Our friend Amy S. emailed me and Shannon and let us know about the map that the New York Times has recently published, and the Ethicurean's post discussing the map. The NY Times took 2007 agriculture census data and created a map showing the distribution of organic farms. It is obvious that the denser clusters of organic farms are found along the west coast, northeast coast and around great lakes area. However we need to remember those areas also have bigger populations. It makes sense if you consider that many organic farms serve local populations with the notable exceptions of big organic farms in California. A small graph next to the map is quite impressive - the sales of organic produce from 1997 to 2007 more than quadrupled.
The NY Times map is static and thus I couldn't zoom in to see the details. I hope USDA will publish an interactive map as they did with 2002 agriculture census data. While I couldn't exactly locate the original data that used to create the map, I found a county level data summarized for the state of Maryland. Here is a link to organic agriculture (pdf) in Maryland. I am very happy to note that Frederick County has the most number of organic farms in Maryland (30 out of 161 organic farms) and the second largest area used for organic production (1636 acres), closely following Kent County (1650 acres) and making up 25% of the statewide total area (6678 acres).
USDA is doing a follow-up survey on organic production. It will be interesting to see "how the growth of organic farming is changing the face of U.S. agriculture."
Monday, May 4, 2009
A map of organic farms
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Flowers for the market: May 2, 09
Tomato plants from House in the Woods
Today, Hilda Staples and I planned to meet up at House in the Woods Farm to buy certified organic tomato plants from my friends Ilene and Phil Freedman. Ilene was having a presale of tomato plants for old customers, and I COULD NOT WAIT to pick mine out. I have bought tomato plants from Ilene for years now; the only exception was last year when I decided to grow them from seed. The first picture is of two of Ilene and Phil's CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) customers browsing the tomato plants.
The next picture is Ilene, holding a perpetual spinach plant. Ilene told me this is actually a kind of chard that does not bolt* in the summer; of course I had to try it (*bolting is when a plant develops its flower parts and neglects its leaves; this can happen very quickly if the weather gets hot. It's not desirable for plants like spinach because not only do you get less leaves, they taste bitter).
This year I wanted to grow tomatoes from seed again; I carefully picked the seeds I wanted from the catalogs and ordered them with Yeon, but I never got my act together to plant them. Luckily, Ilene had everything I wanted, including the Speckled Roma tomato plant that I bought a fruit of from Rick Hood at the Farmer's Market last summer; the most gorgeous and delicious Roma tomato I have ever beheld.
My other favorite tomato varieties are pineapple and green zebra. Most people love the sungold cherry, a prolific, sweet producer of tiny round fruits. Today I also picked up a Valencia, black krim, and a Belgian tomato that promises to have fruits up to five pounds. Ilene told me that at retail prices of $4 per pound tomatoes, one of those tomatoes would go for $20. I don't know if anyone would pay that but maybe they would. But a five pound tomato? How could I resist the temptation to buy a plant and try to grow one?
The hoop house with all of the tomato plants also held lots of other seedlings for the farm. I also picked up five pepper plants, one of each kind that they had. Ilene advised me to grow the jalapeno away from everything else, so it will go in the raised bed with the runaway asparagus fern, strawberry plants, and various herbs.
Ilene and Phil also sell heirloom tomatoes to the Common Market. Ilene said that with their 15%, the Common Market would be selling all local tomatoes this summer. The Common Market is one of the places I would love to interview about their commitment to local produce. I could go on about them but I will save that for a later post.
I was happy when Hilda and John showed up; John hung out in the barn with Phil and a bunch of happy kids. The silhouette is of Phil in the barn with the new hoop house behind him.
Hilda talked shop with Ilene about the various plants she was growing and the pros and cons of the different tomato varieties.
There was plenty to discuss. I was excited to introduce a friend in the restaurant business to a friend in the farm business, and was pleased to see them chatting with each other. I have the soul of a matchmaker.
For more information about the tomato sale at House in the Woods Farm, visit here. I also discovered Ilene's blog this morning and posted it in our blog links, but it is also here. The image of the tomatoes on the table is Ilene's from her Tomato Festival, which she is thinking about doing again this year.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
First day of market
On my way out the door this morning, I hoped that the rain would soon stop.
And it did, and the market was well attended. I walked around all morning eating things and chatting with people while Yeon took notes and chatted with people. At the end of the market, we were both a little tired, and Yeon was starving. But we both had picked up some really lovely produce, plants, baked goods, meat, cheeses...
I ran into my friend Lauren, who had a beautiful dahlia. Minutes later, I saw my friend Jeanine with a dahlia, and I told her that she had the same thing Lauren did. Jeanine said, "I know, I saw it and had to get one."
