Local Feast Cooking Classes

If you enjoy my recipes but would like a little more on cooking technique for all these great local ingredients, check out Molly Merritt's Local Feast Cooking Classes. Molly is based in Northampton and offers monthly cooking classes focused on in-season local ingredients. Classes meet the third Saturday of each month from 2-5pm. Sign up for a single class or get a discount for two or more. See the website for details.

Find Your Favorite Farms on Facebook

Western Mass farms are increasingly getting on Facebook, which provides a great way for them to communicate directly with us, their customers. If you're on Facebook, look for your favorites. See, for example, the FB pages of:

Clarkdale Fruit Farms

The Kitchen Garden

Four Star Farms

Enterprise Farm

Red Fire Farm

Many if not all of these farms also have their own websites (as do many farms not using social media), but the Facebook presence lets you hear from them without having to remember to go looking. Enjoy!

Winter Farmers Markets

There's a new winter farmers market in the Valley! The Amherst Winter Farmers Market will be happening every Saturday from 10-2 at the Amherst Middle School, 170 Chestnut St., Amherst. The market starts December 4 and will go through April.

There's also a winter market in Brattleboro that happens every Saturday from 10-2. The Brattleboro market is already underway and will go through March.

And to round it all out, Northampton's winter market, located in the basement of Thorne's, also happens on Saturdays, from 9-2. It opens this Saturday, Nov. 20 and is set to go through April 30.

A Change in the Weather

Summer seems to have ended rather abruptly this year. The weather may yet warm up again for a while, but as we head toward September, we know it's not going to last. In the garden, our cukes are just about done and a couple of the tomato plants are too. The other tomatoes are slowing down, and so are the pole beans and eggplants. They'll keep going until we get a frost, but the pace of growth and production won't be what is was earlier this month. At the same time, we're already starting to see the fall crops come in. We've got delicata squash just about ready in the garden, and I saw a handful of other winter squashes at the farmers market last weekend.

We have a couple enormous kale plants in the garden that I've barely touched all summer, instead favoring the showier summer veggies, but last night I made Pureed Potato Soup with Kale and Bacon with our own leeks and potatoes, a perfect match for the weather.

And summer winds toward its end, we are also celebrating Massachusetts Farmers Market Week. With this post, I am participating in the Loving Local Blogathon - hosted by In Our Grandmothers Kitchens (Tinky Weisblat's blog). Check out the list of blogs and posts - you might discover a new favorite resource. And while you're at it, stop by the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers Markets and make a donation to help support these wonderful resources for local food all over the state.

Digital Scale

This is a handy item to have in the kitchen if you're doing much in the way of food preservation or large batch cooking (and actually, it's handy even for regular cooking). I have this one, but they are made by a variety of companies at a variety of price points. Mine will give weights up to 11 pounds and has a digital display with options for ounces, pounds, grams, and kilograms. It also has a tare option, which is great: put a container on the scale before turning it on and it will zero out the container's weight; or put the container on and hit the tare button.

Not only does the scale allow me to measure precise quantities to either follow recipes or record the amounts used in the ones I develop myself, it is also great for packaging food in uniform quantities for the freezer - and being able to add the weight to my labels so I know later how much I've got.

Plant a Row for the Hungry

If you're still in the process of getting your garden in this year, give some thought to the idea of planting a little extra for local folks in need. Many local service agencies accept donations of fresh produce to distribute to our hungry neighbors. See Plant a Row Western Mass for details.

Even if you don't intentionally plant extra, this is a great way to share the bounty with people who may have trouble getting access to fresh produce, much less local vegetables. If you find yourself with more than you can use of something you're growing, pass it along! Right now we have an overflowing bounty of salad greens - and we're getting ready to go on a 10-day vacation - so I'm going to see if we can share some via the Center for Self-Reliance here in Greenfield.

CISA on Facebook

CISA is on Facebook now - so if you are, too, you can "like" it to get all the latest info right in your stream.

Strawberry Picking

Check out CISA's list of farms selling strawberries, including u-pick, here. My family's personal favorite, Upinngil Farm in Gill, is opening for u-pick tomorrow, June 4. We'll be going away for a week and a half starting the middle of next week, so we need to get our strawberries picked and processed before then, lest we miss most of the season! Picking your own is a great way to get strawberries in bulk for a reasonable price. We'll be freezing loads of them and drying a bunch as well - I tried that last year and we loved having the dried berries in our oatmeal during the winter, for the brief time that they lasted.

