hasn't left. This past spring, I completed my first semester of college at the Ohio State University’s Agricultural Technical Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, and I'll be continuing to learn about my life’s passion in the coming years.”

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

29

30

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

food for health

The Main Course At littleeater, veggies take center plate

By Leah Wolf Photography by Jessica Opremcak

C

ara Mangini of littleeater is on a mission to change vegetables’ place in our food culture. As in—steak, move over, veggies aren’t just a side dish anymore.

Behind her plan to make vegetables more convenient and approachable is her desire to help us overcome childhood memories of bland zucchini and frozen peas. As chef and owner of littleeater, Cara prepares fresh salads yearround and sells them at Hills Markets, the Clintonville Community Market and The Greener Grocer in North Market. She also has her pop-up restaurant, littleeatery, which debuted last year and will be back on Thursdays and Fridays starting in June at the new Hills Market downtown.

“Littleeatery allows me the opportunity to do different types of foods that I can’t do in a packaged product. I can do green-based salads that I can’t do packaged,” Cara said. “There are some vegetables that pop up for a short time that are hard to keep on the salad packaged product menu for an extended amount of time, so the eatery will allow me the opportunity to feature produce as it pops up and be flexible enough to adjust when a farmer gets something really special in for a short time and give access to customers.”

It’s in her cooking classes and on her blog, littleeater.com, that Cara shares her passion as a teacher and a writer for healthy food—a passion she’s had from a young age. Her family, whose Italian heritage imbued her with a

natural interest in Italian food and culture, made food the center of their life and their celebrations.

“Somewhere along the way I became very interested in the connection between food and health,” Cara said. “That naturally turned into an interest in vegetables when I realized that traditionally, my Italian heritage is rooted in this very intuitive understanding of how to prepare and include vegetables in meals.”

Cara spent a decade in the Paris and New York City fashion and beauty worlds pursuing other passions before she discovered the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York and decided it was time to follow her first love—food.

Her travels in France, Italy and Turkey had made her aware of how deeply vegetables were missing from her cooking as well as from American food culture. She became determined to change that.

While she is inspired by her Italian heritage and the French standards of food quality and presentation, it is Turkey that moves her most.

“I find myself very excited and inspired by those flavors, and there is this natural understanding and proficiency in working with fresh produce and vegetables that just blows me away,” Cara said. Her work is constantly informed by her experiences in Turkey, where cooks use complex flavors of herbs and spices to create well-balanced, satisfying food with vegetables and legumes.

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

31

32

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

After culinary school, Cara took on food jobs with a specific focus on vegetables, from working as the vegetable butcher in Mario Batali’s Eataly in New York City to farm liaison and line chef at the Farmstead restaurant and adjoining farm in Napa Valley. She has worked with chefs such as Scott Conant, Gerry Hayden, Claudia Fleming, Peter Berley, Ian Knauer, Dave Martin, Andrea Beaman, Jeremy Bearman and Stephen Barber. Everything she did built up to her dream of opening littleeatery. It was her time as a vegetable butcher, though, where she gained a perspective on people’s views of vegetables and discovered how much she loved teaching others.

“Even the most sophisticated New Yorkers didn’t know and understand the simplest ways to prepare vegetables. Even they were extremely intimidated by produce and how to prepare it,” she said. “I taught people how to create a really simple dish to accompany these other things, but also that vegetables can be the main dish and can be the inspiration.”

In Napa Valley, she felt firsthand the thrill of taking food literally from field to table, and she learned how much work and planning goes into sourcing food that is truly local.

“The goal was always to understand vegetables at their source so I could ultimately teach people about selection, storage and all those things we all assume we know, but we don’t,” Cara said. “To have that connection between where the food comes from and the table was incredible. And to see a place that was really committed to it was an important inspiration to me. It’s really hard to be committed to local … building relationships and just overall ensuring quality is a big job.”

It’s a job that Adam Welly of Wayward Seed Farm knows well. He supplies Cara with certified organic vegetables from his farm and orchestrates the agricultural balance that produces quality food for retail and wholesale buyers as well as community-supported agriculture customers.

The expansion of Wayward Seed Farm from an acre of land in production in 2006 to 20½ acres in 2013 reflects the overall increase in demand for healthy, wholesome food.

Cara Mangini of littleeater preparing her Zucchini with Basil, Mint and Ricotta

Zucchini with Basil, Mint and Ricotta Recipe courtesy of Cara Mangini Cara considers this a “very quintessential veggie dish” and says it’s perfect for anyone who has bad memories of vegetables as a child. —LW

“Our success certainly speaks volumes about the consumer trend towards healthy, nutrient-dense, local and most importantly certified organic products,” Adam said.

1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil, plus a drizzle 3 to 4 small- to medium-size zucchini, chopped ½ teaspoon ground cumin or cumin seeds (optional)

It was a matter of chance that brought Cara to Columbus, and she’s grateful to be here.

Coarse sea salt and pepper Juice of half of a lemon ¼ cup of basil

“I have been blown away by the work of the farmers and food producers in this area that have been an integral part of my business,” she said. “There’s a lot of room in the marketplace for more food producers and there’s a great audience here—people are really hungry for it.”

2 to 4 tablespoons of mint ⁄3 cup part-skim or whole milk ricotta

1

Heat oil on high in a large sauté pan. Once the oil is hot, turn down the Learn more about Cara and littleeater at littleeater.com.

heat to medium high and add the zucchini. Toss the zucchini in the oil.

Add cumin (if you would like), salt and pepper. Sauté the zucchini until

2 Leah Wolf is a freelance writer whose love of food and nature is only surpassed by her love of words. In addition to working as an editorial assistant for Edible

Columbus, Leah is an assistant at The Seasoned Farmhouse, where she’s excited to learn about food while helping the new cooking school grow.

golden and just soft, but not mushy. This will take about 3 to 5 minutes.

Squeeze the lemon juice over the zucchini, and toss or stir. Add the herbs, reserving some for garnish. Transfer the zucchini from the heat to a serving platter.

Add a dollop of ricotta to the top, more fresh herbs, a drizzle of good olive oil and a sprinkle of coarse sea salt. Serve immediately.

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

33

34

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

from the good earth

Oink!

Moo! Cluck! and introducing Baa! A brother and sister team pools their talents in a unique family farm venture

By Nancy McKibben, Photography by Catherine Murray

Separated by 200 miles of green Ohio countryside, the two halves of Oink Moo Cluck Farms (OMC), run by siblings Tricia Woods in Johnstown and Todd Neczeporenko in Ashtabula County, form one perfect whole that brings free-range meat, poultry and eggs to eager customers in Central Ohio.

