I Heart Farms

Traveling farm geek

Atypical announcement here: no photos BUT. I am off for five days on some farm-related business. I don't know how much internet access I will have, but I am going to meet some farmers. And see some farms.

Coastal California weather couldn't cooperate more, so look forward to some nice photos.

Oh, and my girlfriend, Cynthia Geske (I call her "the tomato curator") has started a blog for Love Apple Farm (can you say 145 kinds of heirloom tomatoes?). Imagine that! If you want tomato tips, start there. Might not work for your region, but what have you got to lose?

Good night from Soquel. Thought for the day: "Must get more sleep."

Thanks for visiting.

Winter market, blogging thoughts

(Pictured at left, mock orange blossoms from Thomas Family Farm, which grows beautiful flowers all year long. Though my sense of smell is impaired right now, I thought they smelled not unlike heliotrope.) Walking through the rows at the Saturday farmers market, located in the multi-level parking lot at Cabrillo College, I was struck by how dwindled down everything was. It was appropriate to the January weather that rain and cold had changed the crops available. Bitter greens, squashes, herbs, and citrus were in abundance. I cast a skeptical eye at the people offering red strawberries, not only because they are so out of season, but because they are "conventionally" grown (if by "conventional" you mean "I like to poison my farm workers with methyl bromide). I would no more buy a poisonous strawberry in January than I would buy stock in Monsanto or finance a crystal meth lab. (Did you know that, for every pound of crystal meth that's manufactured, ten pounds of extremely toxic, life-threatening waste are generated? File under "Things I Wish I Didn't Have to Know About," but there it is.)

Farmer John Redux, Etc.

(Pictured at left, Farmer John, star of "The Real Dirt on Farmer John," in San Francisco last May.)

This post is brought to you from the haven of my bedroom, where I've been laid up sicker than I've been in a long time. Energy comes in tiny waves, so I'm catching this one to share some really important news. The film I saw twice last year, "The Real Dirt on Farmer John," is coming soon to a theater near you, if you're lucky. When we saw the film at the San Francisco Film Festival, introduced by Vice President Albert Gore (you may remember him: he was elected President in 2000), the producers said they'd be opening in limited release (eight cities) in the fall of 2005. Well, eight has turned into thirty-six! In fact, if you're in San Francisco tonight, you can catch it. Film screenings are listed here.

An Ode to the Pig

When I first read about Slow Pig Weekend Blogging, I went and bought a pork tenderloin, which I've cooked successfully lots of times. Then I thought I should cook something I never have before—and came home from the DeLuxe Foods (the fancy grocery store in Aptos) with a two-pound pork shoulder roast. Having no idea at all what I was going to do with it, I started hitting my cookbooks before the playoff games on Saturday. After going through a dozen or so, all my faithfuls let me down. What's a girl to do? Hit Epicurious, of course.

A Different Kind of Beauty: Winter Walk on a Farm

(Pictured at left, first peek of the farm through flower-covered vines.)

Taking advantage of the break in winter storms, Logan and I took a walk on a country road yesterday, hoping to see one of the farmers I know at Route One Farm. Neither were there, but one of the three men working on the farm invited us through the gate. For a half an hour, Logan and I walked around the farm, traversing large mud puddles which had accumulated during the big storms. Except in his case, he stepped right in the middle of one, like Epaminondus, from a childhood story my Memaw used to tell. (Are you Southern? Do you know this story? It's amazing that she told it almost identically, down to the last word, as this reader's theater version, except she said he went to visit his grandmother.)

Though most everything had been plowed under and replaced with cover crops, there were two large beds containing red chard and kale. Route One has another farm site up the coast, tucked in a valley that is perhaps a little warmer that this farm. This chard, with its ruby stems and maroon leaves, contrasted with the brilliant green fields surrounding us.

More Red Letters? Who Do You Think I Am? Hester Prynne?

(Farmstead cheeses and others, left, at the River Cafe Cheese Shop in downtown Santa Cruz. Ain't they purty?)

Two more lovely red letter things to wake up to today, both media-related.

Item #1: I got a small mention in an article about food bloggers in the Wall Street Journal in Europe the Food Bloggers Global Map that I coordinate. Some weeks ago, its author, Elena Berton of Intrepid Gourmet, wrote to "interview" me about the map and my food blog. In the article, it's only one small paragraph, but it made me happy to be in the company of Chocolate & Zucchini, Cooksister, and FoodPornWatch.

The map is currently holding 300 pins, on five continents. If you're a food blogger and aren't on there yet, g'wan! Just center the map (click, hold, and move the "hand") and zoom. Center and zoom. (Don't feel you have to put yourself on your street: I put myself in the middle of the little town I live in. If I lived in NYC, I'd stick myself in the Museum of Natural History or the Met. Have fun.)

Pick a Little, Talk a Little, Pick a Little, Talk a Little...and It's Red Letter Day!

(Pictured at left, two of the hens at Everett Family Farm.)

Two big news items here. I have been awarded a much-coveted press pass to attend and cover the EcoFarm conference this month. The press coordinator for the conference saw my blog and, well, she loved it. She might have been under severe pressure (pitchfork to the temple, anyone?) to love it by some farmers who know me, I couldn't tell ya. But it's an extremely big deal to me, and I am thrilled.

Some of the biggest names in farming will be there. That's right: I said celebrity farmers. Celebrity farmers, you scoff? Well, yes, in a geeky sort of über-farm-geek way. I know, that's like saying "celebrity food blogger." Now if, say, Anthony Bourdain or Michael Ruhlman (to name two I admire, who have produced admirable writing) had a food blog, they would be celebrity food bloggers, but you know what I mean. Our blogging world, while filled with connections, friendships, and a growing sense of community, hardly constitutes a blip on the screen of "celebrity," but I think that's a good thing. We may be stars to each other, but I bet Brad Pitt doesn't have a single food blog in his feeds. Wait, he might have IHeartBacon.com on his list. (Doesn't he have a Bacon Whores t-shirt? Seems like I saw that somewhere. EDIT: I was right.)

Happy New Year & News

Really, if you can't curl up on a rainy day in footie pajamas, what can you do?

So back in August, during the Eat Local Challenge, there was a collective effort to find and support chefs and restaurants who are buying directly from our local farms. This is something I am passionate about, and so I decided to make it an ongoing project of mine. I used my food forum (MouthfulsFood.com, the one that they'll ban you for mentioning it at eGullet) to keep adding to the list of Bay area (and beyond) chefs and restaurants buying locally, with direct input from farmers, growers, and diners/bloggers who know about these things.

If you know of any restaurants in all of California that should be on this list, feel free to e-mail me (tana AT tanabutler DOT com). Or join MouthfulsFood.com and post there. (Hey, you food bloggers, you should be at MouthfulsFood anyway! It's an open-minded place, and most of the foodies I know are open-minded.)