By Nicole Sugerman
The kohlrabi is one of the strangest vegetables we grow, and one of the less well-known. Resembling a cross between a turnip and a flying saucer, I fell in love with kohlrabi the first time I saw it growing, during the first season I worked on a farm. The vegetable was bred from a wild cabbage plant, like broccoli, cauliflower, cultivated cabbage, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, and many other similar vegetables, which are all in the “brassica” family. However, unlike all of these other vegetables, the kohlrabi vegetable that we eat is actually the swollen stem of the plant, not a root crop, a leaf crop, or a fruit crop. This is the first reason I like kohlrabi, just because I think that this is neat. Kohlrabi is only one of two vegetables we grow where the ‘good eating’ part is actually the plant’s stem (the second is fennel- the bulb of this plant is actually the petiole of the fennel leaf).
I also like kohlrabi because it matures early. One of the major challenges in planning a CSA farm is making sure we have many different vegetables ready for shareholders each week. We cannot just plant everything all at once and wait; this would lead to a glut of vegetables at certain times, and very few vegetables at other times. Instead, Nina and I back-calculate to see when we should plant each of the vegetables in order to have them ready at many different times, so that every week is a unique, interesting, and bountiful assortment. The trickiest time to have a large assortment of vegetables ready is the beginning of the season, because we cannot start planting until the danger of frost is past, and many vegetables take a long time to ripen. Kohlrabi grows relatively quickly compared to many other plants, meaning we can depend on it during the crucial beginning of the CSA season.
I am additionally fond of growing kohlrabi because it grows reliably and requires little maintenance. Because the part we eat is a swollen stem, the kohlrabi is neither susceptible to the root maggots that burrow through our turnips nor to the cabbage moth caterpillars that often prey on our cabbages. Spring is a very busy time, with our team racing to prepare our beds and get all of our crops in the ground, so kohlrabi is a relieving vegetable to have in the mix. We do not have to pay much attention to it, but it is reliably there for us, looking great and tasting delicious, when we need it.
A slightly less pragmatic, but arguably more important, reason that I like kohlrabi is specifically because it is a little bit ‘weird’. As a small farmer, I consider my efforts toward increasing plant diversity as one of my more important roles in the farming system (I plan to write a whole article on vegetable diversity in the future). Because kohlrabi is uncommon, I am more interested in growing it. I think that the more different vegetables people eat, the more complete nutrition we are likely to get. Also, the more kinds of different and varied vegetables farmers grow, the more stable our agriculture is—if we grow only a few vegetable varieties, we run the risk of falling prey to some disease or pest that could wipe out a very substantial portion of our food supply (think the Irish potato famine). So, by growing kohlrabi, and other such vegetables that are not as popular and therefore are not often grown on large farms, I like to think that I am sowing the seeds of food security and general health.
As we begin our CSA, Nina and I have been the recipients of much advice. I have been surprised by how much of this advice contains a variation on the theme of, “CSAs grow so much kohlrabi! Why?! No one really likes kohlrabi!” I suppose this article is partly a preemptive defense of our decision in the hopes that our feedback box will not be filled with similar sentiments. I also have included two delicious kohlrabi recipes, because I honestly think that once people know how to prepare this delicate, tender, broccoli-esque vegetable, everyone will be a convert to its charms. But I also just couldn’t contain my appreciation for this underrated delight of a vegetable, which is enjoyed in Europe and Asia as well as North America. I hope you enjoy your kohlrabi this week!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
A Short History of CSA
By Nina Berryman
CSA farms are spreading like wildfire across the nation! It seems new ones are being created every year, and many have waiting lists. Given how popular CSA is, it’s not surprising that the principles behind it emerged independently in many areas around the world. There is a misconception that there was one original model that was the inspiration for all of the existing CSA farms, however this is not actually the case.
In the 1960’s a group of women in Japan concerned with chemical-laden, imported food came together to implement a different kind of food distribution. They bought directly from dairy farmers to ensure they knew the source and quality of their milk. This concept spread to include more products, farmers and consumers. It became known as Teikei which translates to “cooperation,” “link up” or “join business.”
