We Have a New Home!

Visit our new location. 

Although we are still in the process of decorating the new digs, that's where all new posts are being published. All old posts have also been copied to the new site.  Come see them in their new home!

Upcoming posts on the new site will feature some book reviews, improved references and directories to help you find great farms, markets and other sources of great food grown in the Great Lakes region. Hope to see you over there!

Leave My Michigan Fruit Alooone!!

I hate to whine like a Britney fan, but Muskegon Critic's post in Daily Kos the other day scared me with its headline.   Turns out the post is mostly an explanation of the unique climate and growing conditions which enable a big chunk of western Michigan to produce such fine fruit crops. The only scary parts are when it's pointed out how little climate change it would take to screw these conditions up. That would be catatastrophic for many reasons. I've written in previous posts about the great farmers markets I have the opportunity to shop at around Chicago that are jammed with growers from Michigan. Below are two typical stalls, from a recent market in Northfield, IL, with growers from Coloma, MI.

These fruit crops are about the only bright spot in Michigan's economy right now. They must be protected at nearly any cost. That's why I was encouraged to see this post about the EPA blocking (albeit temporarily) the efforts of a big BP refinery just upwind from Michigan's fruit belt to expand refining of Canadian Tar Sands Crude. The location of this refinery in East Chicago, IN, is part of a strip of Lake Michigan shore, stretching from the southern city limits of Chicago, around the bend of the shore, including the Gary steel mills and a little beyond to the east, which already sits in a permanent sulphurous, yellow haze from the heavy industry. When the wind blows out of the southwest, as it does frequently, it's a short trip across the lake to the orchards and vines of Michigan. Of course, the impact of these pollutants on people is and should be the driving priority behind efforts to curb the emissions, but sparing the fruit is a nice side benefit.

Eating Local is a Real Joy When You Find A Farm Like This ...

We continue to eat our way through Green Lake County, WI. Sunday we visited Boerson Farm, in the beautiful northwest area of the county, near where the White River joins the Fox. This farm is run by Danielle and Mat Boerson, using a full range of sustainable methods, including pasturing of pigs and chickens. One of the most exciting things about this farm is that they have a greenhouse in which they will be growing greens through most of the winter. That's a huge deal in the northern midwest.

Mat tending the vegetable field. Below, the sampler box of various vegetables Danielle put together for us, including kale, swiss chard, shallots, carrots, two types of winter squash, leeks, sweet potatoes, white and blue potatoes and cipollini onions. The Boersons were pretty well-stocked with pork, so we picked up a variety of cuts, including chops, back ribs, bacon, bratwurst patties and breakfast patties.

Above, the box of vegetables, and below one of the hogs raised by the Boersons. The hogs were temporarily in a large pen while the solar collector that powers the electric fence that encloses the pasture they normally live in is being repaired.

Photos shot by my wife.

Visits to Two Sustainable Farms near Green Lake, WI

As promised the other day, we visited two of the half dozen or so farms in Green Lake County, WI who practice some form of locally-focused farming, selling directly to the public. The first was 4M Bison Farm, run by the Mildebrandt family. As the name implies, they raise Bison for meat. They practice rotational pasture grazing, moving the animals from paddock to paddock to keep the pasture grasses growing. This was our first visit to this farm, and first sample of their products. I loaded up on various steaks, and have already had several--they are excellent. Below are seveal pics, courtesy of my wife.

Here one of the herd of 27, just creeping over a hilltop to investigate the strangers talking to Mrs. Mildebrandt (us, that is). The rest of the herd was just out of site over the hill.

Here is a random shot of some of the pasture land. Too far off to show up in this pic is a glimpse of Green Lake.

Less than 10 minutes away, our next stop was Honey Creek Farm. This farm is operated by Jim and Ginger Quick, also using rotational grazing, but in this case it is beef cattle and poultry. They also grow a dozen or more varieties of garlic, leeks and challots. They are sold out of beef this time of year, so we bought a chicken, some eggs and a bunch of garlic and shallots. This is our second visit in two weeks. We bought the same things last time, and have eaten all but some of the garlic. It's all amazing. The cattle were grazing in the woods behind the house when we were there this time.

There are at least four more farms that sell direct and practice some form of sustainable methods in this county, and I am determined to visit them all yet this year. For future posts...