Farmers Market Countdown

Correction: This post originally gave the opening date as May 2; it is actually Saturday May 1.

The Greenfield Farmers Market opens May 1 - if this is where you shop, mark your calendar! At the first market of the year we are likely to see asparagus, salad greens, cooking greens, radishes, eggs, meat, and cheese, among other things. If past experience is a guide, we will also see fiddleheads and ramps, usually available only the first week - get them while you can!

This is also a good time to think about a CSA share. CISA offers a nice listing of farms with shares available for the 2010 season.

As for myself, I am watching plants sprout in the garden and stretch upward under the lights indoors - in between a lot of travel, mostly for work, which has put something of a damper on new recipe development lately. Keep checking back - more are forthcoming!

CSA Shares and Summer Farm Camps

Well, dear readers, there has been a stomach bug making its way through our household, so I haven't been doing a lot of creative cooking over the last two weeks. With any luck, we're just about done and I'll feel up to getting back into the kitchen.

In the meantime, the CISA's March newsletter brought a reminder that it's time to think about signing up for CSA shares for this season. Check out their list of Pioneer Valley farms offering CSAs.

And if you have kids, you might be interested in this list of local farms offering summer camp experiences. My guy is still too little for this sort of thing, but it sounds really cool and I will definitely be keeping it in mind for a few years from now.

And on a final note about CISA, if anyone is job hunting, CISA has an opening for a Program Coordinator.

Turners Falls Winter Market - Next Saturday

Whether you missed Winter Fare in Greenfield or are just itching for some more great local food in the middle of winter, head on over to the Turners Falls Winter Farmers Market next weekend. It's a one day only market, to be held from 9am-noon at Turners Falls High School (222 Turnpike Rd., Montague). Winter storage veggies, meat, and more!

Time to Place Orders for Beef Shares

Speaking of beef shares... If this is something you're interested in doing this year, now is the time to get organized. Farms typically take deposits around March. See the post linked above for more info.

Making Yogurt

I got a Yogotherm for Christmas and have been making 2-quart batches of yogurt at home about once a week ever since. It's easy, it's cheap, and the yogurt has been fantastic--thick, creamy, smooth, and with great flavor. I'm still happy to rave about our local yogurt producer, Sidehill Farm, which is amazing - but at the rate we go through yogurt, it has been getting expensive.

Here's how I do it:

1. Heat 2 quarts of milk to 180-185 degrees F (needless to say, I use local milk; usually from Mapleline Farm). I do this in the microwave (it takes about 13 1/2 minutes in mine; the first few times I did it in small increments to figure it out).

2. Place bowl of hot milk in a second large bowl of cold water and cool to 120 degrees F. (This takes about 13-14 minutes as well.)

3. Place culture in the inner pail that comes with the Yogotherm - I use 4 Tbsp of the previous batch of yogurt, reserved ahead of time, or of yogurt bought at the store. Pour milk into the pail. Optional: add 1/4 - 1/3 cup grade B maple syrup. Mix well. Place lid on pail and put it in the Yogotherm. Let sit on the counter for 9-10 hours to incubate (I prepare it before bed and leave it overnight).

4. Remove pail from Yogotherm and refrigerate. Makes 2 quarts.

There are, of course, plenty of ways to make yogurt without the Yogotherm incubator, but I like it because it's simple and easy and uses no electricity. It's available from New England Cheesemaking Supply in Ashfield (the same place I took the cheesemaking class). It comes with some culture, and you can buy more online, but really there's no reason to since you can just use your prior batch and occasionally some store-bought yogurt to refresh the culture.

Winter Fare Workshops

The Greenfield Winter Fare is coming up on Saturday, February 6 at Greenfield High School from 10-2. Last year it reportedly attracted 800-1,000 people, and I would expect at least that many this year. Apparently the Northampton Winter Fare brought in close to 1,500. Get there early for the best stuff!

