vermont's local banquet magazine fall 2012

vermont’s

fall 2012 | issue twenty-two

local banquet

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CONTENTSF a l l 2 0 1 2

i s s u e t w e n t y - t w o

6 Publishers’ Note

8 Storing Your Harvestfor Winter and Beyond

10 New Choices and Opportunities in Vermont’s Dairy Scene

12 Reflections of a RestaurateurPart lll: Meat

14 Hothouse Hydro

16 Making Peace with Plants

18 Airport Flies Toward Local

20 Neighbors Feeding Neighbors in St. Johnsbury

22 Winter CSAs

29 Farmers’ Kitchen

31 Calendar

34 Last MorselDelivering Awe

local banquet F a l l 2 0 1 26

V E R M O N TB U S I N E S S E SF O R S O C I A LRESPONSIBILTY

M E M B E R

PublisherSchreiber & Lucas, LLC

EditorCaroline Abels

Art DirectorMeg Lucas

Ad DirectorBarbi Schreiber

ProofreaderMarisa Crumb

ContributorsBenjy Adler

Lori AugustiniakJe� rey Gangemi

Robyn GreenstoneLauren GriswoldHenry Homeyer

Jesse Natha NorthTodd Parlo

Suzanne PodhaizerTatiana Schreiber

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Vermont’s Local BanquetPO Box 69

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802-869-1236we welcome letters to the editor

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vermont’s LOCAL Banquet

Mission StatementThe purpose of our publication is to promote and support our local communities. By focusing on fresh, local, wholesome foods grown and made in Vermont, we preserve our environment, grow our economy, and enhance our nutrition.

Vermont’s Local Banquet (ISSN 1946–0295) is published quarterly. Subscriptions are $22 annually and are mailed in the spring, summer, fall, and winter. Please make checks payable to Vermont’s Local Banquet. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without written consent. Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers or editors.

On the cover : Elbrus, a doeling at Green Mountain Girls Farm; photo by Lauren Griswold

Contents page : photo by Meg Lucas

Publishers’ NoteOn a hot day in July we wrote a check for our winter CSA share. In a fl ash, images of squash and leeks and Brussels sprouts and carrots fi lled our heads. As thoughts turned to cozy fi res and savory, hearty dishes, the temperature outside moved ever upward. It was an odd juxtaposition, but we were happy to know that our winter CSA would take the pressure off our summer garden-ing endeavors.

And there was pressure. This past May, a fi erce hailstorm not only pummeled our car but also took out the early plantings in the garden—everything was fl at, covered with golf-ball-sized ice cubes. We were able to replant some crops but others would have to wait until next year. And then in June, as we stood admiring our garden recovery eff orts, we were horrifi ed to see a pile of leaf matter where the broccoli once was. What exactly is the unidentifi ed critter liv-ing under our shed? A woodchuck?

We’re grateful for our backup plan: a second year with our winter CSA. We’re confi dent that, barring another tragedy like Tropical Storm Irene, which we remember so clearly at this one-year mark, the folks at Harlow Farm will be able to provide us with some of the yummy winter vegetables we just couldn’t grow ourselves (and more—our CSA off ers meats, eggs, and preserved foods, too). We also know they will delight us with fresh spring greens and spinach much earlier than we can produce in our garden cold frames.

We pick up our winter bi-weekly share at the farm. Every other Saturday morn-ing we drive the short distance and are greeted by friends and other share-holders as we receive our order and discuss everything from the weather (of course), to politics, to the various ways to prepare our winter goodies. It’s always a bonus when our farmer is not out in the fi elds that day and has the time to chat and catch up. Again and again, food creates community!

On pages 22–2 you’ll fi nd a listing of winter CSAs, courtesy of NOFA-VT. Check them out, and maybe join one—it’s sort of like crop insurance, only better.

Our garden has produced lovely greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, pep-pers, onions, and zucchini. We harvested several pounds of potatoes and win-ter squash, as well. Thanks to some old and new technologies, we’ll be able to enjoy the garden’s yield well into next year. And in this issue we share with you an article on page that covers diff erent ways to store a variety of sum-mer and fall crops. Nothing complicated here, no pressure cookers or correctly sealed jars, just simple techniques for putting food by.

So with the help of our farmer and some uncomplicated practices for storing our own crops, we look forward to the (hopefully) snowy days of winter. Oh, and lest you think we’re jumping ahead a season—we wish you a great fall and a fi ne harvest!

Meg LucasBarbi Schreiber

PO Box 260, Route 5, Westminster, VT (802) 722-3515(1/2 Mile North of Exit 5 / Interstate 91 )

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F a l l 2 0 1 2 7local banquet


garden pathways

Until the mid 150s, gardeners often slaved away at canning—or putting into jars—as much food from the garden as pos-sible. Tomatoes, beans, carrots, peas…you name it, our gran-nies canned it. This was a time when fresh produce at the grocery store was expensive in winter and often limp and bedraggled.

Then the interstate highway system came along, allowing refrigerated trucks to bring tomatoes and broc-

coli and corn from Florida or California all year. Frozen foods became readily avail-able, too, and many gardeners down-sized their gardens, growing just for the

summer’s enjoyment and buying vegetables fresh or frozen at the A&P the rest of the year.

In recent years, it seems we’ve come full circle. More and more people are planting vegetables, and many of them want to store their own food for the winter, rather than par-ticipate in a long-dis-tance food system. I grow

most of my own vegeta-bles and eat them all year. It’s easy, really, if you’re willing to put in a little eff ort during the summer and fall.

There are four basic tech-niques for storing vege-tables: canning, freez-ing, dehydrating, and storing under appro-priate conditions.

Let’s not focus on can-ning here: it’s a lot of work,

and has the possibility of caus-ing botulism poisoning if done wrong. But here’s a brief intro-duction to the other three practices.

StoreThe least work for you—and what consumes the least amount of energy—is to store vegetables in a

cool cellar or spare bedroom, or to build a small “cold box” for storage. But there are strict guidelines to follow: some veg-gies need high humidity to store well, while others require low humidity.

Let’s start with potatoes, carrots, beets, rutabagas, kohl-rabi, and celery root. Those root crops store best between and 50 degrees, with high humidity. You can store them in 5-gallon pails for months, so long as you don’t let them freeze and you keep the mice at bay. I start by putting an inch of clean, coarse sand in the bottom of a bucket and water it lightly. Fill the bucket with carrots and it’s ready for win-ter. Screening it with hardware cloth (which has quarter-inch spaces that allow air fl ow) will keep rodents out.

My basement gets below freezing (it has one exterior wall that is above ground and it’s not heated) but I don’t want my veggies to freeze. In order to moderate the temperature and help with the mouse problem, I made a cement-block cold box to hold the buckets. It’s two blocks high, three blocks long, and two blocks wide. The cover is a piece of plywood with Styrofoam insulation on one side and sheet metal on the others (to keep out those dang mice).

I keep an indoor-outdoor thermometer in the cold box so I can monitor the temperature in the box and in the room. I also keep a drop light in the box with an incandescent bulb that I plug in when the temperature gets close to freezing; it provides a little heat. If you don’t have a cold basement, you might store veggies in buckets in a bulkhead or even in a garage if it is attached to the house and doesn’t get too cold.

I also have an old fridge in the basement. The drawers work well for keeping produce cool and the humidity high. The main part of the fridge dries out things fairly quickly, although I’ve stored root crops there by putting them in plastic tubs with wet sand and covering them with cloth. You never want to store veggies without some air circulation or things will get moldy. I’ve not had great luck storing beets in my cold box—they soften up too much and sometimes go moldy, so I prefer to store them in a fridge or cook and freeze them.

The perfect place to store garlic, winter squash and onions is in a spare bedroom with the heat turned off . They want low humidity and temperatures roughly 50 degrees. Les Cate, an old Vermonter (now, alas, gardening in the sky), once told me that you can store winter squash under the bed—so long as you don’t grow blue Hubbards because they sometimes get too big to fi t there!

I have a wonderful wooden storage rack I purchased at Gar-dener’s Supply that has nine pullout wooden drawers. They call it an orchard rack, and it’s made with wooden slats for good air circulation. I keep mine in my mudroom for much of the year, fi lled with garlic, onions, and winter squash.

Storing Your Harvestfor Winter and Beyondby Henry Homeyer

Orig

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by H

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Hom

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FreezeFreezing vegetables is another wonderful way to keep food fresh and tasty. Some veggies require blanching (a quick immersion in boiling water) while others do not. Let’s start with those that require blanching: beans, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, caulifl ower, corn, kale, peas, and summer squash. Blanching is important because it kills the aging enzymes in those veggies, so they don’t continue to degrade and get woody or tasteless.

A few words about blanching; fi rst, be quick. Older books generally tell you to blanch veggies for three minutes after the water returns to a full boil. That’s not blanching, it’s cook-ing! Sixty seconds is adequate for most things. Kale, for exam-ple, need not even come back to a rolling boil. Just watch it, and when the color changes to a lighter green, it is ready to be pulled out of the water. Cut summer squash into half-inch cubes and blanch for a minute or less to keep it from turning to mush. Use lots of hot water for blanching so the tempera-ture stays high when you drop in your vegetables.

You want some texture and fi rmness in the veggies you serve, so blanch quickly and immediately put them in a sink of cold water to stop the cooking process. I don’t add ice, although some cooks do. I use tap water and change it when it warms up.

If you plan to freeze a lot, you should get a blanching pot. These consist of a large enamelware pot and a slightly smaller inner pot with drainage holes. This allows you to lift all the veggies out quickly to stop the cooking. I bought a nice small one at Dan & Whit’s General Store in Norwich for $25 or so.

It’s also important to dry food before freezing. I use a Zyliss brand salad spinner with a pull cord. The cord lets me get it spinning fast, even when the load is heavy. After spinning, spread out the food on a counter covered with cloth tea tow-els and pat dry.

After drying, place the veggies in freezer-grade (not stor-age grade) zipper bags and push out as much air as possi-ble with the zipper almost closed. Insert an ordinary drinking straw, close the zipper up to it, and suck out the air. The plastic should cling to the food. Then pull out the straw and zip shut. No need to buy a special machine to do it for you.

Some veggies do not need blanching—so long as you are going to eat the food within a year, which you should any-way. I’ve eaten -year old squash, but that’s better fed to the dogs. I don’t blanch the following: leeks, peppers, tomatoes, and most fruit. Frozen whole toma-toes are great in soups, stews and stir fries. Just put them in Ziplocks and freeze. When you want to use them, run the fruit under hot tap water for a min-ute and the skin will easily rub off . As for fruit, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries are fi ne going directly in the freezer. Some people like to freeze

berries on a cookie sheet and then put them in bags, though I’ve found that you can freeze them in bags if you don’t pack in too many. For instance, in a quart bag I put just 2- cups of blueberries. Very ripe raspberries, however, are so soft that freezing them on a cookie sheet is better than freezing in the bag. Peaches I like to cut up and add a little sugar to, in order to create some juice and keep them tasty, though some folks do blanch them.

DehydrateDehydrated cherry tomatoes are wonderful in stir fries and stews. I use a Gardenmaster Pro dehydrator from Nesco Amer-ican Harvester to dry mine. There are a couple of diff erent models, but I prefer model FD1010, which has the heating ele-ment and fan in the bottom of the unit. All have round trays that stack, easily drying trays, and allegedly up to 0. The dryer uses 1,000 watts of energy per hour and sells for $12.

I cut my tomatoes in half and stack layers of trays in the dehy-drator, drying 00 cherry tomatoes or more at a time. (I usu-ally have 10 Sungold tomato plants each year). It takes roughly 2 hours to dry the fruit, and the dried tomatoes can be stored on a shelf, although I have plenty of freezer space so I store them there in zipper bags.

I also dehydrate all my hot peppers so I can then grind them in the coff ee grinder and store as hot pepper powder. Apples and pears dehydrate well, too, and are great for snacking.

However you prepare your garden bounty for storage, remember that you should use your best fruits and vegetables for storage and eat the less perfect ones now. Freezing poor-quality veggies does not make them better!

