Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter September 8 2013

Mirabelle de NancyTomorrow, as we wend our way Bald Peak, for the first time in two months we will not be immersed in the fragrance of caneberries. Instead, the van will be redolent with late summer mix of onions, plums, grapes, tomatoes and the earthiness of beets ready to be purchased at the Hillsdale Market when the bell rings at 10:00 AM.

People often ask us where they can buy seeds for the our Astiana tomatoes. The fact is, you are buying seeds when you buy the fruits at the market. That is how we started with the tomato, just 15 seeds from a tomato purchased in the market of Asti, a town in the Piedmont of Italy. It is a representative of a cooking tomato landrace from the Po River Valley. The fruits are large, green-shouldered, pear-shaped and often pleated. A landrace is a population of fruits, vegetables or livestock that is shaped by the environment and culture of the region to which it belongs. Representative of the race will vary from village to village, but they have similar qualities. These tomatoes are selected for the quality of their flavor and texture after their encounter with the stove.

We never use the word heirloom in reference to the varieties we grow. We dislike the term, and the last time it was used in this newsletter was to explain our dislike of the word best applied to fragile, inanimate objects handed down generation-to-generation. Beautiful Corn (link) was written without using the word at all. Heirlooms are defined as named varieties that have been around for 25 years. Seeds are living plants, reshaped by their cultivators year-after-year, and landrace is the better term. It recognizes the living organisms are constantly changing and adapting to new environments and cultures, this applies to their cultivators as well. The fact is, we have reshaped that tomato we purchased in Asti seven years ago, but we have carefully kept its fine cooking qualities foremost in our efforts.

Approximately 80% of the legumes, vegetables and grains we bring to market are grow from seeds we produce on the farm. Another 10% are grown from Wild Garden Seeds (http://www.wildgardenseed.com/) in Philomath, about 60 miles south of Gaston. Producing our own seed allows us to draw out traits valuable for successful production in the Willamette Valley.

This month the Organic Seed Alliance (www.seedalliance.org) will hold organic seed production workshops for farmers at Adaptive Seeds in Sweet Home on the 17th and at Ayers Creek on the 19th. Veteran seed producer John Navazio will lead the workshops. He is both practitioner and theoretician, an important source of information and inspiration to those of us who grow our own seed. Linda Colwell will prepare a lunch for the participants that will include the fruits, vegetables and grains we grow at the farm, underscoring the link between the seeds and food. It will be a fun day for all and we expect to learn a lot from Navazio.
Adopting the name Astiana for our tomato, we honor the long tradition of naming varieties after the location of their origin. This week, we will bring to the market a delightful, spicy grape called Canadice. It is a celibate variety from New York State research station in Geneva, New York. Until recently, they named all their varieties after places in New York; Candice is one of the Finger Lakes in western New York. Other varieties that we grow from that program with a New York tag include the grapes Interlaken, Sheridan and Steuben, and the plums Seneca and Stanley. Sadly, they have abandoned this tradition and now names are developed through "consumer testing." Two recent releases are called SnapDragon and RubyFrost. Perils of callow thinking.

This week, we will have an abundance of plums, including Prune d'Ente, Prune d'Agen, Fellenberg (a.k.a Italian), Brooks, Damsons and Mirabelle de Nancy, all bearing the name of their origin. Damson is an English corruption of Damascene; that is, from Damascus – Lebanon, not Oregon. In addition to the grape Canadice, we will have the incomparable Price, named after a real person, another naming convention that meets our approval. Expect onions, garlic, shallots, cornmeal (doubling down on the tradition as it is named after Roy Fair of Calais Vermont), popcorn, chickpeas and preserves, as well. Oh yes, tomatillos and maybe cucumbers.

We will continue to offer the Astianas at $1.75/LB when 20# or more are purchased. We will have some boxes at the market, or bring a milk crate or wine box of your own. We will have a self-service scale on hand. Of course, if you want to purchase them as heirlooms, we will be obligated to charge the going rate for such special tomatoes, $3.50 or more if we recall correctly. Heck, they are certified organic, so maybe more . . .

See you all tomorrow,

Carol & Anthony
Gatson, Oregon

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter September 1 2013

This weekend marks the sartorial end of summer, and we have had this feeling for a couple of weeks that autumn is close at her shoulder. It is almost as if the fruit is racing to beat the changing weather. As if to underscore this point, we sent our goodbye Chester note to the produce managers and stopped delivering the blackberries on Thursday because the fruit is too fragile to sit in a store display.

This is the earliest end to the Chester season in the 12 years we have been selling fresh market fruit, and the first time that it has fallen in August. We will have some at the market tomorrow, but treat them with care as they are very thin skinned. Just as autumn leaves change color when the chlorophyll disappears, as the acids and pectins fade from the fruit different flavors come to the fore, and you might discern a hint of resin in the fruit. It is there in the fragrance as well.

Just as the swallows have departed the farm, the frikeh is gone, too. If time permits, we will grind some corn and start hauling in preserves again. We will have a lot of Astiana tomatoes for those who want to start putting some up for winter. Tomatillos, beets, onions, potatoes will join the cucumbers, garlic and shallots in the mix. The stone fruit will be represented by Prune d'Agen and Mirabelles. The pulses are the chickpeas.

The grape of the moment is Price. We regard it as the Chester of the grapes. This berry came out of the breeding program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. The grape has a complex and obscure lineage, perhaps with a bit scuppernong or some other muscadine among its genes given its southern ancestry. The grape is named after Harvey Lee Price who was the Dean of Agriculture at the institute from 1908 to 1945. The flavor is complex and the delicate crunchy seeds have a delicious spicy flavor, so don't hesitate to chew them. As those who attended the ramble know, it is also a first class juice grape. Like Chester, Price is of its own kind, there is no confusing it with other grapes.

We will also have some seedless grapes on hand as well, including Jupiter and Interlaken. Along with Price and the plums, good fruit for the kids to take to school, or to nibble on as they ponder their first homework lessons. And let's hope summer keeps autumn at bay for a while longer.

Our best,

The Boutards
Ayers Creek Farm
Gaston, Oregon

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter August 25 2013

For years, we have strongly suspected that Tito was once a dog model who finally chucked the fast life and, after a streak of hard luck, wound up in the Newberg pound where we met him. The chief bit evidence of his former life was a spread on urban picnics in the New York Times fashion supplement. The dog in the Open Bar picnic is sitting on a $495 Luxembourg bench with an open bag of chips next to him, and looks just like our lovable cur, except he lacks Tito's black toenails. There were also some chips left uneaten, very un-Tito. But you can never trust digital photos completely, maybe they added the chips later or he was more disciplined in his modeling days.

Regardless of his past, Tito's modeling chops can be seen in this month's issue of Cucina Italiana ( http://lacucinaitalianamagazine.com/article/this-thing-of-ours ), where he appears with the Cameron Winery's Jackson. The article is about a special tradition we have enjoyed since Cathy Whims and David West opened Nostrana, the farmers' dinner. Every October, Cathy and David invite a group of us for dinner and we meander our way through their menu and wine list. They, along with the staff at the restaurant, make it a fun and relaxed evening for the gang that spends most of it time at the back door. Nostrana is comfortable place for a farmer at either door, and that is due to the respect Cathy and David have for our ilk.

We deliver to a variety of restaurants. Each place has its own culture and expression of generosity. A container of tart cherry ice cream from Lovely's, a bit of cured pork from Greg Higgins, a jar of miso from Chef Naoko, or a pastry with our plums from Giana at Roman Candle, these gestures all make the effort a little bit easier and fun. Good restaurants also make us better farmers by drawing us into the process. For example, the incomparable Borlotto Lamon is one of Cathy's contributions.

Shopping list for Hillsdale Farmers' Market:

1 bag of frikeh
1 bag of the newly harvested chickpeas
1/2 flat of Chesters
1/2 flat of Mirabelle plums
1# ea. Seneca & Doneckaya Konservnaya prunes
1# tomatillos
2# of those really tasty cucumbers
2 heads garlic and a handful of shallots
Couple of Astianas, if I get there when the market opens at 10:00
2# of the Grape with no Name

When we settled into the trailer at Ayers Creek, we decided we would be there for a long, long time so, heeding Malvina Reynolds' advice, we planted an apple tree and a couple of grape vines. One was Interlaken and the other was sold as 'Sweet Seduction'. We hated the silly name. In grapes as in other fruits, the character of the grape is defined by the blend of acids in the fruit as opposed to simple sugars. We felt if cute was needed, then 'Acid Assignation' would be a more apt name.

When we decided to scale up our table grape production, we retained the late Lon Rombaugh to give us advice on varieties to plant. We mentioned Sweet Seduction as one variety we would plant. Almost two years ago, we enjoyed a early autumn dinner in the Hungry Gardener's yard and had some time to visit with Lon. That evening, he told us the grape we were growing had been mislabeled, was not Sweet Seduction, and he would get back in touch with us with the correct name. We were glad to be rid of a name better suited to chocolates or lingerie than fruit. Winter descended and Lon died too young. You can call it what ever you want, but for us it is now a grape with no name, a bittersweet remembrance of an inquisitive and kind fruit grower who we were lucky to have known as an advisor and friend.

