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CT NOFA (the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut) was awarded over $73,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a program specifically for specialty crops in Connecticut. Titled “Winter Food: Growing, Storing, Marketing and Cooking Specialty Crops for the Cold Season”, this program will focus on increasing the availability, sales and consumption of locally-grown, organic and sustainable fruits, vegetables and herbs in the winter and on educating farmers in the best practices for growing, storing and marketing winter crops.

Numbers of winter CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture farms which sell shares) and winter farmers’ markets continue to increase in Connecticut. This growing market opportunity suggests that education for fruit and vegetable producers can help them expand their markets throughout the winter. Some growers have already created ways; including simple season extension tunnels, root cellars, minimal processing and proper storage locations. With the help of CT NOFA, farmers will learn about best practices, successful and exciting varieties and practical storage facilities that other farmers are using. This will enable them to extend their selling season. To achieve this goal, CT NOFA will reach over 60 Connecticut farms through three conferences and four on-farm workshops, with at least 15 farms creating new, or improving existing, systems for winter food specialty crops.

As interest in local and sustainable eating grows, CT NOFA also plans to educate consumers on the availability of specialty crops during the winter months. CT NOFA will promote Winter Food by distributing recipes and stories to encourage home storage and consumption of Connecticut-grown winter food. CT NOFA will create a Winter Food display for outreach events and press releases to highlight success stories. Additionally, the CT NOFA website (www.ctnofa.org), its e-newsletter Gleanings, online social media pages, and the annual CT NOFA Farm and Food Guide will all have sections dedicated to the Winter Food program. Through these efforts, CT NOFA will reach out to over 2,000 consumers in Connecticut each month.

CT NOFA will also be conducting a survey of Connecticut farmers to determine a baseline of which farms produce winter food and how they are successful in marketing it. If you are a farmer in Connecticut (conventional or organic) or would like to share the survey with someone, please visit the CT NOFA homepage to find the link for the “Winter Food Growers’ Survey”. Even though it may be winter, there are still plenty of great recipes for soups, stews, and other delicious meals using “winter foods”.

Here’s a recipe from the CT NOFA cookbook “Eating Well”, submitted by Heather Crawford.

Toasted Barley with Winter Veggies

2 T. Olive Oil

1 tsp. Dried Sage

1 ½ cups Pearl Barley

1 tsp. Thyme

1 med. Onion (diced)

1 pinch Saffron (optional)

1 cup Celery (sliced)

2 cups Vegetable Broth

1 cup Carrots (diced)

1 ½ cups Diced or Stewed Tomatoes

1 cup Parsnips (diced)

Roast veggies in oven at 450 for 10-15 minutes. Put oil in deep skillet over medium high heat. When hot, add barley and cook, stirring occasionally until barley is toasted to a light or medium brown (about 10 minutes). Place roasted veggies on top of barley and sprinkle with herbs and seasonings. Pour broth and tomatoes over the top all at once. Stir and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and cover. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all liquid is absorbed and the barley is tender. Barley should be moist but with no visible liquid.

Note: This is a vegan meal. Try it before you knock it – you may be surprised!

Whether you’re already a garlic fan or just learning to love this ancient yet beloved member of the allium family, this free workshop is for you. Drop in Fairfield Woods Branch Library anytime between 10 am and noon on Saturday, November 13,  and head downstairs to:

• Learn how to plant, maintain and harvest garlic from organic farmer Patti Popp of Sport Hill Farm and herb and vegetable expert Sal Gilbertie of Gilbertie’s Herb Gardens.
• Discover the many ways to cook garlic and how it benefits and protects our health from Health & Cooking Coach Amie Guyette Hall of From Your Inside Out.
• Purchase seed garlic to plant in your own backyard this fall. You’ll enjoy the scapes in June and mature garlic in the fall.

This event is organized and sponsored by the Fairfield Organic Teaching Farm and hosted by Fairfield Woods Branch Library. No registration is required and the event is free. All ages welcome.

