Miolea Organic Farm

There were hundreds of little experiences with my grandparents, parents. aunts, uncles and in-laws, that when taken as a whole, have led me to where I am today.  My father liked to grow tomatoes and camp.  On those camping trips we somehow always ended up at a farm.  One of my earliest recollections was with my father stopping to buy eggs,  I remember him talking about the freshness of the eggs coming right from the farm.  He would buy fresh corn, tomatoes and whatever else they had.  That night my mom would make dinner with what was purchased.

My grandfather owned a restuarant for awhile and then sold fruits and vegetables in the city.  I can remember the smells the fast driving as he was picking up or delivering cases of fruits, vegetables and herbs.  Then there was my father-in-law who put a garden in every year and every year it seemed to get a little bigger.  He had perfect rows and would tend them daily often imparting bits of wisdom.  I love to cook but at the time I was still in college and didn't have a thought of growing anything.  But I loved his daughter and I wanted him to like me, so I helped and listened to him all the same. 

There is this paradox with what we do.  It is incredibly hard physically, mentally, emotionally and fiscally.  by the end of the growing season we are drained in every aspect of being.  Yet each year as winter turns to spring I start to get anxious.  I can't wait to hook the tiller up to the tractor and turn that years production garden under.  I'll hook up the water tanks to collect the spring rains and torture some poor plant by planting it early and trying to keep it warm in the frigid air.  Always testing ways to get things planted earlier then planned.

I'll dream of the corn and tomatoes to come while testing the soil temperature and waiting for the slightest change in weather.  But there are the long, hot, humid, sweaty days that will come with all this anticipation and the back breaking labor of planting, weeding and re-weeding.  I'll look back at what we earned last year, what pains we went through, how much time we spent and logically tell myself it just is not worth it.   

Then a small voice inside will say, "This is the year. This year will be the  year that we really make a profit.  Our name will get out and people will come to the farm and purchase".  I think of all the little simple acts that have taken place in my life and I know I'm where I'm supposed to be doing the things we do.  Besides who is to say, maybe this will be the year.

Buy Local - from a farmer not a chain hard selling the word.

 After the persons surprise that often accompanies the answer, that yes we indeed do farm, we get asked about vacations.  "When do you take vacations,"  or "Now that summer is over what do you do?"  Work never stops, in the winter we are about as busy as during the growing season.  I'm just doing different work.  Work that takes a back seat during the growing season.  We still have it easier than the folks with big animals.

 You still have to take care of the chickens.  You have pre-winter activites like taking down the rain-water collection system.  Winterizing the water tanks and putting everything away.  You get the winter setup for the chicken houses out and ready for bitter weather and cover the strawberries with burlap.  Winter is the time to work on the tractor and tune up the small engines to get them ready for next year.  Fields need to be cleared of fallen trees.  Dead trees need to be harvested and cut into firewood. 

 We will go through about four thousand pounds of firewood (two cords)and three thousand pounds of wood pellets in the house.  It is all brought in a little at a time but it is almost a daily chore.  We heat the upstairs with the pellet stove and the first floor with a woodstove that is in the kitchen.  The wood stove sits in the original cooking fire place.  The fire place hearth is eight feet wide by six feet deep, the opening of the hearth at its peak is almost five feet five inches tall.  I've been told that I can not cook in it as much as I ask!

 The chickens are a daily task that cannot be skipped.  Some are kept in houses that have no floors so they can be moved onto new grass without having to let them out.  Others are in converted horse trailers and have to be let out every day.  This means they have to be closed up for the night too.  Then you have to make sure the water is not freezing and more importantly the chickens are not freezing.  They will eat more as a way of staying warm so restocking cycles pick up.  The Rhode Island Red comes from the north (Rhode Island coincedently) so they are pretty cold tolerant but they to are suseptable to the frigid cold.

 There is dragging the crusher-run driveway to smooth out the ruts and redistribute the stone bed.  Next up would be fixing doors, windows and any structural repairs that crop up.

 Of course winter is also when the Italian Cooking Classes really start to take off.  We'll teach bread making, pasta making and tomato based sauces.  We get to cook dishes we love to eat and do taste tests with the students.  Usually class will start off with a homemade dish for everyone to sample.  Then depending on the interest we'll go into knife safety, food borne illnesses or a range of food saftey topics.  From there it is into the thick of hands on cooking.

