Summer 2016 Publisher's Note
Bees are essential. Without the transportation of that rich pollen, that diverse genetic material, our crops could not survive. Word of Mouth magazine seeks to become a pollinator of local food culture in Mendocino County. It could be considered a little bit nutty to be launching a print magazine in this era of eBooks, Twitter, and Blog posts. It could be likened to opening a record store or pay phone repair shop. However, the basis of this decision is one of belief. I believe that someone will pick up Word of Mouth and be awakened to the local food culture that permeates Mendocino County.
This County is rich with stories and flavors. We have abundance of renegade farmers who have traded a life of ease for one of self-reliance, toil, and incredibly rewarding harvests. You will learn about the chefs, producers and vintners that support this food culture and bring it to your table. These local craftspeople have chosen to pursue quality at the risk of being considered old fashioned. The printed word could also be considered old fashioned, but it still has value. By engaging in our food culture, you will become a pollinator too.
Holly Madrigal, Publisher
Bowled Over
Oco Time Noodle House in Willits brings their A-game Japanese dish
by Maureen Moore
It’s Time, the sushi and noodle bar in downtown Willits, received a makeover recently, morphing from a drop-in, grab-and-go, do-it-yourself lunch spot to a more refined full-service ramen restaurant.
“We wanted to do something new and special and fun,” explained Yoshiki and Naoko Sakane, owners of It’s Time Noodle House, and the popular It’s Time and Oco Time in Ukiah. “Ramen is very popular in Japan, and noodle houses in San Francisco and New York do very well. We wanted something fun and special for Willits – and something different than what was available in Ukiah.”
Ukiah will retain the grab and go sushi, the noodle bar, chicken soup and the like, and Willits will be billed as the destination for the new ramen selections. Non-broth and wheat-free options are also available in addition to the traditional choices.
Several dishes are available to choose from including options like Willits Veggie, that has homemade roasted vegetable miso paste with dashi broth and black garlic oil and is topped with avocado, pumpkin, ni-tamago (a marinated boiled egg), radish watermelon, bok choy, beet bean sprout, tomato confit and kaiware daikon sprout. Another includes the Coconut Red Curry Ramen: a coconut red Thai curry broth with cage-free Rocky Jr. chicken wing, crunchy fried ramen noodle, chopped tomato, beet bean sprout, red onion slice, cilantro and lime.
Bowls and salads are also on the menu, including the Wild Tuna Poki Salad including cube-cut Butsu wild-caught fresh tuna with Ocotime poki sauce mix with organic green salad mix, Masago fish eggs, fried tortilla chips, cucumber, kaiware daikon sprout, sesame seed, green onion, carrot and beet. Another offering is the Pork Char Siu Bowl with Salmon Creek farmer-raised Yongen-Buta (pork), prepared with ramen char siu and teriyaki sauce with ni-tamago, Japanese pickles, kinpira burdock root, bok choy, green onion and sesame seeds, over your choice of white rice or organic brown rice.
Side dishes of edamame, shrimp and veggie tempura, miso soup and spicy fish sticks are still available, and the cooler will be stocked daily with a fresh selection of grab-and-go sushi. Special sushi requests can be placed a day in advance for pick-up the following day.
It’s Time Noodle House is also extending its hours: Monday through Friday from 11 am to 8 pm and Saturday from 5 to 8 pm. They are located at 35 West Commercial Street and can be reached by calling 707-459-2621. See the full menu for all three restaurants online at www.ocotime.com, or check out the “It’s Time Willits” page on Facebook for the latest updates and specials.
DIY Chicken
Two families jump into home chicken processing by Holly Madrigal
After a third conversation between childhood friends, Eryn and Spring, it was agreed. They would do this together: two families including four adults and three kids would raise and harvest thirty chickens. Their spouses, Jeff and Sam, were recruited to help with the project. Could slaughtering their own chickens make better food for their families? This article shares their experience.
Eryn: “It all started for me when I moved from Los Angeles back to the land I was born on in Mendocino County. I went from eight hundred square feet to eight acres. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I yearned for a deeper connection to my food. What started as caring for a thirty-year-old orchard and planting a garden soon grew to building a chicken coop and raising chickens for eggs. The difference in the eggs was profound. I was happy eating these eggs and caring for the chickens was a family event.
“If homegrown eggs were this good, what about meat? I couldn’t shake the idea that I would feel better and be happier with my food if I knew how it was cared for, what it ate, and how it lived. Two years, four rounds of thirty chickens, and a hundred and twenty chicken dinners later, I can’t imagine it any other way. I never buy chicken at the store anymore.
“It has been a surprise how each of the four adults found their role in the process. Each one of us dealt with the life to death trajectory differently.
“I myself found that I was so committed to the process and idea that the death of a single bird didn’t faze me much. I was grateful for the life of each bird and the nutrition it brought to my family.”