We will see you all Sunday,

Carol & Anthony

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter 11 August 2013

Feeding the Dog:

A good watch dog is well-fed and cared for, and spends its time protecting the premises rather than thinking about its next meal or wondering whether people appreciate its snarling diligence. This applies to watch dog groups as well as the canine sort. On 25 August, you all have an opportunity to feed the best watch dog on matters pertaining to small farms in Oregon, Friends of Family Farmers, and tuck into a meal prepared by Chef Dave Anderson. Nothing one-sided about that deal.

Shiri Sirkin and Bryan Dickerson of Dancing Roots Farm will host the benefit dinner at their farm in Troutdale. And there is not just a great meal in store for you, Bryan's jazz trio will soften the night air, and you will get a tour of a very different farm. We are not all stamped out of the same mold. Just to underscore this point, we have never been civilized enough to serve cocktails at an Ayers Creek ramble, but you will get them up there at Dancing Roots, and a bit of auction action.

In the thicket of groups claiming to be advocates for family farms, Friends of Family Farmers are the real deal, standing head and shoulders the rest. They are not trying to tell a story, the warm and fuzzy approach that accompanies the usual table in a farm event where people dress up in stylish boots and nuzzle chickens and pigs. This dinner is a celebration of real accomplishments in Salem this session, including a temporary ban on rape seed production in the Willamette Valley, something near and dear to the hearts of seed producers, as well as a vehicle to pump up their coffers before the next session.

It is a tough business being an advocate and lobbyist for the larger public good, and it helps the soul to have friends celebrate successes. Also, Wednesday 14 August, dine at Lincoln Restaurant and they will contribute 10% of the tab to the Friends. A chance to enjoy magic Jenn and her staff create with frikeh. If you can't attend the event or dine at Lincoln, we would endorse sending an encouraging note and a bunch of greenbacks as a fine alternative.

Information on the event is found at their website: http://www.friendsoffamilyfarmers.org/?p=2306

______________________________

Back to business:

This Sunday, you will have yet another sterling opportunity to pick up some victuals for friends and family at the Hillsdale Farmers' Market. You have left a big hole your life if you haven't tasted Lis Monahan's new cheeses at Fraga Farm, especially her camembert-style cheese. Lis produces her milk and cheeses just a bit north of us in Gales Creek arm of the Tualatin Valley, and like us she is certified organic, pure and simple. An achievement, not a mere aspiration wrapped up in slogans. We will be up for the tail end of the Perseid shooting stars as they sink over the Coast Range, and ready to transact business by 10:00 AM.

Here are some items for your shopping list: Chester & Triple Crown blackberries, green gage plums, frikeh, summer squash, garlics & shallots and opa. If you need preserves, popcorn or cornmeal, we can bring them in on request. Email us before 10:00 AM on Saturday with your order.
_____________________________

The members of the cucumber family produce a distinctive berry called the pepo. Opa is the immature berry of the calabash or bottle gourd, Lagenaria siceraria, thought to have originated in Africa and wound up in the Americas through ocean currents. The plant has lovely white flowers and long soft vines. Although bottle gourds are the oldest domesticated plant in the Americas, a couple of millennia before corn, there is not much of a tradition of using them as a vegetable here.

In Asia and Africa, varieties have been selected specifically for their culinary qualities. The fruit has a discrete and pleasant bitterness, similar to the escarole and chicory. The bitterness works well with the combination of sweet and heat offered by Asian and Indian curries, just as the bitterness of chocolate is transformed by a bit of sugar and fat. The texture of these fruits remains firm when cooked. We have been cooking them in Thai style curries with a coconut milk base. There are also many Indian dishes that use them. In the mix, there may be some luffa gourd as well. Used in a similar fashion, they are a lovely change from the summer squash. Luffas are sometimes called Chinese okra because cut up in a curry they look like that vegetable and have similar flavor without the mucilaginous dimension.

There is a tendency among food writers to offer an equivalency when describing unfamiliar foods. In describing the calabash or luffa, people often described them as a zucchini-like vegetables. This is the same as treating another set of berries, the eggplant, tomatillo and tomato as equivalents. If you treat the luffa or opa as zucchini, you will be disappointed and miss the fine character of these pepos. Go Indian, Asian or African, not European.

The Pepo Project is an experiment in terms of growing, selling and using the fruits. The supply will be erratic and unreliable. Any feedback will be most gratefully received. We don't know what we are doing and having fun in the process. We are also working on the Hokkaido Project, which we will describe later in the year.

We look forward to seeing you all Sunday fresh from staring up at the Perseid shower.

Carol & Anthony Boutard
Ayers Creek Farm

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter August 4 2013

Thursday marked Lammas Day, the day of the loaf mass. The mass celebrates the first loaf baked from the new wheat harvest. The wheat harvest was a time consuming effort involving all members of the community, from the elderly to young children, each playing a specific role. The grain could be cut at maturity and raked into cocks like hay, but more commonly wheat and other small grains were scythed just shy of maturity, at the hard dough stage, bundled in sheathes and tied. The sheathes were carefully stacked for shocking. The structure of the shock varied by region and environmental factors. There were round shocks, capped shocks and Dutch shocks for very wet areas. Shocked grain was easier to thresh as it pulled away slightly from the hull as it dried, and had better color. In the more remote regions of the west, barley and wheat were also "hogged off" by turning pigs into the field, pork being easier to transport than grain. The combine eliminated the shock as a form of regional architecture.

For those of us with a background in tree and other woody plants, Lammas growth is the second growth of shoots that takes place in midsummer, sometimes in response to hail or some other damaging event. In our climate it not a problem, we sometimes encourage it with summer pruning, but in colder areas Lammas growth may fail to harden off properly and suffers frost damage.

We are a bit tardy on our wheat harvest, but it is not that we have been loafing around as will be abundantly clear when we arrive at the Hillsdale Farmers' Market this Sunday. Following ancient practice, the market opens with the chime of a bell at 10:00 AM, or thereabouts.

Coincident with the Lammas, Jeff Fairchild, the produce buyer for New Seasons Market visited the farm on the first of August as Carol was making the first round of deliveries to the various New Seasons stores. Josh Alsberg, the Produce manager at Food Front, has also visited us many times. As members of the Coop, we are one his many of bosses, and when he sells lots of our berries, no only do the stores pay us, but we also get a better patronage check. Some deal. Buffy Rhoades of Pastaworks put in her order as well, and we are waiting for her to visit us someday. Fortunately, all of these stores carry the Chesters, so there is no need to get cut short midweek, stuck with a bunch of grumpy Chester lovers bemoaning your lack of foresight. We enjoy working with Jeff, Josh, Buffy and their staff. As they say in fair Gaston, "Chester, it's the blackberry people ask for by name."

We will also have a good supply of Triple Crowns on hand. The season is shorter for this variety, and they are in the top of their form this week.

In addition to the berries, we will haul in our last Imperial Epineuse prunes. Next week, the green-fleshed plums will take over for a spell. This is the likely the last week we will haul in the preserves, popcorn and dry beans for a while. Real estate in the van is getting scarce and fresh fruits and vegetables need the space. We will have frikeh.  Good looking heads of lettuce and the very first Opo fruits of the Ayers Creek Pepo Project will be added to the mix. More on the ACPP later.

Oh yes, a bit of garlic and shallots as well. Carol spends a lot of time prettying up the garlic, limiting how much we can bring to the market. Yes, it looks lovely, but it will soon be stripped of its blushing raiment so another voice might ask why not let the customer decide whether they want to buy pretty garlic, or just rip off the field covering and enjoy its lusty flavor. If you are disappointed because the last pretty garlic has left the basket and your next meal will be a little less satisfying, tell us whether a dull bulb would meet your culinary needs just as well. The author is spoiling for dismissal and will leave it at that.

With affection,

The Boutards of Ayers Creek

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter July 28 2013

High summer is the season of dust – the wind, the combines, the plows and traffic all keep the air well endowed. Even walking across the field sends up clouds. It penetrates the clothing and clogs the nasal passages. Every year, as the main berry season approaches, we order in three or four truckloads of crushed rock to dress the road from the field to the farm buildings. This fresh band of rock helps reduce the dust when we bring the berries to the packing room.

Thursday we set up the 50 horsepower pump in case we need to increase the humidity the field so as to prevent damage by ultra-violet radiation when the field temperature passes 90°F (32°C). It ran for a few minutes and then we got the dreaded ALARM 14 EARTH FAULT on the variable frequency drive, the pump's brain. The drives were programmed in Denmark so they use the British term for the ground. We battled this problem last year, but it was erratic and the resetting the computer worked. This time the gremlin settled in and resetting did not work. Spent a couple of hours troubleshooting the problem with the electrician on the phone, connecting and disconnecting leads on the 430 volt system. It was not a temperamental drive or a bad cord, the motor was simply toast. Once again, Ernst Irrigation pulled through and we have new motor on the pump in less than 24 hours after diagnosing the problem. Credit also to our staff who know how to scramble when we need their help, making it easier for the technicians to carry out the swap.  

Nicely groomed and ready to yield us her fruits, the field looks beautiful. It is a farmer-ish thing to have one eye on the current harvest and the other on the primocanes that will produce fruit next year. They are strong and growing vigorously. Last year, a frost in mid May killed the first flush of primocanes and we will have a lighter crop as a result. In the swirl of dust and pump drama, we sowed the the chicories, escaroles and other cool season greens.  