Henry Homeyer is the author of four gardening books and, due in September fr om Bunker Hill Publishing, a children’s chapter book:

a fantasy-adventure called Wobar and the Quest for the Magic Calumet. His website is gardening-guy.com.


If you’ve ever raised goats, you know it’s next to impossible to keep them within their fences. Now more goats are getting into Vermont cow barns—but it’s because farmers are putting them there on purpose.

The primacy of cow dairy in Vermont agriculture is undis-puted, but goats are edging into the local dairy world. Abys-mal cow milk prices paired with rising costs have farmers looking for alternatives or supplements in order to keep their farms profi table. And the ever-increasing vacant cow dairy properties provide excellent locations for new goat farms.

The state is already home to one monolithic buyer of fl uid goat milk, Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery (VBCC), which is now being forced to look out of state—out of the country, even—to meet its needs, leading some farmers to dabble in milking goats as a means to diversifying their income while taking advantage of this established but underserved local market.

The decision to work with goats has its challenges, though, and the numbers remain tight; making or improving a liv-ing by transitioning to goats has not proven to be a pana-cea, despite the obvious benefi ts. Issues with scale, manage-ment challenges for year-round production, and VBCC’s com-plicated pricing structure that all but excludes small, seasonal herds all contribute to the growing pains inherent in produc-ing commercial fl uid goat milk.

Vermont has lost nearly 500 dairy farms in the last decade, going from more than 1,500 to just over 1,000, according to the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. During that time, cow milk production has actually increased by approximately 1 million cwt (or “hundredweight,” meaning 100 pounds of fl uid milk). Also during the last decade, the number of goat dairies that sell fl uid milk to a processor or process their own prod-ucts for sale has grown from a dozen or so statewide to 2 now, with a high of 0 in mid-2010.

Clearly, goat dairying is still the proverbial drop in the bucket for Vermont farmers, although the number of farms has more than doubled as cow dairy continues to concentrate in fewer, larger farms.

“I see goat dairy as a good fi t for a lot of parts of Vermont,” says Dan Scruton, dairy systems coordinator at the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. Although there’s still an economy of

scale, he says, “You can make a reasonable living with a few acres,” with better cash fl ow potential per cwt of milk.

A 50-head cow dairy is roughly comparable to a 150-head goat dairy in terms of farm size and milk volume. The average cow currently produces almost 1,000 pounds of milk a year; a goat only produces roughly 1,00. But the highest-paying national buyer of fl uid cow milk, Organic Valley, currently pays approximately $0 per cwt, while the VBCC payment system nets a range of about $1 to $5 per cwt for raw goat milk. This price refl ects the cost of hauling, shared between VBCC and farmers, which can have a major eff ect on price based on the volume of the pickup and a farm’s distance from the creamery.

Considering these numbers, switching to or starting with goats begins to look like a no-brainer. “The beautiful thing is they’re tough, and they fi t well into old, outdated cow facili-ties,” says Chris Dutton, assistant professor of agriculture at Vermont Technical College.

For the past year and a half, Gwyneth Harris has been work-ing independently by means of grant funding with farmers (primarily in the Northeast Kingdom) who are transitioning from cow to goat dairy. A lot of times, she says, these farmers switched from cow to goat dairy to take advantage of the open market and pricing that is not subject to the vagaries of commodity dairy production.

But introducing a goat—or two or three—into the place of a cow seems a curious blend of art and science. With mod-ern dairy farming focused so closely on cows, goat farming demands a re-evaluation of the skills and practices that have been the core DNA of Vermont dairying.

Take feed, for example; goats may seem surprisingly picky to a farmer accustomed to feeding a cow, because the goat diges-tive system, or rumen, is “smaller and more temperamental than that of a cow,” says Dan. On the other hand, goats are browsers rather than grazers; that is, they relish prickers and thickets as much as pasture, so they can “clean pastures up while still making milk,” he says.

But, as Gwyneth points out, goat farmers need to ask them-selves, “How will I feed my goats to get the best protein pro-duction?” Maximizing the goats’ feeding habits while achiev-ing optimum protein levels requires a new outlook on dairy-ing—one that is not part of Vermont’s cow dairying past.

New Choices and Opportunities in Vermont’s Dairy Scene

by Jesse Natha North

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Caprine vs. Bovine


The greatest challenge to the commercial goat dairy farmer is the breeding cycle. Unlike a cow, which can be bred year-round, a goat has a seasonal breeding habit, with a pattern of breeding in early winter and kidding in the spring. This results in a drop in milk production at the same time every year—which is a problem for the demands of year-round cheese-making at a large-scale operation such as VBCC.

VBCC’s year-round demand is reflected in their pricing struc-ture, which rewards farms that breed off season by setting the year’s price when seasonally bred does are ebbing in milk production. Goat dairy farmers can therefore reach their highest earning potential by “tricking” a portion of their herd into breeding off-season. This is accomplished by segregat-ing does and inducing them to breed using artificial lighting, proximity to bucks, or even hormonal therapies.

This issue poses a dilemma for some small-scale farmers whose husbandry and lifestyle preferences make it difficult for them to make the most of VBCC’s pricing schedule. To make a living, they may instead choose to process and sell their milk themselves, taking on the duties of marketing their products, rather than becoming less hands-on “farm manag-ers” in a larger, year-round operation.

Indeed, not all fluid milk in Vermont heads to VBCC’s Webster-ville plant; a few farms sell their fluid milk to mid-size chee-semakers, such as Blue Ledge Farm in Leicester or Cornwall’s Consider Bardwell farm, and they find they can get slightly better prices than those who ship to VBCC. Another mid-sized farm, Windsor’s Oak Knoll Dairy, sells a portion of their milk to VBCC but also pasteurizes and bottles their own fluid goat milk and yogurt for sale under their own label.

But success often comes down to scale. In her new Guide to Starting a Commercial Goat Dairy, small ruminant expert Carol Delaney writes of dairying in Vermont, “Fewer than 150 goats is usually not enough to support one person or a small family with fluid milk sales, based on most people’s standard of liv-ing…150–200 goats is the minimum needed to start provid-ing a sustainable income.”

The Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery is about to learn for itself the challenges of producing fluid goat milk on a larger scale. The Ayers Brook Goat Dairy, operated by VBCC in part-nership with Vermont Technical College, and in financial cooperation with the Castanea Foundation, the High Mead-ows Fund, and the John Merck Fund, will start milking this fall at—no surprise—a former cow dairy in Randolph.

Allison Hooper, founder and owner of VBCC, says that one of the creamery’s biggest challenges is sourcing enough Ver-mont milk to meet their demand. “I’d like to see another 10 farms in the next 10 years,” she says.

To help meet that goal, the creamery’s new large-scale opera-tion plans to collect management, genetic, and business plan-ning data to encourage more successful large-scale fluid milk goat dairies in Vermont. And in order to build that knowledge base, Ayers Brook Dairy is making its first stock investment

not in goats but in one particular human, Rene De Leeuw of New York’s Coach Farm.

Rene comes to Randolph with years of experience that Alli-son hopes will help kickstart the process of maximizing goat farms in Vermont. “We’re starting with nothing,” she says, “We have no tools, no animals—all we have is intellectual property in Rene.”

Among Rene’s tasks is determining the “sweet spot” for size of the operation, with the current vision being 500 goats. VBCC wants to build some benchmarks so that an aspiring goat farmer can hit the ground running with data for managing input and labor costs, off-season breeding, milk quality, and an improved genetic pool.

“They will be able to show some of the tools that are out there for goat farmers” that are not based on cow data, says Gwyn-eth Harris. “Having some real information that’s close to home will help people realize there’s value to making changes.”

And by partnering with VTC, the Ayers Brook Dairy will be building relationships with Vermont’s next generation of farmers at their most receptive stage. “They will have full access to our students, and our students will have full access to the farm,” says Chris Dutton. Students may contribute up to 15 hours per week at the dairy, lending a steady stream of labor to the farm, and a steady stream of experience to the students.

“For an ag school to point people in a direction that isn’t cow dairy is great,” says Gwyneth.

The launch of Ayers Brook is a shrewd decision for VBCC, cer-tainly, but one hopes that the biggest beneficiaries will be the dairy legacy in Vermont and the aspiring farmers who will have commercial goat dairying, if not in their DNA, at least on their résumé.

Jesse Natha North lives in Randolph. Among other pursuits, she is currently working with Chris Dutton in the development of

Vermont Technical College’s new Meat Processor Training course, which will launch next spring.

Reflections ofa Restaurateur

by Suzanne Podhaizer

Part lll: Meat


It’s 102 degrees in the kitchen, and the chef at my Montpelier restaurant is making quick work of cutting up a chicken. He slides a razor-sharp boning knife along the breast, loos-ening the meat from the ster-num. The birds he’s working on are smaller than we would have liked—barely more than three pounds each—but this week, they were all we could get. “We’re going to need to buy more chickens tomorrow,” he notes darkly. “I thought we might get four servings per bird, but we’re only going to get two.”

As the person in charge of the cash flow, I cringe. The petite poultry, which I had to pur-chase at farmers’ market retail price when the farm that sells to us at wholesale ran out of birds, cost nearly $20 per bird. Meaning that each serving of chicken—not including the expense of labor or other ingre-dients that ended up in the dish—cost $10 or so. Selling the entrée at $20, with fancy stuffing, wilted greens, and a deca-dent sauce made with copious quantities of wine and butter, we were going to lose money.

At times like this, I can feel pangs of envy for the ease with which some other restaurants meet the demands of their cus-tomers’ hungry bellies. Just one phone call to a distributor and uniform, carefully packaged cuts show up on the door-step the next morning—no feathers, fur, or fuss.

At Salt, on the other hand, we wrestle with whole animal carcasses, and sometimes must beg suppliers to make last-minute deliveries—when we have a run on goat, for exam-ple, or when the beef we bought turns out to be more sinew than meat and we’ve got fewer portions than we thought. Sometimes, these emergency supplies arrive just in time for us to turn the meat into a delicious stew or to smother it with spices and get it in the smoker. Sometimes they do not, and on those nights, we have fewer dishes to offer our customers.

When a restaurant’s purchasing decisions are driven by eth-ics rather than economics, finding meat can get really tricky, really quickly. Call me a meatist, but I’m not overly concerned

about how much room a given carrot had in its bed or how much affection a farmer dispensed to a particular head of lettuce. However, I do care if a calf is confined or a pig doesn’t get an occasional spe-cial treat and scratch on the chin.

My values and those of the chef are reflected in the way we purchase meat for Salt. Our pork chops, beef roasts, and duck breasts come from farms that allow their animals to roam around in pastures, rather than keep them indoors their whole lives. Organic certification is not crucial to us, although some of our farms have it, but care-ful management of environ-mental resources, excellent treatment of beasts, and deli-cious products are the name of the game.

Why does well-cared-for meat translate into supply chain problems? For one thing, many of the farms we buy

from are mom-and-pop operations. The folks who run them aren’t in the business for the cash. They seem to embrace the work because they’re passionate about it, and in some cases, want to provide good quality food for a growing brood of children.

When a couple runs an animal farm without additional labor, they invariably seem to be running themselves ragged. Unlike plants, which can occasionally fend for themselves, animals need constant care. Sometimes they get sick and must be tended unexpectedly. Sometimes they’re stubborn, and mov-ing them, or milking them, takes longer than one would ever guess. As at a busy doctor’s office, one early-morning delay—a damaged tractor, a missing sheep—can mean spending an entire day playing catch-up.

Plus, when critters are out roaming the moors rather than chilling out in a barn, the farmer has a lot less control over their activities. And animals that garner much of their nutrition from pasture simply don’t fatten up as quickly or uniformly as those fed copious quantities of grain. “The last cow we sent for processing was really small,” a lithe, blond farmer told me when I pointed out that a particular package of short ribs was too thin and bony for us to buy. “But we needed [to sell] beef.” D

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It’s also evident that diff erent butchers have diff erent levels of skill. Some cut neat, trim pieces, while others are somewhat sloppy, leaving on silver skin or creating pieces of diff erent widths that don’t cook evenly. And then there are waterfowl, which are notoriously hard to work with. A few weeks ago, geese arrived in our kitchen covered in down. Armed with a pair of pliers, and with other tasks piling up around him, the chef spent four hours pulling slippery, oily feathers out of puckered fl esh. By the end, he’d sworn that we’d never serve duck or goose again.