Jeff: “I had not intended to be the chicken murderer of our group. When we first started, the first couple of tries at dispatching the bird was not swift. That was intolerable for me. I stepped into the slaughter role because I knew I could be decisive, calming, and quick. I was soothing to the birds and respectful but it still gave me a crisis of conscience. On processing day I ended up feeling down all day. The process brought heaviness. As a yoga instructor I have studied the teaching of many yogi masters, most who are vegetarian. There is a tenet of Ahisma, meaning non-violence, and though I practice this teaching I also eat meat. I was still taking the life of another for my own.
“The processing was pretty interesting, we learned as we went along. I wanted every-
thing hyper-clean because my family would be eating these chickens. So we researched the best way to do go about it. We scalded the birds in 140-180 degree water, then plucked the feathers. Borrowing a plucker was key. Before, we were pulling the feathers by hand. The plucking machine whipped the feathers off in a matter of minutes. We all got pretty good at it.
“Caring for the chickens was a lot of work. When Eryn was pregnant with our daughter, Cora, we moved the chicken rearing to Sam and Spring’s house. That was great because feeding, tending, and protecting the birds became a round the clock job.
“Despite the conflicts I had with the process, the chicken that was produced was wonderful. Ideally, someone else would raise chickens in a responsible way and we could support them. Juggling teaching at the college and Our Yoga Studio with being parents does not leave a lot of time for chicken raising.”
Spring: “I grew up raising meat birds. I didn’t find much about the process enjoyable, except the fact that our family did this work together.
“So when Eryn and I started talking about chickens, it seemed like one of those things I’d been meaning to do. We were lucky that we kept it simple. This made it possible to get going and not be bogged down in all the little details we didn’t know about yet. Also fortunate was that we did it together. This made the fun-to-work ratio more appealing, which is important for busy families.
“Most things about the process were always the same for me: I found the birds gross. I was somewhat grumpy if Eryn wasn’t around on slaughter day with her often inappropriate humor. And the meat was so far superior to any other I could buy.
“The days we processed the birds I would act as the rover. I boiled pots of water, readied the ice chests, plucked feathers, gutted birds, fixed kid food, and cleaned everything up at the end. I also specialized in cleaning the feet, which I prize almost above the meat, for the gelatin and nutrients they offer when I boiled them with the bones to make stock. You don’t get those in the bag with your chicken at the store.
“All along the way I have been struck by the simplicity and importance of this small project our families did together. Working together, a little harder than we otherwise would, for our food, was radical. To care for the birds and to prepare them for eating we had to pay attention, work diligently, and face directly the way that life is fed by death.”
Sam: “What I most appreciated about our project was living with the birds. I liked the rhythm they brought to my life. Seeing them grow over time, I was fascinated by the moment when I saw that it was time to stop feeding them and allow them to feed me.
“Even on slaughter day I admired their beauty and marveled at their life force. While we processed the birds I was always on duty to clean the birds. I liked the physical nature of this work--using a knife to care-fully clean the waste from the food.
“I also built much of the infrastructure for processing. A chicken tractor for housing the birds and cones for hanging needed to be constructed. The important part to me was living with the birds and providing nutritious food for our families.”
Kids: Jeff and Eryn’s son, Lars, as well as Sam and Spring’s daughter, Sylvana, and son, Salvio, were around on slaughter day but did not participate. Lars helped corral the chickens but mostly the kids played and entertained themselves in the house.
“I liked the part right after we brought the chicks home and we got to care for them. I liked the night when I couldn’t sleep and I got to help Papa put the chicks to bed.” (Salvio, age 3)
“I like some of the food you cook from our chickens, but I don’t like killing them, I like to have them alive.” (Sylvana, age 6)
The families took a break from chicken raising when Jeff and Eryn welcomed their new daughter, Cora. Both families still have a few chickens for egg laying purposes only. When photographing for this article Eryn stressed that the pictures are of “laying birds, not meat birds.” She has earned her chicken knowledge chops. After interviewing for this piece the group has begun planning to restart the chicken project. They all learned a great deal through trial and error. Sam thinks slaughtering at night might be worth a try. It would be cooler, no flies, and the chickens are calmer that time of day. To a person, they all agree that their home raised chickens were, by far, the most delicious chicken they have ever eaten.
Pennyroyal Farmstead Cheese
by Holly Madrigal
True confession...I don’t like goat cheese. Why then, you might ask would I be tickled pink to be hob-knob-bing with Sarah Bennett of Pennyroyal Farmstead Cheese? Because Pennyroyal has done the impossible: made an array of cheeses that do not taste “goaty”. “There is a reason the male goats live far across the vineyard,” Sarah laughs. This creamery’s fresh flavors are due, in part to the extremely short timespan from daily milking to cheese production.
The manner in which the milk is heated and processed also makes a difference. Resident Cheesemaker Erika McKenzie-Chapter and Sarah imported equipment from Europe that heats the milk without overly agitating it. If the fat molecules get broken and damaged a compound is released similar to what is found in goat glands. All of these factors, if done incorrectly, could add to that telltale hint of barnyard. Sampling these cheeses felt like an edible landscape. Describing the flavors and textures I find myself using similar descriptors as wine; “rich, fresh grass, bright, citrusy zing.”