We will have a good load of Chesters this Sunday at Hillsdale. The market runs from 10 AM to 2 PM at the lot near Wilson High School. Several years ago Kathleen Bauer posted an essay about the Chester blackberry for those unfamiliar with the berry:

http://www.goodstuffnw.com/2010/08/farm-bulletin-pt-2-taxonomy-of-chester.html

In addition to Robert Skirvin's fine berries, we will have new potatoes, Imperial Epineuse prunes, frikeh, amaranth greens, purslane, popcorn and a bit of cornmeal.

The storage of fruit is worth considering. In our industrial age, the tendency is to jam it in a refrigerator set at temperature best suited to storing meat and dairy products, under 40°F (4°C). This temperature damages the fruit. The better temperature is around 55°F (13°C), the night-time temperature in the field. The primary spoilage factor in fruit is moisture, not heat. You can dry fruit to preserve it, but if it rains for an extended time, the fruit is soon a moldy mess. True, refrigeration cans slow the progress of spoilage organisms, but at the expense of flavor and aroma. If you want to store berries for a week, it is better to put the fruit into a freezer immediately.

Fruits are best kept in a cool, dry room with good air circulation. Put it in a wire mesh colander, not a bowl or plate. Unlike meat and dairy products, fruits are living tissues and they are respiring. If you put your cherries in a bowl, the moisture generated by respiration collects at the bottom of the bowl and the fruit starts rotting from the bottom up. In a colander, the heavier, moisture-laden air can drain away. We store tomatillos harvested in September until March stored in this manner. Peppers, tomatoes, plums, melons, squash all store better at a moderate temperatures provided they have never been refrigerated. Peppers will last several weeks on the counter.

Our fruit is brought from the field to a cool, dehydrated room with a fan running to keep the air moving. Overnight, the dehydrators draw from the air between two and five gallons of water, depending upon how much fruit we harvest. As long as there is no free moisture on the fruit, and no existing mold, they will not mold. This gentle treatment maintains high fruit quality. Because the fruit is not chilled, when we bring it to the market, no condensation is formed on its surface when it meets the warm, humid air.

This early season fruit is the sturdiest and most intense. It has the highest levels of pectin and acidity, and is well constructed. If you are making preserves, this is the fruit to use. As the season progresses, the pectin and acidity levels drop. Because pectins can mask some of the components of flavor, later season fruit has a different character. For some, the reduced acidity makes the late fruit sweeter on the palate even though it has lower sugar levels. Many of you have heard our warning as the harvest of a fruit winds down: it is more delicate now and won't store well. For the Chester that warning will come about five weeks from now, or following a rainy period.

See you all Sunday,

The Boutards
Ayers Creek Farm
Gaston, Oregon

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter July 21 2013

We will rise as the July's waxing gibbous moon sets over the Coast Range. With luck we will arrive at the parking lot at Wilson High School with a bit Ayers Creek to sell. The market bell rings at 10:00 AM.

This is our dreaded berry hole, when the early fruit have gone and the Chesters are offering only a few tantalizing specks of ripening. We will have some red currants and gooseberries. We are beginning to catch up after that wet spell in early June. The fenugreek went to flower in the high heat, but a new planting went in last Saturday and is sprouting nicely. Next week, we plant our chicories so we are thinking of winter as much as summer these days. Here is what we will have tomorrow:

Grains & Pulses: Frikeh, cornmeal, popcorn, black turtle and Dutch bullet beans.

Greens: Purslane, and a mixture of orache and amaranth.

Tart Cherries - Once again, we failed at cherry geography. Apparently cherries are not grown on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. They are further south in the area around Traverse City, an area we have dubbed "Transpeninsula." They claim the mantle of "Cherry Capitol of the World." Lucky this is the last week for cherries as we have yet to fully explore our ignorance of cherry geography.  

We made our deliveries Friday and walked into a restaurant with the wrong invoice. When the staff saw it was for Lovely's 50/50, they regaled us with how delicious Sarah's tart cherry ice cream is and how she uses the cherry pits to flavor it, giving it hint of bitter almond essence. The next stop was at Lovely's and Sarah's mother greeted us with a tub of the ice cream. The ice cream is made from the Balatons. The next batch will use the Montmorency cherries. If you are in Mississippi area, more specifically 4039 N Mississippi Avenue, stop in and try the Balaton cherry ice cream. It is worth a trek across town. Then return to try the Montmorency flavor when that's ready. We have this geography right because we actually travel that area a bit.

Prunes - The stone fruits have three separate layers surrounding the seed and are what botanists call a drupe. The layers are the skin (exocarp), the pulpy flesh (mesocarp) and the hard layer surrounding the seed (endocarp) that the laity call the stone or pit. These three layers are derived from the mother plant's tissues, whereas the seed inside is the result of the sexual union of the sperm produced by the pollen and the mother plant's egg. The various stone fruit have characteristically shaped endocarps. Cherries have round ones, peaches have a large pitted version, almonds have a softer corky endocarp, and the plums have a very hard asymmetric pit. The seeds have a characteristic bitter almond flavor, and some are toxic when eaten in large quantities. The Boutards have long eaten the seeds of stone fruit without apparent ill effects. In many parts of Europe, it is customary to include some pits to flavor preserves and eau de vies made from stone fruit, just as Sarah does with her ice cream.

The plums are the most diverse of the stone fruits in terms of types and flavor. This week, we start with a prune bearing the regal name of Imperial Epineuse. The prunes are a class of related plums with a very high solid content of sugars and fiber, which allows them to dry well. They are prunes no matter whether they are fresh or dried. The commerce in dried prunes originated in Hungary in 16th century and spread westwards into France and Germany. The original seedling of Imperial Epineuse was found in an old monastery near Clairac, France. It was introduced to Oregon in the waning days of the 19th century as a dessert prune under the name of Clairac Mammoth, but never gained a following here. Not sure why, as it is easy to grow and more reliable than any of our other stone fruit. A steady cropper as the Brits would say. The texture is very fine, and pomologists have suggested that it may have a bit of damson in its background. The skin provides a pleasing and contrasting acidic note.

If you have an over-productive prune in your backyard, you can pick the very young fruit in the spring, before the pit has hardened, and cure them just as you would olives. The whole fruit is edible, no need to pit them, and you them in the dishes as you would olives. We crack the fruits with a mallet and put them in a jar with water, changing it daily until they turn olive green. Last year, we cured them in lye. The cured plums look no different than cured olives; the lye cured plums are dark just like lye cured olives. Publication 8267 from UC Davis give good directions (http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8267.pdf). We got the idea for curing plums from a visiting Chicago Chef, Paul Kahan, who served up a dish with green peaches cured in the same manner. Greg Higgins and his staff cured gage plums and seasoned them with a Tunisian accent. That is the great part of having visitors to the farm, they always leave a new idea or two as they leave.

We look forward to seeing you all tomorrow.

Anthony & Carol Boutard
Ayers Creek Farm

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter June 14 2013

We are back again at Hillsdale Farmers' Market this Sunday. The market is located near Wilson High School. Opens at 10:00 AM sharp.

Sour Cherries: Among these cherries, there are varieties with dark juice, generally classified as Morellos, Montmorency Cherriesand varieties with clear juice, classified as Amarelles. This week, we have the Amarelle called Montmorency. Equally satisfying, but a distinct flavor from the dark-juiced Hungarians of last week. In our preserves, we also include about 15% English Morello with its pleasing bitterness, along with Montmorency and the Hungarians.

The Amarelle cherries are particularly popular in France and England, as well as the United States. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Oregon's Willamette Valley are the two important American tart cherry regions. It is commonly asserted that Montmorency cherries are too sour to eat out hand. That is largely a matter of growers picking them when they are still on the acidic side of ripening. Though they have a tannic edge, the cherries this week are running over 16° BRIX, which higher than any of the cane fruit.  

One of the benefits of growing sour cherries is the fact that birds have a tough time pulling them off the tree. Moreover, the limbs are so willowy they cannot peck away at the fruit as they do with Prunus avium, bird (sweet) cherries. Robins, starlings and orioles like them but only as an occasional treat; they soon tire of the task and go back to eating insects. So they are an avian dessert, rather than a main course.

The spotted-winged drosophila or vinegar fly thrives on Montmorency cherries so we have to be careful harvesting the fruit. We have been working with staff on harvesting so we avoid the cherries with larvae. If you all run into a larva, and it is likely, the only thing we can say is that it is natural verification of our gentle approach towards other creatures on the farm. For the most part, the spiders in the orchard, along with the dragon flies, keep the vinegar fly populations at bay. And our restraint keeps the native bee populations and other interesting insect populations robust because we don't use the neonicotinoids and the rest of the arsenal of insecticides recommended for control of the fruit fly. The neonicotinoids are particularly nasty because they are generally applied to the soil and are absorbed into the plant tissues. The fruit is never sprayed, allowing for a plausible "no spray" claim. Many of our native bees are ground nesters, so they get it coming and going. An occasional fruit fly larva among the cherries means there is a bumble bee larva also developing safely underneath the tree.

Correction: Last week, a sharp-eyed reader alerted us to the fact that Lake Balaton is not part of the Danube drainage. More mortifying, Balaton in in the region known as Transdanubia, the woody hinterlands beyond the Danube Valleys. The comeuppance is not total because in the mix of Hungarian cherries last week was another variety called Danube, also introduced by Amy Iezzoni of Michigan State. So there was a bit of the Danube among the Balatons, even if it is not geographically accurate. Interestingly, a third Iezzoni introduction, Jubilleum, bore no fruit this year. It flowered during a brief frosty period which killed the bloom. When we purchased the trees from Cummins Nursery, we paid a royalty which is returned to the Hungarians for further agricultural research.