Spending that amount of time preparing an ingredient for the pot increases its expense dramatically. And then there’s the actual cost. Smaller operations don’t get the benefi ts of effi ciencies of scale and that translates into higher prices for us, and down the line, for our customers. The things that we rebel against in factory farms grew out of a desire to provide cheap food for the masses, and those operations have trained people to think about meat as a commodity, for which one ought not pay too much.

The fact is, even in pastoral Vermont, it’s pretty easy to fi nd less expensive, local chicken. Most area restaurants that serve Vermont chicken buy their birds from Misty Knoll Farm in New Haven. That business handles 225,000 birds per year, and were I so inclined, I could buy package after package of chicken breasts, thighs, and drumsticks at Hunger Mountain Co-op for less per pound than I pay directly to our smaller farmers for whole birds.

But I don’t. “Our chickens range free in spacious, specially designed enclo-sures,” the Misty Knoll website says. Compared to the birds at most U.S. chicken farms, the ones at Misty Knoll have it good: they enjoy cleaner facili-ties and more room to roam—but just 1.5 feet per bird, according to a 2010 article in Local Banquet. It’s a relief that the chickens are treated better than they would be at a Tyson plant in South Carolina, and without Misty Knoll, fewer restaurants would be able to sell local chicken at all, given that supplies are sparser than demand. But it’s still not the chicken that we want to off er at Salt.

Being this fi nicky doesn’t make things easy for us, and sometimes, not for our farmers, either. We often run out of the cuts of pork and beef that appear on our menu and end up braising tons of meats, even during the heat of sum-mer, because we’ve made it our goal to buy and cook tougher bits that farm-ers have a diffi cult time selling.

After more than a year-and-a-half running the restaurant, I’d say that buying meat is one of the more frustrating—and more rewarding—parts of the job. Although a few customers are shocked at how much fat they see on the pork we serve, or that the steaks we buy aren’t as tender and buttery as the corn-fed versions, others tell us that the more fl avorful meats from grass-fed, pas-tured animals bring them back to their childhoods, and still others are curi-ous to try our more unusual off erings, such as goat and mutton.

And then there are the fabulous farmers who make this whole approach pos-sible. The other day, when she couldn’t sell us the number of chickens that we wanted in the size we needed to make money on them, one of our favor-ite farmers actually picked up birds from somebody else’s farm and delivered them to our doorstep, just to be nice. With suppliers who are willing to go out of their way for you like that, to help make another small business a success, who needs cheap?

Suzanne Podhaizer is the owner of Salt in Montpelier. She’s been obsessed with food since she was a youngster, designed her own degree in “Food Studies” at the

University of Vermont, and spent four years working as the food editor for Seven Days.


Islands have always had a local food problem. Granted, they’re often located in warm environments, have rich soil, and enjoy the kind of tourists who might want to sample an obscure local vegetable. But for many sun worshippers, lush green hills and mangroves make for a stark contrast to the dull and unappetizing non-local food on their plates.

A similar problem is faced by many shoppers in our northern climate, where local, seasonal produce—and the fl avor and nutritional value it contains—is lacking on most supermar-ket shelves beyond a few productive months. Grocery store patrons more often encounter fl avorless (and some say nutri-ent-defi cient) Florida- and Mexico-grown tomatoes, plucked when green and then trucked thousands of miles.

“Why can’t (or won’t) modern agribusiness deliver a decent tasting tomato?” asks Vermont food writer Barry Estabrook in his book, Tomatoland. “And why can’t it grow one with a simi-lar nutritional profi le to the tomatoes available to any house-wife during the Kennedy administration?”

East Middlebury resident Jeff Jones, managing partner of Ver-mont Hydroponic Produce, the largest hydroponic tomato grower in the state, has spent a lot of time in the Caribbean—as well as most of his career—helping solve the island food problem for large grocery store chains. Now he is applying his island experience to Vermont, and has a strategy to answer Estabrook’s question.

Vermont Hydroponic Produce operates two greenhouses—one in Florence, near Rutland, and a larger one in Quebec. The company’s Vermont production, which totals roughly six pallets of tomatoes a week, supplemented by 1.5 weekly pal-lets (10 cases) of fresh basil, is currently limited to those two products—beefsteak tomatoes and sweet basil.

That’s all grown in just under eight acres—not exactly indus-trial size. By comparison, Jones’s tomato-growing competitor Backyard Farms, a hydroponic operation in Maine, manages 2 acres of greenhouses, and another competitor, Eurofresh Farms, operates out of two greenhouse facilities spanning 1 acres in Arizona.

So how does Vermont Hydroponic Produce create all that pro-duce but still fi t within the small-scale, decentralized local food system we enjoy in the Green Mountain State?

Hydroponics uses mineral-nutrient solutions and water to grow plants without soil. Vermont Hydroponic tomatoes in particular are grown in a salt solution mixed with well water.

They sprout upward from a bed of coco coir, which is essen-tially ground up coconut shells and husks. Scores of plants are grown in a controlled environment (a large, white, hot, and humid greenhouse) in dense concentration, arranged in long rows.

There are clear advantages and disadvantages to this type of soilless growing. “One of the advantages of hydroponics is that you don’t get weeds and pests in that environment,” says Lynda Prim, the vegetable and fruit technical assistance advi-sor at Northeast Organic Farmers’ Association of Vermont. Also on the positive side, hydroponics produces faster growth in plants, and they use approximately one-tenth less water.

However, Prim says diseases “could be more of a problem because of the proximity of the plants to each other in a

closed, controlled environment.” Managing nutrients is also challenging, and Prim says there is general agreement that hydroponics results in less fl avor and smell.

“A hydroponic tomato is what you feed it, and fertilizer is expensive, so the temptation is to not go that extra mile and give it all the nutrients it would need to develop a complex taste profi le,” says Estabrook.

Nutrients and management equipment for hydroponic pro-duction can also be very expensive and complicated, and the disposal of hydroponic nutrients and matter does not meet the federal organic standards. In fact, the National Organic Standards Board has concluded that hydroponic growing not be recommended for organic certifi cation “due to their exclu-sion of the soil-plant ecology intrinsic to organic farming sys-tems and USDA/NOP regulations governing them.”

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The tomatoes grown at VT Hydro’s facilities are therefore not certifi ed organic, but they are pesticide free, and Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which essentially gets bugs to eat other bugs, is used.

This all begs the question: how does a Vermont Hydroponic beefsteak tomato compare with a local, soil-grown heirloom variety in August? Well, there’s really no comparison, and some people will always prefer buy-ing and eating tomatoes grown in soil. However, it’s easy to imagine feeling quite pleased about getting a tomato of similar quality on a cold Vermont Janu-ary day, knowing it’s pesticide-free and grown within a couple hundred miles.

Still, Jones’s willingness to work with big grocery chains is bound to ruffl e the feathers of some local food purists. He says Vermont Hydroponic Produce has already been criticized for having one of its two growing facilities in Canada, about 00 miles away in Quebec.

But Jones says it’s all part of the plan. His goal is not to sell to a couple of co-ops or at local farmers’ markets. Instead, he aims to create a regional food network that can serve what he says is the 0 to 0 percent of peo-ple who aren’t shopping at such places—and to serve them good, fresh food grown within their region.

“We’re working hard to get our products into places where the average customer shops,” says Jones, who has developed an innovative distribution partnership with Schenectady, NY-based Price Chopper. (Shaw’s also buys from VT Hydro). “And we’re working with these companies to lessen the costs of

transportation and therefore bring the cost of the actual pro-duce down to the consumer.”

Operating a small-scale hydroponic operation does have several drawbacks, though. “There are two downsides,” says Estabrook. “One is that these tomatoes can be costly.” (Jones agrees that his tomatoes cost a premium over most in the store.) “And two, you can get some very bland-tasting hydro-

ponic tomatoes. Vermont Hydroponic is the exception here. Their tomatoes deliver some decent taste.”

But in addition to taste, Jones wants to develop a stronger regional food system accessible to more people and to cre-ate local jobs. (Vermont Hydroponic cur-rently employs 10 people in Vermont.) “The big boys all play at 0,000 feet,” Jones says. “Local is at kite-fl ying height, like 100 feet, and many who sell locally don’t want to work with the big guys. But if we don’t get that middle ground, how are we going to create jobs?”

In his career before joining the com-pany—which was founded by Barry Roche in 1 and bought by Jones’s current business partner, Eric Frechette,

in 2005—Jones was a grocery store executive who worked for a who’s who of large chains (Stop ‘n Shop and Roche Broth-ers are among his previous employers). Each time, he helped them solve the problem of keeping fresh produce on the shelves year-round in an island environment.

Jones set A&P company sales records on Martha’s Vineyard by transforming the company’s logistics plan to help keep fresh

Continued on page 7


I spent a recent morning clearing “alien” species out of one of my garden beds. By “alien” I don’t mean “non-native”; I just mean plants that I didn’t want in there, which is often what the word alien connotes: beings that don’t belong where they are. I wanted an artistic arrangement of red and green shiso in that bed (shiso is a Japa-nese culinary herb—or weed, or medicinal plant, depending on your point of view—that grows wild in many parts of Asia). As I made space for the shiso, I pulled up jew-elweed, feverfew, prunella, goldenrod, gill-over-the-ground, Johnny jump-ups, calen-dula, clover, chickweed, various grasses (creeping sneakily in from the border of the garden), and probably a few others whose names I don’t know. Many of these have medicinal uses, or are pretty, or both, but I didn’t want them in that bed, so at that moment, they were aliens to me.

But sometimes I see these species diff erently. That morning, I carefully relocated the goldenrod to my orchard because organic apple guru Michael Phillips says that gold-enrod is a benefi cial understory species for orchards. I like it because its fl owers attract a wide range of pollinators and benefi cial predator insects. And it’s a good thing I like it because it’s everywhere in my backyard. It took over the edges of my pond, crowd-ing out the various daylilies I had planted there; a huge clump sprang up in the mid-dle of my raspberry patch, shading out the raspberries; and it seems everywhere I turn a new patch is growing with abandon. It’s one of those plants that is very good at col-onizing any open available spot. And yet, I never hear anyone speak of goldenrod as invasive, despite its apparently “aggressive” behavior.

And grass! Whose idea was the lawn anyway? Among the weeds in my garden, grasses with long white rhizomes are among the most pernicious—leave any little bit of rhizome behind and grass pops up again, threatening to crowd out the plants I want. I would call that “invasive.”

So who gets to decide what’s invasive anyway? In this country we have a government agency, the National Invasive Species Council (NISC), that defi nes an invasive plant as one that is not native, and that causes some kind of harm—ecological or economic, or both. If it doesn’t cause harm, it’s not considered “invasive” (by this defi nition, I would say lawn grasses fi t the bill—think of the harm caused by all those lawn chemicals getting into our waterways…) and if it is native, it’s not considered “invasive,” although many native plants will happily invade if given the opportunity—witness my golden-rod. NISC defi nition aside, many people think of “non-native invasives” as aggressive intruders that cause the extinction of native species and disrupt ecosystems; often-times any “non-native” plant is thought to have those characteristics.

The furor over alien invasives is intense. A neighbor recently told me she’s prone to stopping her car on the highway in order to jump out and cut off the seed heads of purple loosestrife. Someone else recently noticed the goutweed in my yard and said, “I see goutweed is your nemesis.” “Not really,” I replied. “I’m trying to make peace with it.” The conversation didn’t go much further. People seem disinclined to engage for long with those who raise questions around the way “invasive” is defi ned, the actual harm caused by invasives, and the tactics deployed to respond to the presence of these plants.