The connection to wine is a strong one. Pennyroyal’s Sarah Bennett is from a longstanding Anderson Valley wine family. Parents Ted Bennett and Deborah Cahn of Navarro Vineyards have raised their daughter with the taste buds of a vintner. Three wines are now produced by Pennyroyal Farm; Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Rose ́ of Pinot Noir. The natural partnership of wine and cheese has been met with great success.
Near the corner of highway 128 and 253 in Boonville, the Pennyroyal Farm and tasting room is now open to the public. This state-of-the-art facility includes a solar powered barn, milking shed, temperature controlled cheese rooms, commercial grade kitchen and event space. The surrounding vineyard and gardens are also part of the integrated sustainable system. Baby Doll sheep mow the vine-rows and the meadows are grazed by a resident flock of chickens. Tours are available when the tasting room is open. The full array of sheep and goat milk cheeses, farm-fresh eggs, sandwiches and wine are on display.
When you tour the barn and dairy you can see right away how happy these goats and sheep are. They lounge about grazing, resting or causing trouble. This past year during an especially vigorous storm the roll-up barn door was partially lowered to keep the barn warm. In no time, eight or nine goats were using the door as their personal head scratcher, which pulled one side off its rails.
Each animal is given a name, and though no study exists to show that named goats make better tasting milk, the team at Pennyroyal believe it’s true. Goat and Sheep bio cards adorn the tasting room so that you can read about the individuals that make the cheese. The herd is given time off each year to ensure everyone is healthy and rested. Depending on the time of year, some cheeses include a higher or lower sheep milk to goat milk ratio. This leads to seasonal variations in flavor and richness throughout the year. “Farmstead” is a term that describes that the providence of all of the Pennyroyal cheese comes from the farm’s own animals.
Cheesemaker Erika McKenzie-Chapter knew as a young girl what she wanted to do. Studying abroad she learned cheese-making skills in the Poitou-Charentes region of France. She and Sarah have developed a nationally recognized, award winning slate of cheeses that keep evolving and getting better. The Laychee is a soft cheese similar in some ways to a Chevre. The word Laychee is Boontling (the regional dialect of Anderson Valley) for milk. Boont Corners was inspired by the large wheels of cheese made in the mountains of France. It is brined and aged on wooden planks in a temperature controlled cheese room. This aging room mimics the cool, moist caves of the French alps.
Velvet Sisters is a Camembert style cheese with a light rind and interior that gets creamier as it ages over six to seven weeks. The Bollie’s Mollies is crafted after a French style goat cheese called Fumaillo. This cheese won the Gold Medal at the 2013 International Cheese Competition in England. The Boonter’s Blue is made from raw goats milk. The curds are hand cut and packed into molds which allows for smaller curds producing a mild beautiful cheese.
Sarah and friends have also started serving small plates on the weekends at the tasting room. All recipes highlight their cheeses. A recent menu included Deviled Ham Gougeres, Boont Corners Quiche and Chive Laychee & Golden Beet Terrine. “I’m really glad that we included this kitchen in our new tasting room design.” says Sarah “ At first it seemed like a lot of extra work but it has been wonderful to experiment with different recipes and to have school classes come through.” Somehow Ms. Bennett manages to balance her responsibilities at the creamery with being a volunteer fireman, raising a three year old and two young twins. Their dedicated employees help in the tasting room, dairy, vineyards and cheese rooms. All of the spaces are open to viewing through the windows or through their frequent tours.
If you cannot make it to the tasting room soon, consider joining the Farm-to-Table Club. Pennyroyal will send you a package of first releases, recipes and tried and true favorites, five times a year. Their cheeses are available at local markets, Navarro Vineyards, and Farmers Markets around the Bay Area, San Rafael, Larkspur and Berkeley.
I can’t say that I have been converted to be a lover of all goat cheeses but I have certainly discovered a whole new selection of delectable local offerings right here in my Mendocino County backyard.
Masters of the red rubies of the field: Saechao Strawberries
What taste could embody the warmth of summer more perfectly than the humble strawberry?
The aroma hits you before you step up to the small shack just south of Ukiah on Highway 101. Saechao Strawberry Farms have become a bit of a local institution, both at the Ukiah location and the second farm on Highway 20 near Upper Lake. Cherries, peas, garlic and other seasonal vegetables are offered when they are ripe and ready.
These farms are owned and run by Meuthao Saechao, her husband Ou Yern, and their family. Mae, as she is known, moved around after immigrating here from Laos when she was just fourteen. “When we found three acres in Lake County in 1997 we planted. We sold our first crop of strawberries in 1998.” says Mae. The Ukiah plot was purchased in 2002 with the first berry harvest the following year.
Summer is the key time for strawberries but much depends on the weather. “We have had crops until almost Thanksgiving!” according to Mae. October is the natural end of the season.
For now seize the moment to stop and stock up on this sweetest of summer treats at Saechao Strawberry Farms.
Agua de Fresa
2 cups fresh strawberries
1⁄2 cup superfine sugar
4 cups cold water
1 lime & mint sprigs for garnish
Mix together sliced strawberries sugar, mashing slightly add half of the water. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for four hours. Remove the strawberry mixture and pour into a blender. Blend until smooth, pour over strainer into large pitcher. Ad remaining water and stir to combine. Pour over ice and serve. Garnish with some diced berries, limes and mint.Adding your favorite Rum and drinking barefoot on the beach, optional.