Soft Fruit: We are in that paradox of high diversity distinguished by general scarcity: a lot of little and mostly unpredictable. We harvest during the day Saturday for Sunday's market, so all of the fruit is in top shape. This is the advantage of buying from a farm that sells at a single market. We are not putting out fruit that didn't sell at Saturday's market. But it also means we are clueless as to the exact nature of the harvest until Saturday evening, long after you have received this.

Unfortunately, the black currants were so badly scorched by the hot spell, we won't have any more this summer. It is not simply aesthetic. The sunburn turns them bitter. There is a lilting song by Sondheim that sums up the bitterness of beauty burned by the summer sun. We will have some purple raspberries, the baby crop from last year's planting. Next year, they will be abundant. They also suffer from the touch of sun, but excel when exposed to a bit heat on the stove, which brings out the complex flavor. Purples are a hybrid between the red and black raspberries.

Greens: Our summer greens program is always an afterthought because our emphasis is on fruit, pulses and grains. Consequently, our greens production is a bit ad hoc. We grow what we crave and can't find from Gathering Together Farm, our primary outside source of greens. This week we will have some purslane, and a mixture of amaranth and orach.

Purslane can be chopped and added raw to yoghurt for a refreshing salad. Mostly we saute it quickly in pan drippings or olive oil. It is more accessible when cooked or pickled, losing its sharp edge. It doesn't sell well, so we eat and pickle what is left over when we return from the market. We pickle the tops with a bit of salt, garlic cloves, peppercorns and diluted vinegar (40 - 50% vinegar). Around the globe purslane is a treasured pot green, but in the United States here is little interest in this nourishing plant, so it is more often treated with herbicides than respect.  Enough grousing. By next week, the weevils will render the planting unsaleable.

Grains & Pulses: Frikeh, cornmeal, popcorn, chickpeas, black turtle and Dutch bullet beans.

We will see you all tomorrow,

Carol and Anthony Boutard
Ayers Creek Farm

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter July 7 2013

For Immediate Release
Gaston, Oregon, USA
6 July 2013

The Oregon Chapter of the Frikeh Producers' Council (FPC) announced today that mild, dry weather, and improved efficiency, assured a record frikeh harvest of the highest quality.

Most of us are familiar with grains in their mature, dry state, which allows them to be stored for many years. However, in many places in the world, grains are also enjoyed in their immature (green) state as a seasonal delicacy. Throughout the middle east, from Egypt to Turkey, immature wheat is harvested, burned and threshed to produce frikeh (frik, firik, freekeh). Erroneously called an "ancient grain," frikeh is actually a way of processing wheat, not a different grain at all. Claims of its ancient status are dubious; what is certain is its delicious flavor.

The parching of emmer in caldrons was documented in Roman times by Cato the Censor around 200 BC, and in parts of southern Germany, unripe spelt is still treated this way to make grünkern. Frikeh is very different in that it is exposed to an open flame. There is scant documentation of this method of preparing wheat, and most of it from the 50 years. Some authors have speculated that it was originally produced using barley straw, but that makes no sense as the straw's flame is not hot enough. Anyway the straw was very valuable as bedding and packing material, and would not be wasted burning wheat. Possibly small branches from orchard and olive groves were used. Like our fellow frikeh makers in the Middle East today, we use propane torches, which are easier and safer to use.

The harvest of frikeh is done during the brief interval between the “milk stage” when endosperm is still liquid and the “soft dough” stage when the endosperm is solidifying. Too early and the grains shrivel; too late and the grains are no longer dark green and develop a starch quality. Frikeh of the best character is produced during a three day window in the ripening process. The wheat is cut and the sheaves are stacked on corrugated metal and the heads are lightly roasted. In addition to imparting a smoky flavor to the grain, the heating also stops the maturation of the endosperm. The sweet fragrance of the roasting wheat wafts through the valley. The charred heads are then fed into a thresher to separate out the grain. The grain is cleaned and then dried on shallow trays.

The finished frikeh is rinsed a couple of times and cooked for approximately an hour. Any remaining chaff and stems should be skimmed off during the rinsing or cooking. Frikeh may be used in any recipe that uses rice or bulgar wheat. It is traditionally served with lamb or chicken. The smoky, nutty quality of the grain adds a unique and new dimension to vegetarian dishes. The simplest is as a tabbouleh styled salad, perfumed with lemon and mint.

FPC spokesperson, Carol Boutard, notes that frikeh has different nutritional qualities than mature wheat. It is higher in minerals, especially potassium, calcium, iron and zinc, higher in dietary fiber, and low in phytic acid. Frikeh will be available at the Hillsdale Farmers Market this Sunday, 7 July. The market starts at 10:00 am.

We will also bring the following:

Tart Hungarian Cherries: Balaton, named for the large lake on the Danube.

Dry legumes: chickpeas and beans

Fenugreek and Purslane

Soft berries: In very limited quantities, been horrendous weather for these fruits.

Ribes: gooseberries and black currants

Preserves

We look forward to seeing you all at Hillsdale tomorrow,

Carol & Anthony Boutard
Ayers Creek Farm

Kookoolan Farms Market Morning Update

Kookoolan Farms will be at the Hillsdale Farmer’s Market today 10am to 2pm, www.hillsdalefarmersmarket.com. While we are just about sold out of all chicken flesh meats even before arriving at the market today, we do have a larger than usual inventory of chicken feet, necks, heads, and backs for soup making, and a larger than usual inventory of chicken livers, hearts, and gizzards, plus duck livers. We’ll have these on special today since I like empty freezers after markets! Usually soup parts are $2.50/lb and organ meats are $3.50/lb (gizzards $5/lb; duck liver $6/lb) but today we will offer 25% off all the soup parts and 50% off all the organ meats. Our poultry is all pasture raised. We’re also happy to talk with you about 100% grassfed beef, 100% grassfed lamb, and pasture-raised Red Wattles pork. And our famous live kombucha is also available at the market. Thanks, Happy Father’s Day everybody, and hope to see you there!

Wild Oregon May 12 2013 Update

Treat mom to Oregon’s sweetest, fabulous Spot Prawns and Netarts Oysters this holiday.  These are so simple to cook.......just toss them on the BBQ [or in a hot pan, or steam the oysters], dip in a little melted garlic butter, have with a crunchy baguette and a glass of wine while the Springer Chinook sizzles away.  [Prawns # about 25/lb, at $15.95]  Reserve fish, prawns, Nerarts Oysters and possibly razor clams now, I’ll hold ‘til 1:00pm on Sunday [or later if  you ask].  People can call @ 503-591-7795 or email to wildoregon.robin@hotmail.com and I’ll hold your order until 1pm, please specify which market. We’ll also have an assortment of other sea treats!
 
Hope to see you at the market! 

Robin

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter February 17 2013 Market

Our amorous flickers will be up and drumming on the side of our house as we pour our coffee and tea and prepare to depart for Sunday's Hillsdale Farmers' Market. If we could only train some flickers to drum upon the market bell at 10:00 AM.

Our great horned owl laid her first egg early in this morning, fittingly on Valentine’s Day, and she will spend the next few weeks brooding. Last year, her first egg was laid on the 15th, so she has this thing timed carefully. The second egg will follow in a few days, and that chick will be the smaller of the two. We also getting a bit broody and need to attend to things about the farm, so this is our last market of the winter season.

A few administrative details.

We will return to the market on the 7th of July. If all goes well, we hope to have Field Day at the farm the week before, on the 30th of June. We will send out an email providing details and confirming the event.

No market farmer wants to experience the sting of a disappointed borlotto or popcorn eater. Yet it is hard to predict how many beans, corn or preserves we should bring. For this market, if you want to stock up on corn, popcorn and beans, we will hold six packages/jars or more of your choice. Send an email before noon on Saturday with your request and we will have it set aside.

Here is our annual disclaimer regarding these emails: If you tire of hearing rustic prattle, send an email requesting that we cease and desist, and we will drop you ever so gracefully from the recipients' list.

If you run short of summer's essence in a jar and Brand X disappoints, remember our Ayers Creek Farm preserves are carried at these fine establishments that do not require a UPC code:

Cheese Bar, 8031 SE Belmont St.
City Market, 735 NW 21st Ave.
Foster & Dobbs, 2518 NE 15th Ave
Foxfire Teas, 2505 SE 11th Ave., #105
Gaston Market, Gaston, OR
Pastaworks, 3735 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Peoples Cooperative, 3029 SE 21st Ave.
Vino, 138 SE 28th Ave.
Give Portland (www.giveportlandgifts.com), puts together stylish gift baskets with our preserves and other foods prepared in Portland.

Here is what we will bring, more or less:

Greens: Chic late Treviso-type chicories and any other gratifying greens the field will yield for this last market. The first of March is Saint David's Day which is celebrated by wearing a leek about the neck. We will provide suitable raiment.

