Farm to Table

Normally I don’t shy away from being verbose but lately I’ve had to make a choice between farming or talking. And farming is winning this battle.

Last week was a great week. A nice mix of rain and sun. And as our farm is taking a low-irrigation approach, rain is a welcome event.

On a gray Wednesday Ben and I headed to Hardwick to transplant eggplant and pepper plants. Late in the afternoon we were joined by Clara, Ben’s high school friend, and Mandy, Clara’s co-worker.

Clara and Mandy both work at the Green Bean.

As the day progressed -- transplanting, mulching, and praying for rain, the conversation with Mandy turned towards cooking, eating, farm and food politics, and whatnot.

It dawned on me that Mandy just might be the person to cook our Farm to Table meals. When I asked her about this, her eyes lit up.

Mandy is, in my opinion, very lucky. She’s figured out that she loves to cook and she’s turned that into her revenue stream.

I asked Mandy if she wanted to visit Anahata and cook dinner that night. She could wander into the field, pick what suited her taste, then cook it to her liking. She agreed and I dashed off to Hannaford to pick up the 3 ingredients she requested: scallions, peanut oil, and sprouts.

Well. This wasn’t just any-old meal. Mandy busted out a ton of damn good eats.

Stir fry: chicken, carrots, scallions, bok choy, onion, fennel, chili sauce

Coleslaw: carrot, Bilko cabbage (from the field), vinaigrette

White Russian kale (from our field) and egg, cooked on the stove top in a cast iron skillet. (This was a dish with no-name.)

Arugula and radish (both from our field), with a fresh cranberry-lemon vinaigrette.

Mandy used fennel, cilantro, and parsley -- all from our field.

Beyond the fact that Mandy cooked us an amazing meal using produce from our fields, the evening was alive with possibility. It’s going to take a few strategy sessions to get this process sorted out but it seems very likely that we will serve more Farm to Table meals during this growing season.