The farming gene runs deep in the Neczeporenko family. The maternal grandparents were dairy farmers and the paternal grandparents, who met in a displaced persons camp in Ukraine, immigrated in 1947 to farm 100 acres in Pierpont, Ohio.

Parents Tim (Tymofij) and Linda met in 4-H camp, married and in 1973 purchased a meat processing plant, which they ran until Linda’s death in 1988. A souvenir of Tricia’s and Todd’s childhood is a Country Kids Beef label— “Ideal for home, camping or lunch boxes”—featuring their smiling, wholesome faces at ages 4 and 2.

After a year at the Ohio State University (OSU), Todd came home to farm with his dad; he reopened the plant for deer processing in 1994 at the suggestion of a neighbor. A major remodel fol-

lowed in 2000. Now all Todd and his dad needed were more markets for the meat they raised.

Enter Tricia, who had already graduated from OSU in elementary education. She was working for Sprint, where she still works today as a client executive, when Todd appealed to her for help.

Oink Moo Cluck was introduced at the Worthington Farmers Market in 2005, and after a slow first year, business boomed and has been booming ever since.

Protector of Orphans Tricia is the blond and sentimental dynamo behind OMC operations. “I can’t stand to raise animals to butcher,” she confesses. “Todd raises and packs.” Since moving to the countryside in 2010, Tricia has added eggs to the product line with 200 laying chickens.

One of just a few large animals at Tricia’s place is Orphan Annie, who rode from OMC Ashtabula to OMC Johnstown as an orphaned newborn calf in the backseat of Tricia’s Buick Enclave.

Tricia raised Annie on a bottle, and she is now a

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

35

What’s Your Beef?

The most important thing to remember when choosing a cut of meat from OMC is that they do the butchering. “We have certain cuts we always sell,” says Todd. “But I can cut whatever you want.”

The product line has doubled since 2002. Flank and skirt steak, which Todd used to add to the ground beef, now shine as their own cuts due to popular demand. Keeping it in the family is Cousin Mike’s Barbecue Sauce, which flavors all the barbecue pork, chicken and beef products.

Todd and Tricia agree that pork is the most popular. “We have good friends who raise 4-H feeder pigs, and that’s who we buy our piglets from,” Todd says.

“People love our hot dogs. And our bacon. And our pepper bacon.”

Prepared Items to Heat & Serve Pulled pork

companion to Earl, a stray goat who was deposited at the farm by neighbors.

Smoked ribs Natural-casing wieners Skinless wieners Smoked whole chickens Beef sticks Beef jerky (a variety of flavors) Smoked pork chops Kielbasa Bologna Barbecue shredded chicken Beef Strip steaks Rib eye steaks Filet Tenderloin Flank Skirt steak Beef stew meat Ground chuck

Tricia has expanded the reach of OMC far beyond the Worthington Farmers Market, employing Kala Schiff, who started helping them at the Clintonville Farmers Market when she was just 15, and now at 21 handles all the summer markets. (See sidebar for market schedule.)

OMC also provides the protein supplement for Bird’s Haven Farms’ community-supported agriculture (CSA) program in Granville.

“They approached us,” Todd says. “They liked that we controlled all aspects of the raising and processing of the meat.”

In addition, OMC sells through Azoti, a distributor that provides a way for businesses such as Grange Insurance, Safelite and the OSU Medical Center to offer local foods to their employees.

Patties Chuck roast Rump roast Soup bones Tongue Liver Short ribs Brisket

Lifelong Farmer Todd is the pragmatic face of OMC, a lifelong farmer who finds the questions that he is asked about livestock care baffling. “Of course I take good care of my animals,” he says. “Any good farmer takes care of his animals.”

The Neczeporenko family includes wife, Jana, 8year-old Alana and 7-year-old Zane. “Zane the insane Ukraine,” his father adds. The kids do their part on the farm by feeding the meat chickens, which are free-range like the cows.

“I don’t think there’s a better way of growing up than on a farm,” Todd says. “It teaches you responsibility.” And also where meat comes from. One of Zane’s friends insists that the chicken he eats is “not like your chickens. Mine comes from a store.”

The Best of All Possible Worlds Selling OMC products has been a satisfying family experience. Tricia sees her dad every weekend when he delivers the meat and works at the Worthington market. “The customers bring him coffee and brownies. He enjoys it.”

Todd points out that because of market sales, he was able to purchase his grandparents’ original 100-acre farm when they passed away, adding it to his own 100 acres, which abuts theirs. Now the farm will stay in the family for another generation.

“It works out great for everybody,” Todd says.

Oink Moo Cluck Farm

Chicken Breast (boneless & bone-in)

But he understands completely why OMC’s meat is so popular.

Fresh whole chicken Cut-up chicken Ground chicken Chipotle-honey chicken sausage Apple-maple chicken sausage Thighs

“Our customers like knowing that the product they buy has never left our family. We buy the animals as babies and have total control, and we’re competitive because there is no middleman, no processor to pay. Our quality is good and consistent.”

Lamb (through partnership with Steyer Farms) Leg Chops (loin & rib) Stew meat Ground lamb Roasts Gyro meat

36

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

1909 Harrison Rd., Johnstown, OH 43031; 614-427-9313; oinkmoocluck.com; order@oinkmoocluck.com.

2 Nancy McKibben has been writing and eating for years, and is happy to combine those loves with the opportunity to advocate for local food in the pages of

This year OMC adds “Baa” to their business, if not to their name, with lamb from Terri and Dick Steyer at Sadie Flats Farm. “We raise what we sell,” explains Todd, “But there are lots of small farms who can’t market or don’t want to. If they raise the animals the way we want, then we will process and sell it for them. It helps small farmers and makes everybody happy.”

Edible Columbus. Her novel The Chaos Protocol was a finalist for the Ohioana Book Award for Fiction in 2000, and she was the winner of the Thurber House Essay Contest in 2003. She is also a lyricist and journalist, the mother of six, and the wife of one. View her work at www.leader.com/nancymckibben; contact her at nmckibben@leader.com.

Where to purchase OMC products: Farmers Markets: Sa: Worthington, Granville and Clintonville; Tu: Hilliard; W: Bexley; Th: New Albany.

Also: Buy at Oink Moo Cluck Farm; website or email; special order custom cuts; home delivery; pre-order and pickup at farmers markets.

Sister and brother team Tricia Woods and Todd Neczeporenko of Oink Moo Cluck Farm

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

37

PHOTO BY © CAROLE TOPALIAN

38

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

Foodopoly The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America

By Wenonah Hauter

I

n 1963 my dad bought a ramshackle farm with rich but extremely rocky soil in the rural Bull Run Mountains of Virginia, 40 miles southwest of Washington, DC. Today it is on the verge of suburbia.