Black Radishes? From the private stock of our favorite produce market.

We are spending the weekend in Green Lake, WI, where we have a small second house overlooking the beautiful lake. Whenever we are here, between May until Halloween, one of our favorite places to go is Soda's Farm Market, a small store located on the small farm operated by Tracy and Kimble Soda, on WI State Road 73. I've posted previously about Soda's legendary sweet corn in season, and rich assortment of other vegetables. They take tremendous pride in the quality of their produce, which is very evident when you peruse the table tops inside the store. Tracy in particular, who usually minds the store, also loves swapping recipes and stories involving unusual varieties of common vegetables--some newly developed, others long-forgotten varieties that a mother or grandmother remembers from many decades ago. These black radishes are a perfect example. Too unusual to even offer in the store, the Soda's grow them for themselves. But it was our good fortune to visit yesterday--Halloween--as Tracy was closing the store down until May. Since we are such frequent customers, she had set aside a bunch of these for us. We wasted no time incorporating them into the meal we prepared last night, which also involved various colors of peppers, baby lettuce, red potatoes, rutabagas, squash and onions that we also hauled out from Soda's. And the fridge is full of many bags of other produce that we will be working thru here, and when we head back to Chicago.

The black radishes are earthy, strong-flavored, just a bit hot and firm--and absolutely wonderful. We sliced them raw for our salad.

Before heading back, we hope to visit at least one local farm for pasture-raised meat, poultry and eggs. There are a half-dozen to choose from within 20 miles of where we are. Quite a local food paradise. I will post about where we end up visiting. Farewell Soda's Farm Market until next year--we will dearly miss you!

Farmers Markets Winding Down -- I go all purple and orange

Since I'm well-stocked with spinach, peppers, apples and squash, I filled in a few other things. I put a quarter in the shot above to show how small those sweet potatoes are. They're like fingerlings. And the grapes are my favorite of all grapes: concord. My grandmother had a huge concord vine in her yard when was growing up, and one of her favorite pies was concord grape. I bought this stuff at the farmers market in Northfield, IL, just north of Chicago. It was the last week of the year. There are several more around my area next week, then that's it.

The grapes and sweet potatoes are from southwest Michigan, the rest from growers just outside Chicago.

It's Easy, It's Plentiful, It's In Season, It's Local

It's Carnival Squash. A "winter squash" that seems piled up right now in every farmers market, produce department, even a few garden centers. I'm really getting into all kinds of squash this year, so I had to try a carnival. Like all squash, there are several ways to cook these. I picked the simplest. I simply cut it in half horizontally, scooped out the small amount of seeds/guts, sprinkled an improvised blend of cinnamon, smoky paprika and a spice mixture that I think has some allspice in it. I put a little butter in there (optional), put it in the oven at 375f for a little over an hour--I got distracted and left it in longer than planned. But, out it came:

Lot's of the recipes called for brown sugar, but I left that out. With the butter and those spices, it seems to have a natural sweetness. It's a great side dish. You can eat the baked flesh right out of the squash, or scoop it out. There are many ways to use the scooped out stuff in other recipes, just a google search away. Next up is acorn squash.

Getting Local Real Food is Hardest Where It's Needed Most

This may seem obvious, but many of the enlightened social progress "movements", such as energy conservation, green consumption and sustainable food production are, to the poorest of our population in depressed inner city neighborhoods, remote lifestyle choices and eccentric hobbies of rich people. Every aspect of our society, in particular the big infrastructure systems like economic development, transportation, healthcare, political representation, criminal justice, and the food system, are stacked against residents of these left behind urban areas.

Does that mean that nobody should even try to pursue progress in areas such as sustainable and more healthy food? Thankfully, some activists and organizers believe the answer is no. One Chicago Tribune article shows ways that people are trying to get affordable locally grown produce into inner city neighborhoods. These are very admirable efforts, particulary given the odds of fighting against what seems like the entire current of urban history of the last 40 years. I intend to learn more about these programs, first in Chicago, then other "great lakes" cities like Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo. I'll share everything I learn here on Great Lakes Real Food.