Sal Gilbertie’s latest book, Small Plot High Yield Gardening, will be available for sale and signing.

Fairfield Woods Branch Library, 1147 Fairfield Woods Road, Fairfield, CT. 203-255-7307

Please call Pequot Library at 203-259-0346, ext. 18, for more information or to register.

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The Pequot Library presents Jamming & Canning for Everyone! with JoAnne Ling, A Green Initiative Program with the Fairfield  Organic Teaching Farm. Please call 203-259.0346, ext. 18 to register for this class where the whole family is welcome to learn how to preserve the season’s bounty. The class is free but there is a small materials fee.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Roger Ludlowe Middle School Garden Sass- Plant Sale

SATURDAY, MAY 22^ND, Fairfield, CT

FROM 10:00-2:00 RAIN OR SHINE

RLMS FRONT PARKING LOT 689 UNQUOWA ROAD

(IN THE EVENT OF RAIN RLMS GYM)

Heirloom Tomatoes and Vegetables, Annuals and PerenniaIs, Herbs, Fruit Trees & Ornamental Shrubs, Strawberries, Raspberries, Blueberries and Rhubarb will be available for purchase

FOOD, LIVE MUSIC, AND GARDEN SYMPOSIUM

Roger Ludlowe Middle School will be hosting their First Annual Garden Sass & Plant Sale next Saturday. A Garden Sass is a Yankee term for the home garden. Three farm vendors with ties to our community will be selling seedlings – Maple Row growers in Easton, Moorefield Herb Farm in Trumbull, and Daffodil Hill Growers in Southbury.

We will hold a Garden Symposium, provide live music and offer local fare to fortify our shoppers as they purchase the best of what Connecticut Growers have to offer. Goatboy Soap will supply gardeners with wonderful soaps to use before and after gardening.

Michelle Flashman and Amie Hall will give a tour of the RLMS Garden Square Foot Garden and answer questions. They will be selling seedlings they have grown themselves. The Operation Hope Community Garden will be also be selling vegetable seedlings and will be on hand to share the success of their garden.

CONTACT: Kate Carroll at tenlittlelines@yahoo.com

Ridgefield and Westport GVIs will be hosting an on-farm workshop (emphasis on the “work” part of workshop) for people interested in learning about organic soil care and the basics of organic garden management.  Participants will join Dina Brewster of The Hickories as she leads us through the steps involved in the readying of a spring garden plot. The Hickories is a certified organic farm under the Bay State Organic/ USDA National Organic Program located  in Ridgefield.

Topics to be covered:

• the basics of organic soil science and fertility
• seeding and the seed calendar
• pest, disease and weed management

Sunday, May 2nd.  1:30-3pm, at The Hickories, 126 Lounsbury Road, Ridgefield CT 06877

RSVP and $10 registration fee required. Click here to reserve your spot.

Fairfield Green Food Guide and CT Bites present A Honey Tasting Workshop at Red Bee ® Apiary in Weston

Join us for a Tasting Flight of Seven Artisanal Honeys with Red Bee Apiary’s own Marina Marchese.

Learn how honeybees make this liquid gold we call honey, how location and nectar source determines a honeys color, and flavor and how honey is harvested and extracted from the comb.

Marina will show us how to taste and evaluate honey using the Honey Sommelier tasting guide in her new book HONEYBEE Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper. Each guest will receive one sample 2 oz. jar of Red Bee’s signature Wildflower Honey.

Red Bee Honey Tasting Menu

• Farmhouse comb honey
• Red Bee’s signature wildflower
• Alfalfa honey
• Goldenrod honey
• Blueberry blossom honey
• Tulip poplar honey
• Star thistle honey

Featured Bread:

Fairfield Bread Company’s “The Flaxette”, a baguette with a crisp, caramelized crust surrounding a flavorful, tender and chewy center that’s studded with ground organic flax.