My dad, who died in 1991 at the age of 81, would be shocked now to see both his farm and the massive development around it. Thousands of townhouses and new subdivisions have cropped up where once there were fields dotted with cows. This has brought on the big-box stores, including Walmart, and fast-food joints— blights on the once bucolic rural landscape. A major highway, I-66, recently engineered to be either six or eight lanes depending on the location, means we can zip into the nation’s capital during the rare times that commuters are not clogging the road.

Since 1997, my husband has run the farm as a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program, feeding 500 families each season with subscription vegetables grown using organic practices. It’s a successful family business that suits my activist husband, who taught high school and college and worked for public interest organizations, but who really prefers the challenge of farming without chemicals. It works financially, because we own the land outright, and because we live near a major metropolitan area where urban and suburban residents are seeking greater authenticity in the food they eat. They want their children to see where food comes from and to learn that chickens enjoy living together in a pasture. We often joke that for most people the CSA is more about having a farm to visit than the vegetables.

My family is also extremely lucky that my dad bought almost worthless land in the 1960s that today is located near a major metropolitan area populated by a largely affluent and educated population. But most farmers, or people aspiring to be farmers, aren’t so lucky. Fortunately, farmers markets and similar venues help capture

the excitement and nostalgia for farming, and for a simpler and healthier lifestyle, and they are delightful for the customers and can be profitable for farmers.

But despite my firsthand knowledge of and appreciation for the immense benefits of CSAs and farmers markets, they are only a small part of the fix for our dysfunctional food system. Food hubs, which aggregate and distribute local food, are beneficial for participating farmers and the purchasing food establishment. But, so far, they must be subsidized by nonprofits or local governments because they are not self-sustaining. We must delve deeper into the history of the food system to have the knowledge to fix it.

The food system is in a crisis because of the way food is produced and the consolidation and organization of the industry itself. To solve it we must move beyond the focus on consumer choice to examine the corporate, scientific, industrial and political structures that support an unhealthy system. Combating this is going to take more than personal choice and voting with our forks—it’s going to take old-fashioned political activism. We must do much more than create food hubs or find more opportunities for farmers to sell directly to consumers. We must address head-on the “foodopoly”—the handful of corporations that control our food system from seeds to dinner plates.

While the rhetoric in our nation is all about competition and the free market, public policy is geared toward enabling a small cabal of companies to control every aspect of our food system.

Today, 20 food corporations produce most of the food eaten by Americans, even organic brands.

Four large chains, including Walmart, control more than half of all grocery store sales. Further, science has been allowed to run amok; the biotechnology industry has become so powerful that it can literally buy public policy. Scientists have been allowed to move forward without adequate regulation, and they are now manipulating the genomes of all living things—microor-

ganisms, seeds, fish and animals. Reining in and regulating the biotechnology industry is critical to reforming the dysfunctional food system.

These structural flaws are often overlooked by the good-food movement, which focuses on creating an alternative model from the ground up that will eventually overtake the dysfunctional system. However, this approach raises the questions: for whom and how many? A look at the most recent statistics on local food illustrates this point. A November 2011 study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, using 2008 data (the most recent available), found: “Despite increased production and consumer interest, locally grown food accounts for a small segment of U.S. agriculture.

For local foods production to continue to grow, marketing channels and supply chain infrastructure must deepen.”

The study found that levels of direct marketing to consumers are highest in the Northeast, on the West Coast and in a few isolated urban areas outside these regions. Direct marketing of local

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

39

foods to consumers at farmers markets and CSAs, along with local food sales to grocery stores and restaurants, generated $4.8 billion in sales in 2008. This figure is infinitesimal in comparison to the $1,229 trillion in overall sales from grocery stores, convenience stores, food service companies and restaurants.

Of special significance is the finding that over half of all farms that sell locally are located near metropolitan counties, compared to only a third of all U.S. farms. This illustrates the difficulty that farmers who grow corn, soy, wheat and other feed or cereal grains for commodity markets have in converting their farming operations to direct sales to consumers. These farmers sell crops that reenter the food system as a component of another food—as a sweetener, an oil, a starch or as feed for animals. The lack of a local market, a distribution network or in many cases the infrastructure needed to harvest, aggregate or process local foods is also a tremendous hindrance to creating an alternative food system.

Look at a map of the large agricultural middle of this nation to understand that the few remaining farmers who grow the millions of acres of corn and soybeans, fencerow to fencerow, do not live where they can sell directly to the consumer. Most farmers don’t have nearby affluent urban areas to which to market their crops. They couldn’t switch from commodities to vegetables and fruit even if they had a market, because they have invested in the equipment needed to plant and harvest corn and soy, not lettuce, broccoli or tomatoes. Overly simplistic solutions are often put forward by some

40

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

leaders in the good-food movement that take the focus away from the root causes of the food crisis—deregulation, consolidation and control of the food supply by a few powerful companies.

One of the most prevalent policy solutions put forward as a fix for the dysfunctional system is the elimination of farm subsidies. This silver bullet prescription implies that a few greedy farmers have engineered a farm policy that allows them to live high off the hog on government payments, while small farms languish with no support. Proponents of this response say that if we remove these misapplied subsidies to these few large farms, the system will right itself.

Unfortunately, the good-food movement has been taken in by an oversimplified and distorted analysis of farm data. It is based on a misinterpretation of misleading U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics that greatly exaggerate the number of full-time family farm operations. A close look at the USDA’s Census of Agriculture shows that one third of the 2.2 million entities counted as farms by the agency have sales of under $1,000 and almost two thirds earn under $10,000 a year.

Counting these small ventures as farms not only skews the statistics on the number of farms in the United States, it also makes it appear that only a small percentage receive government payments.

In reality, we have under a million full-time farms left, and almost all of them, small and large, receive government subsidies. This is not to say that the subsidy system is good policy. Rather that it is a symptom of a broken food production

system, not the cause of the problems. If we penalize farmers for policies that the powerful grain traders, food processors and meat industry have lobbied for, we will never create a sustainable food system. We need midsize farming operations to survive and to be transitioned into a sustainable food system.

Midsize family farmers have an average income of $19,277—a figure that includes a government subsidy. The cost of seeds, fertilizers, fuel and other inputs is continuing to rise as these industries become more monopolized. Most farmers are scratching by, trying to hold on to their land and eke out a living. We are losing these farms at a rapid rate, resulting in the consolidation of smaller farms into huge corporate-run industrial operations with full-time managers and contract labor. Telling these farmers that all they have to do once the subsidies are taken away is grow vegetables for the local farmers market is not a real solution for them or their communities. Rural communities are seeing the wealth and the profit from agriculture sucked into the bottom lines of the largest food corporations in the world.