The Solace of Food: Lessons from my year as a locavore
By Sarah Bodnar
If you had asked me a year ago what I expected things to be like at the end of this project, I probably would have been wrong. The unknown has characterized this project from Day One. If I had known what I would endure in the roughest times, I might not have signed up for this. Similarly unknown was the profound impact of this mammoth undertaking.
For exactly one year, my fierce farmer friend Gowan Batist and I embarked on a radical plan to eat locally. During those twelve months both of our siblings married, our friends raised children, and we wed local food.
The rules were inspired and unforgiving. The goal was to eat food produced within Mendocino County, exclusively, and this included all of the raw inputs, from the grain to the oil, the salt, and the spices we consumed. No chocolate, no Sriracha sauce, no coconut water, no avocados—no exceptions whatsoever. After 365 days of this extreme locavorism, I am a changed woman.
Now that the project is officially over, everyone is wondering what post-project freedom looks like. It’s been strange. I am struggling to assimilate back into society and stumbling around the grocery store aisles like Encino Man. The first time I went grocery shopping, I left the store without buying anything, overwhelmed by the experience.
The second time I went, I bought a half-gallon of organic milk. It was the first time I’d bought milk in a carton in over a year; my milk has been coming in glass mason jars, straight from the cow. Coincidentally, the cow that has been providing for us dried up the week that the project ended, and there won’t be more fresh milk until spring—or until I befriend a new cow. I stood in the aisle bewildered by the fluorescent lights and bright cartons, and was surprised that the cost of milk in the store was actually the same as what I’ve been paying for fresh local milk.
Standing there I realized that I truly did not want to buy that carton of organic milk. The point wasn’t just that the milk didn’t have the same unadulterated richness and a thick layer of cream on the top. It was also that I felt uncomfortable going to the store and taking a generic carton off the shelf because I would never know where the milk came from, nor where the carton would end up. These seem like inconsequential details, but they matter to me now. I became so intimately involved with the life cycle of every single item that came into my kitchen for a year that I now see this carton as part of a profoundly complex and fragmented food system, in which the cow is separated from the consumer, and the cream is separated from the milk.
My Cupboards Contain Multitudes
The first few months of the project were stark and trying. Yet, by the end of last year, I was well prepared for winter. I have become a food-sourcing samurai, and my fridge, freezer, and pantry are fully stocked with stories in the form of foodstuffs. My shelves hold an assortment of culinary delights: pickled veggies, peaches, grape juice, and applesauce canned by neighbors and friends; dried hedgehog, bolete, and candy cap mushrooms, and roasted bay laurel nuts; dried kombu, wakame, and sea palm seaweeds, and some canned tuna from the sea. My spice rack holds dried bay leaves, oregano, sage, lots of garlic, alongside Lovers Lane Farm wildflower honey. My olive oil comes from Terra Savia, my apple cider vinegar from the Apple Farm, and I fermented the red wine vinegar using Frey biodynamic wine.
It took an entire County, many hands, many seeds, and many bees to fill these jars. It took two women an entire year to track down all this food, process and store it, and learn what to do with it. Following are some of the most important lessons I learned during the process.
Lesson 1: Eat whole foods.
Many people ask how I feel when I eat the local food diet, and I tell them I feel like superwoman. The truth is that I feel physically healthier and more in touch with the natural, seasonal moderation of excess and abundance. I find that my body tells me what it wants and needs, and that I listen.
I believe that most modern diets miss the point entirely by creating an artificial food ritual that involves counting, eliminating, and worrying, and that encourages eating highly processed, fractured foods. I believe that we have lost our intuition when it comes to food due to a highly predatory food system. I think the single best way to rediscover an intuitive relationship with nutrition is to eat more whole foods, before going for the supplements and miracle shakes. Many of my chronic health issues disappeared this year, and I was able to reintroduce gluten in moderation, eating the local heirloom grain that is delivered whole or freshly milled.
Lesson 2: You don’t need a recipe.
During my locavore experiment, the constantly changing flow of seasonal ingredients required nothing less than fearless improvisation on a daily basis. In a reversal of my previous relationship with food, I would start with the available ingredients, form a general concept, and then shape the meal accordingly, consulting my favorite cookbooks and the all-knowing Google, when necessary. Now when I post pictures of meals online and people ask for a recipe, I often feel bewildered because each meal is an original creation, probably imperfect, and will never be recreated in quite the same way. To me, cooking is less about the recipe than it is about the process of learning how to be resourceful and creative. Which is why I’m terrible at baking.
The takeaway here is that you don’t need to be a genius in the kitchen to prepare delicious food, especially when you’re working with real, fresh, tasty ingredients. You do need courage, though, and a lot of mason jars.
Lesson 3: Friends are those who feed you.