In the 1970’s there was a strong co-op movement in Chile as well. Farmers and consumers created buying and selling partnerships to promote the local food economy. These cooperatives inspired the first producer-consumer food alliance in Geneva.
The roots of the current CSA movement in North America can be traced to the philosophies of Rudolf Steiner. Rudolf Steiner was an Austrian philosopher (as well as a scholar, architect, playwright, and educator) who lived from 1862 to 1925. His works were largely concerned with “spiritual science,” the connection between western science and mysticism. He is considered the founder of Biodynamic agriculture, a method of agriculture that tries to source all farm in-puts from the farm itself, and considers a farm as one complete organism, compiled of many mutually beneficial interactions and ecological processes. Steiner also believed strongly in the importance of forming a strong relationship between a producer and consumer, where they both are aware of their mutual interests and work together to strengthen them. More and more farms began practicing these ideas of biodynamics and forming an intentional, close relationship between consumers and producers. In North America, these ideas were implemented on two separate farms, independently and simultaneously in 1986, the Indian Line Farm in Massachusetts and the Temple-Wilton Community Farm in New Hampshire.
Indian Line Farm was started by a core group of people who had either visited biodynamic farms in Europe, or were at least familiar with the teachings of Steiner. Robyn Van En, Jan Vander Tuin, John Root, Jr., Charlotte Zanecchia, and Andrew Lorand started this farm with an apple orchard and sold shares of apples, cider and vinegar. They sold 30 shares in their first year, but quickly grew to include more crops, more land and more consumers.
The Temple-Wilton Community Farm was started by Anthony Graham, Trauger Groh and dairyman Lincoln Geiger. Trauger moved from Germany where he had been working with Steiner-inspired agricultural techniques. The Temple-Wilton Community Farm did not have a set price that all shareholders had to pay. Instead they made a budget for the upcoming year and simply asked shareholders to contribute what they could in order to reach their budget goals.
Today, in Pennsylvania alone there are more than 150 CSA farms, and that number is increasing rapidly. While there are many CSA’s that serve Philadelphia, we are proud to say that we are one of two CSA farms located within the city limits. The other is Greens Grow Farm, located in the Kensington area.
Sources for this article include:
Local Harvest: http://www.localharvest.org/
The Rodale Institute: http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/features/0104/csa-history/part1.shtml
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community-supported_agriculture#History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teikei
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Steiner#Biodynamic_farming_.26_gardening
Sharing the Harvest, Henderson and Van En, Chelsea Green Publishing Company. Vermont. 2007.
CSA farms are spreading like wildfire across the nation! It seems new ones are being created every year, and many have waiting lists. Given how popular CSA is, it’s not surprising that the principles behind it emerged independently in many areas around the world. There is a misconception that there was one original model that was the inspiration for all of the existing CSA farms, however this is not actually the case.
In the 1960’s a group of women in Japan concerned with chemical-laden, imported food came together to implement a different kind of food distribution. They bought directly from dairy farmers to ensure they knew the source and quality of their milk. This concept spread to include more products, farmers and consumers. It became known as Teikei which translates to “cooperation,” “link up” or “join business.”
In the 1970’s there was a strong co-op movement in Chile as well. Farmers and consumers created buying and selling partnerships to promote the local food economy. These cooperatives inspired the first producer-consumer food alliance in Geneva.
The roots of the current CSA movement in North America can be traced to the philosophies of Rudolf Steiner. Rudolf Steiner was an Austrian philosopher (as well as a scholar, architect, playwright, and educator) who lived from 1862 to 1925. His works were largely concerned with “spiritual science,” the connection between western science and mysticism. He is considered the founder of Biodynamic agriculture, a method of agriculture that tries to source all farm in-puts from the farm itself, and considers a farm as one complete organism, compiled of many mutually beneficial interactions and ecological processes. Steiner also believed strongly in the importance of forming a strong relationship between a producer and consumer, where they both are aware of their mutual interests and work together to strengthen them. More and more farms began practicing these ideas of biodynamics and forming an intentional, close relationship between consumers and producers. In North America, these ideas were implemented on two separate farms, independently and simultaneously in 1986, the Indian Line Farm in Massachusetts and the Temple-Wilton Community Farm in New Hampshire.
