Category Archives: Farms

Markets, Farmstands, CSAs and Cooperatives

Posted on May 26, 2014 by AnnieRie

Somewhere along the way during the past three years, I replaced the grocery store visits with fresh, regional, seasonal foods bought in four venues.

We started with vegetables and fruit.

Sunday mornings at Olney, or Saturdays at Glenwood.

Add to that our visits to the local farmstands and local farms, for dairy, meat, cheese, bread and other goodies. As well as the veggies and fruit.

You can go online and find year round open farm stands. Like England Acres, Breezy Willow or Copper Penny. I have been keeping track of the locations on my Farms page, and my local resource page.

There are at least six CSAs in this area. Some of them year round. Others, eight or nine months a year.

There are buying services. One, Friends and Farms uses regional suppliers. The other, South Mountain Creamery, delivers all sorts of items beyond milk, right to your door.

Now, I have also expanded my garden.

Add to that the pick your own sites, like Larriland, Butlers and Baughers.

It is pretty simple around here to replace grocery stores for most of what you eat.

Over these four years we have done just that. It took a while to find sources, but it is so satisfying to have really fresh foods. And we know the people that supply us with most of our food.

I just visited the new Ellicott City Farmers Market last Saturday. This is what I love most about farmers markets. The best things to buy and use.

I came home with two really great salsas. Some romaine. Radishes. Apples. A half dozen plants for my yard. I was tempted by the pizza, but had enough at home to pass it by this time.

I will be going back for more of that salsa.

Have you replaced the stores with your local businesses? The buy local challenge in July isn’t the only time to support your local farmers, vendors and small businesses.

#hocofood

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Posted in Commentary, Community, CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Gardening, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore and tagged commentary, CSA, farmer's markets, farms, Food, local businesses, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

Strawberry Season

Posted on May 24, 2014 by AnnieRie

Officially opened today at Gorman Farms. You do have to check to see when they are open. They had some hail damage.

As for us, we got strawberries Thursday from Miller Farms in our Friends and Farms basket. They are also open for those who live south of us.

These berries made it into three different meals already.

Strawberries with greens. Such a simple great salad. I used arugula, romaine and the pea shoots from our baskets. A very easy yogurt dressing. Scallions from my garden.

The second use.

Berry yogurt. Besides some of the strawberries, I used a few defrosted blueberries. The plain yogurt from Pequea Valley. A little agave for sweetness. That small care package in the fridge went with my husband for his 12 hour shift in an amateur radio contest. A few hardboiled eggs, and some penne pasta I made the other day.

The last of the strawberries from Thursday? I ate them. What can I say. I love fresh berries.

Besides Gorman, there are other pick your own farms around here. Depending on where you live, you can find one not far away.

Like Larriland, or Baughers in Westminster, or Butlers Orchards in Germantown. They are all saying early June opening.

Berries are a fruit that we enjoy picking. Our freezer was stocked with berry syrup cubes, and frozen berries.

We will as usual go out to Larriland and pick at least 20 pounds. You can’t beat the price.

#hocofood

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Posted in Day Trips, Farms, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore and tagged farms, Food, foodie, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Lunch From the Garden …

Posted on May 20, 2014 by AnnieRie

… and a few regional farms.

In the process of making lunch, the picture above shows some of the kale and chard from this morning’s thinning of the garden. Dressed with a simple yogurt dressing. Shake yogurt and lemon infused olive oil with some garlic powder, salt and pepper.

An apple from last week’s Friends and Farms basket, served with some of that provolone that we got, too.

Homemade peach yogurt.

To share, we used one cup of plain yogurt. One defrosted peach, from my stash in the freezer (courtesy of Larriland picking last August). A 1/2 tsp squirt of agave. That’s all. I control the sweetness when I start with plain yogurt.

This yogurt is available at Friends and Farms. At Breezy Willow Farm store. And at England Acres in Mt. Airy. Best yogurt we have ever found. No web site, as they are an Amish farm.

As for the rest of this bag of peaches. Destined to become peach pops. Simple to make. Blend the peaches with yogurt. To fill my popsicle molds I need about 32 ounces in the blender. If I get a little too much, the rest goes in a small plastic jar and becomes frozen yogurt. I am using whatever I have to give it the amount of sweetness I want. Currently I have agave, but I also use honey or maple syrup.