Economically viable farms are the lifeblood of rural areas. Their earnings generate an economic multiplier effect when supplies are bought locally, and the money stays within the community. The loss of nearly 1.4 million cattle, hog and dairy farms over the past 30 years has drained not only the economic base from America’s rural communities, but their vitality.

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

41

42

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

Something is fundamentally amiss in a society that does not value or cherish authentic food that is grown full time on appropriate-size family farms. The benefits of farmers—rather than corporate managers—tending crops and the land are many. Fred Kirschenmann, a North Dakota farmer and a leader in the sustainable agriculture movement, along with his colleagues at the Agriculture in the Middle project writes extensively on this point and poignantly outlines the benefits of these vulnerable midsize farms in today’s economic landscape. These are the farms that could be changed to provide sustainably grown organic food for the long term. Many are located in the Midwest and South, where there is no large population to buy directly from them, but they have the capacity to produce food for the majority of Americans—if given a chance. Changing farm policy to provide that chance is key to preventing our nation’s rural areas from becoming industrial sites and to truly remaking the food system for all Americans. We must address the major structural problems that have created the dysfunction— from the failure to enforce antitrust laws and regulate genetically modified food to the manipulation of nutrition standards and the marketing of junk food to children. We need to move beyond stereotypes and simplistic solutions if we

are to build a movement that is broad-based enough to drive policy changes.

Most people are several generations away from the experience of producing their own food. This leads to many misconceptions—from over-romanticizing its hard, backbreaking work to the dismissal of farmers as greedy, ignorant and selfish “welfare queens.” Understanding the difficult challenges they face is critical to developing the policy solutions necessary for saving family farms and moving into a sustainable future. We need to develop a rural economic development plan that enables farmers to make a living while at the same time providing healthy, affordable food choices for all Americans.

We have the opportunity, before it is too late, to change the course of our food system’s development away from factory farms and laboratories and toward a system that is ecologically and economically sound. We can challenge the monopoly control by fighting for the reinstatement of antitrust laws and enforcement of them. We have the land and the human capacity to grow real food—healthy food—but it will take a wholesale effort that includes restructuring how food is grown, sold and distributed. It means organizing a

movement to hold our policy makers accountable, so that food and farm policy is transformed and environmental, health and safety laws are obeyed.

It will require a massive grassroots mobilization to challenge the multinational corporations that profit from holding consumers and farmers hostage and, more important, to hold our elected officials accountable for the policies that are making us sick and fat. We must comprehend the complexity of the problem to advocate for the solutions. We cannot shop our way out of this mess.

The local-food movement is uplifting and inspiring and represents positive steps in the right direction. But now it’s time for us to marshal our forces and do more than vote with our forks.

Changing our food system is a political act. We must build the political power to do so. It is a matter of survival.

2 Copyright © 2012 by Wenonah Hauter. This excerpt originally appeared in Foodopoly: The Battle Over the

Future of Food and Farming in America, published

by The New Press. Reprinted here with permission.

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

43

food Forward

Growing for Balance RainFresh Harvests offers 100% clean energy food

By Claire Hoppens Photography by Jessica Opremcak

44

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

O

n an eight-acre farm at the edge of Plain City, Barry Adler flips conventional notions of farming upside down. Fueled by a lifelong passion for horticulture and penchant for sustainable agriculture, Barry operates RainFresh Harvests, Central Ohio’s only greenhouse powered by a wind turbine and solar panels and heated with solar thermal collectors. It’s a dream realized through years of tireless work, widespread technological advancements and his own farming experience and, now, it’s one viable enough to supply more than a dozen local restaurants and businesses with fresh produce and herbs.

It was a brush with Northstar Café founder Kevin Malhame nearly 10 years ago that motivated Barry to make RainFresh a reality. Barry recalls Kevin mentioning “he was from Columbus and thinking about starting a restaurant that featured locally grown crops and I mentioned that I was thinking about growing herbs organically year-round in a small greenhouse and field operation.

When he said he would be willing to buy all the herbs that I could grow, that was enough to get me motivated.” To this day, Barry grows greens and produce for Northstar Café, along with Third & Hollywood, Tucci’s, Matt the Miller’s and Columbus Whole Foods Markets, among others.

Barry had, prior to the fateful meeting, taken a close interest in the 1970s organic growing movement in California, studying biodynamic farming at the University of California, Santa Cruz before earning a master’s degree in horticulture from Virginia Tech, which ultimately segued into a 22-year career at Scott’s Company in Marysville.

When land, time and an outsourced job at Scott’s provided an opportunity to implement his vision, Barry began a year and a half of research into biointegrated greenhouses.

“I was also fortunate to be volunteering at Green Energy Ohio... when grants through the state of Ohio became available to reimburse expenses for developing renewable energy projects. This helped, along with a family loan, to get me into business growing in a renewable energy greenhouse of my own design,” Barry said.

From a distance, RainFresh Harvests and surrounding scenery are not unlike other nearby farms, on land no less bucolic. A large, barn-like structure anchors the property, a greenhouse sits close by, land is tilled for summer planting and a small pond reflects golden light. And, perhaps, this is a more marvelous component to Barry’s work—that powerful technologies and growing potential lie in unassuming spaces.

The largest, and arguably the most advanced, structure at RainFresh Harvests is the RainFresh green bio-shelter, which contains facilities for year-round growing, worm composting, aquaculture, rain water collection, herb drying and food processing. The green bio-shelter has operated off the grid since 2005, harnessing energy from solar panels on a south-facing roof and from a wind turbine onsite. Powered by the same alternative energy sources, radiant floor heating keeps temperatures steady through unpredictable winters.

Just beside the bio-shelter sits the passive solar green house, an unheated glass structure with ground insulation to take advantage of streaming sunlight and wintertime soil thermal mass.

Opposite: Green bio-shelter and passive solar green house at RainFresh Harvests

In addition, Barry raises fish in an outdoor aquaculture pond.

Below: Inside Barry Alder’s green bio-shelter, which contains facilities for year-round growing, worm composting, aquaculture, rain water collection, herb drying and food processing

“Right now I’m growing food fish,” Barry said of the pond stocked with blue gill and perch, though mosquito fish and koi have been farmed in past years.

Barry is able to extend the growing season for chosen crops utilizing the biointegrated greenhouse year round and planting outdoor crops around late May each year. Quality crops, he said, “start with good varieties of seeds.”

Healthy growing media and temperature regulation, and properties in the vermacompost (worm composting), help fend off diseases and give plants a nutritional advantage.