But I have had questions about these and many other aspects of this subject since I fi rst learned about invasive plants, some 15 years ago. I had returned to graduate

Making Peace with Plants

by Tatiana Schreiber

Ruminations on aliens, natives, and invasives

viewpoint


school in environmental studies after many years focused on other issues, including anti-immigrant sentiment and the pol-itics of the “English-only” movement. My fi rst concern had to do with the idea of “native.” To me, the rhetoric deployed around non-native species seemed way too similar to argu-ments concerning the dangers of immigration—including the idea that immigrants to our country would “take over” jobs, reproduce rapidly, and disrupt the healthy functioning of our communities with their diff erent languages and culture. Of course I realized that such analogies were only that, and that the science of conservation biology was focused on the actual impact of introduced species on ecosystems, not on fear-mongering and bigotry. Or so I hoped. And yet, I did wonder if fear of diff erence or of change was playing a role in deciding both what a native species is and how we feel about them.After all, ecosystems are constantly changing, and plants have been migrating since they fi rst evolved and began colonizing the primordial ooze.

According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, native means “a plant that is a part of the balance of nature that has developed over hundreds or thousands of years in a particular region or ecosystem.” “Hundreds or thousands of years” is further described as plants that were here when Europeans fi rst arrived. This makes some sense, since Euro-pean colonization of this continent initiated much more rapid movement of species across greater distances than ever before. But under this defi nition, a huge number of plants now common (and often beloved) in New England are non-native. For example, daylilies (native to Asia); lilacs (native to Eastern Europe, introduced sometime after 100); earth-worms (most of our local earthworms arrived with the fi rst European colonists); lawn grass (Kentucky bluegrass, for example, introduced from Europe); and apple trees (only crab apples were here when the colonists arrived—the center of origin for apples is central Asia). Oh, and honeybees, too, and just about everything we grow in our fl ower and vegeta-ble gardens. Rhubarb? Comfrey? Not native. Tomatoes? Defi -nitely not native despite that “native tomato” label you might fi nd at the store. Corn? Actually corn was here at the time the Europeans arrived. It was fi rst domesticated in southern Mex-ico, but it had migrated north, with the help of indigenous peoples and reached what is now Vermont by approximately 1100. Come July it certainly appears invasive, since mono-cultures of it cover large swaths of our farmland. But it turns out the NISC has this additional clause in its defi nition: “Inva-sive species are not those that humans depend upon for eco-nomic security, maintaining a desirable quality of life, or sur-vival.” So, if we want a species in our neighborhoods, or on our farms, because it improves our quality of life, it’s not invasive. That explains the corn and the lawn grass….

Those who are most concerned about the presence of alien invasive species emphasize that these are species that were introduced by humans and that cause some kind of harm. But how do we decide what is harmful? Earthworms, here in the Northeast, are usually considered highly benefi cial. At least we gardeners consider them benefi cial, since they produce enriched soil conducive to growing our many non-native crops. But earthworms in forests consume the “duff ” layer on

the forest fl oor, and that may be harmful in the long run for some of our iconic tree species such as the sugar maple that rely on the nutrients in that duff . What to do?

Clearly it would not make sense to try to eradicate earth-worms—there are far too many of them and they indeed do a lot of good. But if the science were very clear that earth-worms were radically altering the ecology of our forests and harming maples, it might make sense to try to keep people from bringing earthworms into forests. Unfortunately, the sci-ence is rarely “very clear.” Ecology is complex, and it’s not easy to tease apart what exactly has caused changes in popula-tion demographics in a given ecosystem. When an introduced species becomes dominant, is it the new plant’s behavior that is causing the problem or some change in the system that happened before the new plant arrived? And how do we bal-ance what we might perceive as “harm” in a given moment, with the benefi ts some of these species bring, not only to us, but to the wildlife that feed on their seeds or gain a new source of pollen? And since climate change is likely to bring a huge number of unfamiliar species our way in coming years, are we to put up barricades to keep them out?

Some voices have questioned some commonly held views about natives, aliens, and invasives. In his 200 book Invasion Biology: Critique of a Pseudoscience, David Theodoropou-los suggests that the rapid dominance of one species often occurs due to events prior to its arrival, such as fi re or other

disruption—often human caused—or the cessation of indig-enous land management practices. He also questions the idea that introduced species often cause the extinction of native species, citing numerous studies suggesting other-wise. In 200, biologist Mark Davis published his book Inva-sion Biology, in which he argues that “alien” and “native” inva-sive species display exactly the same behaviors and that most “non-natives” are not harmful. In 2010, herbalist Tim Scott published Invasive Plant Medicine: The Ecological Benefi ts and Healing Abilities of Invasives in which he suggests that inva-sive plants may be serving an ecological function, protecting disturbed land until other species can repopulate it. He also describes the many medicinal and culinary uses of some of these species.

None of these writers are saying that invasion is inherently a good thing, but all of them emphasize that it is human behav-ior—the disruption of ecosystems (through building, min-ing, logging, and paving over the landscape) and global travel and commerce (through which we move countless species to places they would never arrive otherwise)—that most likely triggers invasions. They encourage us to shift our empha-sis from militaristic crusades to eradicate invaders toward a

Some voices have questioned some commonly held views about natives, aliens, and invasives.

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by Benjy Adler

Burlington International will soon have a local foods restaurant—actually, three of themA i rpo r t F l i e s T owa rd L o ca l

In January 201, The Skinny Pancake will open what is likely to be the fi rst-ever local foods restaurant in an American airport. In fact, we’re opening three of them at the Burlington Interna-tional Airport (BTV): a Skinny Pancake in each of the two post-security terminals and a Chubby Muffi n kiosk across from the check-in counters on the fi rst fl oor. For those of you who don’t know us, The Skinny Pancake and Chubby Muffi n are sister-concept restaurants in Burlington and Montpelier with a mis-sion to “change the world by building a safer, healthier, more delicious foodshed while creating everyday enjoyment that is fun and aff ordable.” We’re excited to be bringing our hyper-local food philosophy and buying practices to BTV.

Menus at our airport locations will feature grab-n-go sand-wiches and snacks, as well as plated sit-down meals featur-ing our core product: hearty crepes made with local ingredi-ents. We’ll also off er a bar with espresso, tea, and a full selec-tion of beers, wines and spirits. All of our meats and cheeses will be local year-round, our veggies will be local season-ally, and local alcohol options will be prominently featured. At a bare minimum, we will ensure that at least 50 percent of our purchasing goes to local raw and value-added products, although we certainly expect to beat that number.

In addition, the walls of each location will be adorned with images of our farmers and a map of our local foodshed. We will proudly celebrate the ripe and sophisticated local food movement here in Vermont and educate travelers about the importance of buying local. While there are local food enthu-siasts pushing the envelope at a few other airports—a local foods pizzeria at the Martha’s Vineyard airport, an aeroponic vegetable garden at Chicago O’Hare—no airport eateries appear to have “gone local” to this degree.

For a motley crew of post-collegiate bohemians, teaming up with a formal institution like BTV is an unlikely twist in a decade-long tale full of surprises. As our company philosophy has evolved from survival to success defi ned by multiple bot-tom lines, our growth is increasingly driven by purpose over profi t, and the BTV project fi ts this intention like a glove.

The Skinny Pancake was born as a fl edgling street cart on the streets of Burlington during the baking-hot summer of 200. She had a room in our rental apartment, packed with

dry goods and storage racks. We shared the kitchen with her and, it seemed, cleaned up after her constantly. Indeed, she was a colicky baby. Working at a rate immeasurably below minimum wage, we lived and breathed “The Pancake.” Surely, somewhere in the venerable halls of the School of Hard Knocks, there hangs a plaque commemorating those early years. At the time, our focus was on making it work, not on changing the world.

As “The Skinny” developed from an infant into a toddler, a distinct personality emerged: fun, conscientious, purpose-ful, creative on the outside, determined within. We bought a bus, converted it to run on vegetable oil and adventured to fairs and festivals. In 200, we became the fi rst food cart to join the Vermont Fresh Network. As our little brand gained a good reputation and developed reliable revenues, we looked to our idols—Ben & Jerry’s, American Flatbread, Patagonia—and with outsized confi dence thought, “If they can do it, so can we.”

Fast forwarding fi ve years, The Skinny Pancake has now grown into a young adult, with bricks-and-mortar locations on Bur-lington’s waterfront, the Old North End, and in downtown Montpelier. We also operate an airstream trailer in “vendor ally” at UVM, our original cart on Church Street is humming along, and our forays into fairs and festivals have led to “Have Your Cake Catering,” which plans appearances at everything from weddings to corporate luncheons to county fairs. At our peak this summer, we will have more than 0 employees.

Most importantly, after those early years of just struggling to survive, our social mission has grown to become the driving force behind our business. At its core is a deep-seated belief in the power of conscientious capitalism. We demonstrate the effi cacy of this philosophy daily through the persistent act of buying local. In our last annual audit, we found that . per-cent of all food and beverage purchases went to local raw and value-added products. In other words, we spend over $500,000 annually within the local economy. And ultimately, the vast majority of all the revenues we take in go right back out the door (and very quickly, I might add). Whereas The Skinny Pancake could carelessly purchase food from major distributors and ship all of that cash out of state, we carefully direct our spending with the intention of having a positive Ill

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On-going workshops open to the public

802.472.5362 www.vermontfoodventurecenter.org

A program of the Center for an Agricultural Economy


impact on Vermont farms, businesses, and communities. We believe our spending habits will “improve the view of the food S.C.E.N.E.” (Security, Community, Economy, Nutrition, Environment).

Keeping local food consistently available and aff ordable has required us to develop additional infrastructure and unique skills. We now have a “local food systems coor-dinator” (Jeremy Silansky) who works directly with farmers. Each winter, Jeremy forecasts our demand for the following year and contracts directly with farmers for the needed supply. Consequently, the farmers have a reliable source of income and we get competitive pricing. And wherever possible, we buy bumper crops during harvest season; farmers avoid spoilage and we get a good deal. These techniques require a knowledgeable staff and a facility capable of receiving, processing, and storing produce for the late fall, winter and spring.

In addition to our approach of “consumer power on a corporate level,” last fall we joined “1 percent for the Planet,” becoming the largest business in Vermont to take the pledge to donate 1% of all revenues to environmental nonprofi ts. With mar-gins that are already a tad threadbare, this choice may strike people as misguided. In fact, this counter-intuitive commitment falls right in line with our philosophy. As Patagonia’s founder Yvon Chuinard explains, “Every time I’ve done the right thing for the environment I’ve made a profi t.” In essence, we believe that in doing good, we will do good business. The goodwill we gain for having taken this pledge is demonstrable and measurable. Rather than sap us of our profi ts, it has strength-ened our revenues and reputation.

Enter the Burlington International Airport. In the winter of 2012, BTV issued a 0-page “Request For Proposal” to take over and manage the food service there. The RFP emphasized “local food sources and Vermont-made products.” As we took in this behemoth of an RFP, we considered the landscape: in Burlington, we have extraordinary examples of local food innovation from impressive institutions including the Intervale, Fletcher Allen hospital system, and the Onion River Co-op (City Market). Their deep commitment to using local foods is built on decades of developing a remarkable network of farmers and food producers, local distributors, nonprofi ts, restaurants, co-ops, community awareness, and demand. We reasoned that if they can “go local” thanks to this network, then BTV could, too.

Vermont’s largest airport boasts 50,000 enplanements annually, including locals traveling abroad, tourists visiting Vermont, and business travelers. With spending at similarly sized airports averaging $. per departing passenger, we know we can help redirect hundreds of thousands of dollars back into the local food economy. Furthermore, we have a genuine opportunity to promote Vermont’s agricultural and working landscape, help educate travelers, and build on Vermont’s momentum as a hotbed of local food innovation. Successfully delivering local foods en masse to consumers at BTV will send a powerful message that local food need not be rel-egated to the realm of indulgence and luxury—it can be part of our everyday lives. Or, as we say here at the ‘Cake, “localvore is not haute-couture!”

A decade ago, it would have been beyond our wildest dreams to have imagined col-laborating with an airport on a localvore food service project. Now, it is an impend-ing reality. We thoroughly understand that we will be the fi rst and last impression of Vermont for many travelers, which is a great privilege and an even greater respon-sibility to everyone who lives in and loves our state. We hope to send a message beyond the borders of this back-to-the-land mecca: local food can be accessible, aff ordable, and fun. We will strive to make every Vermonter proud, every traveler welcomed, and everyone aware of the power of place in the food we eat.

So please wish us luck, and next year when you visit the airport, say hello!

