Missing Outstanding In The Field

Jim sent me over some pictures of us from OITF tonight and I started to think about my time with OITF. I am really going to miss this group. Working for Outstanding In The Field is a job I will never forget. What an incredible opportunity! It was hard at time...but we stuck together like family.

I can now say I traveled across the United States with a group of 8 in an 1960's Bus and put on farm dinners across the country. I learned a lot about living with other people and about myself on tour. It truly was a life changing experience. After five months I have great new friends and memories across the country. I was able to learn so much about food and farming and I hope to use my new knowledge in my future career.

Good luck with the last few dinners! Hope to see you soon! Cheers!!

Struggles of Small Farms

Judith with Love is Love Farm at the Market

Farmers struggle to survive even with current trends to support local farmers and the movement to eat organic foods. I look up to the farmers that work hard so that we can have healthy, clean and fair food on our table everyday. It is hard enough for the farmers to produce the food, sell it at markets and connect with chefs in the areas, but they also encounter fires, bugs, animals and weather every year that sets them back.

Along the road with OITF I have seen farmers across the country have the same love and passion to their farm and crops. They have long hours and a certain kind of dedication it takes to keep their farms going. It always saddens me to see their struggles and hardships.

For example in Madison, WI at West Star Farm we witnessed a fire destroy a field of crops. In a matter of seconds we watched a whole field go up in flames due to a brush fire.

Due to recent weather in Georgia - Love is Love Farm has been severely damaged by the recent flooding. The GA area received 21 inches of rain from Sunday to Monday, which flooded the farm and many other area of town. Two-thirds of their land was submerged and most of their crops were lost. According to the NYT article his chickens were dry, but the lettuce, beets and cabbage from his fall harvest were deep under mucky brown water.

I love to see that the community is coming together on this. It is great to support local farmers and buy their product; however, it is another thing to help support them through these hard times. Julie Shaffer, Slow Food SE Regional Governor reaches out to the community to come together to help Love is Love and other farms hurt in the flooding. As the week goes on I am full of joy to hear all of the wonderful things people are doing to help. At the Farmers Market in 2 weeks Jim N Nicks and the Southern Foodways Alliance are selling plate lunches with all proceeds going to Love is Love. (Details To Come).

I also learned through a blog - that Woodfire Grill (Kevin Gillespie) will host a fundraising dinner for Love is Love on October 11th at 6PM. $100, 4 courses with wine pairings, with all proceeds going to Love is Love.

Please help in any way you can to support Love is Love Farm. Judith and Joe do so much for our community- it is time to give them a helping hand.

Kevin Gillespie Cooks for OITF Atlanta

Outstanding In The Field came to Atlanta this past weekend. It was great to experience a dinner in my hometown with friends and family. The event was held at Love is Love Farm with guest Chef Kevin Gillespie from Woodfire Grill. Kevin Gillespie is a huge supporter of eating locally and uses the highest quality sustainable crops and meats in his restaurant.

Love is Love Farm is newly operated on the Glover’s family farm that has been around since 1823. Joe Reynolds and Judith Winfrey are young farmers that named their farm after the title of Lungfish’s album Love is Love. With a love for music and each other, they both also share the same passion for farming and shaping the way American views food. Judith is also a good friend- so it was great to see her and come together over a good meal and eat the wonderful vegetables she grew.

Check out the article I wrote on the event in the summer issue of edible Metro and Mountains.

This was by far the soggiest dinner yet! It poured all morning (and the whole week before). There is usually no rain in September in GA. Farmer Laurie Moore put it in good words, "Super-weird weather for September, usually we are doing rain dances this time of year!!" The rain didn't stop us! We were able to divide the table into two barns on the property. John rigged an area for Kevin to cook by using a tarp left over from last years rain dinner in NYC. The tarp has been sitting under our bus all season- it was the perfect time to pull it out.

Kevin cooked a wonderful dinner. (See menu below). The okra was to die for! He seasoned it with garlic and calabrian chile that he roasted over an outdoor wood fire oven. The Pork Loin was perfectly cooked with great flavor. I enjoyed the Cinnamon Poached Apples that he paired with a 2003 Paul Anheuser Riesling, Kreauznacher Monchberg, Qualitastswain Mosel, Germany. It was so wonderful to sit down with my family and eat a meal. If you are in the GA area please support these local farmers. Love is Love Farm, Moore Farms & Friends, and Crystal Organics. Also support Kevin and Woodfire Grill. The menu changes regularly and always has fresh and in season items to choose from. We went last week. I had the most amazing duck and quail.