On a related note, I harvested a few more white onions today.

Including one very large one, that was too crowded in the middle of the rows.

And found the beginning of an onion scape on the largest one. Now, I need to head back up there and pinch off scapes to let the onions put more energy into the onions and not the shoots.

Back on the home front, though, my garlic out in the back yard hasn’t begun to produce scapes yet. They are getting really large finally, so I hope to get at least one dozen large heads of garlic in a few months.

So far, a good start to the harvest of spring vegetables. Now, if only the strawberry picking season would begin. Gorman Farm projects that they will open Saturday the 24th of May. Larriland is still posting “late” May. We are almost out of the last of the frozen berries, and can’t wait to get out in the fields and bring in this year’s berries. The freezer is getting empty now.

#hocofood

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Posted in Farms, Friends and Farms, Gardening, Hobbies, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Weather and tagged cooking, farms, Food, foodie, gardening, hobbies, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

A Tale of Two Providers

Posted on May 15, 2014 by AnnieRie

Both of them awesome. The source now of most of what we eat. Well, with the exception of my garden, which will provide all kinds of goodness in the next four months.

Today, our Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative CSA started up. For a 25 week summer season and a seven week fall extension. We dropped down to a half share because we still do Friends and Farms, and yes, we have a garden.

The reason why we love this CSA. The diversity. Have you ever heard of Egyptian walking onions? Well, until today, neither had we.

Our half share included:
Green Kale
One pound of spring mix
Arugula (which was in the full share, but I swapped for it)
French breakfast radishes
Red scallions
Asparagus

The full shares got the purple asparagus. They had ten items in their share. They got microgreens in theirs.

I also signed up for the chicken share. Three pounds a week of free range, antibiotic and hormone free chicken. This week:

Two chicken breasts and two legs.

Add to that bounty, the individual share from Friends and Farms. Between the two, we won’t be drowning in items and the portions are perfect for a couple.

The complete deliverable.

The sandwich steaks and provolone. Just what we need to make cheese steak sandwiches. The shrimp. Ten ounces in our individual basket. The small basket got twice that amount. Ten shrimp. Ten ounces. These are prime shrimp. There will be shrimp and grits, I think, to use up the last of the grits.

The add on I picked up this week. Plain yogurt. I have plans for the yogurt. The special. Leftover ewe cream cheese for a sale price. I could spread this cheese on cardboard and love it. It is particularly good on specialty breads. I am also thinking of crackers with cheese and the last of my homemade pineapple habanero jelly.

The rest of the items in that picture above. Spinach, green onions, beets, hydroponic tomatoes, butter lettuce, bread and a couple of apples.

I really don’t need to touch a market or grocery store with this kind of variety coming to our home weekly.

Tonight’s dinner celebrated those sources. I was home alone as my better half is out for the evening.

I covered a plate in spring mix. Sliced one of those hydroponic tomatoes, and added some basil from my garden. Shredded the end of the chicken from the last roaster (December delivery LFFC). Shaved a bit of Roots parmesan. And a scallion in the salad. I drizzled Newman’s Caesar dressing over it all. I was too lazy to make dressing with the yogurt today, but it will be made this weekend.

A glass of white wine, and what could be simpler for a meal?

Thanks to the regional deliverables of great ingredients, I had one of my fresh tasty meals.

#hocofood

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, LFFC, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, farms, Food, foodie, LFFC, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Simply Spring: Onions

Posted on May 13, 2014 by AnnieRie

A staple in my house. Year round. Those different colors, textures, and tastes. Spring onions.

These onions are being harvested from my garden. To thin the white onions I planted a while back.

I planted a set of 80 white onions. I know I don’t want 80 onions in August, so thinning them out in the early weeks, harvesting those spring onions, will leave me with a manageable amount of onions to cure.

I use a very large amount of spring onions in my cooking. In my salads. My soups. Stir fries. Frittatas. I buy them when I don’t get them in CSA baskets.

This week, besides what I harvest, I am getting them from Friends and Farms, and in my first Lancaster Farm Fresh basket. This is one item that I know will get used quickly.

I just never thought until I started gardening, about all the items we get from the process of growing vegetables.

Like the onions, spring is the season for microgreens. Thinning out those greens.