I owe my survival during my locavore year to the farmers, ranchers, and foragers who provided my sustenance and, consequently, I have come to see every food transaction as a life-giving act. To be a farmer or rancher today is an act of righteous faith. Growing real food is an investment in our collective future, and the people who choose to do so are my heroes. I know these heroes by their first names because they have become friends. They have invited me into their homes, shared of their pantries, and met me on the side of the highway to give me bacon. Our friends fed us, and those who fed us became friends.
Devout locavorism will test a friendship. It is an extraordinary friend who bakes you a 100% local carrot cake for your birthday (sans baking powder) because it’s what you want the most. It is a patient friend who teaches you how to can, even though you’re really afraid of it. It is a gracious friend who interrupts holiday preparations to help you track down a local chicken on Christmas Eve. I am beyond lucky to have many such friends who tolerated my lifestyle, fed me, and made this pioneering journey more delicious and less lonely.
The Solace of Food
In reflecting on this outrageous, profound experience, I find that many of my thoughts are still lost in translation. There is one thing I know for sure, however: This project was not about food; it was about what I found through food. It was about the things that I don’t want to give up, even when the rules no longer apply. What I discovered is more than just how to cook spare ribs. I discovered intimacy, connection, limits, abundance. I feel I learned how to truly nourish myself—which may be the greatest lesson of all.
As the seasons go, winter leads to spring, and my endeavor will not end with the calendar year but transition into a new beginning. Living and eating with the seasons is a way of life, and it’s a really good life. In a world of seemingly endless choices, the best choice may actually be the simpler choice. I can take a step toward that every day, with every meal.
Much has been compromised for this food mission, and other pursuits will surely reshape my rhythm. But I have channeled my inner pioneer woman, and she’s here to stay. She will continue to stock the fridge and pantry with local goods, to pull over on the side of the road to pick berries or nuts, to cook without recipes. The days ahead will also hold a little more spontaneity, a lot more tea parties with friends, some traveling, and some exotic spices and leavening agents.
Cuba as a modern model of organic farming and urban agriculture
by Holly Madrigal
Cuba is sometimes called the “Accidental Eden” because dramatic political conditions have shaped this small island into a beacon of organic agriculture. Over the past fifty years Cuba has been under a trade embargo from the United States, which means that, despite being ninety miles off the coast of Key West, the country has been off limits to America for both trading of goods and tourism. Under the rule of president Fidel Castro, the country became heavily involved with its communist partner, the Soviet Union, importing much of its food, oil, and necessities while continuing to export sugar, the primary historical production crop. When the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1980s, this small country, devoid of outside imports, was plunged into what they call the “Special Period.” Many Cubans faced starvation, and sweeping land reforms were enacted to allow the growing of food crops on all arable land.
Since almost all fuel was required for other government priorities, organic farming increased because chemical fertilizers were not available. Now, more than a decade after this crisis, Cuba has emerged as a model of urban agriculture, organic farming, and cooperative work arrangements. Recently, some restrictions have been relaxed. In 2013, working with the Center for Global Justice and the Organic Consumers Association, my husband and I received professional visas to visit Cuba and to learn about their agricultural renaissance.
Leaving the airport in Havana you are faced by an enormous bill-board: “BLOQUEO, el genocidio mas largo de la historia.” Translated, it means, “the American Blockade, the largest genocide in history.” While the Cuban people suffered starvation in the nineties, they received no assistance from their neighbors to the north.
Our sponsor in Havana was the Martin Luther King Center, which is lead by Reverend Raul Suarez and serves as a church, an educational center, and a community hub. The Center offers courses in popular education and community organizing. One of the many services it provides the community is free potable water in its courtyard. The neighborhood residents come and go throughout each day filling their water bottles for home use. As travelers, we found this filtered water to be invaluable.
Our tour group was a diverse mix of farmers, agricultural and political students, and just interested Americans. Two women in the group were finishing their PhDs: one studies agro-ecology in Ecuador, the other works with afro-indigenous communities in rural Mexico. One gentleman has studied Cuba for decades and used to publish a Cuba Literary Magazine; he now farms using literal “horse power” in upstate New York. Our American guide, Jennifer Ungemach, previously lived in Willits, California. For three years she studied with John Jeavons at the Ecology Action Mini Farm. She has since fallen in love with a Cuban man, and they and their small child now live in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
The owner of the Garden of Eden Permaculture Project grew up in Havana and remembers his neighborhood as a paradise. But, when he returned to his family home, he found it badly polluted by a chemical plant and metal foundry located nearby. Rather than abandon his memory of how it used to be, he set about rehabilitating his small piece of land. Raising fish in large pools, he uses the overflow water to fertilize his produce garden. He and his family grow many crops, including avocados, Barbados cherries, and mangoes. He says he prayed to God about staying in Cuba (much of his family has emigrated to the States) and chose to stay and rebuild his family homestead. God answered his prayers by providing a fresh water well in the courtyard. Some members of the neighborhood call him crazy, but those same people then come purchase his fish for dinner. He has reclaimed a bit of the paradise that he remembers. He plans to expand the garden and to continue teaching permaculture methods to local children through tours and activities.
