CSA New - June
News for our CSA members
Friend of the Pig: Jim Dahl
Spafford Valley Farm
Jim Dahl and his family join Grass Is Greener Gardens in its 2008 spring and summer season, offering pork to CSA members for the first time. It all started when the Dahl girls were in the FFA (previously the Future Farmers of America) raising sheep. The Dahl's soon bought some feeder pigs for breeding. Today, Spafford Valley Farm breeds Landrace, Duroc, and crossbred pigs. In the near future, the farm will raise Berkshire hogs.
The Landrace, considered the "butcher's pig" for its high quality fresh pork, was a popular pig in Europe, designed for Denmark's export trade in Wiltshire bacon to England. The Duroc breed originated in the United States. Red in color, the Duroc is reputed to have been named after a thoroughbred stallion. The Berkshire hog is a rare breed from England known for its flavorful and high quality hams and bacon. For many years, Royal Family kept a herd on hand at Windsor Castle. More recently, farmers have used Berkshire pigs against beetles, in place of pesticides.
At Spafford Valley Farm, a litter typically contains 10 piglets each year. Soon, the two most recent litters will start eating grass. For now, the hogs eat a corn and oat diet to keep them lean. When the pigs are 7 months old, weighing around 270-300 lbs, they are butchered. Spafford Valley Farm produces bacon, hams, smoked meats, sausages, brats, tenderloins, chops and roasts.
Featured Meat: Lamb Chops
A cut of meat cut perpendicularly to the spine, a chop usually contains a rib or part of a vertebra. It is served as an individual portion. Lamb chops are classified as shoulder, blade, rib, loin or kidney, and leg or sirloin chops. The rib chops are narrower, fattier, and tastier, while the loin chops are broader and leaner. Lamb chops are best cooked with dry heat, grilled or pan-broiled.
Recipe: Lamb Chops with Wild Herbs
1 1/2 tablespoons fennel seed
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme
2 teaspoons lavender
1 orange, juiced
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 (3/4-inch-thick) shoulder-blade lamb chops
Grind herbs and 1 tablespoon coarse salt with a mortar and pestle. Transfer to a bowl and add the juice of one orange and the olive oil, whisking until emulsified. Pat lamb dry and season with herb salt. Marinate one hour in the refrigerator, or overnight. Remove from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature, about twenty minutes.
Heat a lightly oiled well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then grill lamb, turning once, about 4 minutes on each side for medium-rare. Alternatively, grill lamb over hardwood charcoal. Serves 4.
Meet Your Fellow Member: Jeannie Reardon
Jeannie Reardon and her partner, Julia, are entering their second year as CSA members. Jeannie studied theology and is training to be a chaplain; the couple lives in Hyde Park and is starting a family, which is due in January.
As a couple, they are trying to leave a smaller carbon footprint and lead as sustainable a life as possible in urban Chicago. Responsible stewards all the way around in their lives, Jeannie grew up amongst farmers in Southern Illinois.
When Jeannie and Julia decided to move away from commercially produced beef, they began researching sustainable meat eating. Jeannie made calls to meat CSA’s in Chicago to learn about the farmers, products and practices. In addition to an engaging conversation with Jackie in which Jackie’s enthusiasm for the product was clear, Jeannie was especially excited by the idea of lamb. Their share met all of their needs and tasted great.
You may meet Jeannie at your next pick-up in Lakeview or Hyde Park. Or you can find her at The Southport Green Market, in the Blaine School Parking Lot at Southport and Grace, from June through October. She looks forward to meeting all those folks enjoying Grass Is Greener Gardens.
Grass Is Greener Gardens News
2008 brings a lot of exciting changes to our farm operation. In addition to running our farm, we're opening a new local market in Beloit, Wisconsin. Bushel & Peck's Local Market, slated to open in mid June will offer local food and specialty products.
The Farm
In 2008 our farm will operate in a completely different way than prior years. We're very excited about the changes.
First of all, our CSA has grown to over 60 members. In addition to our own CSA, we offer our eggs to 35 customers through a Madison CSA (Troy Community Farm.) We also sell lamb and chicken to L'Etoile in Madison. It is our hope that our CSA will grow to 100 members, but beyond 100, we feel it would be too large. We've added locations this year in Monroe (our hometown) and Madison and we're working to add a location to Oak Park. The Lakeview location now has two dates. The farm is very focused and virtually all of our products are sold exclusively to CSA members and L'Etoile. This is very important to us because it provides us with predictable sales of our farm products, something most small farmers don't have. Having a growing CSA is not only a privilege, but a pleasure as we get to meet all of our customers and make a real connection.
In prior years, we've grown a wide variety of field crops but this year we're focused in the field growing 2 acres of potatoes, an acre of pumpkins and squash and a half-acre of sunflowers for cutting.
The Store
About two years ago, we starting talking with the city of Beloit about developing a local market in a vacant building that is owned by the city. In December of 2007, we entered into an agreement with the City of Beloit. Bushel and Peck's Local Market is a 6000 square foot retail space, complete with a kitchen and cafe. The focus is local and organic foods. Our goal is to serve the market of Beloit and the surrounding communities with the best "common sense" food. The space will also offer us a place to pack CSA orders. Today, we do this from an 8 by 40 foot "clean room" on our farm. We're out of space, so this is very exciting. Eventually we would like to offer custom orders from the store to Chicago.
In summary, many thanks to all of our members for supporting our farm and our partner farms. I know some days I wonder why we're doing this, and every time I do a CSA drop off and get to meet members I realize how cool my job is. Cheers for now!
Jackie, Grass Is Greener Gardens
Our Writer:
Grass Is Greener Gardens member Gentle Wagner wrote our June 2008 newsletter. A recent transplant to Chicago from San Francisco, the fruit and veggie CSAs are common on the west coast, but Gentle was especially excited by a meat CSA. Quite simply, Gentle loves meat and in the Midwest why wouldn't you get it from a local farmer? Gentle is a Curatorial Consultant for museums and private collectors. She spends her spare time reading about food, cooking and eating.