Benjy Adler is the founder and co-owner of Th e Skinny Pancake, Chubby Muffi n, and Have Your Cake Catering. He lives within walking distance of the company commissary

in the Old North End of Burlington.


seeds for change

Neighbors Feeding Neighbors in St. Johnsburyby Robyn Greenstone

Standing in a local supermarket last August, scanning the shelves for a lemon to complete the ingredient list for my mother’s celebrated cucumber salad, I felt like a complete for-eigner. I realized, as I surveyed the rows of coolly aligned pro-duce, that it had been a full fi ve months since I stepped foot inside a grocery store. This is because in the warmer months, the fruits of my own garden are frequently supplemented with produce and condiments from a variety of farm stands in the St. Johnsbury area and three local farmers’ markets. And like many of my neighbors, I embark on a weekly pilgrimage to several diff erent farms within a 10-mile radius of my house for eggs, cheese, yogurt, goat’s milk, jam, relish, grass-fed beef, lambs, and free-range chickens.

As my fourth year of residence in the Northeast Kingdom draws to a close, I am recognizing that my transformation into a loyal localvore has been greatly assisted by the St. Johnsbury Area Local Food All iance (St. J. ALFA), which also launched four years ago. At the time, vibrant grassroots con-cern about having gone beyond “peak oil” led to active com-munity discussion and the founding of St. J. ALFA. Member-

ship in this alliance is free and open to all. The core group of members represents local farmers and other citizens who believe in the alliance’s mission of making more local food available to a greater number of local people. Impressed by the vision and the enthusiasm of the group, I joined, and now attend meetings and work parties to help its various subcommittees.

St. Johnsbury’s environs are not unlike other regions of Ver-mont. There is a rich agricultural bounty, honesty boxes at numerous welcoming farms, and a longstanding tradition of farmers producing food for their neighbors. But two projects run by St. J. ALFA are turning out to be quite unique.

In 2010, a local citizen donated three acres of tillable land on Old Center Road just outside St. Johnsbury’s town center. This land became the all-volunteer Community Farm, fi rst run by a conglomeration of religious groups called Faith in Action. St. J. ALFA got involved in 2011 and assumed full management this year. It’s called a “community farm” rather than a “commu-nity garden” to highlight its unusual modus operandi. Individ-uals do not adopt individual plots of soil for their own use and benefi t, as typically occurs in a community garden. Instead, individuals work side by side with neighbors and new friends on one large plot of land follow a suggested protocol that adapts according to need, imagination, and the initiative of its volunteers. In exchange for hoeing, planting, watering, or thinning, local citizens are invited to take home whatever pro-duce suits them. The surplus is donated to neighbors in need.

The Community Farm is a true community project, relying on generous donations of money, time, services, seeds, plants, and products by local businesses, organizations, and individ-uals. The vision is to expand the farm beyond its current pro-ductive state and make it a site for educational programs run in conjunction with local schools and institutions such as the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium, which is working on cur-ricula involving the science of growing things. One active member of St. J. ALFA who is a teacher brings her high school students to the farm for many hands-on adventures studying and working on projects involving soil testing, soil prepara-tion, farm layout, and planting.

At local meal sites this past summer, members of the Commu-nity Farm also off ered “Eating Local” food workshops that fea-tured food tastings and the sharing of recipes. Some of these highlighted the value of growing and eating beans as part of St. J. ALFA’s receipt of the Bean Grant, which is designed to promote beans as an important source of good, local, plant-based protein. The grant was co-written with UVM Extension and is a Specialty Crop Grant funded by the USDA and admin-istered by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. Work is under-way for the acquisition and installation of a bicycle-powered bean thresher that St. J. ALFA hopes to house at the farm. This human-powered machine would be converted from an old chipper thresher and would provide further opportunities for active involvement (literally!) in the local food movement.

St. J. ALFA also oversees the St. Johnsbury Online Farmers’ Mar-ket, one of only a few online markets in Vermont that off er cit-izens the opportunity to order products and pay for them in advance online. Twenty-seven vendors from 1 towns through-out the Northeast Kingdom are currently registered in this mar-ket, and they’re not all farmers. The roster includes herbalists, bakers, jam and jelly makers, coff ee roasters, and candy cre-ators. To make the online market more convenient for custom-ers with tricky schedules, there are now three diff erent pick-up locations and times: Wednesday afternoons at the St. Johns- Ph

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Local students and Bill Half of Harvest Hill Farm (third from left) at the St. Johnsbury Community Farm, June 2012.

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An order from the St. J. ALFA Online Farmers’ Market might include…

Spicy cashew brittle

Organic rugelach

Lavender–peppermint goat milk soap

Crabapple elderberry butter

Onion-garlic-chive chèvre

Rhubarb chutney

Garlic scape pesto

Tamworth pork raised on beechnuts and acorns

Artisan granola made with maple syrup

Dandelion blossom jelly

Boysenberry goat yogurt

1” farm-raised brown trout

Fire-roasted poblano and honey BBQ sauce

W-Itch Away herbal insect spray

Numerous local fruits and vegetables

bury House, Friday afternoons at the Lyndonville Farmers’ Market, and Saturday mornings at the St. Johnsbury’s Farmers’ Market.

Consumers appreciate the Online Market because of the wide range of vendors and items, and because they can place and reserve an order for popular items that often sell out in the early hours of the outdoor farmers’ market. Their straw-berries, spinach, peas, pies, and yogurt drinks will be waiting for them even if they arrive in the later hours of pickup. Some customers want the opportunity to pick up their orders quickly rather than taking the time to walk around and shop. Direct-to-your-door delivery service is also available for a fee.

The Online Market is in its second year, and there are some challenges involved in its maintenance. Its fi rst-year trial was possible thanks to a modest grant and the phenomenal energies of a core group of 5 to 10 committed volunteers, all of whom had full-time day jobs. One of the volunteers, a farmer with an incredibly busy schedule, drove around to all the farms with coolers in his truck to collect every order and deliver the aggregation to the pickup site.

This year, another modest grant has allowed the hiring of a part-time manager, but the diffi culties of minimizing cost and maximizing convenience remain. To pay for itself, the Online Market must gross $2,000 to $,000 a week; the cus-tomer base is not yet broad enough. Some of last year’s grant money was used to hire a marketing consultant, but the implementation of the proposed strat-egies requires yet more volunteer hours and additional fi nancial resources. An application for nonprofi t status is pending; if approved, it would allow tax-free donations and access to many more grants, as well as helpful free services such as web page platforms.

As part of its role promoting a local food economy, St. J. ALFA also publishes an online Local Food Resource Guide listing all the CSAs and all the winter and summer farmers’ markets in the region, as well as resources for news and infor-mation on current farm policies, activities and events, local and natural food and gardening, and healthy nutrition. It holds panels and workshops, screens documentaries followed by discussions, and brings in representatives of other food-related organizations in the area.

The success of St. J. ALFA’s most unique programs, though—the Online Market and the Community Farm—will particularly encourage more people to become loyal localvores. I may already be one, but I will celebrate it all by making more of Mom’s cucumber salad. And this time, some lemon balm or lemon basil ordered from a local producer online or clipped from the Community Farm will provide that coveted suggestion of citrus.

Robyn Greenstone lives in Danville. She teaches at St. Johnsbury Academy and writes a regular column on herbal lore for � e North Star Monthly.

For more information on St. J. ALFA, or to participate in its online market, go to www.stj-alfa.org.


Akaogi Farm27 Earthbridge [email protected] Serving Windham County

Alchemy Gardens 66A Russellville RoadShrewsbury802-492-2087alchemygardens@gmail.comalchemygardensvt.com Serving Addison, Bennington, Rutland, and Windsor County

Applecheek Farm567 McFarlane Rd Hyde [email protected] Vermont Farm Share Program Serving Chittenden, Lamoille, and Washington Counties

Blue Heron Farm34 Quaker Road Grand [email protected] (formally food stamps)Vermont Farm Share Program

Serving Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties

Cedar Mountain Farm25A Linden Road Hartland802-436-1448fj [email protected] Vermont Farm Share ProgramSenior Farm Share Program

Serving Windsor County

Central Vermont Food Hub170 Dillon Road Montpelier [email protected] Serving Washington County

Clear Brook FarmHistoric Route 7AShaftsbury802-442-4273andrew@clearbrookfarm.comclearbrookfarm.com3SquaresVT (formally food stamps) Senior Farm Share Program

Serving Bennington County

Dwight Miller and Son Orchards511 Miller Road East Dummerston802-254-9111 vtfarmsorg.com Vermont Farm Share Program Serving Windham County

Fable FarmPO Box 1112 [email protected] Vermont Farm Share Program Serving Orange, Rutland , and Windsor Counties

Fair Food Farm34 Moscow Woods Road East Calais802-456-0060farmers@fairfoodfarm.orgfairfoodfarm.org3SquaresVT (formally food stamps)Vermont Farm Share Program Serving Washington County

Family Cow Farmstand2386 Shelburne Falls Road [email protected] familycowfarmstand.comServing Addison, Chitten-den, Lamoille , and Washington Counties

Fat Rooster Farm354 Morse Road South [email protected] Serving Orange and Windsor Counties

Field Stone Farm and CSA793 Gib Lane Northfi [email protected] eldstonefarmvt.com Serving Orange and Washing-ton County

Four Pillars Farm2452 Cutting Hill Road Whiting802-989-0083fourpillarsfarmvt@yahoo.comfourpillarsfarmvt.com3SquaresVT (formally food stamps)Vermont Farm Share Program

Senior Farm Share ProgramServing Addison and Chitten-den Counties

Full Moon Farm2083 Gilman Road Hinesburg802-598-1986davidz@together.netfullmoonfarminc.com3SquaresVT (formally food stamps)Vermont Farm Share Program Serving Addison and Chitten-den County

Gildrien Farm490 Delorm Road [email protected] Vermont Farm Share Program Serving Addison and Rutland Counties

Green Mountain Girls Farm923 Loop Road Northfi [email protected] Vermont Farm Share Program Serving Orange and Washing-ton Counties

Groundworks Farm697 Elm Street [email protected] Serving Addison and Rutland Counties

Houde Family Farm697 Kitchel Hill Road St. Johnsbury802-748-2835houdefamilyfarm@gmail.comhoudefamilyfarm.com

Intervale Community Farm128 Intervale Road Burlington802-658-2919info@intervalecommunityfarm.comintervalecommunityfarm.com3SquaresVT (formally food stamps)Vermont Farm Share ProgramSenior Farm Share ProgramServing Chittenden County

Intervale Food Hub180 Intervale Road Burlington802-660-0440 x 111

[email protected] (formally food stamps)Vermont Farm Share Program Serving Chittenden County

Jericho Settlers Farm22 Barber Farm Road [email protected] Vermont Farm Share ProgramSenior Farm Share ProgramServing Chittenden County

Lewis Creek FarmPO Box 123 [email protected] Serving Addison and Chitten-den Counties

Luna Bleu Farm96 Boles Road96 Luna Bleu RoadSouth [email protected] Vermont Farm Share ProgramSenior Farm Share ProgramServing Orange and Windsor Counties

Maplewood Organics3550 Gore Road Highgate802-868-5083maplewoodorganics@gmail.commaplewoodorganics.biz Vermont Farm Share Program Serving Chittenden, Franklin, and Grand Isle Counties

New Leaf Organics 4818 Bristol RoadBristol802-453-6160/[email protected] (formally food stamps)Vermont Farm Share Program Serving Addison County

Mighty Food Farm549 Cedar Hill Road Pownal802-823-0102farmers@mightyfoodfarm.commightyfoodfarm.com3SquaresVT (formally food stamps)Vermont Farm Share Program Serving Bennington County

This winter you don’t have to go without your favorite farm food. By signing up for a winter CSA you can support your local farmer and have farm-raised vegetables, eggs, and meats—and in many instances other farm-made foods, too, such as breads and canned goods. There are a wide variety of sign-up options with each CSA, so fi nd one near you and contact them to learn what they’re off ering. Thanks to NOFA Vermont for providing this list.

Winter CSAs

Local or Organic? In Vermont, you don’t have to choose.

Look for this logo when shopping for Vermont

certified organic products.