Quintero has one of those faces that has known many smiles. His eyes are proud as he gives us a tour of his small, two hectare farm in Guanajay, near San Antonio de los Banos. Formerly a chemical engineer by trade, he has developed his farm using entirely organic and permaculture principles. He says that, when he started, he often got into arguments with his professional colleagues who thought that raising large mono-crops using chemical fertilizers was the only way to grow food. Persevering, he has planted a small banana plantation with shade-loving coffee bushes growing beneath the canopy. When the large leaves from the banana fall, he stacks them at the base of the plants to compost and release their moisture. Walking through the grove, he steps on the palm branches and water seeps out. “This is a good source of additional moisture,” he says. The challenge with water is constant. Quintero has developed a drip irrigation system, but issues with the water supply have caused him to struggle with its efficient implementation. Among the bananas, a flock of sheep grazes happily “fertilizing the farm,” he says, with a smile. Quintero says that he needs to reinforce the sheep’s small nighttime barn. I ask him what predators he is trying to keep out, mentioning the coyotes in northern California that harass livestock and kill sheep. He says, “No, here in Cuba our coyotes walk on two legs.” Lunch is beans and rice, cucumber tomato salad, yucca, and roast pork. As we gather beneath the palms, he chops open some coconuts for us to drink, and we toast this man’s amazing accomplishment in stewarding his beautiful farm.
Just outside of Havana lies Organiponico Vivero Alamar, an eleven hectare cooperative, all organic farm. The scope and success of this project is astounding. One hundred and seventy two owners share the management and profits of the farm operation. Medardo Naranjo Valdes, engineer and director of “Beneficial Insects and Biologic Controls,” says that locals thought they were nuts when they began Alamar. The core group had to lure people to come work in the fields. Farmworkers, or “campesinos,” like in the States, were considered “low” in the hierarchy of community life. They drew people by paying high wages and offering flexible hours. Every owner-member receives a share of the profits. People have different tasks depending on their strengths. A minimum wage job in Cuba earns about 200 CUC (Convertible Cuban Pesos) a month. The workers at Alamar get 400 CUC a month, and directors get 700 CUC’s a month. Each day the revenue is tallied, and 70% is distributed, while 30% goes into the bank account. There are accountants and payroll managers; there are people in charge of the cattle, of the medicinal plants, of the sugar cane fields, of the ornamental plant nursery, of the farm and the produce stand. One owner, now in his eighties, says he loves to come to work to oversee the garden. He feels useful and it keeps him young. The group gathers once a year to elect the governing committee and make collective decisions. The Alamar project is supported by the Cuban government, which gave it the land to start the farm. Alamar is one example of a cooperative structure that is widely practiced in Cuba, not only in farming, but also in business enterprise. Since it’s beginning, the farm has expanded. Bringing tours of students in from around the globe has allowed the Alamar owners to share their knowledge and success with the world.
The people of Cuba are generous, highly educated, and tenacious. Evident also, however, is their weariness of the embargo and the political posturing of our two countries. “We live the embargo every day,” says Daisy Rojas, one of the founders of the MLK Center. “This is not an abstraction to us,” she continues, “When my daughter needed medication for an eye disease we could not get it because the US is the only place that makes this medication. At the same time we have made advancements in the treatment of Meningitis and other medical treatments that we would like to share with the US if trade was resumed.” When asked if some of Cuba’s advancements were due in part because of the embargo not just in spite of the embargo, Ms. Rojas was emphatic: “I credit the embargo with nothing. We as a country should be allowed to make our own decisions when it comes to our governance, with foreign investment, with trade . . . It should be our choice. I trust our leaders and our community to do what’s best for Cuba.”
As our two countries navigate an uncertain future, I treasure the chance I had to explore this “Accidental Eden.”
Urban forage hiding in plain sight
The loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) does not grow wild in northern California, but these delicious fruit trees can be found growing in backyards and neighborhoods.
Distantly related to roses, apples, quince and pear, loquats have grown in Japan for thousands fuzz. Three to five large jewel-like seeds cluster at the center of years, though they are most likely native to the hill regions of southern China. So it’s not the first fruit you would expect to see in the suburban cul-de-sacs of Northern California. Yet here it thrives.
The fruits are the shape and size of a fig, ripe when the fruit is deep golden yellow. The peel is covered in a fine velvet of each fruit. The seeds are not edible. The fruit tastes sweet and somewhat like a tropical plum. You can eat them right off the tree or peel them easily.
Loquat fruits are ripe in early summer. Take a stroll through your neighborhood and keep your eyes peeled for a medium sized tree with yellow fruits and large oval leaves. This exotic fruit could be hiding in plain sight.
Loquat Tartletts
10 Loquats, ripe, peeled if desired
1⁄2 cup Pennyroyal Farms Laychee
1⁄2 teaspoon lemon zest
1⁄2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
Dash cinnamon
Small thyme sprigs for garnish
Prepared phyllo dough tartlett shells
Pick or gather ripe loquat fruits. Rinse, and using a kitchen towel, rub the light fuzz from the outside of the fruits. Alternatively peel and remove the skins. Using a paring knife cut the loquat in half in a circular motion. Three to five large seeds are within each fruit. Remove seeds and fruit blossom end.
