Writing about writing, autobiography, cross posting selected work from other places.
LAKE MACBRIDE— During 2013, in addition to our own garden, I spent time working with or studying the following fruit and vegetable producers that are part of the local food system in our area. They are listed in alphabetical order.
Abbe Hills Farm, Mount Vernon, Iowa.
Jack Neuzil, Solon, Iowa.
Kroul Farms, Mount Vernon, Iowa.
Rebal’s Sweet Corn Stand, Solon, Iowa.
Turtle Creek Orchard, Solon, Iowa.
Wild Woods Farm, Solon, Iowa.
Wilson’s Orchard, Iowa City, Iowa.
ZJ Farm, Solon, Iowa.
LAKE MACBRIDE— Johnny Appleseed’s birthday is on Thursday, and there has been a lot of apple action. The economy of apples is on the move in late September and October.
The windfall of apples in our yard created three groups. I picked the best for out of hand eating and making apple butter and apple crisp. The seconds went into a big cart and down the street, where a neighbor pressed them into four gallons of cider, with the apple pumice planned for livestock. The rest went into large plastic tubs to be traded for eggs. If a person is going to have apple trees, something should be done with the fruit.
Growers no long plant apples from seeds. The use of selective breeding, resulting in cultivars, or branches grafted to root stock has become the norm. Heirloom apples like Red Gravenstein, Wealthy, Cortland and Saint Edmund’s Pippin have given way to Honeycrisp, Jersey Mac and Jonafree. When I chat with modern apple connoisseurs, they eschew my humble Red Delicious apples, discovered in Iowa. More’s the pity, as naturally ripened and off the tree, they are some of the most flavorful apples to be found.
As summer turns to fall, now is the time to harvest the crop and use it. Participating in the apple culture is one of the benefits of living on a planet hospitable to our species. We should take advantage of it.
SOLON— Salt Fork Kitchen, 112 E. Main St., is slated to open for Sunday brunch on Sept. 22 from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m., with jam session. My friend Bill posted this note about the grand opening on Facebook,
I’ve been helping open Salt Fork Kitchen, Solon’s newest restaurant, get up and running. Supplied by it’s own farm (Salt Fork Farm). Chef Jay, and crew sport a great menu. Everything made from scratch from fresh ingredients. Sauces, by Jay, are incredible, as is everything. Home made bread, and biscuits, and yesterday was hummus making. I could go on, and on, so please come by, and enjoy. Grand opening this Sunday, September 22nd, 8:00 to 2:00. Jam session so follow, so bring your fiddle, guitar, or bluegrass bongos.
The restaurant grew from Salt Fork Farms and readers can find more information at the website saltforkfarms.com. Here is a snippet,
Salt Fork Kitchen is a long time dream of Eric’s. It will be a locally sourced, made from scratch restaurant providing quality food at a fair price for you, and the farmer.
The article I wrote with background information can be viewed here. If work schedule permits, I plan to stop by for the opening.
LAKE MACBRIDE— Hydration is important while working in the field, and water is the preferred beverage. Water drawn from the well at one of the hydrants on the property. What else would it be?
Once in a while, I stop at a convenience store in town, and buy a plastic bottle of sweetened soft drink. It’s a very expensive treat. I drank so many this year that two bags of empties accumulated to drop at a local octogenarian’s garage where they are process for the bottle deposits and donated to a local non-profit organization. I’d rather stick to water for a lot of reasons.
Why would first lady Michelle Obama catch flak for saying, “water is so basic, and because it is so plentiful, sometimes we just forget about it amid all the ads we watch on television and all the messages we receive every day about what to eat and drink. The truth is, water just gets drowned out?” Drinking more water, instead of sugary drinks, is something we just do on the farm, albeit things are different in the city, where most people live.
When I got home from deliveries for the local CSA, I made a farm worker’s dinner of caramelized onions and peppers, potatoes with rosemary and garlic and scrambled eggs. For beverage, a glass of chilled tap water, without prompting. It’s just the best thing to drink.
LAKE MACBRIDE— Only time for a brief post before heading out to job three of a four job day. Already this morning I finished proof reading the newspaper and worked on preserving bell peppers. Next the orchard, followed by work on the farm and then canning if I am still up to it. Sunday is anything but a day of rest in Big Grove.
My biggest ever crop of apples is turning into something of a bust because I can’t make time to harvest and preserve the first two trees. Then yesterday I read about Arctic® Apples, the genetically modified organism that is designed to repress creation of the enzyme that turns apples brown when exposed to air (after cutting or biting into) or bruised. In other words, the traditional way of knowing an apple is going bad is repressed, and this creates a longer shelf life for the fruit.
Not an issue here, where in the race against nature’s clock, I hope to eke out one or two dozen more pints of apple butter before the first picks go bad. I need the browning action to know where I stand. But in the industrial food supply chain, shelf life matters… a lot.
The new cultivar is going through the regulatory process in Canada and the U.S. presently. Friends of the Earth created an on-line petition to encourage Gerbers to continue to use non GMO apples to make applesauce and other products. From the perspective of having my own supply, and working in a large local orchard that produces cultivars going back to the 17th century, what the hell?