Vermont Organic Farmers, LLC, the certification program of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT), is a USDA-accredited organic certification agency.

Choosing local and organic is good for you, good for the land, and good for Vermont!

Organic foods can improve your health, they taste great, and they are grown without GMOs, persistent pesticides or artificial hormones.

Learn more at nofavt.org/why-organicor call 802-434-4122


North Branch Farm & GardensPO Box 265 East Middlebury802-388-2059northbranchfarms@gmail.comgreenmountaingrown.com3SquaresVT (formally food stamps)

Serving Addison, Chitten-den, Rutland, and Washington Counties

MR Harvest, LLC55 Adams School RoadGrand [email protected] (formally food stamps)Vermont Farm Share Program

Serving Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties

Pete’s Greens266 S. Craftsbury Road [email protected] Vermont Farm Share Program

Serving Chittenden, Franklin, Lamoille, Orleans, and Washing-ton Counties

Someday Farm2087 Dorset Hill Road East Dorset802-362-2290 Serving Bennington and Rut-land Counties

Tangletown516 Shady Hill Road Middlesex 3SquaresVT (formally food stamps)Vermont Farm Share Program Serving Chittenden, Lamoille , and Washington Counties

Sugar Mountain Farm252 Riddle Pond Road West Topsham802- [email protected]

The Last Resort Farm2246 Tyler Bridge Road Monkton802-453-2847localfood@lastresortfarm.comlastresortfarm.com Vermont Farm Share ProgramSenior Farm Share ProgramServing Addison and Chittenden County

Sunrise Farm270 Orizzonto Road White River Junction802-295-1456 sunrisefarmvt.com

Serving Windsor County

The Smiling SnailPO Box 364 [email protected] Serving Chittenden County

True Love Farm925 Cross Hill Road North [email protected] Serving Bennington County

Wellspring Farm182 Lafi rira PlaceMarshfi [email protected] (formally food stamps)Vermont Farm Share ProgramSenior Farm Share ProgramServing Washington County

Valley Dream Farm LLC5901 Pleasant Valley Road [email protected] Vermont Farm Share ProgramSenior Farm Share ProgramServing Chittenden, Franklin, and Lamoille Counties

Wildstone Farm536 Schenkar Road [email protected]

Serving Bennington County

Walker Farm1190 U.S. Route 5 [email protected] Senior Farm Share Program

Serving Windham County

Wood’s Market Garden93 Wood Lane Brandon802 [email protected] Vermont Farm Share ProgramSenior Farm Share Program

Serving Addison and Rutland Counties

Your Farm2340 Route 5 NorthFairlee802-291-2282info@yourfarmonline.comyourfarmonline.com

Serving Orange and Windsor Counties

Weathersfield, Vermont

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more thoughtful effort to change our own invasion-causing behaviors, make peace with many of the invasive plants in our environment (using these abundant plants for food and medicine is one approach) and, in those cases where there is clear evidence of harm, choose the least damaging method of reducing that potential harm.

When I see one species dominating a landscape, I become as anxious as the next per-son. I recognize that some species do cause the decline of other species, or carry with them serious diseases that could, for example, radically transform the configuration of our forests. But, except in cases where there is danger of widespread disease or other serious ecological damage, and the numbers of an introduced species are still very small, it seems both arrogant and unwise to attempt the complete eradication of any species from a certain place. Once a species is eradicated, there is no possibility that other spe-cies might adapt to it or evolve so as to render the invasive species less problematic. Chances are good that over time, the problematic species will return in high numbers yet again.

And removal of a dominant species—which, unless replanted with other species, leaves bare ground and empty niches behind—is likely to have its own ecological conse-quences. Wouldn’t we be better off trying to work with nature to restore more diverse habitats in regions where these plants have become dominant? Wouldn’t it be better if we tried to prevent habitat disruption in the first place? I don’t claim expertise in inva-sion science, but I would want to look at all the evidence before I accepted that an erad-ication program was the best approach. Reducing the numbers of an invasive species (short of complete eradication) may be warranted at times, but that must be balanced against the harm that could be caused by the methods used.

A recent survey of those who are experts—for example, scientists whose main focus is the study of invasive species—found that habitat loss and degradation, human popula-tion growth, and global climate change were rated as greater threats to biodiversity than alien species, with over-hunting and commercial exploitation of species coming in fifth. Forty-one percent of the respondents agreed that the ambiguities of the science are often glossed over in order to sound the alarm of a crisis. Sixty-five percent agreed that “there should be less emotional xenophobia regarding invasive species.”

I’m not certain whether the division of species into “native” and “non-native” is helpful, but I’m pretty sure that describing specific plants as “evil,” “aggressive,” “intruders,” or “ene-mies” is not. Even if people don’t intend it, this language reinforces the idea that “for-eignness” is dangerous and suspect. Why not focus instead on evidence of harm in spe-cific cases of introduced species and, in the absence of such evidence, consider the pos-sibility that we humans have much to learn from nature, not least that defining what is “native“ may be more a matter of our own prejudices and anxieties than of nature’s design. And that “balance” in nature is precarious at best.

Tatiana Schreiber grows a wide variety of vegetables, herbs, and fruits—both native and non-native—at Sowing Peace Farm in Westminster West, where she attempts to use the most ecologically

sound methods of agriculture possible. She remains in awe of the complexity of ecosystems and hopeful that nature will prove resilient in light of the relentless invasiveness of the human species.

She can be reached at [email protected].

MAKING PEACE Continued from page 17

These businesses proudly support the Putney Farmers’ Market

Putney Farmers’Market

Sundays, 10–2 • May 27th thru October 7thI-91 Exit 4 Across from the co-op on Carol Brown WayWe accept EBT and Debit Cards, and new this year, Farm to Family coupons.

facebook.com/putneyfarmersmarket ■ http://putneyfarmersmarket.org

Live music every week, Shop with the Chef and special events.

a k i t c h e n s t o r e

Cookware, bakeware, gadgets, chef utensils, and cook accessories

Thyme to Cook

802-428-4077www. thymetocookvt.com

Rt. 5 Rockingham, VT at Exit 6 off I-91

Wedding Gift Registry

Buy local–our prices are competitive

Creating CommunityBuilding Social CapitalEducating the Public

Growing the Local Economy

Empowering YouthIt’s how we roll.

I-91 exit 4 · open 7 days

www.putneyfood.coop802.387.5866

Rt. 5 Putney, [email protected] • www.jdmcclimentspub.com

802-387-4499

J.D. McCLIMENTs PubJ.D. McCLIMENTs PubJ.D. McCLIMENTs Pub

Pub opens at 4:00 pm Tuesday through Saturday

Dinner is served from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Check Our Web Site For Live Music Dates

Our Patio Is Open For Outdoor Dining

133 Main StreetPutney, VT

802-380-4651www.thegleanery.com

www.facebook.com/[email protected]

A restaurant for gathering and celebrating the handmade life

I-91 N to exit 4, take Rte. 5 to Putney Village (½ mile) and turn left at the Putney General Store. Take Westminster Road for 1/2 mile.

162 Westminster Road, Putney, VT 05346

For Everything MapleHidden Springs Maple Farm Store

Family Owned and OperatedVisit us for a real taste of Vermont!

Order Online: hiddenspringsmaple.com

Store: 802-387-5200Customer Service: 888-889-8781

Summer Hours (Jun-Dec): Tues-Sun 10-6 pmWinter Hours (Jan-May): Thurs-Sun 11-5 pm

Hand-Dipped Ice Cream! From Walpole Creamery

Free Maple Syrup Tasting TableBulk Syrup $5/lb—B.Y.O. container

45 Vermont Vendors offering fresh produce, meats, cheeses, herbs,

flowers, wines, honey, maple syrup, baked goods, breads, specialty foods,

and unique artworks.

westriverfarmersmarket.comEBT, Debit, and

Farm to Family Coupons Accepted

Celebrating our 20th seasonSaturdays 9am - 1pm, Rain or Shine

May 26th - October 6thJct. Rtes 11/100 Londonderry, VT

92 Main Street, Grafton, VT 05146

GraftonInnVermont.com 800-843-1801

Savor the experience of inspired Americancuisine, thoughtfully prepared with locallysourced food.

Enjoy the candlelit ambiance of The Old Tavern restaurant (open nightly), or choose the Phelps Barn Pub for casual dining (Thurs-Sun).

SHARE A TASTE OF VERMONT


produce stocked during the busy summer season. He fol-lowed his time there with stints in Bermuda and in the Turks and Caicos islands, where the local stores would ship in fresh produce from the mainland. Jones helped organize scores of local growers and producers in the Turks and Caicos and eventually began the fi rst organized local sourcing program.

As he did in the islands, where he helped start a government-sponsored farmers’ cooperative, Jones has launched a system in Vermont to aggregate supply from smaller than industrial-size Vermont growers. It’s called Grower’s Hub and serves as an online platform where mid-size growers can list the prod-ucts they have for sale each week.

Vermont farmers log onto the site and input the amounts and types of produce they have available for sale to a super-market. Produce buyers for supermarkets log on and browse what’s available from the 5 to 10 suppliers off ering product at any given time. If there’s a match, the grower drops off his or her wares at a designated hub. The produce is kept there until supermarket trucks pick it up and distribute it to regional stores.

“Large chain buyers are used to looking at two or three com-puter screens and punching in numbers, not calling small growers to see what they have available,” Jones says. “This frees up the farmer to do their own thing.” Last year, Grower’s Hub facilitated $50,000 in sales, with buyers paying a fee to Grower’s Hub for the service.

Even though VT Hydro works in a heated greenhouse envi-ronment, it’s still been cost-prohibitive to grow all 12 months

of the year. Instead, they’ve kept it to 10. Their fi nal harvest occurs the second week of December, and local salsa maker Gringo Jack’s comes and gleans the green tomatoes.

Then, Jones and his growers plant again at the end of Janu-ary, transplant seedlings in February, and harvest at the end of March. Vermont Hydroponic’s beefsteak tomatoes grow in batches, as opposed to fruiting all the time.

“We’re not saying don’t eat tomatoes from January to March,” Jones notes, “but we’re saying we haven’t been able aff ord to grow tomatoes in the northern climate 12 months.”

Still, experimentation continues. VT Hydro is in a new part-nership with Burlington-based Carbon Harvest Energy to take hydroponic produce to another level. Carbon Harvest special-izes in aquaponics, which raises organic tilapia fi sh in a con-trolled aquaculture environment. A Carbon Harvest facility in Brattleboro is slated to open imminently and VT Hydro will be experimenting with growing produce there using gray water from the aquaponic operation (although not tomatoes, which don’t do well in the nitrogen-rich water).

If it’s successful, the project will be fully replicable. “We want to build a 10-acre facility in Manchester, NH, and an even larger one in Monticello, NY,” Jones says. “This is the golden door. It’s a closed loop, completely sustainable and a renew-able food-production model.”

It also has the potential to create hundreds of new jobs in the region. “I think it’s absolutely great that people are creating serious businesses and serious jobs where there were none by growing good stuff locally,” says Estabrook.

By bringing state-of-the-art hydroponic growing together with renewable energy, closed-loop systems, and a web-based selling platform, Jones and Vermont Hydroponic are making the pleasure of eating fresh, healthy produce all year a reality—and making some “island waves” in the local food system.

Jeff rey Gangemi is the director of partnerships and communications for FarmPlate.com, the largest directory of sustainable food businesses on the web. He is currently working on a book about how entrepreneurs

are changing the food system. He lives in Burlington and can be reached at jeff [email protected].

HYDRO Continued from page 1

These businesses proudly support the Townshend Farmers’ Market

Thursdays, 3:30–6:30 PM

Market runs weekly June 7 through 11 OctoberFarm to Family Coupons will be accepted, and we will

be able to process EBT card transactions.