From a vegetable/fruit growers point of view, I think vacation is a good thought but is a misnomer.  Your work and responsibilities do not end they just shift and change a little. 

Buy Local - From a farmer not a chain that hard sells the word 

Cuts are taking place at all levels of government in our State.  Where the rubber meets the road, they are taking away one of the biggest knowledge resources in our State when it comes to small farming.  Our Extension Agent and his aide are getting the proverbial ax.  For those of you who do not know, the function of an Extension Agent is to be the knowledge resource in the County about all things agriculture, be it regulations, resources, methods, education or problem solving.   He or she is the one to go to and they can tell you the who, what, where and when of your answer. 

There is a letter writing campaign that is taking place and we have written to our county and state representatives.  Not one elected offical seemed to understand the importance of an extension agent to a small farmer.  Each and everyone pointed a finger up the line.  At least the ones that even took the time to respond.

It is quite dismaying.  Here is a man that has spent his entire life learning and teaching agriculture.  In the latter part of his career he developed a nationally recognized program for small farmer education.  It is a model which others teach.  We are where we are because of this man, and we are only one of many.  He is a resource, an inspiration, a cheerleader and above all, he is there for you with an answer to any problem you might have.  

He teaches the nutrient manamagement course - the same nutrient management course and program that is so important to saving the Cheasapeake Bay.  On one hand the State wants farmers to be responsible stewards of the the land.  On the other hand,  they are taking away the person who can teach you how to best do that.

Here is another example of how the small farmer is being squeezed out by making resources scarce.  If it wasn't for Terry Poole, our extension agent (ermitas) and his classes, we wouldn't be as far along as we are.  We would have never learned about Management Intensive Grazing, Integrated Pest Management Techniques, Nutrient Management, and Water and Soil Resource conservation. 

Terry is the driving force behind the Maryland Small Farm Co-op, an organization of small farmers working to help each other and sustain the small farm.  Small farms have little to no room to compete, and big Agra-business is controlling the food chain.  Our extension agents are a lifeline to university research, practical applications in the field, and neighborly help.  Support farming by keeping them available.

Our second flock of layers has a broody chicken.  She's actually gone broody two times this year.  Although breaking them of broodiness is not that hard it is still a change to all concerned.  You need to isolate them and make sure they have plenty of food and water.  The most important thing after that is to make sure they don't have an egg to sit on.  A broody hen will not lay eggs while brooding so you don't have to worry about her.  Isolating her makes sure other hens don't take advantage of her broodiness by dropping eggs in her nest. 

We took Broody out of the nesting box in flock two and placed her in the hospital pen setup in a stall in the barn.  The isolation process can take anywhere from five to ten days.  When a broody hen starts laying eggs you'll know that you have broken them of the broodiness and it is time to introduce them back to the flock.

In the past we've let the hens acclimate themselves.  We'd open the barn door and let her come out when she choose.  Sometimes it would take a couple days but eventually they come out preferring the outdoors to the pen.  The last two times we've done this the hen actually went back to her flock on her own.  This time however, Broody would come out of the barn but at night she would return to the hospital pen.  We thought, ok, she's confused and doesn't know to go back to her flock.  We seem to always rationalize their behavior but we never ask them to confirm our suspicion.

We then decided that she was going to have to be re-introduced to her old flock.  From the start we encountered stiff opposition from her mates.  When we put Broody in the pen they just started squaring off and no amount of yelling or screaming seemed to break it up.  I found that I needed to get physically in between them in order to settle them down.  Our first day of re-introducing Broody to flock two (her original flock) went something like the chicken version of a gang fight. Only Broody was a one hen gang.  I was in the pen for about an hour staying between Broody and the combatants.  I was getting tired of standing there and frustrated by all the fights so I gave up and took Broody out of the pen and let her roam the grounds.

At dusk she went back to the barn and settled into the hospital pen.  This went on for another two days.  I decided to try again but this time put her in with flock one.  It is the smallest and oldest of all the flocks so I figured there were less hens and being more mature would not cause trouble.  I took Broody in my arms and went into the pen.  I walked her around so the other hens could see her.  The whole time I'm saying shish to calm them.  I set her down and before I could get out of the pen the pecking order was being strictly enforced.

This time I decided to place the trouble makers out side of the pen and let them roam.  Much to my surprise after two hens were ejected the flock was at peace.  The two banished layers stayed outside the fence and foraged far and wide.  For the rest of the day there was harmony among the flocks.