The late Treviso-type chicories are considered the very finest of the tribe. With their elegant arching leaves, white ribs and dark red leaf blades, and a distinct flavor with a hint of nuttiness, they are in a class of their own. Split in half, they grill or sauté well. For a finger salad, we quarter them lengthwise and dress them simply with oil and vinegar, maybe a bit of anchovy or lemon. Or you can break apart the heads, dress and add a little bit of chopped hard boiled egg. Keep the dressing subdued, sotto voce.

Sunday, you will notice a fair amount variation in the heads of this chicory. The people producing the seeds for this variety are doing a poor job of selecting their breeding population, or grex. They are just banging out the seed. As we harvest these chicories, we are carefully selecting our own grex with more tightly drawn characteristics. These we have marked with flags and we will retain them for seed production. We will save around 100 plants for the purpose. Because chicories cross-pollinate, we will root out any other varieties and off-types. On field day, you will see this work in progress.

Sweet Underground: horseradish, spuds, white Swedes, sweet potatoes.

Cornmeal: Amish Butter and Roy's Calais Flint

We put the cornmeal in a glass mason jar, and it is fine in the freezer for a few months. The glass protects it from picking up the flavor of other foods in the freezer.

Popcorn: Amish Butter.

Pulses: Chick peas and the following beans: Zolfino, Tarbais, Borlotto Lamon, Purgatorio, Dutch Bullet, Cranberry

Winter Squash

Preserves: Pozegaca Prune, Italian Prune, Damson, Green Gage, Tart Cherry, Purple Raspberry, Red Raspberry, Loganberry, Gooseberry, Red Currant, Black Currant 

The Measure of a Farm

Farm income and deductions are declared on the Schedule F of the personal income tax form. Every five years, the USDA conducts a census of people who file a Schedule F or a corporate return indicating farming as a business activity. Last year, 2012, was a reporting year for the Census of Agriculture, and we submitted our report on the 4th of February, right at the deadline. A response is required by law, and we are now spared a visit by a determined census enumerator.

The author of the first book on agriculture (De Agri Cultura) from around 200 BC was Cato the Censor. It is a good book on farming. As his title indicates, he also served a term as censor, the person responsible for maintaining a census of citizens. The censor was also responsible for public morals, hence the modern definition. Although modern census enumerators have no role in determining public morals, they are also not so well versed in agriculture as Marcus Porcius Cato was, so it made sense to send our answers in on time. Old Marcus was also a pecuniary and heartless s.o.b., as well as a nativist concerned about the encroachment of all things Greek, so we might have sent in the census even in his day to avoid hearing his extreme political views. Even today, the libertarian Cato Institute, its name and character derived from the Roman's family, still has its shorts twisted up about Greece. La plus ça change . .

Aside from avoiding pesky enumerators, we willingly submit our farm data because the Census is used by government agencies and advocacy organizations to shape agricultural policy. If small market farms such as ours under-report, we lose visibility and a place at the table in policy debates. It takes a few hours to assemble the information and fill out the form. For highly diversified farms such as ours, it is a daunting task easy to put off until the very last minute.

Filling out the 24-page form is also frustrating because the structure of the questions reflects commodity farming where the production is sold as just so many widgets grown and harvested in standard units. Everything is reported in acres, whereas we measure our plantings in row feet or trees planted. For example, we planted 20,000 row feet of corn, and have no idea how many acres that is. Grains are reported in bushels, and legumes in hundred-weights harvested. The list of crops mirrors a suburban Safeway, not a vibrant urban market. With 72 different crops, tracking their individual yields is an utter waste of time; what is important is the picture that emerges from the mosaic, and the bank balance on the 31st of December. In many cases, we can back-out the numbers, others are wild guesses, and how on earth do you report frikeh?

There are signs of progress. For example, the national census now includes questions about organic certification, community supported agriculture (CSA) and farmers' markets. Nonetheless, the data garnered from those questions will give only a rough idea of how farming is changing. The balance of questions are grounded in the past, and will not provide a good sense of how agriculture is changing.

The USDA also manages field offices at the state level. As a matter of principle, we refuse to participate in those surveys that do not include the question of whether or not the crop is certified organic. Before the National Organic Program (NOP) was implemented, we were sampled in a detailed survey assessing chemical use on fruit crops. Press releases accompanying the survey's results lauded a drop in chemical usage on fruits as though farmers were using fewer chemicals across the board. Knowing that our organic farm was part of a small sample that drove that conclusion stuck in our craw. When we complained, we were told there was no generally accepted definition of organic so they couldn't collect that information.

In 2006, four years after NOP adoption, we were again included in the sample of the chemical use survey. Even though there were now legally binding national standards of what constitutes organic farming, the survey still did not collect that information, so we sent a letter explaining our refusal to answer. The director wrote back stating that it wasn't important to the survey on chemical usage to separate out farms that "have non-traditional production practices." The letter chided us for not participating and noted that "we will use computer models to estimate your information." A textbook case of bureaucratic insouciance. With a well-practiced script, we still carefully explain the enumerators who visit or call why we refuse to participate. Amazingly, a survey of Oregon farms issued in December 2012, a decade after the NOP adoption, still collects no information about the organic certification of the state's crops. It sits, untouched, on the desk.

Agricultural statistics are mired in the late 20th century industrial model of agriculture. The practices and marketing the USDA quaintly considers "non-traditional" are as old as agriculture itself. Heck, we still heed Cato's advice on a wide range of farm practices, even though his politics were obnoxious. With time, fresh ideas will creep into the census, but it is a slow process that needs some obdurate farmers to nudge it along.

See you all Sunday,

Anthony & Carol Boutard
Ayers Creek Farm

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter February 3 2013 Market

We are taking a moment off from filling out the 2012 Census of Agriculture to fill up the van for Sunday's Hillsdale Farmers' Market. We expect the market will start around 10:00 AM because it always does. Ho hum.

For Saturday, the 9th of February, Anna Stulz of Slow Food Portland together with Friends of Family Farmers has put together an evening at the Vintage Design Collective (7126 SE Milwaukie) centered on corn and wine. We will be joined by our good friends Kathryn LaSusa Yeomans and Mark Doxstader, who will cook up some corn treats, and Shari Sirkin of Dancing Goat Farm will enhance the evening with their vegetables. Arcane Cellars will be pouring wine for tasting. It will be a fun evening. Here is a link to the details:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/my-portland/2013/02/slow_food_portland_event_satur.html

Earlier the same day, we will be at Pastaworks, 3735 SE Hawthorne Blvd, from 3:00 to 5:00 for a Beautiful Corn event co-hosted by Powell Books. A busy day.

Here is what we will bring tomorrow:

Cornmeal: Amish Butter and Roy's Calais Flint
Acres USA is a national magazine for farmers dedicated to "eco-agriculture." The term encompasses organic, biodynamic and permaculture. This month featured an interview with Anthony and it has been interesting fielding the calls from kindred spirits in the corn world. They are scattered across the country, working with traditional varieties similar to ours. We are at the cusp of a re-localization of this wonderful grain. It is also encouraging to hear how our gentle approach to managing the land resonates with other growers.

On Monday, we gave a tour to 170 members of the North American Raspberry and Blackberry Association. They were a more skeptical audience, though over the years we have made a modicum progress with people at Oregon State. Nonetheless, they still regard Chesters as an unattractive and unpleasant fruit, and remain mystified that we are able to sell them. The problem is that they push their Chester for high yields as opposed to limiting the fruit and drawing our the best flavor. Funny how people understand the idea of limiting fruit load in wine grapes but reject the notion in berries. The same principle hold for corn as well where high yields and high quality are mutually exclusive outcomes.

Popcorn: Amish Butter.

Pulses: Dry beans and chick peas.

Cayenne Peppers: whole dried.

Winter Squash

Greens: various and chicories.
Treviso types, with their beautiful arching leaves and unsurpassed flavor. Also, some of the Catalogna types with their long green leaves bearing a crisp center rib. If you cut them lengthwise in linguini-sized strips and plunge the strips into ice water, they curl up corkscrew fashion. Dress with lemon juice, olive oil with a couple of anchovy fillets mashed into the mix.

Preserves: The tart cherry is now labeled and we will have it tomorrow.

Sweet Underground: horseradish, lots of beets, spuds, daikon, sweet potatoes, parsnips.

No more dithering, otherwise the van won't get filled.

Our best,

Carol and Anthony Boutard
Ayers Creek Farm

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter January 20 2013 Market

The van will be redolent with the fragrance of roots and leeks as we crawl over Bald peak on our way to the Hillsdale Farmers' Market this Sunday. We have the able assistance of Sam O'Keefe, a family friend who will make sure we are ready when the old cowbell tolls at 10:00 AM.

Monday, we will give a presentation before a joint meeting of the Avid Gardeners and the Willamette Farm and Food Coalition. It is open to the public and will take place at the Garden Club at 1645 High Street in Eugene. We will be sharing our thoughts on growing fruits and vegetables at the 45th parallel, replete with various digressions. The meeting starts at 6:30. Please stop by if you are in the neighborhood.

Here is what we will bring to the market:

Cornmeal and Popcorn  

Pumpkin Seed Project, Year 3:

Three years ago, we planted a row of naked pumpkin seeds as a trial. The hulless or naked pumpkin seed originated in Styria, a region of Austria. Pumpkin seeds are roasted and pressed for their oil, a characteristic food of the region. In the late 19th century, an observant Styrian farmer found a pumpkin where the tough hull was reduced to papery covering. Apparently, Austria is not considered a sexy land of origin in the seed catalogue land, so some seed companies list them as unique Japanese pumpkins. Echos of calling prunes from Germany "Italian Prunes."