Indian Line Farm was started by a core group of people who had either visited biodynamic farms in Europe, or were at least familiar with the teachings of Steiner. Robyn Van En, Jan Vander Tuin, John Root, Jr., Charlotte Zanecchia, and Andrew Lorand started this farm with an apple orchard and sold shares of apples, cider and vinegar. They sold 30 shares in their first year, but quickly grew to include more crops, more land and more consumers.
The Temple-Wilton Community Farm was started by Anthony Graham, Trauger Groh and dairyman Lincoln Geiger. Trauger moved from Germany where he had been working with Steiner-inspired agricultural techniques. The Temple-Wilton Community Farm did not have a set price that all shareholders had to pay. Instead they made a budget for the upcoming year and simply asked shareholders to contribute what they could in order to reach their budget goals.
Today, in Pennsylvania alone there are more than 150 CSA farms, and that number is increasing rapidly. While there are many CSA’s that serve Philadelphia, we are proud to say that we are one of two CSA farms located within the city limits. The other is Greens Grow Farm, located in the Kensington area.
Sources for this article include:
Local Harvest: http://www.localharvest.org/
The Rodale Institute: http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/features/0104/csa-history/part1.shtml
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community-supported_agriculture#History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teikei
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Steiner#Biodynamic_farming_.26_gardening
Sharing the Harvest, Henderson and Van En, Chelsea Green Publishing Company. Vermont. 2007.
Spotlight On Greens
In the spring, any CSA, and, for that matter, any farmers market in our part of the country is inevitably dominated by greens. It works out this way due to timing. Crops in the brassica family (broccoli, cabbage, collard greens, and kale) can tolerate frost, meaning we can plant them early, but the leaf crops mature much more quickly than the slower growing crops that form a head, like cauliflower and cabbage. Then there are the asian greens and lettuce crops, which are less frost tolerant but grow quite quickly, meaning they, too, are ready to harvest before many of the other vegetables.
I often find that people are intimidated by greens. My mother is a formidable cook, but just this winter I bought a bunch of collard greens while visiting her and was surprised to find, in my farmer-bubble sort of way, that she had never cooked them and had no idea what to do with them.
In fact, greens are easy, delicious, and healthy. I have included several easy recipes for greens to give you some ideas of their possibilities. In addition to the recipes I’ve found, greens can be added to any brothy soup, right before the end, so they wilt in the heat right as the soup is done cooking. I add greens to my scrambled eggs in the morning, and used to sell kale to a coffee shop that added it to their banana-orange smoothies for a drink that was startilingly green and very delicious.
Should you tire of eating fresh greens or find yourself with an overwhelming amount, they are also easily preserved for later use.
Freezing greens: Cut up your greens and blanch them in boiling water for about two minutes. Dry lightly, put into freezer bags, press out the air, and freeze.
Lacto-fermenting greens (Gundru): Note: I tried this last year. It worked, for sure, but the greens do taste very unusual. Try this if you have an adventurous palate. According to Sandor Katz, author of Wild Fermentation, the book in which I found this recipe, this is a traditional Nepalese ferment.
• Set greens in the sun for a few hours until they wilt.
• Using a rolling pin and a cutting board, smash and crush the greens to encourage the juices out. Do not lose the juice.
• Stuff the leaves and any juice coming out into a glass jar. Use pressure to fill the jar to capacity, forcing out more juice. Fill until jar is completely full of smashed greens covered in green juice. Screw a lid onto the jar.
• Place jar in sunny place for two to three weeks. At the end, greens should be pungent.
• You can serve them as is, or dry them on a line or spread in the sun. In Nepal, the dried gundru is used as soup stock.
I often find that people are intimidated by greens. My mother is a formidable cook, but just this winter I bought a bunch of collard greens while visiting her and was surprised to find, in my farmer-bubble sort of way, that she had never cooked them and had no idea what to do with them.
In fact, greens are easy, delicious, and healthy. I have included several easy recipes for greens to give you some ideas of their possibilities. In addition to the recipes I’ve found, greens can be added to any brothy soup, right before the end, so they wilt in the heat right as the soup is done cooking. I add greens to my scrambled eggs in the morning, and used to sell kale to a coffee shop that added it to their banana-orange smoothies for a drink that was startilingly green and very delicious.