I thought this lady's basket was pretty with all of the herbs in it. It reminds me that people really enjoy the farmer's market experience.
Lots of stands had herb plants; there were so many wonderful varieties. I bought some from several different stands like Persimmon Pond Plants and So Very Special.
I bought a Mexican herb today called papalo because Nancy at Chesapeake's Choice challenged me to figure out how to use it. It had a currylike smell. It's the plant all the way on the right in the back, kind of looks like basil.
I ate a ham sandwich while I was paying for it, and stood around the Rohrers' booth for several minutes talking to my friend Jerica and her three-year old son. He bought a pound of bacon.
I ran into lots of friends. Here's Farmer Rick from Summer Creek farm helping Yeon carry some stuff to her car. They are talking about how to market the market. And Rick shared the idea with us of a senior citizen's day, which I really liked.
Hilda Staples, co-owner of Volt and keeper of their awesome blog, visited the market with her husband John and their two cute kids. I ran into Neil the sommelier and one of the chefs from Volt; they had a large bag of garlic and a big butt of pork. They are going to make sausage for the charcuterie at the restaurant. Hello, delicious.
I got bundles of asparagus from two vendors, Summer Creek Farm and Scenic View Orchards. They were totally different. Summer Creek's had tall, thin green stems and Scenic View's had short, stout purple spears. Get your mind out of the gutter.
I came home and drank half a quart of vanilla milk from South Mountain Creamery after I mowed the lawn.
We had a great first day of the market. If you were there, tell me what you thought.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Cheese: What I Look Forward to at the Farmer's Market.
The farmer's market opens tomorrow, that is if I can finish this post before midnight in about 15 minutes. Otherwise, I will have to say, the farmer's market opens today! The market opening is about 10 hours away.
I would like to say 'cheeeese' for the market. Alison of CapriKorn Farms brings us delightful goat cheeses. If you have not tried yet, I recommend their soft goat cheese, chevre. It is delicious and goes with virtually everything. Shannon wrote about eating with strawberry, and I have a photo of little toasted bread with chevre and salmon on it. In the summer I made stuffed squash blossom filled with chevre too.
Randy of South Mountain Creamery brings us milk, yogurt, cream, butter, and assortment of cheeses. They use glass bottles for their milk and yogurt. I have yet to try their flavored milk and yogurt - my friends love those. I don't know how many times Randy climbs up and down to get milk and yogurt from the refrigerated truck out to customers.
Our farmer's market might not be big, compared to those found in metro areas. But we have an amazing diversity for the size of the market. Let us cherish what we have.
See you very soon at the market.
Cake Walkin’…
West Frederick Farmer's Market in the Gazette!
Check out this article in the Frederick Gazette about the West Frederick Farmer's Market and other local markets and their impact on the local economy. I was excited because the writer, Katherine Mullen, brought up some key points:
- Times and locations of local farmer's markets
- "the total combined economic impact of farmers markets to the county is $2.7 million."
- Local restaurants are making an effort to use farm-fresh products
- There are great products at the markets early in the season
- The West Frederick Farmer's Market starts tomorrow!!!!
- We are planning festivals at the West Frederick Farmer's Market for May 30 and July 11.
This blog was mentioned, as was the good work of Colby Ferguson and the Office of Economic Development. Mullen also interviewed "Dave Snyder, owner of Café Nola in downtown Frederick, [who] said he buys items such as heirloom tomatoes, basil, yellow cauliflower and purple peppers weekly at the West Frederick and Shab Row & Everedy Square farmers markets to supplement his restaurant's dinner specials." Of course this means that we will have to add Nola to our interviews at some point.
Here is the part of the article that relates to our blog:
The appeal of the farmers market is simple, said Shannon Moore, a volunteer on the marketing committee for the West Frederick Farmers Market.
"When people know that it's there, they love it and come back," she said.
Moore also writes for the blog, "Grown In Frederick," where she posts e-mails from local farmers about what's in season, gives tips on backyard gardening, recipes and
lists of farms to visit."What we try to do is connect people to Frederick agriculture through experience," she said.
Moore also emphasizes the West Frederick Farmers Market by posting the market's general information and a list of its vendors.
She said that the committee is planning festivals at the West Frederick Farmers Market on May 30 and July 11 to promote farmers markets.
Though farmers markets generally start off slow and don't pick up until July when people come in droves, there is still plenty to find this weekend, Moore noted.
"There's a lot of products early in the season that people love, like strawberries and asparagus," she added.
OK I want Dan and Yeon to know that I specifically mentioned them and spelled their names. And I want all of you to know to expect strawberries later in the season. Don't be mad when you don't see them this weekend!