The mice quickly volunteered as tasters, eating every last seed and leaving naught but a hole. Obviously, the mice had decided pumpkin seeds were tasty, so we hastily set out a few more as seedlings and harvested six or seven fruits. Upon harvest, we agreed that mice have a good palate.

We repeated the trial in 2011 and discovered the seed companies have done a poor job of managing the seed. Most of the fruits had various undesirable characteristics, including a tendency to have tough, split or bitter seeds. More than half the pumpkins had to be discarded, their seeds inedible. Bulk naked pumpkin seed costs about $80 per pound - more in the 1/4 pound lots we usually buy - and should produce a reliable crop. Unfortunately, we are encountering similar seed quality problems for other crops.

Last spring we ordered seed from several sources and picked through thousands of seeds, finding just 100 with the characteristics we wanted, discarding the rest. Cost was about $1.00 per seed, plus labor. We planted them and all but two of the plants produced good seeds. Ten of the pumpkins yielded beautiful plump, dark seeds easy to separate from the fruit pulp. We have reserved these for this year's planting. When we harvest the pumpkins in the autumn, we will again carefully select the fruits for seed.

Our goal is to produce a pumpkin that produces flavorful, high quality seeds that are easily removed by hand from the fruit's cavity. It will take a couple more years before we iron out all of the genetic kinks, but we are making progress. This year, we have the flavor nailed, even if the seed removal remained tedious.  These Austrian pumpkin seeds are delicious raw or roasted in a dry skillet until they pop. Wonderful addition to soups and salads. Supply is limited.

Pulses: Dry beans and chick peas.  

Cayenne Peppers: whole dried.

Winter Squash  

Greens: leeks, chicories and mustard/turnip/radish greens.

Preserves:  Full complement, including some gift boxes. We are waiting for the cherry preserve labels. We will have them by the next market.

Sweet Underground: horseradish, lots of beets, spuds, daikon, knob celery, sweet potatoes, parsnips.  

Colwell's Marriott Krensuppe

There is not much horseradish lobby, so its wonderful health benefits are barely explored and publicized. For example, digging it offers wonderful cardiovascular stimulation. In addition, it is clearly an aphrodisiac as we love putting it on all manner of foods. Linda Colwell, who shares our affection for this mulish root and helps us dig it for the farmers’ market, recreated two krensuppe recipes from lasting memories of a soup we enjoyed years ago.

A strike at Charles DeGaulle Airport had thrown the European airline schedules out the window, necessitating a layover in Frankfort, Germany. We were given a room in a Marriott Hotel miles from anywhere and quite late in the evening. The dining room did not look promising at first, but reading the menu we relaxed. The fare was simple German cooking using local ingredients. Among the soups offered was krensuppe. It was actually two soups; a red and a white soup served in the same bowl.

Although they can be served on their own, the red and the white versions together in a soup bowl make a striking visual display and, with the shared horseradish, harmonize wonderfully on the palate. The colors, by coincidence, are those of the Austrian flag, and horseradish soups are part of Austrian cuisine. Served hot or cold, they provide good vegetarian fare. The third version is from an old Romanian cookbook of Linda's. It uses beef stock, roux, and a very generous quantity of horseradish. The grated root is cooked with the flour, softening its flavor in the soup; the flavor is peppery and mellow.
 
Red and White Horseradish Soup
 
to make the horseradish and potato soup
 
30 gr (1 ounce) butter
½ medium onion, diced
600 gr (20 ounces) potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 liter (6 cups) water
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons, more or less, freshly grated horseradish
 
In a large enameled pot, melt the butter and cook the onion in it over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, until the onion is translucent and soft but not brown. Add the potatoes, water, and salt. Simmer over low heat until the potatoes fall apart, then cool them to room temperature.
 
Purée the ingredients through the medium plate of a food mill. Bring the soup to a simmer, taste, season accordingly. Add freshly grated horseradish to taste.
 
to make the horseradish and beet soup
 
900 gr (2 pounds) beets
500 ml (3 cups) water
2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons, more or less, freshly grated horseradish
 
Cook the whole beets in their skins in heavily salted water until tender. When cool enough to handle, peel and cube them. Pass them through the medium plate of a food mill into a large enameled pot. Add the water, vinegar, and salt. Bring to a simmer, taste, and season accordingly. Add freshly grated horseradish to taste.
 
to serve the soups
Ladle the beet soup into one side of a shallow soup bowl and the potato soup into the other side, so the soups meet in a line down the middle. Serves 6.
 
Horseradish Broth Soup
 
30 gr (1 ounce) butter
200 gr (2 cups grated) horseradish
30 gr (2 tablespoons) flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 liter (6 cups) beef broth, heated to a simmer
120 ml (½ cup) heavy cream
bread and butter for croûtons
 
In an enameled cast-iron pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the horseradish, and cook until wilted and soft, about 4 minutes. Add the flour and salt and cook thoroughly without browning. Add the hot broth slowly, whisking to prevent lumps. Simmer 10 minutes. Add the heavy cream, taste, and season accordingly. Serve hot with croûtons — cubes or slices of bread fried in butter or fat until they are golden brown and crisp — prepared at the last minute so they sizzle as they are scattered on the soup. Serves 4.

Cheers, see you all Sunday

Carol & Anthony

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter January 6 2013 Market

Sakes alive, that was a short break! At least the days are getting longer.

We will scrape the frost off the van and navigate our way over Bald Peak this Sunday morning, setting up in time for the opening of the first Hillsdale Farmers' Market of AD 2013. Business starts at 10:00 AM sharp, or a bit earlier if someone's phone chime perfectly resembles Molloy's market bell. When it is cold and windy, it actually takes a little less than perfection to convince us that the ringing in our ears is a cow bell.

At this month's Friends of Family Farmers InFarmation(link), forest owner Peter Hayes and wine-maker Rudy Marchesi will join Anthony in a conversation about the way the Tualatin River links our efforts and lives. Montinore Vineyard, Hyla Woods and Ayers Creek Farm are located along the headwaters of the river. Peter and Pam Hayes started this conversation with us five years ago, later Rudy joined in, and we hope the audience will participate in the conversation as we progress. Bit experimental, but with a good brew in hand what can go wrong?

InFarmation starts at 5:30 at the Holocene Brewery, 1001 SE Morrison, with the program getting under way around 6:30. It is free, good fun and a convivial introduction to an organization working to improve the state's policies regarding family farms. Oh yes, you can join us in a good glass of beer to keep the evening cheerful. Their website is: http://www.friendsoffamilyfarmers.org

Thursday afternoon, Anthony will teach a class at the Native Seeds / SEARCH Grain School in Tucson. Native Seed / SEARCH is non-profit that promotes seed conservation. In the evening, from 6:00 - 8:00, there will be an open house at the organization's Conservation Center, where he will talk about corn, the book, and maybe why his favorite Goldberg Variation is #30, the Quodlibet, or why a good log collection makes the farmer. If you have friends in the Tucson area, they are welcome to visit with Anthony. Here is the link: http://www.nativeseeds.org/index.php/events/other-events/164-beautiful-corn

Here is what we will have on Sunday:

The Calendar: As an expression of our gratitude to all of you who brave the elements on Sunday mornings, we have published a simple farm calendar for several years. We will have a stack of them for the coming year at this week's market. Tad tardy but with cause. All of the photos are taken at the farm by us during the month they appear. A bit of rigor unobserved by most calendar makers. If there is a theme to this year's calendar, it is a nod to the creatures who labor with us at the farm. Central to our farming philosophy is the idea that the unpriced bounty of the land is just as important as the fruits and vegetables we sell. We have even found a shapely bunny for the centerfold. Please be sure to grab one as they are only useful on your wall, perhaps an extra for your kid's dorm room.

Cornmeal: Roy's Calais Flint and Amish Butter. We will also have some whole kernels of the flint and blue corn with slack lime available for hominy.

Popcorn

Pulses: Dry beans and chick peas.

Cayenne Peppers: whole dried.

Sweet Underground: horseradish, beets, spuds, daikon, knob celery, sweet potatoes, parsnips, and the tail end of the Hamburg parsley and black radish.

Winter Squash: A good year for the squash.

Greens: leeks, chard, chicories and fava greens.

Preserves: Full complement, including some gift boxes. The Ayers Creek gift box deftly resolves that awkward exchange when you show up for dinner, and your host is uncertain whether to open that $20 bottle of wine you brought as a gift. For the same price, you can bring an attractive package with a jar of raspberry, loganberry, boysenberry and greengage. Your hosts will remember that evening over many breakfasts. As they scrape out the last bit of green gage plum, they may even think about inviting you over again.

Cheers, see you all Sunday

Carol & Anthony
The Boutards of Gaston & Ayers Creek

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter 16 December 2012

For the fourth market in a row, we are expecting some sogginess at the Hillsdale farmers Market. Soggy or not, the market bell rings around 10:00 am.

Here is what we are bringing to Hillsdale, more or less:

Cornmeal: Roy's Calais Flint and Amish Butter. We will also have some whole kernels of the flint and blue corn with slack lime available for hominy.  

Popcorn: Last Friday, we tried popping some and it was still tough. One week later, the kernels pop to a beautiful, billowy flake. Reason enough pull on the boots and raincoat.