Mix Laychee, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar together in a bowl until well combined. Using a spoon place a small dollop in the bottom of each phyllo shell. Add a loquat half, pressing it down into the soft cheese mixture. Place another small dollop inside the fruit and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Place shells in the broiler until just caramelized, 3-4 minutes. Once done, add a small thyme sprig to the center of each tartlet. Enjoy!
Four Generations of Foresight
by Heidi Cusick Dickerson
Past and present mix with timeless ease at Foursight Vineyards where four generations of the Charles family have lived and made their living in the middle of Boonville. From logging to grape growing each has built upon the love and the possibilities of their land.
Bill and wife Nancy live in the house where Bill was born. Their daughter Kristy and her husband Joe Webb live in the house where Kristy and her two brothers were raised. Evan, Kristy and Joe’s young son, is the fifth generation to be raised on the ranch.
“The tasting room is built with all recycled lumber from our property,” says Nancy.
“We dug them up and milled them,” adds Kristy, who does sales and marketing for the winery. Everyone in the family is part of the business management. Behind the new winery the old walnut, quince, loquat, wild plum and fig trees shade a pastoral picnic space where daughter Kristy and Joe got married. Many of these trees were planted by her grandparents in 1950; who owned and operated Charles Lumber Company on this site along with Kristy’s great -grandfather and grandparents who came to Anderson Valley in 1943 to work in the woods.
Slim, sandy haired, and personable, Nancy grew up in Oakland. A registered nurse, she worked in Ukiah after she and Bill moved back to Boonville. “Being in the vineyard is like coming back to your roots,” she says. “The kids went away, we planted the vineyard and these 13,163 vines are my babies. I’ve learned a little love works.” They now grow Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir because they are the family’s favorite varietals.” Most of their grapes are sold to local wineries like Navarro and to Schramsberg in Napa Valley for their reserve Blanc de Noirs.
The Charles’ own brand Foursight got its name from four generations with vision about how this land can support them. “Although we’re millennials and our parents are baby boomers,” says Kristy, “our attachment to the land has brought us full circle.”
The Parducci Garden grows fresh produce for the winery staff and the community at large
by Holly Madrigal
You could be forgiven if you only gain a glimpse of the garden at Parducci Wineries as you drive past on Highway 101 near Lake Mendocino. The fifteen acre garden pasture, located just off the road holds a vast permaculture system that intertwines and produces benefits for wildlife, vegetable production, employees and of course excellent Parducci Wine. Parducci is the oldest, continually operating winery in Mendocino County. Development of this garden and livestock operation was launched in 2012 when new owners, the Thornhill Family hired Jess Arnsteen to turn this little used patch into an organic garden.
The garden now produces vegetables, eggs, lamb and pork for the sixty Parducci Employees and their families. Mendocino County’s temperate climate allows for year round growing and when I visited they were harvesting asparagus, cilantro, lettuce, brussel sprouts, broccoli, beets and winter squashes. Insect and pests are kept in check by a roving band of two hundred chickens. During peak laying time the hens provide a dozen eggs a week to each of the Parducci employee families.
The garden crew is up early on harvest day to gather the best produce. The tasting room patio holds a display table for the days offerings. Employees stop by and fill brown paper sacks with their bounty. “Everything here is just so much better than the store.” Says Betsy Wildberger “It really cuts down on our grocery bill.” Philipo Rivero loves the broccoli and tomatoes. His wife has started making tea with the fresh lemon grass that Jess grows in a greenhouse on-site. A few times a year the employees get farm harvested pork and lamb. Jess’s wife, Erin, now shares recipes for the less common produce. She often makes a small snack to share using seasonal ingredients. Mint chocolate cookies and frittata muffins were recent offerings. “We have more eggs than we know what to do with at the moment.” Jess laughs.
Arnstee is continually learning new management techniques to improve and enhance the garden. The resident sheep graze and fertilize the meadows as pigs twice their size root out invasive blackberry vines. Natural predators like blue birds and owls are encouraged to make a home amongst the Parducci vineyards. These birds keep rodents and other pests to a minimum. The pomace from the vineyards is composted and spread as fertilizer amongst the crops and below the olive and fruit trees.
Large hedgerows line the planting areas of both garden and vineyard. Arnsteen has filled these hedgerows with plants that encourage pollinators and create habitat for beneficial species. To promote butterflies Jess added milkweed to these hedgerows. One morning as he nestled the new milkweed plants into the soil a Monarch butterfly alit on a leaf and began to lay her eggs. “That was a special moment,” Jess says.
Parducci produces over 600,000 tons of grapes a year to be used in their winemaking. The process utilizes a great deal of water. The Thornhill’s turned the usual paradigm on its head by extensively treating their wastewater with natural means as opposed to chemical methods. The sugar-laden water is piped to “trickle towers” that oxygenate the flow as it passes through plant roots. Plants and natural bacteria filter out unwanted components. The water continues on its path of multiple filtrations, which end in a lower pond. The pond teems with wildlife, hosting birds, turtles, frogs and dragonflies. An ecosystem has evolved around this water system. Arnsteen has planted the area with complementary water grasses and reeds that provide further water “finishing”. A fountain made of an old farm cement mixer pours the cleaned water into a meandering stream. The effect is one of peaceful serenity.