Like my kale and chard. And the arugula out on my deck. Those little gems pack lots of flavor. They don’t go to waste.

Garlic scapes. Spring garlic. Pea shoots. I am now a firm believer in putting everything edible to a good use.

So, here’s to spring onions. I think I will let them shine this weekend. Grill them. Make them a star of a dish. Instead of a supporting player.

#hocofood

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Gardening, Locavore and tagged cooking, CSA, farms, Food, gardening, grilling, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Market Strategies

Posted on May 11, 2014 by AnnieRie

Shopping strategies. Using local markets, CSAs and farmstands instead of grocery stores. For the period of May through November, much of what we buy comes from locally, regionally acquired sources. Small businesses mostly.

I haven’t set foot in a Safeway in years. Giant, maybe two or three times since January. Harris Teeter and Wegmans get visited often during the slow seasons, but not much in the summer.

I was over at Jenny’s market this Friday. Right off Route 32, a family produce stand. Yes, they buy things at the produce wholesale markets, as does Boarmans. That doesn’t bother me, as they are acquiring very fresh items, many of them local.

I picked up bananas and oranges at Jenny’s. Not grown locally, obviously, but major purchases for us, as we use citrus in many preparations, and bananas are important for our health. She also has avocados, lemons and limes. I don’t need to run off to a grocery store for those normal ingredients that show up in many of my salads. I can support a local family and get them there.

The bulk of my food this summer. Three sources. Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative, for a half share of veggies, for chicken and a monthly delivery of cheese. Delivered to a house in Columbia. That same day I will head over to Friends and Farms for an individual basket. Add to that my garden. Only a few staples and some spice and oil need to be picked up at any stores.

In May 2011, I discovered Community Supported Agriculture. I did OK with it, but we did give away stuff we didn’t use. These days, since I have changed my diet drastically to use veggies and fruit as the dominant contributor to all meals, I almost never leave things go to waste.

Somewhere in the last four years, I made a massive adjustment in what I bought and how I cooked. Now, my cholesterol is way down. My HDL is the highest it has ever been. All other numbers at my physical are good, or better than good. Getting all that sugar and sodium out of our diets has made quite a difference.

Yes, it takes time to cook from scratch. To garden. To process foods for freezing and canning. But, I control what goes in them. I limit the salt. Don’t add sugar or high fructose corn syrup. I feel so much better.

I like this market strategy.

This week the CSA begins again. And, I can’t wait to see what we get. And have fun with how I use it.

#hocofood

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Gardening, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, gardening, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Market Season Opening Thursday

Posted on April 30, 2014 by AnnieRie

The East Columbia Farmers Market opens May 1st. 2-6 pm at the East Columbia branch of the Howard County Library.

Independent now, since the market was dropped by the Howard County Farmers Market Association, they worked through all the paperwork necessary to keep the longest running farmers market in the county alive.

I know from their facebook page that three of the vendors will be there. Ungers Fruit, Orchard Country Produce and Tomatoes Etc. Tomorrow we will find out who else will join them.

I will be there sometime to browse through the many varieties of herb plants that Tomatoes Etc. always has. It is where I get quite a bit of what grows in my herb gardens.

Spread the word, that there will be a market in East Columbia this year again, on Thursdays. As well as the market on Sundays at Oakland Mills.

Other markets opening soon include Miller Library next Wednesday, HoCo Hospital on Friday, and Ellicott City Market which will open May 10th.

Add to those the Sunday market in Burtonsville, Saturday market in Silver Spring and at White Oak School in Silver Spring. The Wednesday and Sunday markets in Catonsville open soon too.

Yes, it is spring and the farmers markets are back. Head out to your old favorites or visit a few new ones.

Won’t be long before Larriland and Gorman open their stands and have strawberries to pick.

CSAs start in the next two weeks. Hallelujah! Winter is over. Now, just make it stop raining.

#hocofood

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Posted in Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses and tagged farmer's markets, farms, Food, Howard County, local businesses. Bookmark the permalink.

The End of the Venison

Posted on April 27, 2014 by AnnieRie

Finally, roughly a year after getting a few dozen packages of venison, courtesy of our neighbor, we grilled the last package. Tenderloin chops.

Served with naan, bread cheese and a very tasty strawberry sauce, made using some of our IQF (individual quick frozen) strawberries from Friends and Farms.