Pulses: Dry beans and chick peas. Full complement.  

Cayenne Peppers: whole dried.

Horseradish, beets, spuds, knob celery, gobo, sweet potatoes:  At Ayers Creek, it was a crappy year for most roots, especially the sweet potatoes. They will be small, and in short supply.

Winter Squash: A good year for the squash.  

Greens: Fennel, chicories and fava greens.

Apples: some sort of russet.

Preserves:  Full complement, including the gift boxes. These are attractively packed with a jar of raspberry, loganberry, boysenberry and gage at $20 each.

The last two weeks we have been occupied with myriad tasks, including making the preserves. Happy to say, everything went smoothly. Paul Fuller and his staff at Sweet Creek Foods are fun to work with. Making preserves for a single fruit type with no added pectin at a commercial scale is a challenge. It takes us about thirty hours to make the preserves – three ten-hour days – in two gallon batches. Adding pectin would cut the processing time to a short day, but the added pectin also dulls the flavor of the fruit.

Every fruit has it year, and this is the year of the raspberry and plums. With the raspberry, we started cooking it to 221° and it set up very firm because there is large amount of pectin in this year's fruit. We decided to ease off and run it up to 220°, and it still jelled beautifully. Consequently, there is a bit of variation in the set between the jars. We will have four plum jams: gage, Italian prune, Pozegaca prune and damson. And Robin, we did a better job of chopping up the skins of Pozegaca. We have gooseberry and jostaberry as well. After the New Year, we will have some tart cherry preserves, this year's experiment.

Carol and Anthony Boutard
Ayers Creek Farm

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter December 2 2012

We will set up the stall at Hillsdale this Sunday. Listen for the market bell around 10:00 am.

Briefly, here is what we are bringing to Hillsdale, more or less:

Cornmeal: Roy's Calais Flint and Amish Butter. We will also have some whole kernels of the flint with slack lime available for hominy. We will also have some blue and purple flour corn for hominy as well. Different, but equally delicious and a bit more tender than the flint corn.

Pulses: Dry beans and chick peas. Full complement.  

Cayenne Peppers: whole dried.

Garlic: Near the end, alas.

Horseradish, spuds, black radish, Hamburg parsley, knob celery, yacón, gobo

Winter Squash  

Greens: Cress and rocket, chard. Fennel as well.

Preserves: Still a limited selection. We start making preserves this coming week.

Apples: Ashmead's Kernel and Orleans Reinette.

Carol and Anthony Boutard
Ayers Creek Farm

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter 18 November 2012

10am Sunday morningWe will set up the stall at Hillsdale this Sunday, perhaps with a couple of additional generations on hand to help. The market bell tolls at 10:00 am.

This newsletter often has a brief essay appended to it. Quickly written without a great deal of attention to grammar, we treat them as personal and ephemeral notes from the farm. Nonetheless, some have the potential to be reworked into something more substantial. The current issue of Art of Eating (link) has a reworked and extended version of last January's "Vegetables of Vinegar & Salt" as a book review. If the reception is kind, perhaps the publisher will accept other essays. Don't worry, even if he gets a lot of negative responses and vows never to publish another Boutard essay, we will still pound out these newsletters just to enjoy the Sunday morning banter they generate. If you are curious and not a subscriber, Pastaworks, among other places, carries the magazine.

Here is what we are bringing to Hillsdale:

Cornmeal: Roy's Calais Flint and Amish Butter. We will also have some whole kernels of the flint with slack lime available for hominy.

Pulses: Dry beans and chick peas. Full complement. This week we will remember the Soldier beans. There is a reason we still toss and turn Saturday night; there is always something we will forget.

Cayenne Peppers: whole dried.

Garlics and Shallot: Soft necks and the grey shallot.

Horseradish: The Bohemian parmesan. In German, horseradish is meerrettish, meaning "sea radish." It originated along the Baltic Sea coast. This year we decided to side dress it with a heavy dose of sea salt, more than 150 pounds in the 400 foot row, in hopes of coaxing a bit more flavor from the root. Through the 19th century sea salt was treated as an important soil additive. With the advent of synthetic fertilizers, its use stopped because of the risk of over-salting the ground. With organic farming methods, this is not an big issue, and certainly not in rainy climate such as Oregon. As we dug the roots last week, we noticed that plants sent of a mat of fine roots along the area where we banded the salt. The plants were clearly seeking out the salt and, in terms of flavor, we are very happy they found it.

Spuds, black radish, carrots, Hamburg parsley, knob celery, yacón

Winter Squash

EndiveGreens: Endive, escarole, cress and rocket. Fennel as well.

Preserves: Still a limited selection.

Apples: Leather coats. Likely Ashmead's Kernel and Reinette Gris.

____________________________________________

The Visitors

One chilly January morning a few years ago, we watched a young mink splashing about in the stream at the base of the canyon for an hour or two. In the winter, the young disperse and find their own digs, and this one was passing through on its way to a new territory. In recent years, we have noted several road killed minks, perhaps indicating an increase in their population. On the south border, our neighbor watched a young cougar bounding about in the grass seed field on an early autumn morning, another offspring of predators looking for new home range.

On occasion, we have watched pileated woodpeckers working some of our snags, but they are soon chased away by the acorn woodpeckers, earlier visitors who chose to stay and are intolerant of any other woodworking birds. Their behavior changes when goshawks and coopers hawks pass through, using the residents of the oaks as a quick snack on the way to other places. The woodpeckers stay close to the trunks and communicate the location of the hawk in quiet, urgent calls. This September, a coopers hawk caught a flicker unawares, and we have photo of it with a lifeless flicker, beak agape, in its talons. The scene was as dramatic as any captured by Audubon but too gruesome for a full month, so it won't appear in the calendar.

Some visitors pass through without us seeing them. The depressions made by hooves in soft soil tell us that a stag or bull elk passed through while we were sleeping. The bones and sinew of a deer's hind leg was found on the low ground, betraying another drama missed by us.

Our farm is part of a bridge, or maybe a set of stepping stones is more apt, between the Coast Range and the Tualatin Ridge dominated by Bald Peak. Ecologists call these areas "wildlife corridors." Our approach to farming, with its rough fields and perennial crops, has enhanced the quality of the connection, providing creatures cover in their transit. It doesn't hurt that we provide a lot of great nesting habitat as well, thus having a few flickers to spare for the hawks.

Peter and Pam Hayes of Hyla Woods share our affection for the natural components of the landscape. We have batted about the idea of a collaborative effort to link the farm and forest lands of the area. Working with Faye Yoshihara from the Food Front Cooperative board, Peter and Pam have proposed a loose collaboration called "Tualatin Headwaters: Producers in Partnership." The idea is to put together a gift package of Hyla Forest maple cutting boards, preserves from Ayers Creek and wine from Montinore Estate Vineyard. This will be the first step of a work in progress.

We have a lot to figure out, but we are drawn to the project because we understand some our visitors were raised in forests flanking Mount Richmond that are carefully managed by the Hayes family. Maybe the coopers hawk we saw here nested on Mount Richmond and passed through the Marchesi family's vineyard feasting on a few robins or starlings. Anyway, we are part of Portland's backyard, and the waters from our lands flow through the city, so it will be fun open up a discussion about the connection we have with each other and the city.

We will see you all Sunday,

The Boutards of Gaston
& Ayers Creek Farm

Ayers Creek Farm Newsletter November 11 2012

This Sunday will mark the 200th time we have set up our tent at the Hillsdale Farmers' Market, and the 200th time we have sent out a newsletter announcing our presence there. Thee newsletter started as a simple invitation to friends and fellow activists telling them about the new market in Hillsdale and what we hoped to bring, and it evolved from there.  Even with this many performances, we still suffer from the vendors' version of stage fright the night before market, fretting that we might forget something, oversleep, run out of change, or nobody will come because of some much more important event. Around 3:00 am we start waiting for the 5:00 alarm. By 10:00 when the bell rings we are pulled together enough to start the day, and our stage fright dissipates.  

We have wanted to schedule a field day during the autumn harvest, but the timing is difficult because of the mountain of tasks we face in October and November. As good substitute, Cooking Up A Story has a couple of videos filmed at Ayers Creek as part of their food•farmer•earth series:  http://cookingupastory.com/  The series is put together by Rebecca and Fred Gerendasy, assisted by Kathleen Bauer of GoodStuffNW, and covers many interesting subjects. Hillsdale's market chef and pop-up restaurant star, Kathryn LaSusa Yeomans, is also featured. If you subscribe to the series, you will be sure to see Kathryn's upcoming rutabaga and ginger soup episode.

So, for the 200th time (hope this is not getting tedious for you) here is what we are bringing to Hillsdale:

Cornmeal: Roy's Calais Flint and Amish Butter. As usual, we will also have some whole kernels of the flint with slack lime available for hominy.

Pulses: dry garden beans (see below) and chick peas.

Cayenne Peppers: whole dried.

We have Joe's Long and Aci Sivri. These two cayennes are large for the type and fall into the mildly to medium hot when the seeds and ribs are removed. The heat is very pleasant, allowing you to enjoy the excellent flavor. They are substantially hotter when used whole. Interestingly, the heat of these peppers lingers pleasantly in the cheeks and neck for a long time. Aci Sivri is a Turkish pepper that has been grown in the valley for at least the two decades and is well-adapted to this climate. Joe's Long was cultivated Joe Sestino of Troy, New York, and is of Italian origin, and also well adapted.