Herbs, including basil, spearmint, oregano, sage, rosemary and thyme, are picked young and washed three times before making their way to restaurants. Barry grows arugula and mizuna all year long, along with tomatoes, peppers and berries when seasonally viable. Despite the visibility in Whole Foods and on menus around town, Barry maintains a focus on meeting his current demands, and does not attend farmers markets or run a community supported agriculture program. The quality of his products, delivered in reusable containers to restaurants, depends on delivery within 24 hours, strict sorting standards and young, unmarred harvests.

What makes Barry’s operation so unique and environmentally viable is an interdependence that persists among all the elements on the farm.

“There is interaction between biological systems so that waste from one system is fertilizer for another system,” Barry said. Collected rainwater soaks the root systems of basil and other herb roots, before draining into fish tanks. Overflow water from the fish tanks is used on grass fed to ducks.

Leftover grass is mixed with mulch and fed to worms, which in turn creates

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

45

healthy compost and serves as food for fish and ducks. The processes are cyclical and efficient, eliminating a great deal of waste from each step of the growing process.

“There are advantages to using natural resources efficiently,” Barry said. “It’s a little more complex to do that. The challenge is to design things to stay in balance.”

RainFresh Harvests, structurally and logistically, stands to set an example for the future of farming in Ohio.

“The true advantage of growing this way is growing as efficiently as possible,” Barry said. “using as few non-renewable resources as possible.”

RainFresh Harvests 9559 Industrial Parkway, Plain City, OH 43064; 614-738-9559; rainfreshharvests.com.

2 Raised in a nomadic and adventurous family, Claire Hoppens called five states home and attended three colleges before earning her degree in magazine journalism from the Scripps School at Ohio University in 2011. Claire is currently in training as a Managing Partner for Northstar Cafe, one of the many Columbus mainstays to solidify her love of people, food and our vibrant city.

“There are advantages to using natural resources efficiently,” Barry said. “It’s a little more complex to do that. The challenge is to design things to stay in balance.”

46

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

47

48

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

The Flower Children The story of Steve and Gretel Adams’ sustainable flower farm

By Kit Yoon, Photography by Catherine Murray

A

t farmers markets around Columbus, Steve and Gretel Adams have acquired an apt nickname—customers have dubbed them the “flower children.” Each week the young, vibrant couple offers beautiful bouquets of sustainably grown flowers to their market patrons. These bouquets of fresh-cut flowers from their own farm bring instant joy to young and old alike.

Children they are not, but they are definitely considered young in comparison to their farming peers: Steve just turned 30, and Gretel is in her late 20s. What is quite extraordinary is that they are already experienced and seasoned farmers despite their age. They are now deep into their seventh year of farming and operating Sunny Meadows Flower Farm just south of downtown Columbus.

Before becoming “flower children,” Steve and Gretel aspired to run a coffee shop they could call their own. They both grew up in Pataskala, in a “pretty typical suburban neighborhood.” They did not have farming in their background or future. With a degree in psychology and art, Gretel was working as a social worker and was on a path to getting a teaching certificate. Steve was working at a coffee shop that he was eyeing to purchase someday. Coincidently, he was also helping out Steve Andersen of Andersen Orchard on his farm and orchard in Pickerington. Andersen became an influential and indelible mentor who let the young couple experiment with growing things on his land.

Because of their green thumbs, the Adamses sold the flowers they grew at the Granville Farmers Market for some extra income. “We only had three different kinds of flowers at first: zinnias, sunflowers and cosmos,” Steve reflected on their first trial at the flower business. Little did they know they were at the beginning of a much longer adventure than they had imagined.

The Flower Farm As luck would have it, within a short time after their first growing season, the couple moved into Gretel’s family property that was handed down to her. Still in their early 20s, Steve and Gretel found themselves living in an old farmhouse on a large piece of land with sunny meadows and wild blackberries growing everywhere. There was a lot of space and potential. With some farming knowledge now under their belts, they dreamed of creating a homestead and living off the land.

Opposite, top right: “We hope to share what we’ve learned with other farmers. It’s a way to give back to the community,” said Steve. “That’s what we got from our mentors and other farmers before us.”

They busied themselves with more information—from books, farmers, the internet—whatever they could get their hands on. They began to clear the meadows, cultivate the fields and put in fruit trees, growing vegetables and flowers. Soon, it was clear that they were delving into something much bigger than homesteading.

“We thought that if we could grow enough for ourselves, we could grow enough for other people, too,” said Steve. “Instead of growing 10 tomato plants, we grew, like, 500.”

In 2006 the couple both quit their full-time jobs, and started farming.

Sunny Meadows Flower Farm was officially born. Besides selling at farmers markets, they also offered community-supported agriculture (CSA) options.

The money up front was helpful and appreciated. It also gave them a chance to experiment with growing several types of vegetables along with flowers and some farm-raised meats.

Regardless of what vegetables they would bring to sell, however, people still gravitated towards their flowers. Perhaps it’s the uniquely designed bouquets and the uncommon, attractive flowers in them that people liked.

“We grow things people have never seen before, and those will draw more people to us. We also don’t make conventional bouquets. I like textures and layers in my bouquets because they remind me of what a garden looks like,” Gretel said.

With a reputation for beautiful flowers, grown right here in Columbus no less, requests for wedding bouquets and arrangements started coming in.

“The first wedding we did was our own, in 2008,” recalled Gretel. “I have learned and grown a lot since then. I draw inspiration from other designers around the country,” she said, clearly excited about this creative, growing aspect of her career. (From their modest beginnings of working on a few weddings a year, they now supply flowers for 30 to 40 weddings annually.)

With a few seasons behind them, they had to make a decision whether to keep farming both vegetables and flowers. In 2012 Sunny Meadows Flower Farm became exclusively what their name implies: a flower farm with highquality cut flowers, grown sustainably without chemicals or pesticides.

“It was a good decision. We’ve found a niche for ourselves, and we continue to grow,” said Steve.

Opposite, left middle: “We grow things people have never seen before, and those will draw more people to us. We also don’t make conventional bouquets. I like textures and layers in my bouquets because they remind me of what a garden looks like,” Gretel said.

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

49

50

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

51

Challenges and Rewards Like other types of farming, growing flowers can pose problems as well.

Weather and pests are among the challenges that require constant attention.

Keeping good records and staying on top of integrated pest management go a long way.

“We spend January planning the next growing season. We keep logs of what we plant, what bloomed when, etc.,” said Gretel.

Farming in general is demanding, there is no question about it; growing flowers poses its own special challenges. For instance, flowers bloom when they will, and if the conditions are right, thousands of flowers can bloom nearly simultaneously. To obtain the highest-quality flowers, the harvest must take place promptly.

“If we are at market in the morning and it’s a warm sunny day, we know that we have thousands of sunflowers to harvest that afternoon,” said Steve.

“It’s hard to take a break from flowers.”

