Mother Jones: 4 Hopes for Obama's Farmers' Market

It looks as though President Obama is interested in starting a White House Farmers' Market. He says it could give Washington D.C. "more access to good, fresh food, but also is this enormous potential revenue-maker for local farmers in the area."

Mother Jones has come up with four things they'd like to see if the White House starts a market. Although they mention featuring "local, organic farmers," I would personally put a "producer-only market" (with a reasonable distance maximum, like 150 miles) at the very top of the list.

Click here for the article.

Saturday's Highland Market

Amy took some lovely pictures of our table at this Saturday's market. We work from 7:30-9:00 to get all of the food packaged and organized and ready to go. Once we're done it's nice to take a moment to appreciate it before the selling begins.

The whole spread. This week we had carrots, squash, basil, mustard greens, chard, salad mix, nasturtiums, herb medley, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

The squashes are one of my favorite things to grow (and look at). On the table is white scallop, tondo scuro, red kuri, and rampicante squashes. We also had red, orange and yellow carrots, and a little tomato/pepper accent.

Our flamingo chard and mustard greens. Amy made a display basket of fresh herbs and nasturtiums. Isn't it lovely?

$300 a Night? Yes, but Haying's Free

This is terrific... farm vacations are apparently all the rage. You can even upgrade and add a vegetable picking session for an extra $35!

Click here for the story (by Kim Severson for the NY Times).

New York Times: Food for the Soul

An editorial by Nicholas Kristof, stating his opinion that one of the major problems with industrial agriculture is that is has "no soul." He also tells a story from his experience of growing up on a farm. I loved reading about the baby chicken who grew up thinking she was a goose!

Click here for the editorial.

The Brooklyn Paper: Your Land is Their Land

A charming story about modern "sharecropping" in Brooklyn. I like it when the author describes yard farming (Neighborhood Supported Agriculture, basically) as "...what could be one of the greatest urban agricultural movements, if not the only urban agricultural movement, since World War II 'Victory Gardens.'"

By Gersh Kuntzman for The Brooklyn Paper. Click here for full article. (Thanks, Amanda)

Herbs: Freezing & Butters

The gardens have been producing an abundance of fresh oregano, tarragon, savory, parsley, and sage. While we all enjoy fresh herbs in the summer, it can also be nice to save some for future use in the kitchen.

Freezing Herbs

Rinse herbs and remove any tough or brown stems. Place herbs in a food processor and puree. You probably won't have to add water, but can add a teaspoon or so if it's needed to help the mixture blend.

Spoon the pureed herbs into an ice cube tray. Cover the top of the tray with plastic wrap and freeze.

You can pop the herbs out a cube at a time for winter soups or sauces.

Herb Butters

Some of our gardners have been making herb butter by simply mixing finely chopped herbs with softened butter. The butter can be used immediately, or it can also be frozen.

If you'd like a more detailed recipe, just click here.

Recipe: Savory Zucchini Pancakes

I learned how to make these from Bhavani at Shoshoni Yoga Retreat. They make a wonderful light lunch or dinner, and the recipe is very versatile.

Makes 3 large pancakes; serves 2-3 people.

2 cups shredded zucchini (or other summer squash)

2 tablespoons minced fresh herbs

1 egg

3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

black pepper to taste

dash of tabasco

olive oil or ghee (for cooking)

Mix zucchini, herbs, and egg in large bowl. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and black pepper in a small bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring until mixed. Add tabasco.

Pour olive oil or ghee into a non-stick frying pan. Heat oil over medium low heat. Spread batter in the pan, making a pancake about 5-6 inches in diameter. Cook slowly over medium low heat. When the first side is browned, flip the pancake.

Serve sprinkled with salt and pepper. Can be served topped with sour cream or cottage cheese and chopped tomatoes.

*It's important to cook the pancakes over medium low heat so that the inside has time to cook thoroughly. If the heat is too high, the outside of the pancake will cook, but the inside will still be soft.

*You can add any number of things to the batter for variation: chopped onion, diced garlic, or chopped arugula, spinach or chard.