This dinner was a mix of old and new, near and far.

And, thanks to Iron Bridge we had one absolutely perfect wine to drink with it.

Isabel Mondavi Deep Rose, made with Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. I have to admit. I really like this wine, even thought it is big, bold and must be served with food, unlike many rose wines.

I bought some Carr Valley bread cheese at Wegmans a few weeks back. Picked up some naan. A container that included roasted peppers and sundried tomatoes at the olive bar. All the makings of an easy to grill meal.

The bread cheese reminds me of halloumi. That Greek cheese perfect for sautéing or grilling. Alongside the venison it was a good pairing for a fairly simple dinner.

The venison was marinated in a mix of blended strawberries and red wine. With a few basic seasonings like salt and pepper and garlic powder. The biggest strawberries were set aside to heat up on the grill and use for garnish. Tricky to keep them from falling into the grill. But, I managed to only lose two.

Venison tenderloin. Grilled until it is medium rare to medium. Served with strawberries. A fitting way to end the adventure of a freezer full of venison.

Final thoughts on venison. Love the roasts. The tenderloins. The ground venison. Not a fan of the steaks. If we get another opportunity to pay for processing and get more, I will maximize the ground meat, for chili. And only take the shoulder roasts, neck roasts and tenderloin. Glad we did this, to see how flavorful it can be, and how different it is, when compared to the fattiness of beef.

#hocofood

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Posted in Farms, Food, Locavore, Real Food, Wine and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, grilling, Locavore, real food, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Making It Taste Good

Posted on April 16, 2014 by AnnieRie

The mantra of those of us who cook with the thought of providing delicious healthy meals to our families.

We all know it’s sometimes hard to get people to like greens. I am talking about hearty greens, like collards, kale, chard, arugula, escarole, spinach and greens from root veggies, like turnips, beets, radishes, carrots, and kohlrabi.

The types of veggies we find in our CSA baskets. Like the turnip greens we are getting tomorrow from Friends and Farms. Or those collards from last week.

Interesting that we are real fans of leafy greens. Love the strange lettuce varieties we find. We have learned to stir fry or sauté all sorts of greens. A little garlic. Some balsamic maybe. Or soy sauce.

Make a frittata. Or omelet. Add them to soups and stews. Drop some amazingly good short ribs on top. Put them on pizza.

The possibilities are endless.

We are about to enter serious greens season. With the markets. The CSAs.

What could be better than freshly prepared, nutrient rich veggies as part of two meals a day. Salads at lunch. Accents at dinner.

Don’t forget to get your greens wherever you can find them. Popeye would be proud of you.

#hocofood

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, gardening, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Keeping It Close …

Posted on April 13, 2014 by AnnieRie

… to home. As in eating regionally. More and more foods that come into our house are regionally sourced. And most of what we eat are items that we make.

I just finished the next to last lamb from England Acres this weekend. It was a loin roast, that we grilled Saturday night.

It ended up feeding us for two nights, as we finished it tonight with a bunch of thrown together side dishes. We bought half a lamb last April. All that is left are one package of ground lamb, and one rib roast. There were 24 pounds of lamb in our delivery.

We didn’t order a lamb this year, as we are getting a good variety of locally sourced meat from the Friends and Farms basket.

Along with the lamb last night, we grilled a few of those lovely potatoes that were in this week’s basket. And some pesto rubbed bread.

The potatoes were coated with garlic powder and rosemary. Olive oil too. The bread, from Wegmans bakery, had a coating of red pepper pesto.

The lamb was marinated in red wine, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary.

Tonight the last few pieces were served with some collard greens, and a grilled naan with pesto.

Those greens. Sautéed in olive oil, with scallions, the last banger, garlic, white wine vinegar, lemon juice, and cayenne flakes. Who can resist perfectly cooked collards with that brightness of the lemon and kick of the garlic and cayenne.

Tonight, though, the star may have been the last Elk Run 2001 Cabernet from the cellar. Yes, 2001. Thirteen years old. From Maryland. And still hanging in there. Light. Soft. Almost sweet, since the tannins have faded. Who says Maryland can’t make good wine?

So, the lamb was from Mt. Airy. The wine was from Mt. Airy. Can’t get much closer for wine and meat. And, better than many restaurants. Not a bad start to grilling season, and spring in Maryland.

#hocofood

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