The tasting will also include some locally produced cheeses and garden accompaniments.

Where: Red Bee ® Apiary and Gardens, Weston, CT MAPQUEST

When: Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 at 1:00 pm till 3:00 pm

Rain Date: Tuesday, May, 25th, 2010 at 1:00 pm till 3:00 pm(This event takes place outside in the garden apiary)Red Bee will provide samples of their own herbal bug repellent, if needed.

Cost: $15 per person
Seating is limited to 20 people so reserve your seat now via online checkout at Red Bee Honey.

Questions? Email us at info@fairfieldgreenfoodguide.com

By Eileen Weber

The Food for Thought Expo took place at Fairfield Warde High School this Saturday. A good buzz of people attended the fair to hear lectures and experience what local vendors had to share. From locally made breads and honey to fresh milk and organic gourmet take-out, this showcase had it all.

As part of a series of lectures included in the event, Analiese Paik, this site’s founder, spoke for close to an hour about getting the message out about local, organically grown food. “It’s there for the taking. It’s out there,” she said.

Paik went on to describe the opportunities consumers have at their fingertips. From CSAs to farmers’ markets to retail chains selling whole foods, there is something for everyone. The biggest joy for her, she said, is connecting the farmer to the consumer. It’s making that connection that is key to fresh food’s survival in our society.

“We need to check the box on local food. Check the box on the local economy. Check the box on farmland preservation,” she said. Paik’s point was that local, organic food should be a way of life and not something we do once in a while. With obesity and juvenile diabetes rampant in this country, the very thing that makes a difference with those two epidemics is the kind of food we put in our mouths.

In a recent press release about the event, Michelle McCabe, Chairperson for Fuel for Learning Partnership (FFLP), the expo’s organizer and sponsor, said the event was meant to remind us of what foods to avoid. “It seems almost daily that we hear or read stories about the foods we eat, many of them with bad news,” she said. “…the main goal is to help us better feed our families. With the help of cooking instructors, educators, and local businesses, visitors to the Food for Thought Expo will be introduced to the vast range of resources available to help us all attain that goal of healthful eating.”

The FFLP sponsored the event as part of an on-going effort to help educate the general public about the best ways to approach nutrition, and how we can overcome the health challenges Paik mentioned in her lecture. “We’re all on a journey toward changing the way we eat,” said McCabe. “That comes with a learning curve, and our focus is to help people take ownership of their health, and the health of their children.”

Paik sees consumer interest in natural foods growing exponentially. She sees her role as providing a way for people to get to the food they should be eating. It’s also a way to keep our precious farmland preserved. “There are a thousand points of light out there and we’re connecting them,” she said. “There is hope.”

But it’s not just the farms. It’s everything that relies on the farm that provides fresh food to families. Maybe you go to food stores like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Market. Or maybe you decide on take-out from Fairfield area hot spots like Health in a Hurry, Catch a Healthy Habit, and Green Gourmet To Go. Fairfield County’s latest farm-to-table restaurant comes in the form of a mobile brick oven caterer and Cheff Jeff had it stationed outside to serve pizza made with fresh, local toppings to the more than 600 guests that attended the event.

But there are some people who are a little apprehensive about buying shares in CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture). Frequently, farms provide an abundance of produce at some point during the season that the average consumer can’t use up in a week. To that, Paik said there are easy ways to avoid that problem. Blanching the excess and freezing it makes it easier for you to use the vegetables any time you choose. And if that doesn’t work for you, try Veggie Trader. They link people with excess produce to those who are looking for it. And if you can’t make it to a farmers’ market and don’t belong to a CSA, use CT Farm Fresh Express to get farm-fresh food to your table in one quick delivery. Of matching a farmer’s produce with the consumer, Paik said, “That’s a match made in heaven.”