Located at the intersection of Route 30 & Route 35

in the heart of the West River Valley

F A R M E R S’M A R K E T

TOWNSHENDC O M M O N

FOREST & GARDENFOREST & GARDEN EQUIPMENT

Sales & Service104 Riverdale RoadTownshend, VT 05353

Ron Greenwood

Tel. Bus: (802) 365–9778 In State (800) 635–9778

Ron’sHusqvarna

Green Mountain Tent Rentals

www.greenmtntents.com [email protected]

Te n t sT a b l e s

T a b l e w a r eC h a i r s

D a n c e F l o o r sL i g h t i n g

R e s t r o o m S e r v i c e s 802–365–7839 1–800–691–8368

Townshend Park, Route 30, Townshend, VT 05353R o s s • L u k e • J o h n E v a n s

A Family Feed Company

Open Monday—Friday 9:00-5:30Saturday 10:00–2:00

802–365–7800Located on Riverdale Road, Townshend behind the

Open 365 days a year!Rte 30, Townshend 802-365-4600

Locally owned and operated, offering the West River Valley a full service meat & seafood department, fresh produce, store made salads and lunch specials from our deli, and a

complete selection of beer, wine & groceries.

Pet Food, Bird Seed, Equine, Pet and Stable Supplies, Tack, Hay & Shavings

Joining River Valley Credit Union is the most “Local” thing you can do with your finances. You get unbeatable service, and your money gets used to help other local residents achieve their dreams.

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Brattleboro, Putney, Townshend, Bellows Falls and Springfield, and now at the Windham Career Ctr. at BUHS. • 802-254-4800 / rivercu.com

Local Not-for-profit Financial Co-operative

The future of banking...now.®

www.rickstavern.net Route 30, Newfane, VT802–365–4310 Closed Tuesday

Lunch and Dinner Menu - Homemade Desserts - Kid’s MenuVermont Microbrews - Rick’s Famous Pizza

Live Music on Saturdays

The Townshend Dam Diner“best homemade food by a dam site”

2 m i l e s n o r t h o f t h e d a m , To w n s h e n d , V T8 0 2 – 8 7 4 – 4 1 0 7 • d a m d i n e r @ s v c a b l e . n e t

Eat in or Take out

Jared V Rediske DDSJeffrey W Wallace DDS

We s t R i ve r Fa m i l y D e n t a l

74 Grafton RdTownshend, VT 05353

802–365–4313

74 Grafton RdTownshend, VT 05353

802–365–4313

B R A T T L E B O R O

W I N T E RF A R M E R SM A R K E T

Every Saturday 10–2 pm(Open til 3pm between Thanksgiving and Christmas)

November 3 through March 30at the River Garden

153 Main St. Brattleboro

Local Fruit, Produce, Meats, Eggs, Wine, Preserves, Baked Goods,

Lunch Cafe, Live Music, Hand-Crafted Holiday Gifts & More.

EBT & Debit Cards WelcomeEBT & Debit Cards WelcomeEBT & Debit Cards WelcomeMore info: 802.869.2141 or [email protected] info: 802.869.2141 or [email protected] info: 802.869.2141 or [email protected]

Local food and the warmth of community

Pizza HippoFire Grilled. Organic. Amazing.

#1 Route 30 Townshend, VT at Kindle Farmw w w. P i z z a H i p p o . c o m

Outdoor Dining, Take Out, Catering.802.874.0321


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Recipe for one -inch apple pie:

First carefully select your apples. If you want your pie to be special, use an assortment of interesting apples. Experiment until you fi nd the perfect combination.

Pie Crust:

Combine in a large bowl:2 ¼ cups of pastry fl our1 tbs. sugar1 tsp salt

Cut in ½ pound of butter (2 sticks) or lard. When mixed well add ¹/3 cup cold water, just until the dough holds together. Roll out on a well fl oured surface until ¼” thick. Cut dough to fi t bottom of ” pie plate, fi t bottom crust into pan. Fill with prepared apples (see recipe below). Attach top crust, press edges together and trim off excess. Cut slits in top crust for heat to escape. Cook at 25 °F until bubbles appear through slits in top crust, about 0 minutes.

Simple and Pure Apple Pie Filling:

2½ pounds of apples (about )

¼ cup fl ourSlice apples and mix with fl our in bowl. If you must, add sugar, maple syrup or cinnamon to taste. We prefer to leave our pie “naked” and let the apples express their own fl avor and personality. Ph

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by Lori Augustiniak and Todd ParloWalden Heights Nursery & Orchard

“You know what I could go for?” our 10-year-old son asked this morning. “A warm slice of apple pie.” He knows that apple pie is the only dessert he is allowed to have for breakfast. And those breakfast pies are always a treat, fi lled with apples that are a mixture of new varieties and century old heirlooms, all grown on our farm and harvested at the exact moment of perfection.

We’re a small family operation in Walden Heights, in the Northeast Kingdom. We grow a great diversity of fruit spe-cies—apples, grapes, currants, gooseberries, cherries, blue-berries, pears, raspberries, blackberries, and more—using organic methods and hand tools. When we considered our mission at the farm, we decided on one that refl ected what our culture and family needed and deserved: choices and independence.

Choices? In 100, a national survey estimated the number of apple varieties (trees available at U.S. nurseries) at approxi-mately 1,000. That is not a typo—1,000! Compare that with the paucity of choices at the contemporary grocer.

And independence? Growing your own food is one of the most healthy and independent acts you can perform. And when you choose an heirloom tree, you’re providing an already ancient part of our culture a place in the future.

Now back to baking an apple pie. It begins for us by walking through our heirloom orchard and arboretum of more than 00 apple varieties and selecting diff erent varieties for our breakfast pie. It’s early August as we write this, and the Yellow Transparents, Norlands, and Duchess of Oldenburgs are ready. In a few weeks our choices will include Beacon, Alexander, and Walden Golden. Fall brings Haralson, Wolf River, and Sweet 1.

When you bake this recipe (at right)—our favorite—you may not be able to start by picking apples from your own orchard, but if you want your pie to be special, varieties you might try include: Haralson or Northern Spy, which keep their shape when cooked; Wolf River and Macoun, which turn soft when cooked and add body to a pie; Lodi and Duchess, which add tartness; Sweet 1, which off ers a cherry fl avor; and/or Beacon, which brings a hint of anise fl avor.

And remember that all pies began with the planting of a tree.

Walden Heights Nursery & Orchard graft s, grows, and sells certifi ed organic fr uit trees, plants, and bushes, as well as fr esh and fr ozen fr uit. Classes, consultations, and trainings for those wishing to grow organic

fr uit for their families and community are also off ered. For more info visit waldenheightsnursery.com.

Breakfast Pie

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www.bffarmersmarket.com

FRIDAY AFTERNOONS MAY TO OCTOBER, 4 TO 7 PM ■ VISITORS CENTER DOWNTOWN

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Junction of Rte. 5 and 123Westminster Station, VT 05159

802–722–[email protected]

A Family Feed Company

BLUESEAL

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COMMUNITY STOREFEED R

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8–5 Monday–Friday8–2 Saturday

Closed Sunday

order Books & e-Books 24/7 at www.villagesquarebooks.com

Preserving Food? Check out our

Cookbook section

32 The Square, Bellows Falls, Vermont (802) 463-9404 Store Open Daily

Full Service Independent Bookstore - Books, Gifts & Toys

Commuter Buses to Upper Valley & BrattleboroBuses in & around Bellows Falls, Springfi eld &

BrattleboroFor schedules & information please go towww.crtransit.org or call 802-460-1195

free interpreter services available. If you need interpreter or other accomodations please let us know.


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September 8, 12–6pm4th Annual Growing Local FestTwo Rivers FarmsteadMontpelierHosted by Food Works at Two Rivers this is the best of the best of central Vermont in a one-day celebration.229-2226, foodworksvermont.org

September 8–9, 8:30am-4:30pmThe Stone Trust—Outdoor Dry Walling WorkshopThe Scott Farm A Landmark Trust USA Property707 Kipling Road, DummerstonA typical workshop is designed to teach homeowners and tradespeople the structural techniques involved in build-ing and rebuilding stone walls with no mortar. Fee: $300. Space is competitive. Space is reserved upon receipt of fee. To register: contact Zon Eastes.380-9550, [email protected]

September 14–16, 12pmNortheast Animal Power Gathering & Draft Animal Power Network Annual MeetingPerry Farm, 509 Dutton Brook LaneBrowningtonA gathering of folks who use and ap-preciate draft animal power to learn, share, and discuss the practice and theory of animal power applications on farms and woodlots. Families are wel-come and camping is available.754-2396, nealperryfarm.com

September 16 (All day)5th Annual Tour de FarmsShoreham GreenShorehamThis annual event draws over 500+ participants and off ers three bike routes and one walking route, each with designated stops along the way where farms and restaurants provide samples of locally produced foods. The tour is co-organized by ACORN, Rural Vermont, and the VT Bicycle & Pedes-trian Coalition and is a fund-raiser for all three organizations.223-7222, ruralvermont.org

September 18, 4–6pmPlanting for the Seasons and Root Cellaring (followed by a NOFAvore Social)Green Wind Farm, 1245 Northrop RoadEnosburg FallsLearn tips on how to plan a garden to keep you and your family eating home-grown produce through the seasons, with a focus on timing, quantities, and varieties that store well. The workshop will include details on canning, freez-ing, root cellaring, and drying. The NOFAvore social to follow will feature products from Green Wind Farm. Come and share a feast, a swim if you like, and provide input on NOFA-VT’s strategic plan.434-4122, nofavt.org/sws

September 21–23, 11am– 5pmThe 5th Annual Vermont Life Wine & Harvest FestivalMount Snow Resort, Rte. 100West DoverA weekend showcase for Vermont wines, Vermont specialty foods, and ar-tisans of all types. A celebration of the

rich uniqueness, quality, and ingenuity of Vermont producers.888-8888, thevermontfestival.com

September 22, 10am–4pmPlymouth Cheese & Harvest FestivalPresident Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site, PlymouthCelebrate the bounties of the harvest! Cheese sampling by members of the Vermont Cheese Council and guided tours of the Plymouth Cheese Factory; wagon rides, historic farm and craft demonstrations, cheese recipe contest, barbecue, and other activities for the entire family.672-3773, historicsites.vermont.gov/coolidge/

September 23Wild Edible, Medicinal, and Poisonous PlantsJustin Morrill State Historic SiteStraff ordOn this walk we’ll share colonial and Native American folklore and informa-tion to learn about the myths and reali-ties concerning the use of wild edible, medicinal, and poisonous plants. We will also sample many of these delec-table treats. A 1.5-hour walk, including stories and sampling plants in the fi eld as well as prepared wild edibles. $10 adults – $5 under 14.765-4484, historicsites.vermont.gov/morrill/

September 28 (All day)VT Law School Conference on Agriculture and Food SystemsVermont Law School, 164 Chelsea StreetSouth RoyaltonThis conference will bring national ex-perts and leaders in the fi eld together to address the major legal and policy issues related to agriculture and food systems. The conference will feature speakers with diverse backgrounds, specialties, professions, and points of view on issues concerning food and public health, sustainable animal agri-culture, public regulation of genetically modifi ed organisms, agriculture and water quality, localizing food, and the future of agriculture production na-tionally and here in Vermont.831-1000, vermontlaw.edu

September 29–30, 10am–5pmVermont Sheep & Wool FestivalTunbridge FairgroundsTunbridgeKnitting workshops, shearing and dog-herding demos, knitting, spinning, and weaving. Local fresh foods and chees-es, local yarn and fi ber, local sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, and rabbits.223-2456, vtsheepandwoolfest.org

October 4 (All day)Share the Harvest Statewide Fundraiser for Limited-income Vermonters Join NOFA-VT for the 18th annual Share the Harvest fundraiser to benefi t limited-income Vermonters. Generous restaurants, co-ops, and stores donate part of their sales on this date to the Vermont Farm Share Program. Dona-tions support subsidized CSA shares for limited-income Vermonters with the help of participating farms. Eat out at

or shop at participating Share the Har-vest businesses on Thursday, October 4, and part of your bill will be donated to the Vermont Farm Share Program, helping limited-income Vermonters ac-cess farm-fresh produce and connect with their community farms.434-4122, [email protected]

October 6, 3–11 pmOrchard Hill Farm 9th Annual Harvest Fire121 Old Settlers RoadAlstead, NHBeautiful farm setting, stone soup cooked over an open fi re, live music into the night.603-835-7845, orchardhillbreadworks.com