As dusk took hold the hens started heading to bed.  I knew I was going to have to go looking for the trouble makers so I went out to search before day light vanished.  I went to the barn first to see if Broody was on her perch.  No Broody.  Okay, she's probably out back.  I left the door open and went to close up the closest flock.  We usually count the hens before locking up for the night and the second flock was all accounted for.  I try to get them to count off but they just refuse. 

Flock three was all accounted for and I headed to the last house.  At this time I'm starting to worry, Broody is no where in sight and I can't hear a sound from the banished.

I look in the last house and shine my light on the roosting polls.  The two banished hens came back from exploring and were quietly perched ready for sleep.  On the other end in the corner to my surprise perched Broody.  Everyone was settled in and ready for the night so I closed the door.

That was three days ago.  At night she sleeps with flock one.  During the day she flies the coop, roams and lays her egg in the barn. At night she goes back into the coop to sleep.   We're trying to figure out how to break the egg laying habit but we figure one change at a time.

 Buy Local - From a farmer not a chain hard selling the fact!

I heard a farmer once say that cutting grass is one of the most useless chores on a farm.  At the time I didn't really understand what he meant and he didn't explain and I didn't question.  I made a living cutting grass and that is what helped pay my way through college.

It was seasonal work but it was lucrative and the hours were flexible.  I would target my advertising to more affluent neighborhoods and those enclaves that had professionals.  My rational was that they wouldn't be home enough to cut the grass and I could charge a premium for my time and effort.  I have always been a type A who strives to do the best job I can.  As the saying goes, "If a job is worth doing it's worth doing well."

I hold myself to a higher standard and that has proven to be a problem when dealing with our employees.  I try to make sure they know what a great job they are doing and how much we appreciate their help.  First time mistakes are tollerated but also used as learning experiences.  The work is grueling and in the worst of the heat.  We make sure that they get plenty of water and rest breaks.  We often feed them at lunch if they haven't brought anything and sometimes we'll cook a light meal. 

For me once I get started in the morning I don't stop, I'll work through until 4:00 or 4:30.  I stay hydrated all day but I don't break for a meal.  I hate stopping mid-day to eat, it makes me sluggish, weighs me down but most importantly I never seem to have the appetite.  To me its like working out in a gym and stopping for food and then continue the work out.  It's just not done.

The jobs on a farm are broken into tasks and those tasks that generate revenue are most important.  Those tasks that don't generate revenue must be done but are done begrudgingly.  Like mowing the lawn or trimming the edges or draging the stone driveway.  These are the tasks that are the biggest waste of time and are fruitless in their endeavor. 

What once paid my way through school has now become a bane to my summer routine.  I know what that farmer meant when he said mowing lawns is a useless chore.  You spend time on something you can't sell.  Once you cut grass the darn thing just grows back until you cut it again.  I'd love to have an astro-turf lawn but I think it would run counter to our entire ecological mission, but then again maybe we need to re-think the whole goat thing.

BUY LOCAL - from a farmer not from a chain advertising "Local"

I read that more and more of us are starting backyard chicken pens.  If you've ever had a fresh egg you can understand why.  We read a lot about raising chickens, specifically layers, before we actually took the leap.  As I've lamented before mortality bothers us and was one of the main reasons it took us so long to incorporate hens into our farm model.

But I have to tell you it has been an experience that I wouldn't change.  We've had some sad times but the hens have brought us more joy than sorrow.  We've picked up veterinary tips and tricks and have become quite adept at handling situations as they arise.  One on the most important things to know when raising hens in your backyard is what to look for in terms of health and how to detect unhealthy situations as quickly as you can before the problem spreads to the entire flock..

We had never thought of chickens as being happy but I guess like most things you are either stressed or not stressed.  If not stressed then I guess you could consider the bird to be what we would call happy.  You can tell signs of stress and negative stress affects taste if a bird has been stressed for extended periods.  Anything subjected to long periods of stress is going to have problems.  That's why cows, pigs, chickens or any animal raised on these confinment farms are pumped up with anti-biotics, hormones and other synthetic substances.  They were not meant to live that way.  Evolution has prepared them to be grazers, hence the term ruminant.  Not in confinment yards where they stand and sleep in their own excrement laden pens with no hope of getting on grass.