In addition to lots of local food, there will be a bartering area, a place for recipe swaps and discussion, and several great workshops - one of which will feature yours truly along with Juanita Nelson. Our workshop is called Winter Riches: Tips and Ideas for Eating Locally Through the Snowy Months and will meet from 10:15-10:45. See the Winter Fare website for details on the other workshops and schedule. Topics of other workshops include home canning, making cheese and yogurt, backyard sugaring, growing sprouts, and storing food through the winter.

Enterprise Farm Locavore Pancake Breakfast

Enterprise Farm in Whately, which operates the Food Shed winter market with local and East Coast regional produce, is holding a locavore pancake breakfast on Jan. 30 to benefit the Northampton Survival Center. Details here.

The farm also offers CSA options year round. The winter/spring season has already started, but pro-rated shares are still available.

Northampton Winter Fare - Saturday

Northampton's first Winter Fare is happening this Saturday! It's from 10am - 2pm at Smith Vocational School on Route 9. It's sure to be a big event, so get there early for the good stuff. Local farmers will likely be selling an array of winter storage crops along with greenhouse-grown greens for cooking and salads, maple syrup, bread, cheese, etc. There will also be an opportunity to barter your own stored or preserved foods with others. I can't make it myself (and truth be told, I am still awash in local veggies from our last CSA box and final garden harvest of carrots and rutabagas, not to mention all that is in the freezer), but I look forward to hearing about it from anyone who goes!

According to CISA, there is also a one-day market scheduled for this Saturday in Gill:
Gill Farmers' Market
January 9, 2010 - One Day
9am-12pm
Gill Elementary School, 48 Boyle Road
Contact: Steve Damon at (413) 863-2850

And, of course, the Greenfield Winter Fare is coming up Feb. 6 - so get that on your calendar too!

Winter CSAs and Farmers Markets

If you missed my post about this several weeks ago, CISA has a great resource page for winter CSAs, farm stands, and farmers markets. Check it out!

According to CISA, Red Fire Farm in Granby still has winter CSA shares available - pickup is at the farm every two weeks December-March. In addition to storage crops, Red Fire grows cold hardy crops in its greenhouses all winter long. Last year they had by far the biggest stand at Winter Fare in Greenfield and I was astounded by the array on offer.

Another exciting new addition to the local winter offerings is a weekly winter farmers market in Northampton. It is held Saturdays from 9-2 in the basement of Thornes marketplace. A list of other winter markets, mostly one-day events, can be found here.

Brookfield Farm Winter CSA

A reader asked me to post information about winter CSA shares being offered by Brookfield Farm in Amherst. I have no personal experience with Brookfield, but this reader said she got a winter share last year and it was great. It's $125 for around 120 pounds of food. A share includes produce every other week from December-March, self-served out of the farm's root cellar. See the website for details.

Beef Share

This weekend we picked up our share of a cow from Freeman Farm in Heath. Back in March, a friend coordinated several families to buy a whole cow for slaughter in the fall. It took some coordination with the farm and the slaughterhouse, but we ended up paying about $4.87 a pound for a share that included about two-thirds ground beef and stew meat and about 1/3 other cuts (mostly a variety of steaks). With the meat divided 11 ways, a share ended up being about 30 pounds. (We actually got 1.5 shares, so around 45 pounds.) The freezer is now well-stocked with local, grass-fed beef.

If you're interested in doing something similar, Freeman takes orders in March. There are other farms in the area with similar offerings. I have also seen ads for fall sales of whole animals, halves, and quarters. I'm guessing you get a somewhat better deal by ordering in the spring, but that option also involves a little more coordination. Check CISA's database for beef producers (this is also an option for pork and lamb).

Buying Local Through the Winter

Buying and eating local food through the winter is getting easier each year. Even if you don't have a big freezer or a root cellar, you can sign up for a winter CSA, head for winter farmers markets, or stop by the farm stands that remain open. CISA has put together a great resource page with information and links to sources up and down the Valley - check it out!

There will be a one-day farmers market in Gill in January, plus Winter Fare in Greenfield in February and a new Winter Fare in Northampton in January. According to CISA, Turners Falls is also working on putting together a winter market. Additionally, the Brattleboro winter farmers market is happening every Saturday through the end of the year, then twice a month for January-March.