Despite the challenges, the Adamses’ story reassures us that for them, the rewards of growing and selling flowers are absolutely worthwhile.

“Seeing people’s reactions to a beautiful bouquet of flowers that we grew and designed ourselves makes all the hard work worth it. That’s why I like doing wedding work. The bride comes to me with a vision, and I will know what’s in season at the time of the wedding. I get to help execute her dream. On the day of the wedding, when you see tears in the bride’s eyes when she sees her bouquet… It’s totally worth it,” said Gretel in a melodic voice that might make one imagine she was re-living those special moments.

make wives happy with a stem of lisianthus. They love helping young children decide which bouquet to choose according to what their favorite colors may be.

It is a win-win situation. While receiving the wonderful feedback from their customers, Sunny Meadows flowers light up the farmers market each week.

Laura Zimmerman, the Clintonville Farmers Market manager, paints a picture of what the market looks like with the Adamses and their flowers.

“Steve and Gretel bring the best of Ohio seasonal flowers every Saturday to Clintonville Farmers Market. Their stall is always packed full of gorgeous shapes, colors, fragrances and creative combinations. I have taken photo after photo of their stall because it’s just irresistible in its beauty.”

Looking ahead, the young couple wants to make their farm and business as sustainable as possible. Besides flowers, Gretel also makes soaps and teaches classes on flower arrangements and soap making. Columbus’ own flower children have several speaking engagements coming up.

“We hope to share what we’ve learned with other farmers. It’s a way to give back to the community,” said Steve. “That’s what we got from our mentors and other farmers before us.”

Sunny Meadows Flower Farm 3555 Watkins Rd., Columbus, OH 43232; 614-361-5102; oursunnymeadows.com

2 Kit Yoon is a licensed acupuncturist in California and Ohio. She loves exploring foods

Steve and Gretel also enjoy directly connecting with their customers where it all started—at the farmers market. They love hearing the stories people tell them about what the flowers mean to them. They love seeing husbands

and farms wherever she goes. She lives with her husband, two children and a menagerie of chickens, a rabbit, fish, finches and a dog in Bexley, Ohio.

The Slow Flower Movement Local, organic choices should not just be about food. We as consumers can choose to buy sustainable, organic flowers as an alternative to mainstream flowers grown with pesticides and shipped from across the globe.

Not only will you be helping to preserve the planet (fewer fossil fuels consumed and fewer pesticides applied), you will feel 100% safer about handling your flowers that were grown, cut and processed without any harsh chemicals.

Even though Sunny Meadows Flower Farm is not certified organic, Steve and Gretel follow organic farming practices.

Here are a few reasons the Adamses are proud to call their farm and flowers sustainable: • They don’t use chemicals. • They compost scraps. • They use Integrated Pest Management techniques. One example of this is using lady beetles to get rid of harmful pests. • They use very few fossil fuels. Being only six miles south of downtown Columbus, their flowers don’t have to travel very far. Because of this, too, their flowers are extremely fresh and will last much longer. • They grow most flowers from seeds or bulbs. • They create a good ecosystem on their farm. • They provide plant diversity and practice crop rotation. • They believe in and practice good work, good labor and good ethics.

—Kit Yoon

52

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

53

A Deeply Local “I Do” The Martin-Pickens Wedding at Jorgensen Farms

By Molly Hays Photography by Sarah Warda

E

very wedding begets details: food; flowers; guests; rings; things old, new, borrowed and blue. Darling rogue barn cats don’t usually figure in. Then again, not every wedding involves a locally grown feast, set amidst a field of sunflowers stretching forever.

New York residents Zachary Pickens and Manda Martin knew what they wanted in a wedding. They wanted to marry in Ohio, where both were born and raised and where both families reside. They wanted food to be a focus of their celebration, as it is in their relationship. They wanted to spend their money mindfully. And, as probably goes without saying, they wanted a riproaring good time with people they cherished, bellies full and taste buds giddy, surrounded by beauty beyond compare.

By all accounts, they succeeded.

Left: Dining under the stars, surrounded by a field of sunflowers that stretch forever, the Martin-Pickens wedding at Val Jorgensen’s Jorgensen Farms

54

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

Agriculture Meets “I Do” Val Jorgensen wasn’t actually in the wedding business when Zach and Manda approached her about holding theirs at Jorgensen Farms. The 65-acre organic Westerville farm is known for flowers, herbs, eggs, honey—for agriculture.

But Zach and Manda couldn’t find a Central Ohio farm that shared their “farm-centric, food-centric” vision. So in 2010 they reached out to Val, whose farm is located five minutes from the bride’s childhood home. Thus began a two-year conversation that culminated in a wedding to remember for Zach and Manda, and a new farm business model for Val. Already active in engaging the community through Slow Food dinners and educational outreach, Val found weddings a natural extension. “I enjoy being part of people’s lives at this joyful time,” she explains. And it shows.

From hiring staff to coordinate with brides, to expanding the soaring barn to accommodate additional guests, Val’s impeccable professionalism is evident, everywhere. “It’s vital to me that guests are treated the way they should be.”

If her calendar is any indication, guests are delighted. Three years after that first inquiry, every 2013 weekend, from May through October, is booked.

Farm weddings, Val points out, aren’t for everyone. “We don’t try to make it anything but a working farm.” Stiletto territory, this is not. But if an openair, sunflower-bordered ceremony appeals, if herbs overhead and planks underfoot entice, her farm offers an unparalleled setting.

“It’s unique and it’s real,” Val says. “It’s magical. It really is.”

Local Food for 130 Farm found, Manda and Zach moved on to food, a subject dear to both.

In addition to being dedicated locavores and home cooks, Zach’s unusual career—urban farmer with Tom Colicchio’s Manhattan-based Riverpark Farm, and founder of Rooftop Ready Seeds, dedicated to city-friendly seed strains—made local food a priority. So when they heard praise for Two Caterers, first from friends, then from Val, they knew they had their second partner.

Together, Manda, Zach and Catering Specialist Carly Ziemer brainstormed the menu. They selected a style (upscale barbecue), settled on dishes (miniburgers and pulled pork), and then, in a departure from most catering companies, they began talking sources and seasonal foods.

Personally committed to knowing “where our meat is coming from,” the couple brought these same standards to their wedding. Far from balking, “Two Caterers went out of their way to tell us the farms they were sourcing things from.” So the beef came from Canal Winchester’s Blystone Farm; the pork from Millersport-based Bower and Sons; the cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs from Val Jorgensen’s own fields.