Should you tire of eating fresh greens or find yourself with an overwhelming amount, they are also easily preserved for later use.
Freezing greens: Cut up your greens and blanch them in boiling water for about two minutes. Dry lightly, put into freezer bags, press out the air, and freeze.
Lacto-fermenting greens (Gundru): Note: I tried this last year. It worked, for sure, but the greens do taste very unusual. Try this if you have an adventurous palate. According to Sandor Katz, author of Wild Fermentation, the book in which I found this recipe, this is a traditional Nepalese ferment.
• Set greens in the sun for a few hours until they wilt.
• Using a rolling pin and a cutting board, smash and crush the greens to encourage the juices out. Do not lose the juice.
• Stuff the leaves and any juice coming out into a glass jar. Use pressure to fill the jar to capacity, forcing out more juice. Fill until jar is completely full of smashed greens covered in green juice. Screw a lid onto the jar.
• Place jar in sunny place for two to three weeks. At the end, greens should be pungent.
• You can serve them as is, or dry them on a line or spread in the sun. In Nepal, the dried gundru is used as soup stock.
Polish Sorrel Soup
Ingredients:
• ½ lb. sorrel
• 1 Tbls. Butter
• 3 Tbls. Water
• 4 cups broth
• 3-4 Tbls. Flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2 raw egg yolks
• 1 Tbls. soft butter
• salt and pepper, to taste
Chop sorrel, and add to a skillet along with 1 Tbls. Butter and 3 Tbls. water. Simmer on low heat under cover for 10 minutes.
Force mixture through a sieve into 4 cups broth and simmer a few minutes longer. Dissolve 3-4 Tbls. flour in 2 cups milk and add to the pot. Simmer briefly, then remove from heat. Fork-blend 2 raw egg yolks with 1 Tbls. soft butter, adding several tablespoons of the soup and stirring until smooth. Add back to the pot. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
(from: http://www.netcooks.com/ recipes/Soups/Zupa.Szczawiowa.(Sorrel.Soup).html)
• ½ lb. sorrel
• 1 Tbls. Butter
• 3 Tbls. Water
• 4 cups broth
• 3-4 Tbls. Flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2 raw egg yolks
• 1 Tbls. soft butter
• salt and pepper, to taste
Chop sorrel, and add to a skillet along with 1 Tbls. Butter and 3 Tbls. water. Simmer on low heat under cover for 10 minutes.
Force mixture through a sieve into 4 cups broth and simmer a few minutes longer. Dissolve 3-4 Tbls. flour in 2 cups milk and add to the pot. Simmer briefly, then remove from heat. Fork-blend 2 raw egg yolks with 1 Tbls. soft butter, adding several tablespoons of the soup and stirring until smooth. Add back to the pot. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
(from: http://www.netcooks.com/ recipes/Soups/Zupa.Szczawiowa.(Sorrel.Soup).html)
Meet Farmer Danielle Szepi
Danielle Szepi
Apprentice
Before moving to Philadelphia, Danielle helped to run a CSA in northern California. She is very excited to be helping with the start-up of Saul CSA and to be participating in the growing local food movement in Philly. She hails originally from Wisconsin, so the cow barns at Saul bring her back to her childhood, even though she was not a dairy farmer. Danielle is interested in biking, watching movies, and drinking microbrews
Apprentice
Before moving to Philadelphia, Danielle helped to run a CSA in northern California. She is very excited to be helping with the start-up of Saul CSA and to be participating in the growing local food movement in Philly. She hails originally from Wisconsin, so the cow barns at Saul bring her back to her childhood, even though she was not a dairy farmer. Danielle is interested in biking, watching movies, and drinking microbrews
Meet Farmer Megan Rulli
Megan Rulli
Apprentice
Megan comes from the railroad town of Enola on the Susquehanna River. She enjoys the company of friends and being out of doors. She comes to Philadelphia to learn more of farming, food networks, and self sufficiency. She is very talented at interpretive dance.
Apprentice
Megan comes from the railroad town of Enola on the Susquehanna River. She enjoys the company of friends and being out of doors. She comes to Philadelphia to learn more of farming, food networks, and self sufficiency. She is very talented at interpretive dance.
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