This year, we have two small cayennes as well. They are much hotter; the heat is sharp and up front in the mouth, and the forehead. These are the traditional peperoncini of Calabria and Campania. As often happens, the cultivators are of differing opinions regarding regarding the subtle differences in flavor. Our now classic debate between the lump them into a landrace (Anthony) and split them into distinct varieties (Carol) points of view.

Garlics and Shallot: We will have our population of hard necks (lumper prevails) and the grey shallot. We will also have some onions.

Horseradish: The Bohemian parmesan. Freshly gated, this precious improves all manner of dishes from soup to salad. And for the very best Bloody Mary or Bull Shot, only freshly gated horseradish will do, so why be disappointed.

Potatoes aka spuds

Winter Squash: Return of the big ones. Musqueé is the classic market squash with dark orange flesh found through Europe, and sometimes exceeds 40 pounds per fruit. Sibley is a lighter, slightly citrusy, banana-type squash that was formerly grown extensively in the western United States as a processing squash, but has been supplanted by the heavy flavored and higher yielding Kabocha types.

Greens: Endive, escarole and rocket. The first of the chicories to develop are endive and escarole. They have the crisp texture of lettuce and are excellent as a salad green. They are also a good olera, or cooking green. In New England where there are many Portuguese fishing communities south of Boston, Progresso soup markets a canned chicken and escarole soup. Rocket is an excellent soup green, as well as adding a pungent snap to salads.

Preserves: Still a limited selection until we make our annual pilgrimage to Sweet Creek Foods. Logistics have delayed our processing this year. If you scroll down a bit, the food•farmer•earth series has two videos of Sweet Creek Foods and its beloved glassery master Paul Fuller. You will see why we cherish our preserve making days in Elmira.

Almost forgot,

Apples: Cox's Orange Pippin and some leather coats. Not just certified organic, but also naturally certified, so you be sharing it with another creature. Don't worry, arthropods have a modest appetite and these are very old varieties, so you will have the same experience as Will Shakespeare, Thos. Jefferson, Jane Austin, Louisa May Alcott or Samuel Pepys when they ate these apples. Few growers are nervy enough to make that claim  .  .  . If it doesn't sound appealing, go eat a 'Pink Lady' or 'Honeycrisp' because we will eat any that are leftover, the food for great ideas.
___________________________________________

Our Bean Primer

Dried legumes have a relatively short life. Typically, after two years, chickpeas and garden beans become stale and eventually they may not even soften up no matter how much they are cooked. They are in their prime for six months after harvest, and good for a year. The bean is a seed and the two halves within the seed coat are storage leaves bridged by a stalk supporting the root and shoot which will grow into the plant. The cotyledons store a mixture of carbohydrates (long chains of sugar molecules) and proteins (long chains of amino acids) that were originally formed in special seed tissue called the endosperm. In grains, the endosperm is retained, but in legumes and many other plants, it is entirely absorbed into the cotyledons. This repackaging of these long molecules apparently makes them vulnerable to tangling, sort of like the way that elastic bands, string and paper clips left in a drawer will eventually form a knotted mass. As the carbohydrates and proteins get tangled up they become harder and then impossible to separate into digestible units by heat or enzymatic action. This repackaging problem is probably why beans have a shorter shelf life than grains.

We always soak our legumes overnight or a bit longer. As the seed draws in water, enzymes are released which start to chop apart its proteins and carbohydrates into smaller units. In our experience, allowing the seed's natural enzymes to start the process yields a sweeter and smoother cooked bean. The next day, we drain off the soaking water. Seeds must germinate in a relatively hostile environment. To fend off hungry invertebrates, fungi and bacteria, they release nasty compounds that make life unpleasant for these creatures and us. There is a myth that the soaking water contains valuable nutrients; taste it and decide for yourselves. We dump the water, rinse the beans and start cooking them in fresh water.

Beans cook best in a nearly neutral pH, which makes water the best cooking medium. In some areas, it is customary to add a pinch of "soda" to raise the pH of  the water. Acidic ingredients such as tomatoes should be added after the beans are cooked. Some people believe salt impedes the cooking of beans. Whether or not this is true, we always salt our beans after cooking. Judy Rodgers' advice in the Zuni Café Cookbook is to salt the cooking liquid to taste after the beans are done and let them rest. This works well for us.

Finally, the cooking liquid of all of our beans is really delicious and, if the recipe calls for draining the cooked beans, retain the liquid for some other recipe or enjoy it as you would a cup of stock.

The Bean Roster

We sell both pole and bush beans. The pole beans (Borlotto, Tarbais, Black Basque) cost more to grow because they must be trellised, so we package them in 3/4 pound packages. Bush types come in 1-pound packages. Over the last decade, we brought more than 50 types to the market. We have settled on this group of ten which provides a manageable level of diversity and includes our favorites.

Borlotto Lamon: This is a classic Italian pole bean from the Veneto. Traditionally used for la jota. The flavor is nutty with a very fine, silky texture, our choice for a desert island bean. Several years ago, a virus brought in by some seeds purchased for a different variety destroyed our crop. We bought new seed but it had declined in quality; the beans were highly variable, with about 90% off-type, and ripened over a five week period. As there is no substitute for the variety, we have spent the last three years reselecting the crop in order to improve its quality. We have invested well over $2,000 in the effort, and we are very pleased with the result.

Tarbais: A flat, white pole bean traditionally used for cassoulet. Also great with kale and cabbage dishes.

Black Basque: A black pole bean from northern Spain. It is a slightly sweet bean with a delicate flavor. Unlike other black beans, it is best prepared with a light hand on the seasonings, and served simply in its own broth with some good bread.

Zolfino: A white bush bean with a yellowish cast. Like the previous bean, go easy on the seasoning, just a sprig or sage or rosemary is enough. We add a splash of vinegar and olive oil before serving.

Purgatorio: A small white bean traditionally served with fish. We have it courtesy of our sister-in-law, Shirin. Many years ago, we had dinner at Al Covo, a restaurant that specializes in fish, and the person serving us noted that she was from Texas and wanted to know where we lived and what we did. We introduced ourselves as bean farmers from Oregon. A few minutes later her husband, Cesare Benelli, came out and told us how much he loved beans. The chef then turn serious and told us that we should grow the bean from Gradoli, as it is the best bean for serving with fish. He checked in the kitchen, but had run out of the beans. A few months later, Shirin sent us a box with several types of beans, including 'purgatorio', the bean of Gradoli. This week, we enjoyed them as a soup in their own broth with some Oregon bay shrimp sauteed with a bit of cumin and lots of freshly ground cayenne.

Black Turtle: The standard black bean for Cuban and Mexican dishes. Holds it own in the company of strong seasonings and whatever else you fling at it.

Dutch Bullet: A golden round bean with a red eye. Good for soup, perhaps with some escarole added. The late Dutch plant breeder, Kees Sahin, recommended  that we grow these beans as they are a favorite in Holland. Our firend, Alice Doyle of Log House Plants, brought Kees to the farm and we spent a whole evening tasting and talking about beans and other vegetables. By coincidence, our neighbors grew several acres 'Bull's Blood' beet for seed this year which is one of Kees's varieties.  

Vermont Cranberry: A red kidney bean with dark streaks. Use as you would other red kidney beans. The common name is a misnomer as cranberry beans are round and red like the fruit. This type of bean used to be called a horticultural bean, and is very similar to the old 'Boston Favorite' bean, and it will be perfect for baked beans.

Soldier: A white kidney bean from Northern New England. Similar to the other white kidney beans, the cannellino and lingot. Good for soups and other dishes that call for navy beans or white kidney beans.

Flageolet: A small, greenish bean traditionally served with lamb. It is also good in a gratin. It is named after a small wind instrument related to the recorder, a reference to its long, delicate pod.

That's it.

We will see you all Sunday,

Carol and Anthony Boutard
Ayers Creek Farm

Kookoolan Farms Update October 21 2012 Market

This week we will have:
FRESH or FROZEN 4-pack of jumbo pastured chickens, $3.67/lb, about $100 each, very limited, can also order for Nov 4th market.
FRESH pasture-raised ducks, $4.99/lb, about $25 each
FRESH Single hand-raised rabbits, $8/lb, about $20 each
FROZEN stew hens, just a few, $5.25/lb, about $15 each
Eggs from pasture-raised hens, $6/doz
Kombucha tea:  $4/22-oz bottle; $3/12-oz bottle; 10% case discount available
 
November 4th market will be the LAST chance to get chickens, ducks and rabbits.  Kookoolan Farms pasture-raises poultry only April through October each year.  After November 4th the only place to get Kookoolan Farms chickens this winter will be out of your own freezer!
 
We have fewer than 20 unreserved pasture-raised, Bourbon Red heritage breed turkeys for Thanksgiving still available.  Hens are $7/lb (about $70); toms are $6/lb (about $100), Nov 18 market pickup only.
 
Can also reserve beef as little as 1/8th carcass, or ½ pasture-raised pork.  Lambs are end of season.  “Pampered pigs” are end of season.
 
Chrissie Manion Zaerpoor
KOOKOOLAN FARMS
www.kookoolanfarms.com
15713 Highway 47
Yamhill, OR  97148
(503) 730-7535