While real estate is location, location, location, food has a similar concept: local, local, local. “CSAs are selling out,” said Paik. “We’ve stopped losing farmland. Smart people are running farms with a good business plan.” She said that farms are the hub, providing the raw material for the consumer, government, institutions like New Milford Hospital and their Plow to Plate initiative, retail chains, chefs, and school lunches. “It’s a jigsaw puzzle,” she said “and we are all finding ways to work together to be part of the solution.”

Paik feels we’ve reached our tipping point with the organic food movement. “We’re not waiting for our government to fix the food system. We’re doing it for them.”

Please click here for the Food for Thought Expo 2011 event post. The post below refers to last year’s event!

A celebration of local farms, stores, restaurants, local/sustainable food advocates, businesses and educators for National Nutrition Month.

Type:     Free expo with guest speakers and workshops
Date:     Saturday, March 27, 2010
Time:     10:00am – 4:00pm
Location: Fairfield Warde High School, 755 Melville Avenue, Fairfield, CT

Don’t miss this amazing, free event sponsored by Fairfield PTA Council’s Fuel for Learning Partnership Committee. Come with your family and enjoy the cooking demos, panel discussions, guest speakers, exhibitors and free tastings of fresh, local food. Lunch may be purchased from the portable, wood-fired brick oven caterer featuring locally grown foods.

Participants include:

Samantha Heller, MS, RD, CDN, author of Get Smart: Samantha Heller’s Nutrition Prescription for Boosting Brain Power and Optimizing Total Body Health.

Amie Hall, CHHC, AADP, From Your Inside Out, is host to many delicious farm lunches and part of the edible schoolyard garden team.

Health in a Hurry, an award-winning restaurant offering inspired organic, vegetarian food to go.

Catch a Healthy Habit, an organic, raw food cafe and host to many live, education events.

Fairfield Green Food Guide, your guide to local and sustainable food.

Red Bee Artisanal Honey, a Weston apiary offering honey, a full line of honey products, honey tastings and book events.

Wave Hill Breads, Wilton, handcrafted, artisan breads available at specialty stores and farmers’ markets including the indoor winter farmers’ market at the FTC.

Fairfield Bread Company, Fairfield, home of  “The Flaxette”

Chef Jeff Borofsky and his portable, wood-fired brick oven catering company featuring locally-grown food. Come hungry because Chef Jeff is catering the event.

Sport Hill Farm, an organic farm in Easton run by Patti Popp and also the site of The Unquowa School’s Summer Farm Camp. Her CSA is sold out, but you can buy just picked produce at her farm stand once the season begins.

Stone Gardens Farm, an IPM (Integrated Pest Management) farm in Shelton offering CSA shares for pick up at the farm or at Westport GVI’s Wakeman Farm in Westport

Green Gourmet to Go, a brand new, organic, vegetarian restaurant located in Black Rock.

The Farmer’s Cow, Lebanon, provider of milk, eggs, cream, cider and lemonade. Ask them about their ice cream which is coming out soon.

SPEAKER SCHEDULE

10:00 – 10:15am    Introductory remarks

10:15 – 11:15am    Growing your own Produce: Organic Backyard Gardening with Nick Mancini

11:30am – 12:30pm
Get Smart: Samantha Heller’s Nutrition Prescription for Boosting Brain Power, Samantha Heller, MS RD CDN, Registered Dietitian, Clinical Nutritionist, Exercise Physiologist

1:00 – 2:00pm
Get it Local: Finding all Your Cooking Needs in and around Fairfield County with Analiese Paik, Founder and Editor of the Fairfield Green Food Guide

2:15 – 3:15pm Panel Discussion

From Classrooms to Cafeterias: Why Public Schools are Important in the Fight Against Obesity and the Fight for Sustainable Food Systems

Marlene Schwartz, PhD, Deputy Director, Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity

Bruce Gluck, Food Services Director, New Canaan Public Schools
Michelle Flashman, Curriculum Leader and Instructor , Family and Consumer Science Department, Fairfield Public Schools

Please feel free to stop in at any time to attend the following family friendly activities! For everyone – of all ages and all stages of life! All talks, demos, and displays are designed to help build confidence in your kitchen and comfort at your table.