MENU:

Chilled Cucumber & Almond Soup
Deviled Farm Egg, Bacon Jam and Fried Onion

Berkshire Pork Terrine with Mixed Pickles and House Mustard

Crystal Organics Arugula, Sungolds, Field Peasm Cornbread and Basil Dressing

Coal Roasted Pork Loin with Stuffed Small Squashes, Creamed Farro & Sweet Potato Greens

Roasted Okra with Garlic & Calabrian Chile

Cinnamon Poached Apples with Skip's Honey Mousse and Spiced Pistachios

Ayrshire Farm

We had three dinners at Ayrshire Farm in Upperville, VA a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful horse farm with over 900 acres. The original plantation house of Ayrshire was built circa 1821. The dinners were a huge success. It was tiring having three back-to-back dinners, but we had an amazing staff that helped us through it each dinner. We put one location on a hill that over looked the Blue Ridge Mountains and the other location was within the elegant horse stables on the property. The farm is known for breeding Shire horses, which are instantly recognizable for the long white hair draping down to their hooves.

Besides breeding horses the farm is also a certified organic farm that specializes in rare and endangered breeds of livestock and heirloom fruits and vegetables.

Taste The East Coast - OITF

Here are some pictures from the East Coast Outstanding In The Field Dinners. All of the dinners have been unique and full of flavor. On the East Coast tomatoes became in season and we ate a lot of great seafood.

Vermont - Steve and Lara Atkins, Kitchen Table Bistro, Richmond, VT
(Half Pint Farm)


Maine - Sam Hayward, Fore Street, Portland
(Four Season Farm)



Cape Cod - Liam Luttrell-Rowland and Doug Ramler, Cape Sea Grille
(Cedar Spring Herb Farm)


Rhode Island - Matthew Jennings, Farmstead, Providence
(Aquidneck Farms)


East Hampton - Gerry Hayden, The North Fork Table & Inn, Southold
(East End Community Organic Farm)



New York (Queens) - Ryan Skeen, Allen & Delancey, New York City
(Queens Farm)


New York City - Jason Weiner, Almond Restaurant, New York City
(La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez Community Garden)


New York City - Josh Eden, Shorty's 32, New York City
(La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez Community Garden)

Outstanding In The Field East Coast

What a crazy month it has been! Sorry for my lack of posts. Internet has been very limited along the road. We have made it to the East Coast! Our bus has been trucking along the coast through Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia! We slowly made our way down to Georgia and it feels good to be home! All of our dinners have been successful and full of good food, fun and great company. I will post of pictures from the meals and chefs as well. Here is a little bit of on the road fun....

Some highlights of the East Coast:

We spent one Saturday morning at Vermont's Farmers Market in Burlington. The market was full of wonderful cheese, vegetables, maple syrup and vendors selling hot food. I had incridible Hot Tamales, which brought me back to Mississippi days. If you are ever in Burlington you must try Rookies Rootbeer. Dave and Jenny Rooke have a booth at the market and I was eager to taste it. It was so full of flavor and I could taste the freshness. The rootbeer is all natural and hand-made in their home in VT. They only use six ingredients and the soda goes through a forces process of carbonation.

At the farmers market I also stopped by the Half Pint Farm stand and got some vegetables for lunch for the crew. John also bought some eggplant and other veggies to cook for us. After our visit to the market we spent the day driving to Maine. After having to stop at the boarder due to a train spilling chemical waste we decided to turn around and stopped at a river site in New Hampshire for a quick dip and some lunch. John cooked us lunch while we jumped in the water and cooled off.

I enjoyed visiting Four Season Farm in Harborside, ME. Barbara Damrosch and Eliot Coleman are incredible farmers doing great work in their area. Not only are they well known for their farming methods but they are well-known writers, teachers and researchers. They have made a huge impact on the way people farm in our country.

Eliot Coleman is well-known for his development of cold-weather growing techniques. At Four Seasons Farm he produces year round vegetable crops in harsh winter conditions, using unheated and minimally heated greenhouse structures. It was incredible to learn about how he produces all types of vegetables during the winter. He calls this growing season his "winter harvest," where he grows fresh vegetables all year round. The traditional fresh produce season in colder parts of the country begins in June and ends in September. I learned a lot from my visit to this farm. In Maine we stopped again to dip our feet in the water- to also say we went coast to coast. After that we stopped for some Lobster Rolls. You cant go to Maine without having one! Caleb found a fun fish ride in the town.

I also enjoyed going to Cape Cod. We hosted a dinner at Cedar Spring Herb Farm in Harwich. I recommend all of Donna's products. She has amazing teas and natural beauty products.

I really enjoyed my time in NYC. It was exciting to go to an urban farm again. Just like Chicago it was a farm (community garden) in the dead center of the city. My sister and brother-in-law came to the dinner in Manhattan, which also was very special to show them what I have been up to the past few months!