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

55

This attention to detail—personal, local, delectable—proved the Two Caterers’ way. Vegan, gluten-free options were offered—and so well-received they were extended to everyone. Peak-season potatoes and corn rounded out the menu. Dinner was served family-style, platters passed hand-to-hand, food shared face-to-face. Pickles were homemade, canned by the groom, from his own New York–grown produce. Cocktails were custom, the “Spicy Pickens,” created by Riverpark in honor of Zach, using habanero rum infused by the bride’s father. Dessert? Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, of course.

Cocktails through ice cream, Two Caterers helped the couple craft a profoundly personal feast, one that would be not only “a celebration of us and the season,” but of their lives and homes, past and present.

All Together, Now Would, but for Hurricane Issac.

Outdoor weddings always entail risk, namely fickle weather. Farm weddings are no exception. With Val’s vast, vaulted barn as backup, Manda and Zach planned their ceremony and dinner for the flower-tapestried fields, with indoor dancing to follow. September doesn’t always mind plans.

On the big day, Issac crept ever closer. To hear the bride and groom tell it, they hurried cocktails and pictures a bit, to fit in their feast before the rain.

To hear Two Caterers owner Angela Petro tell it, the afternoon was a blur of radar-watching, texting, judgment-calling and last-minute maneuvering, all while serving exquisite food with unwavering grace.

Same story. Different perspective. Such is the hallmark of an extraordinary team.

Good caterers, Angela explains, are like ducks: calm on the surface, paddling madly underneath. Ditto good venues. Val’s team worked with Carly (“a ROCK star,” says Angela) to honor the couple’s field dinner dreams, while hustling heroically behind the scenes, so seamlessly guests “never knew any different.”

“Just Thrilled”

The Spicy Pickens cocktail

Spicy Pickens

So what did the guests, bride and groom think? “Everyone was just thrilled,” Manda recalls. They “loved that it was such a unique setting, [a celebration] not just of Zach’s career, but what’s important to us.”

And what happened when those barn felines escaped?

“Lots of cute photos of cats,” Manda laughs. Yet another small, delightful detail in an evening filled with memorable moments, each deeply local and utterly personal—a fine cornerstone for a new life together.

Created by Justin Harter to honor Riverpark Farm’s farmer Zach Pickens. Courtesy of Riverpark: riverparknyc.com.

1½ ounces dark rum ½ dropper Habanero Rum (recipe, below) 1 ounce sage-infused simple syrup 1 ounce lime juice 1½ ounces pineapple juice

2

Ice Sage leaves, to garnish

Molly Hays graduated from the University of Washington with two degrees, one Mellon Fellowship, and no idea when to buy a melon. Since moving to Ohio in early 2009, Molly and her family of five have been getting to know Columbus one ice

To make Habanero Rum: Crush 2 dried habanero peppers into 1 bottle of Zaya rum. Infuse for 2 days (3 for additional heat), then strain.

cream scoop at a time. Molly writes about food and life at remedialeating.com.

Combine all ingredients into a Boston shaker, adding the ice last, and shake well. Strain into a glass filled with crushed ice and add another drop of the Habanero Rum on top. Garnish with sage leaf.

56

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

For a truly local wedding…

Jorgensen Farms 5851 E. Walnut St., Westerville, OH 43081 jorgensen-farms.com, events@jorgensen-farms.com, 614-855-2697

Two Caterers 614-882-7323, info@twocaterers.com, twocaterers.com

Fingerling Potato Salad with Creamy Mustard Dressing Courtesy of Two Caterers Yield: 6–8 servings

Dressing: 3 tablespoons Champagne vinegar 1 teaspoon mayonnaise ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard ½ teaspoon minced fresh garlic ¾ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil Place vinegar, mustard, mayo and garlic in bowl. Slowly drizzle in oil, using an immersion blender, until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.

Salad: 1½ pounds fingerling potatoes, washed and roasted 1 tablespoon oil ½ pound green beans or haricot vert, blanched “al dente,” cut in 1-inch pieces on bias 1 medium onion, roasted and julienned 1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half Salt and pepper Toss potatoes in oil, season with salt and pepper. Place on sheet tray and roast in preheated oven (350°) for approximately 45 minutes or until fork tender. Set aside and let cool. Cut in half after cooling.

Blanch green beans and cut into 1-inch pieces on the bias. Cut onion in half and place on coated (oil) sheet tray.

Roast in preheated oven (350°) until soft. Set aside and let cool.

Julienne after cooling.

Rinse grape tomatoes and cut in half. Combine all ingredients and mix with dressing. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

57

in the Garden

The Notion of Devotion Lavender’s uses lace through garden and home

By Debra Knapke

“There’s a few things I’ve learned in life: Always throw salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, plant lavender for good luck and fall in love whenever you can.”—Alice Hoffman

I

n the language of flowers, lavender can mean distrust and suspicion, or devotion, loyalty and good luck. It was once believed that the deadly asp made its home in lavender so any harvesting of wild plants needed to be done with care and suspicion. I prefer the notion of devotion.

My love affair with lavender began in the late-’80s. When it was time to choose a plant for my master’s thesis, lavender was my first choice. After three years researching and testing this species I became an admirer of this herb of use and delight.

Lavandula angustifolia is the botanical name for English lavender. The name directly translates to narrow-leaved lavender. Etymologists believe that the word Lavandula comes from one of two Latin verbs: lavare—to wash—or

58

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

PHOTO BY © CAROLE TOPALIAN

Down through history lavender has had many devotees. Both the Queen of Sheba and Cleopatra were reputed to have used lavender in their alluring perfumes. Queen Elizabeth I commanded that lavender conserve be served at every meal. And Queen Victoria appointed a “Royal Purveyor of Lavender Essence” to provide Buckingham Palace with a constant supply of lavender for scenting linens and rooms.

livendulo—livid or bluish. The former refers to the practice of using lavender to cleanse while the latter refers to flower color. The translation lavare is more popular and it implies that lavender’s many qualities have been understood and valued since the time of Ancient Rome. Today we know that lavender has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and antioxidant properties. According to Valerie Ann Worwood, a well-known aromatherapist and author, it is also an antidepressant and a sedative. Another way of expressing this: Its scent invigorates the senses while decreasing anxious feelings.

In the everyday world, lavender shows up in many products, some which may surprise you. Check your cleaning products, especially if they are “natural.” Lavender is used in many cosmetics, perfumes, lotions and soaps.

In a blended perfume, lavender is used either as a top note—the first scent you detect—or as a middle note—a bridge between the ephemeral top note and the long-lasting base note. Its placement in the recipe depends on the other scents that surround it.

Lavender is one of the modern components of Herbes de Provence. Traditionally, this basic herb mix contains rosemary, savory, marjoram and thyme.