Sorry For Another Bummer Story, This Time Close to Home

Well yesterday it was contamination of bagged lettuce and spinach, today it's a fish-killing virus spreading in the Great Lakes. Not dangerous to people, but a big problem for the fish in the Great Lakes. It's a damn shame, because I would love to consider the fish that are catchable in the Great Lakes as an example of a local foragable food source, but between the toxins present, and their at-risk population, it's kind of depressing. Well, the weekend is coming and that means farmers markets, which always cheer me up. For the next two weeks anyway.

Scary Story About Diseases Borne by Bagged Greens

Story in today's Chi Tribune about new report showing that bagged "leafy greens" are a rising threat for food-borne diseases. Not really surprising given the spinach outbreak two years ago. And didn't most of us think that pre-washed, bagged and "ready-to-eat" greens were just too good to be true when they first started showing up in stores some years ago? The article, citing the report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, is worth reading, even if just as a reminder.

So what is the core problem? In my opinion, it's simply industrial agriculture. Mammoth farms in California, with absentee owners, aggregating produce from many dispersed fields, processed and packaged by complex machinery, then shipped thousands of miles away to the produce dept. of your big mega supermarket. Who knows where the "leafy greens" actually came from, whether they were vulnerable to livestock runoff or other contamination somewhere along their long odyssey to your fridge.

Solution? Buy your greens as much as possible from small farmers who grow it themselves. Is there still risk of runoff contamination? Of course, in any agricultural area, there is that danger, but if the grower is managing a relatively small field, and knows exactly where all the crops are grown and picked, then the chances of unknown contamination are far lower.

Here in the Great Lakes region, it's getting cold, but spinach can be grown well into late autumn.

I Love Farmers Markets!

But where I live (Chicago's north shore burbs) they will only be around thru the end of this month. I went to my two favorites this weekend, Northfield on Saturday, and Skokie today. The pics above are from Northfield. Notice the blueberries, very unusual in October.

All fruit is from southwest Michigan, about two hours away, vegetables from Illinois, hour or so away. Not looking forward to the markets being gone.

Autumn Winds Blast Great Lakes, Challenging Eat Local Efforts

Frost is on rooftops and lawns in the morning, and clouds of leaves are swirling out of gloomy gray skies from Duluth, MN to Rochester, NY and beyond. So while people on the West Coast, across the South, and pretty far up the Mid-Atlantic are continuing to peruse their bountiful farmers markets, things are different here in the North. Our ride on the "eat local" and "real food" bandwagon has turned overnight to a brisk hay ride through fields of dried corn stalks. How can we still enjoy produce that is grown and offered "locally" if the growing season is simply over?

There are three things that can help:

1. Expand the "local" perimeter to the south. Growing seasons are longer (and start sooner) the farther you go south. So, for instance, in the Chicago area, there will still be vegetables and some tree fruit coming up from the southern parts of Illinois, Indiana and from Missouri. Produce from these areas can still be found in farmers markets that run through October. But then what?

2. Start trying recipes for colder weather crops like squash, pumpkin, cabbage and brussels sprouts. There will be fewer places to buy these items, because most of the "folding table at the end of the farmer's driveway" type vendors will have put the table away until May or June, but the larger produce stores, and some co-ops will remain open until the dead of winter. I hope to compile an index of produce-oriented markets for the Great Lakes states, which of course I will post here.

3. Grow Your Own. The obvious choice for the most local food of all. Those who are experienced gardeners probably already know what to plant in mid-summer for fall harvest. But for everyone else, here is a concise two-page guide published by the University of Minnesota Extension that provides helpful tips on what to plant, and how to prep the soil. If it will grow in the cool autumn of Minnesota, it will grow nearly anywhere else across the Great Lakes region.

One more thing: like so many methods and practices that make up the "eat local" movement, what our grandmothers did can help us enjoy locally-grown fruits and vegetables from late autumn through late spring. Canning and preserving was simply part of life until the last few decades. Nearly everything harvested during the growing season can be preserved for eating later. This topic could be its own blog, but I will add articles and resources whenever I can to help first timers try their luck.

Farmers Market on Chicago's North Shore

Back home in north shore burbs of Chicago. Visited the farmers market in the Ravinia neighborhood of Highland Park. Nice little market, with two Michigan fruit growers, and three or four Illinois vegetable growers. Also, "The Cheese People", who sell various artisanal cheeses, one baker's stall, one olive and vinegar stall, and several other specialty food stalls. Mostly vendors I see at other area farmers markets.