Parducci sees the production of their award winning wine not just as a skill but as part of an interconnected natural system. So next time you drive by on highway 101 consider stopping to visit this sustainable oasis.
Peach and Elderflower Gin Collins
Summer fruit inspired this cocktail, courtesy of bar manager Danny Wyse of Patrona restaurant in Ukiah. It is the perfect blend of sweet peaches and tangy citrus. Make it your go-to sipper for everything from backyard barbeques to lazy Sunday afternoons.
Peach and Elderflower Gin Collins
1 1/2 oz Gin
1/4 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
1/2 oz Fresh Pressed Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Fresh Pressed Lime Juice
1/4 oz Simple Syrup
1/2 oz. White Peach Puree
Shake all ingredients together and pour over ice. Garnish with Lemon and Lime or a slice of Peach.
Patrona Restaurant and Lounge | (707) 462-9181 | patronarestaurant.com | 130 West Standley Street | Ukiah, CA 95482 | 11:00 - 9:00pm daily
MendoLake Food Hub connects the dots for local farmers
by Alex Nielson, excerpt from the Anderson Valley Advertiser
A typical morning for a produce manager at a grocery store may begin like this: coffee, inventory check, phone call, place an order with a large distributor, done. It takes only moments to order a truckload of produce sourced from afar and have it on the shelves the next day. The downside? That money flows out of Mendocino County and away from our local farms. Not to mention the tomatoes taste like sour water and the melons lack that freshly picked sugary aroma.
What if it were just as easy to get fresh, seasonal, locally grown produce full of flavor and with the connection to the farmer intact? Enter the MendoLake Food Hub, Mendocino and Lake County’s source for the freshest offerings direct from our farmers. The idea for the Food Hub was finally translated into solid action in 2014 thanks to a Specialty Crop Block Grant written by North Coast Opportunities, the regions Community Action Agency. Through the collective vision of NCO’s Patty Bruder, Susan Lightfoot, and Miles Gordon, the Food Hub grant was written with the intent to expand the food system by increasing local food access across Mendocino and Lake Counties while increasing the viability of local farms. John Bailey now heads the program as the Food Hub Coordinator. Up until now, a viable option for wholesaling produce grown by local farmers has been non-existent and completely reliant upon the farmer to do the leg work when it comes to marketing to grocery stores and restaurants. This requires the already busy farmer to make phone calls to potential wholesale customers and, if they place an order, drive one to two hours one way to make a delivery. For many of our small-scale farmers this is simply not an option because in many cases it requires a refrigerated truck and, of course, valuable time.
What the Food Hub strives to do is close the gap and connect the dots between farmer and customer. Twice a week in the summer, farmers list their available produce on the Food Hub website with a few clicks of the mouse. Instantaneously, restaurants and grocery stores - or even individuals who wish to buy in bulk - can view available produce on the website and place an order from one or multiple local farmers. The Food Hub’s customers include Harvest Market in Fort Bragg, Surf Market in Gualala, and Anderson Valley’s Boont Berry Farm Store. Farmers then receive a pick ticket so they know what they need to harvest and bring to their closest cold storage node, each of which are re-commissioned freight containers that have been insulated, outfitted with washable surfaces, and wired with Cool Bot A/C units to make sure produce is kept cool and fresh. Within a day, our friends at Mendocino Coast Produce deliver the goods to their respective customers via rapid transit on a route covering Mendo and Lake Counties from the south coast to Clearlake. Finally, there is a wholesale way to go local, and our farmers have a hassle-free method to get their veggies on the shelves across the county!
“The Food Hub has literally doubled my sales!” said Irene Engber of Irene’s Garden in Laytonville. As one of the Food Hub’s largest producers, she is very eager for the coming season and is planning her planting schedule to meet local supply and demand. Engber, a certified organic farmer through CCOF, is able to get her products on the shelves at grocers such as the Ukiah Natural Foods Co-Op, which requires its producers to be either Mendocino Renegade or California Certified Organic. She was a big contributor to the $90,000 in sales that the Food Hub facilitated in 2015. As it gears up for its second year, the Food Hub is looking to double sales for 2016 and be self sustaining by the 2017 growing season.
Buying local is quickly becoming the norm in Mendocino County. Our school districts have created programs to purchase local produce for cafeteria meals, as well as for Harvest of the Month in which schools feature a specific item grown by nearby farmers. Last month’s harvest was carrots, and the transaction was facilitated by the Food Hub.
Seely’s Farmstand of Lake County has had its apples and pears appear center stage at Surf Market on the Mendocino Coast, an eager participant in the Food Hub and a major supporter of buying local. Its staff is ecstatic to be part of a movement that can supply broccoli from our farmers that is in co-owner Steve May’s own words, “the best broccoli I have ever had! I will be unable to have any other broccoli unless it is grown by a local farmer.”
The Hub encourages any local startups or seasoned farmers to get on the Food Hub website and get your produce out there! Visit mendolakefoodhub.com or call 707-467-3238.