In the 1970s other herbs were included as cooks personalized the combination. Now you will find lavender buds, fennel, chervil, basil, tarragon and oregano in the mix. Some purists maintain that oregano should never be included and the other modern ingredients should be added carefully, but I find Herbes de Provence to be lacking “something” without lavender and fennel. Try using Herbes de Provence liberally in your fish, chicken and vegetable recipes. In our home, it is a required addition to roasted vegetables.

If you want to grow your own supply for cooking or scenting, there are three requirements: sun, drainage and air circulation. Lavenders grow in the windy, Mediterranean region in gritty, alkaline soils. Often the tough, fibrous roots anchor the plant in a thin layer of soil over rock or in the rock itself. So imagine the “culture shock” lavender undergoes in Ohio’s clay soils.

Lavenders are easily hardy to zone 5 (average minimum temperatures in the -10° to -20° range), so it isn’t cold that kills them, but wet, slow-draining soils. Bottom line: Plant lavenders in higher, well-drained areas of the garden where they will get six or more hours of sun. And avoid those dead-air spots in the garden such as in the corner by the evergreens.

Often lavenders will have some branch dieback in the winter. In early- to mid-April prune out obviously dead branches, but wait until you harvest the buds in late May/early June before shaping the plant. The best essential oil is in the unopened lavender buds. Once the buds open, the quantity and quality of the scent and the essential oil content significantly decreases. The leaves, while nicely fragrant, are not harvested for essential oil production and should not be used in food, aromatherapy or in body products. Without getting too far into the chemistry, there are some compounds in the leaves that can be harmful to sensitive users.

Lavender has been a part of my life for years. I hope you will give it a try.

Here’s a good place to start: our family’s answer to biscotti.

2 Debra Knapke is a teacher, lecturer, garden designer, photographer and gardener.

Her gardens are eclectic combinations of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals that she has stuffed into ⅔ of an acre. She is the co-author of five books and is a Heartland Gardener: heartland-gardening.com.

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

59

Lavender Mandelbrot (Almond Bread) Recipe courtesy of Debra Knapke 3 eggs 1 scant cup sugar ½ cup sunflower or canola oil 1 teaspoon vanilla 3 cups flour (½ whole-wheat and ½ white flour) 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal (optional) 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon dried lavender buds, rubbed ¼ teaspoon nutmeg 1 cup slivered almonds

Beat eggs until thick and light in color. Add sugar gradually as you continue to beat. Add oil and mix well. Add vanilla. Mix together dry ingredients with nuts and herbs. Add to wet ingredients and mix well.

(At this point you can put in refrigerator for 1 to 4 hours or leave it in overnight, but bring close to room temperature before forming dough strips.) Divide dough, and form into three long strips, about 2 to 3 inches wide, 1 inch thick and 8 to 9 inches long. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in a 350° oven for approximately 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and cut into ½-inch slices with a serrated knife, place on cookie sheet cut side up and return to oven for 7 to 10 minutes (depends on how crisp you want them), turn them over and bake another 5 to 8 minutes. Cool completely before storing in a tightly covered container. Mandelbrot keeps well; up to 4 weeks.

Notes: 1.

If you lightly oil your hands before forming the strips, you will have less dough on your hands.

2.

More lavender is not better; too much lavender can impart a soapy flavor to the recipe.

60

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

61

edible columbus advertisers Please look for a complimentary copy of Edible Columbus each season at the businesses marked with a star.

You can also subscribe to the magazine at ediblecolumbus.com.

Please support these fine businesses as they help bring Edible Columbus to our city.

All Star Lawn & Landscape allstarll.com

Harvest Pizzeria* harvestpizzeria.com

Amish Originals Furniture Company* amishoriginals.com

Helen Winnemore Craft* helenwinnemores.com

Backroom Coffee Roasters* backroomcoffeeroasters.com

Integrity Sustainable Planning & Design integritysustainableplanning.com

Bexley Natural Market* bexleynaturalmarket.org

Katzinger’s Delicatessen* katzingers.com

Bluescreek Farm Meats* bluescreekfarmmeats.com

Kemba Financial kemba.org

Blystone Farm blystonefarm.com

Le Gateau* legateau.net

Brooke Albrecht brookealbrechtstudio.blogspot.com Canal Junction Cheese canaljunctioncheese.com

Local Roots* localrootspowell.com Luna Burger lunaburger.com

Dave Fox Design-Build Remodelers* davefox.com Dine Originals dineoriginalscolumbus.com

Meza Wine Shop* vinomeza.com Middle West Spirits* middlewestspirits.com

Easton Farmer’s Market eastonfarmersmarket.org

Mount Vernon Barn Company mtvernonbarn.com

Franklin Heating & Refrigeration franklinheating.com

Mr. Meatball* mrmeatballitalianfoods.com

Gallerie Bar & Bistro hiltoncolumbusdowntown.com/dining -en.html

Nieman Bates* niemanbates.com

Giant Eagle Market District marketdistrict.com

North Market* northmarket.com

Green Bean Delivery* greenbeandelivery.com

Northstar Cafe* thenorthstarcafe.com

Greener Grocer* thegreenergrocer.com

Oakland Nursery* oaklandnursery.com

62

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS

Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association* oeffa.org Ohio Herb Education Center gahanna.gov/departments/parks/herb EducationCenter.aspx Oink Moo Cluck oinkmoocluck.com Pam’s Popcorn* pamspopcorn.com Photo Kitchen photokitchen.net Pistacia Vera* pistaciavera.com Sarah Warda sarahwarda.com Scioto Gardens* sciotogardens.com Seasoned Travels seasonedtravels.com Shaw’s Restaurant & Inn* shawsinn.com Silver Bridge Coffee Company* silverbridgecoffee.com Skillet: Rustic. Urban. Food.* skilletruf.com Snowville Creamery* snowvillecreamery.com Studio B* peacelovestudiob.com sweet thing gourmet* sweetthinggourmet.com

The Going Green Store* thegoinggreenstore.com The Hills Market* thehillsmarket.com The Oilerie* oilerie.com The Velvet Ice Cream Company velveticecream.com The Village Market 9406 Dublin Rd., Shawnee Hills The Worthington Inn* worthingtoninn.com Therapeutic Massage Center at Kingsdale tmc-ua.com Thurn’s Specialty Meats* 614-443-1449 Tito’s Vodka titosvodka.com Two Caterers twocaterers.com Upper Arlington Cultural Arts Division uaoh.net/culturalarts Virginia Cocktail Peanuts virginiacocktailpeanuts.com Watershed Organic Lawn Care watershedorganic.com Wexner Center for the Arts* wexarts.org Whole Foods Market* wholefoodsmarket.com WOSU* wosu.org

edible columbus marketplace

edible COLUMBUS.com

SUMMER 2013

63

last seed

64

SUMMER 2013

edible COLUMBUS