I try to determine which fruit and vegetable vendors are actually farmers, and which are wholesalers, or some other form of seller who does not grow. One of the vendors at today's market, and several others at other markets seem like they go to a wholesale market and pick-up surplus. Next week I'll ask them.

I prefer to buy from the farmers/growers.

Still lots of red rasberries, blueberries, blackberries, pears, peaches, now apples coming on strong. It seems that the berries are available later than usual this year, but I'm not sure. I'll ask that next week also.

Here in the Great Lake region, we must enjoy these markets now, because after October, they disappear until June!

Two Great Places I Visited Yesterday

"Pastured" meat and eggs are becoming very popular nationwide, including here in Wisconsin where I've been staying lately. A couple simple google searches led me to Thundering Hoof Ranch, just north of Green Lake, WI. Run by a young couple, open a year or so, they are just getting started, but their cattle, sheep, hogs and chickens are clearly visible grazing in various paddocks across their land. Yesterday, they only had ground beef and eggs, so I purchased a couple dozen eggs, and several pounds of the beef. I scrambled some eggs for lunch, and just as pastured eggs should be, the yolks are dark orange, and whites thick and clear. And they taste great. This was my second visit here. I bought some porterhouse steaks last month, and they were also very tasty, although I left them on the grill just a minute or two too long.

The other place I visited was Soda's Farm Market, a small family-run store just a mile west of Green Lake' western shore, carrying mostly their own produce, supplemented by a few things that won't grow in this area. We go there almost every day when staying here. They're renowned in the area for their extraordinary sweet corn, but also have a huge variety of other vegetables, all freshly hand-picked. Many types of peppers and squashes, radishes from purple through many shades of red and pink, and also white. Many tomatoes, including heirloom varieties, and this time of year, three or four types of melons.

Two places that are small and very local. And the owners love to talk about what they produce, what's coming next week, next month, what didn't work out, recipes, etc. Compared to places like these, Whole Foods seems like Walmart. But back home in Chicago's north suburbs, I'm still trying to find anything like these places within a reasonable drive, with little success.

I forgot my camera, but next time I'll get some pics and include them.

Why Great Lakes?

I named this blog 'Great Lakes Real Food', because in addition to writing about food, I wanted to focus on a geographic area, specifically the region of the U.S. in which I live. Let me hasten to add that the 'Great Lakes' region also encompasses huge swaths of Canada, and I very much intend to include those areas in my explorations. So, geographically speaking, I am interested in learning about food that is grown, raised, caught, foraged, hunted, and minimally processed in small batches (canned, brewed, distilled, smoked, dried, etc.) in the huge area bounded on the west by the Duluth, MN and Thunder Bay, ONT area, all the way to the east end of Lake Ontario, and all land within a couple hundred miles of the shore of any of the five lakes.

This is a HUGE area, alot of which, especially on the Canadian side, I have never set eyes on. But it includes such great growing areas as Wisconsin, northern Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, southern Ontario, the vineyards, farms and ranches of western New York, including the beautiful Finger Lakes region.

So, combining my overly-broad definition of 'Real Food' with this huge area, what I want to do is discover, explore, sample, and when I feel like it, promote, places that anybody can travel to obtain real food, either directly from the producer, or from an outlet not far in time and distance from the producer. Where possible, I would like to meet the producer, see the fields or pastures or whatever.

My hope is that others who share my love of this huge region, as well as my interest in finding great food sources within it, will share any and all ideas they have. Until then, I'll be scratching around on my own and documenting as much as possible.

Now, I'm going out into the sunny, crisp September day to pick the few remaining apples on my tree in South Central Wisconsin, where I spend time when not in my Chicago area home.

What Do I Mean By Real Food?

Real food is picked from a vine, tree, stalk or other plant. Or it is milked or butchered from a naturally raised animal. Or it is caught wild from a natural body of water. Then whatever you do to prepare it for eating is done in small batches in your home kitchen. Or, for things like cheese, in small batches in a special prep area. I'm sure I've missed something, but that's what Real Food means to me. What does it mean to you?