October 7, 4–10pm10th Annual Pumpkin Festival at Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center225 Pavillion Road, off Rte. 5East ThetfordCelebrate the harvest with everything pumpkin! Family fun on the farm: on-going horse-drawn wagon rides to the pumpkin patch, pumpkin picking, cider pressing, bean threshing, chil-dren’s entertainment, and activities. Live folk rock under the tent by The Wall-Stiles from Vermont and a special performance by internationally known singer/songwriter David Rovics. Good food concession and wood-fi red piz-zas. A green event. Rain or shine. Park-ing $5/ car785-4737, CedarCircleFarm.org

October 7, 10am, 12pm, and 2pmHeirloom Apple DayThe Scott Farm, A Landmark Trust USA Property707 Kipling Road, DummerstonThe Scott Farm will host its annual Heirloom Apple Day, a celebration of our heirloom apples, fresh, baked, and squeezed. Visit our apple-packing barn for a free tasting and listen to the en-lightening history of some of our 90 apple varieties with wonderful names such as Esopus Spitzenburg and Anan-as Reinette. Heirloom apples and cider will be on sale after the tasting.254-6868, scottfarmvermont.com

October 7, 11am–4 pmHarvest Fest 2955 VT Route 74 W ShorehamJoin the entire Champlain Orchards family as we celebrate the bounty of the fall harvest on the Sunday of Co-lumbus day weekend. We’ll be serv-ing Champlain Orchards BBQ pork, our own applesauce, apple cider, and freshly baked apples pies, and great side dishes. A fun and delicious way to celebrate the fall season! Live local music, too!897-2777, champlainorchards.com

October 14, 10am–12pmAn Introduction to Making Hard CiderThe Scott Farm, A Landmark Trust USA Property707 Kipling Road, DummerstonThe Scott Farm and instructor Jason MacArthur will host an introductory class on how to make hard cider in the apple-packing barn. This class will cov-er what equipment you will need, what you need to know about cider, and the

steps that lie between fresh juice and a bottle of your own homemade elixir.254-6868, scottfarmvermont.com

October 20, 9am–2pmOrchard Hill Breadworks Open House121 Old Settlers RoadAlstead, NHCelebrating 15 years of bread baking at Orchard Hill. Free samples, meet the bakery crew, bakery tours, and wood- fi red pizza.603-835-7845, orchardhillbreadworks.com

October 20, 10am–2pmFrom Orchard to Oven: An Apple Pie WorkshopThe Chapel, 2 Main StreetGraftonJoin The Nature Museum at Grafton for an apple-pie-making workshop and take home two apple pies to bake or freeze. All pie-baking materials will be provided, but feel free to bring your own rolling pin and pie dishes if you wish. Please pack a brown bag lunch. Pie will be served. This workshop is $18 for Nature Museum members and $20 for non-members. Pre-registration is required.843-2111, nature-museum.org

October 20, 6pmOn the Farm Heirloom Apple Harvest DinnerThe Scott Farm, A Landmark Trust USA Property707 Kipling Road, DummerstonThe Scott Farm and Vermont Fresh Network will co-host our fi fth annual harvest dinner at the farm’s renovated apple packing barn. The 5 course meal will showcase our delicious heirloom apples along with many other local foods. Dinner is $35.00 per person. There will be a cash bar with beer and wine. Make your reservations early—it sells out fast!254-6868, scottfarmvermont.com

October 20–22 & 27–28, 11am–4pmFree Horse-Drawn Rides to the Pumpkin Patch at Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center225 Pavillion Road, off Rte. 5East ThetfordTurn your search for the perfect pump-kin into a fun family outing! See educa-tional displays, take a self-guided farm tour, and visit the coff ee shop and farm stand. Kids can play in the sandbox and meet the horses and chickens.785-4737, CedarCircleFarm.org

November 10, 10am–2pmHoliday Pie WorkshopThe Scott Farm, A Landmark Trust USA Property707 Kipling Road, DummerstonThe quintessential holiday pie, made with an abundance of the best Scott Farm has to off er: crisp apples, sweet pears, and tart quince that has been poached in cider and honey—all tucked into a fl aky pastry crust. The $40 price of this workshop includes the pie you bake, the dough you make, and a take-home tote of heirloom baking apples, pears, and quince. Reservations required.254-6868, scottfarmvermont.com

• Wood, Gas and Pellet Installations• Fireplace & Chimney Cleaning• Chimney Relining & Rebuilds• ChimScan Video Equipment• Restoration & Maintenance• Stainless Steel Custom Caps• NFPA-211 Standard Inspections• Insurance Claims & Documentation• CSIA, NFI, F.I.R.E Certified • Fully Insured • Est. 1986

136 Main Street, Ludlow VT 05149 • 802–228–[email protected] • thebooknookvt.com

The Book Nook — proudly feeding the mind since 2006.

“A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.”—Thomas Keller

193 North Main St, WRJ, VT (802) 295-5804

uppervalleyfood.coop

~ Some of our Fresh, Locally Sourced Product Vendors:

~ NFCA’s Farm to Freezer Program Participant ~ Offering Healthy Options and Information Come talk to us. Our staff is knowledgeable and friendly. ~ White River Community Garden Sponsor

Oak Knoll Strafford Creamery

McNamara Butterworks

Neighborly Farms Flourish

Deep Root Cedar Circle Farm

Killdeer Great River Farm

Green Mountain Flour Rootings

B u i l d i n g C o m m u n i t y

S u p p o r t e d b y C o m m u n i t y

winter dates

Weekly markets through October 27 in Bennington, VT


VT Locations: Waitsfield, Middlebury,

Burlington

WWW.AMERICANFLATBREAD.COM

Open 7 days a week 8am – 8pm

Route 103Chester Depot

875-4715Travelers, check-out a fourth generation, family Vermont store.

In our deli--expect–quick, fast, friendly, and fresh service.

LISAI’S MARKET

SANDY’S

“Feed the Mind, Feed the Belly”767-4258 * Open 7 days * 7:30 am–6 pm

Walden Heights Nursery & Orchard

400+ apple varieties and other fruit trees & plants. Vermont grown. Certified Organic. Cold hardy.

Find planting tips, growing instructions, cultivar descriptions, pest management techniques, workshop descriptions & more at

waldenheightsnursery.com

802-563-3012 120 VT Route 215 Walden, VT



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by Lauren Griswold

When I arrived at Green Mountain Girls Farm in April for a yearlong apprentice-ship, one of the many animals I met was Tacamba, a stocky but relatively skittish Boer goat, new to the farm. She was markedly more uncom-fortable with us two-leggeds than her herd mates were, so Mari and Laura, farmers-in-chief, had spent some extra time socializing her with human inter-action, hand-feeding her alfalfa cubes and petting her when she would let them. To continue Mari and Laura’s efforts, I gave Tacamba some special attention, too. I would stand near her, talking to her to familiarize her with my presence and sounds. She would come to me on her own time, sniff me out, and sometimes stay for a brief scratch behind her (big, floppy) ears. After a month or so of these sessions, I felt like she was finally warming up to me, if just slightly. She began to surprise me with longer stays by my side, enjoying back scratches in the sun.

Then came kidding season. Of the three Boer goats at the farm, Tacamba was the first to show signs of impending labor. Her udder grew heavy with milk, but her due date came and went, and farm chatter began to revolve around one running joke: Tacamba’s imminent but never-underway labor. We all checked on her often, sometimes as frequently as every cou-ple of hours, looking for tell-tale signs, such as contractions, or the “glazed eye” that does in labor often exhibit. Day after day, our anticipation rose, but Tacamba provided no release.

Of course, when Mari and Laura went off-farm for a seminar, Tacamba decided it was time. While the cat’s away, the mice will play…or give birth, I suppose? That afternoon, I waited with her, assessing her status and hand-feeding her hay. Sure enough, I noticed that she soon began to pause every couple of minutes, turn away, and look off into the distance without focus—the glazed eye! In my makeshift seat within a stack of square bales, I grew increasingly anxious and excited about the proximity of this long-awaited event. Not only was this impossibly long and suspenseful gestation about to come to a close, but like being with a loved one in the waiting room, I was on pins and needles anticipating that age-old, thrill-ridden act of labor.

I watched as Tacamba, the cautious doe I had come to know, went through a series of seemingly predetermined, primal steps. She sat and stood in odd positions; she huffed regu-lar, laborious exhalations; she stretched her neck upward; she curled her upper lip. She was mysterious to me, and awe-stir-

ring. As dusk set, Tacamba prepared to give birth, some-thing she had done five times before, and I watched on, mystified.

Over the course of her labor, I ran to get Liva (a more expe-rienced farmer) for a cou-ple of false alarms, thinking Tacamba was actually deliver-ing when in fact she was still

in the seizes of early contractions. I felt so anxious, in a posi-tive way, wanting to give her all the resources I could. When she finally began to deliver, Liva and I quickly noticed that the kid was presenting in the most dangerous position—a breech. Instead of diving out, forelegs and head first, the kid was backward, which meant Tacamba would have to push the widest part of the kid out first—a task that has claimed many doe and kid lives alike. I racked my brain, trying to piece together the all-too timely tips I had just learned at a kidding workshop two weeks prior—when intervening, how do you re-adjust the kid? Do you turn it upside down? Reach for its hind legs? Liva donned an elbow-high glove smeared with lubricant and readied herself to go in, while I ran to get the vet’s phone number, just in case.

By the time I got back to the barn, the first kid was lying in the bedding I had prepared days before, breathing. Breathing! Tacamba had managed to deliver a breeched kid by herself, with only a slight hand from Liva. A physical sense of relief swelled in my chest, and deep glee settled in for the night. I was so proud of her. Twenty minutes later, she delivered a sec-ond kid: a floppy-eared doeling.

Tacamba cared for her kids beautifully, licking them clean, nickering to them as they made their first vocalizations, let-ting them nurse. Mari and Laura returned from their semi-nar, pizza leftovers in hand, and we recounted the evening to them. For the next couple of hours, we all sat around the barn, eating pizza under its dim lights, watching the two kids stand for the first time.

Diablo and Tamalpias (named after mountains in California) are now two of the best-looking kids in our goat herd. With shiny coats and sturdy frames, it’s clear they’re off to an excel-lent start. Their company is an honest reward for the daily pasture moves we execute for them, and the heavy water we haul. What a joy to plop down alongside them, watch them caper about the browse and, in a timid manner reflective of their mother’s, slowly approach.

Lauren Griswold is an apprentice at Green Mountain Girls Farm in Northfield (EatStayFarm.com), where she helps produce organic

vegetables, pasture-raised meats, eggs, and raw goat’s milk. Phot

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Lauren (left) and fellow apprentice Melissa, on the night of Tacamba’s birth

Del iver ing Awe

open 10 am-7 pm daily, Thur/Fri/Sat till 9 pm www.Northshire.com

802.362.2200•Manchester Ctr, Vermont

Author Ian Knauer, a cook in the Gourmet test kitchen, brings you fresh, modern spins on

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Make great food from simple ingredients you have on hand. ($30 hc)

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Springfield

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Vermont fruit grown with a conscienceRte 74 West, Shoreham, VT 802-897-2777

WWW.CHAMPLAINORCHARDS.COM

Farm stand or Pick-your-own

Hard & Ice Cider Tastings Daily

Over 50 ecologically grown varieties of Apples!

please see our website for harvest dates


Pick for Your Neighbor

www.vtfoodbank.org

**Find the wooden apple

and win an iPod!

You can pick and purchase extra apples at participating orchards to donate to the Vermont Foodbank.

Adams Apple Orchard, Williston Hackett’s Orchard, South Hero Allenholm Farm, South Hero Hall’s Orchard, Isle La Motte Burtt’s Apple Orchard, Cabot Happy Valley Orchard, Middlebury Champlain Orchards, Shoreham Liberty Orchards, Brookfield Chapin Orchard, Essex Junction Mendon Mountain Orchards, Mendon Cortland Hill Orchard, Brattleboro Shelburne Orchards, Shelburne Douglas Orchard, Shoreham West Swanton Orchards, Swanton Green Mountain Orchards, Putney VT Technical College Orchard, Randolph

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