Gotta run off to the orchard!
LAKE MACBRIDE— There is an idea about egg salad, but I don’t really know how to make it. Peeling three hard-cooked eggs, I halved them to remove the yolks, and minced the whites finely into a bowl. Two slices of home made dill pickle finely minced, and half of a medium onion, also finely diced went into the bowl.
In a separate bowl, adding to the cooked yolks, a teaspoon of celery seed, half a cup of light salad dressing, and a squeeze of yellow mustard, I stirred thoroughly and added it to the rest of the ingredients, mixing as I went. It’s what I call egg salad, but is it really egg salad?
Call it what one will, spread on two slices of bread, and eaten with an ear of corn on the cob, it made dinner.
I may not know much about egg salad, but know less about the situation in Syria. It sounds really bad, and has for a long time. It is something to refrain from comment until a few people much smarter than me weigh in. The Carter Center weighed in, as did Pope Francis, and Bishop Desmond Tutu. Economist Robert Reich weighed in, even though it is not really his bailiwick. Will wait a while and see who else has something to say.
Let’s hope the U.S. doesn’t end up with egg on our face, because no one seems sure how they might make a meal to sustain a life using that.
SOLON— Happy hour turned into dinner hour as a group of participants in the local food system spent the inaugural Friday afternoon at Big Grove Brewery. It was farmers night out. The new restaurant got a collective thumbs up from the group.
My happy hour choice was a beer brewed in the building, one of two on the menu. I haven’t developed a lexicon for beer criticism, but it was reminiscent of the Stone City Brewery fare, cloudy and strong. It was called Big Grove IPA, and the happy hour special had us buying two glasses at a time and passing them as people joined us at the table.
Our group included suppliers to the restaurant, and the first thing we did was try to figure out how the chefs would use the pound of thyme that was picked that morning. We couldn’t tell from the menu.
There is some vegetarian fare on the menu, and I tried the tomato and eggplant caponata, which is grilled focaccia topped with an eggplant ragout, sliced tomatoes, Parmigiano Reggiano and fresh basil. For only eight bucks, we can afford to return.
Every seat was filled, with people waiting. Even the outdoor patio was full, despite the 100 degree heat. Looks like Big Grove Brewery is off to a good start.
SOLON— Today at 3 p.m., Big Grove Brewery makes its much anticipated debut on the Solon restaurant scene.
I may stop for a brew after work at the farm.
My regular posting will resume after the Labor Day weekend.
DAVENPORT– Editors and contributors to Blog for Iowa met with our publisher on Thursday, Aug. 22, at a local restaurant to discuss the future of our blog. We plan to be around through our tenth anniversary on April 2, 2014 and beyond. That we could sustain this work for so long is the result of the efforts of editors and contributors over the years, but none of it would have been possible without our publisher, Dr. Alta Price of Bettendorf. Dr. Price renewed her commitment to Blog for Iowa, which “is paid for privately to the tune of $15 a month” according to to the footnote on the front page.
Horticulturalist Dan DeShane brought fresh tomatoes to the restaurant, which he sliced on the spot and offered. Bags of organic sweet corn and tomatoes were exchanged. But the “meat” of the dinner was conversation about issues we write about on the blog: media, ALEC, the Iowa legislature, health care, climate change, and others, including Howard Dean who got us started.
After the meal, we went to Cobblestone Place where Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG) held its monthly community networking night. The group was hosting Evan Burger and Adam Mason from Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (ICCI) for a discussion about the group’s campaigns, including Iowa water quality. Dr. Price serves on the board of PACG.
We don’t get together often, but when we do, there is new energy. Blog for Iowa plans to be around as the online information source for Iowa’s progressive community for years to come.
~ Written for Blog for Iowa
LAKE MACBRIDE— By 10 a.m. this morning I had cooked and cut sweet corn from the cob and made a large batch of hot sauce using five different types of peppers, onion, garlic and tomatoes from our garden. Waiting for the water to boil, I have one of five crates of tomatoes cored and ready to skin— the ones with bad spots are cut up and in another pot, to be processed into tomato sauce. That’s not to mention the buckets and buckets of apples ready to be made into something: apple butter first, then apple sauce, then more juice to can, and along the way some apple desserts. It has been and will be a busy day.
It is always a race against time and decay when preserving fruit and vegetables. Everything seems to come in from the garden at the same time and can intimidate. The secret is not to get wigged out, but do what one can to process the ones needing it first. That’s why I’m working tomatoes now. They were seconds when I started, and there are so many apples, they can wait and go to the farm.
In addition to the kitchen work, I delivered apples not good enough for recipes but great for livestock, and traded them for chicken eggs. Then off to the CSA to load the truck for tonight’s deliveries.
By the time I got home with the CSA share, it was time to clean up the kitchen so our house guest could prepare for a work potluck tomorrow. We made a simple dinner of corn on the cob, sliced tomatoes, steamed broccoli and freshly made apple juice. If your bones are weary at the end of a day, it isn’t all bad that they are weary from securing delicious local food for the dinner plate, made with your own hands and labor.
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