Location:
Barlow’s Restaurant (in the school)
10:30am Healthy Eating Choices for the Whole Family, JoAnn Koebbe

11:30am Healthy Eating Choices for the Whole Family, JoAnn Koebbe

12:30pm Cooking in the Classroom: the Fairfield Middle School Curriculum, Michelle Flashman

1:30pm Cooking in the Classroom: the Fairfield Middle School Curriculum, Michelle Flashman

3:00pm Healthy Eating Choices for the Whole Family, JoAnn Koebbe

Instructors & Classes
JoAnn Koebbe, Certified LEAN Coach & Health Counselor
Lifestyle, Exercise, Attitude, Nutrition are the key components to this interactive, FUN, lesson in making healthy eating choices. For everyone, children, parents, grandparents.

10:30 am, 11:30 am, 3:00 pm, 3 sessions, 30 minutes each

Michelle Flashman, Family & Consumer Sciences Curriculum Department Leader, Fairfield Public Schools
Discover what Fairfield middle school students are learning about food in the cooking classroom!

12:30 pm, 1:30 pm, 2 sessions, 30 minutes each

Location:
Family & Consumer Sciences Classroom

SPEAKERS & DEMOS
10:00 – 10:45am Whole Foods, Whole You — Amie Hall

10:45 – 11:00am Gluten Free and Flour Power — Amie Hall

11:00 – 11:30am Small Batch Baking and Buying local breads — Michael Mordecai

11:30 – 11:45am Whole Foods, Whole You — Amie Hall

11:45am – 12:45pm Food Scientists! — Valerie Wilke

1:00 – 2:15pm An Introduction to Health Supportive Cuisine – Sue Cadwell

2:15 – 3:15pm Lunch Box Fun and Co-op Bulk Buying – Valerie Wilke

3:15 – 4:00pm    Re-thinking the School Lunch Menu – Bruce Gluck and Amie Hall

Instructors & Classes
Amie Guyette Hall, Health Counselor and Cooking Coach, From Your Inside Out

Whole Foods, Whole You! We all know we should eat better food. This workshop helps us understand WHY. Kick off the day’s events with this helpful way of understanding the food mood and chronic condition connection that we are all trying to conquer. Insightful, eye opening.

10:00 am – 10:45 am, 11:30 – 11:45am

Gluten Free & Flour Power. A supportive introduction to alternative flour and pantry products.
10:45 am – 11:00 am

Michael Mordecai, Fairfield Bread Company, Bread Baker
Learn about small batch baking and buying local. Bread is the staff of life, and Michael shares
11:00 am – 11:30 am

Valerie Wilke, Chef, Blood Root Restaurant
Food Scientists!
Become the food scientist that you and your children want to be! Find encouragement and discover fun, fabulous ideas of how to experiment around the rainbow!
11:45 am – 12:45 pm

Lunch Box and Co-op Bulk Buying
2:15 – 3:15pm

Sue Cadwell, Owner, Health in a Hurry
An Intro to Health Supportive Cuisine. Easy recipes & food samples. Grains, Greens and Soy.
1:00 pm – 2:15 pm

Bruce Gluck, chef and Food Services Director in the New Canaan Public Schools
Rethinking the School Lunch Menu
3:15 pm – 4 pm

SELF GUIDED KITCHEN TOUR
Visit 5 interactive family friendly stations that will expand your food knowledge and build comfort in your kitchen.
Topics include Glorious Greens, Great Grains, The Mighty Bean, Flour Power, and Power Tools!
10:00 am – 4:00 pm

RSVP for this event on my Facebook page

by Emily Brooks of Edibles Advocate Alliance