First and foremost you must know what signs to look for in chickens and you must be able to compare it to what a healthy chicken looks like.  The first signs of any problem with a layer is that they will not be themselves.  We have learned that if we see any anomally whatsoever we need to act upon it.  Meaning if there is the slightest change in the bird, isolate her from the rest of the flock and give it a health check.  You should always have a hospital pen available.  This is usually an enclosed area that has food, water, a nest and a roost.  I've seen a little 2 chicken box setup for this purpose.  The last thing you need to worry about if you have a sick chicken is where are you going to put it when isolated from the flock.  Even if you do not have a special place at least know what you will do if isolation is needed.

We've lost a chicken or two because when we saw a problem it didn't look like a problem to us.  Like counting 11 chickens when there should be 12.  Then the next day counting ten hens when there should be 12.  Then coming outside on day three in the morning and seeing the neighbors dog in the pen.  Or you see a hen in the nesting box that doesn't sound right.  They normally are vocal when laying but this is an agitated kind of squawking.  I guess the rule of thumb should be if in your mind you question ANYTHING then do something about it.  Isolate the bird and examine it.  This action also protects the rest of the flock.

A healthy chicken will be active, pecking and scratching and chasing anything that flies within its eyesight.  However, they are not constantly active and you will sometimes find them taking a dirt bath.  They will scratch up the soil making a nice indentation in the earth which has all of this fluffy dirt they just created.  They'll sit in it and roll and flap there wings and just have a grand old time.  When they get up watch out, much like a wet dog they will shake and a mini dust shower come's extruding from their body.

Healthy birds have clear eyes, beak and nostrils.  There should be no discharges dried or otherwise.  Their combs and wattles should be red.  There should be no limp or what's known as bumblefoot in their gate.  Their vent should be pink and the feathers around the vent clean.  If the feathers around the vent are dirty then she could have diarreha.  Food intake varies by stage of development, weather and species.  I've found the following site to be very helpful; http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/poulsci/tech_manuals/small_flock_resources.html  

During the winter chickens eat more because eating helps them to stay warm.  It seems water intake is constant but in warmer times it does go up.  It is important to note that they should always have plenty of water and food.  The last thing you want to do is promote competition in the flock. 

There should be plenty of roosting, nesting and roaming space.   If any of these things are lacking you will promote competiion within the flock and only the strongest will survive.  If there is plenty of room( a good rule of thumb is at least four square feet per bird inside (at night) and eight outside), water and food, your entire flock will be happy and even the runts will get enough to eat and drink.  Productivity, in turn, will be higher if the bird is happy.  You'll get more eggs and tastier meat.

If you are raising meat birds there is a strong belief that a bird rasied in a stressful environement will not taste as good as a bird in a stress-free environment.  If you don't believe me do a taste test yourself. buy a store bought chicken and a free range chicken.  Prepare them identically and give your family and friends a blind test taste.  You will pay more for a free range chicken but know that it cost us more to raise them.  But a free range chicken will be free of hormones, steriods, anti-biotics and other synthetic substances that do come with chickens from the industrial food complex.

See what your family and friends say.  Let them vote and then send us the results.  We'll compile and post what we get.

Buy Local - from a farmer not a chain hard selling the fact.

We were talking about getting goats, milk goats specifically.  At least my wife was.  I can only see the negative with goats so it was pretty much a one sided conversation.  I'm sure she's right; she was right about the farm, the chickens, the fruits, the eggs, the marriage....

I don't want to offend anyone, I know goat people and I respect people that have goats.  But I've heard goat people talk about goats and it usually ends with a story about one of the goats getting out and eating everything in sight.  Or goats getting out, roaming and eating the neighbor's expensive plants out of their yard.  Or goats getting out and you can't find them and when you do, you can't get them in the truck.  Or goats getting out and eating the neighbor's Harley Davidson.   Let's just say my issue is goats getting out. 

I know a lot of people with goats, they are great people but they tell me stories and inevetably one will be about their goat getting out.  I've been to seminars and presentations where other farmers are talking about how great goats are, but someone will have a story about the time their goat got out    So I asked the question, how do you keep goats in?  Strong fences I’m told.  Strong fences! 

Problem is I've asked the person that has told me the story of their goat getting out.  So, the answer is a strong fence, that’s the recommendation I’ve gotten from the extension office, from farmers and from goat herding friends.  Does anyone see a problem here?  The same people that have told me about goats getting out are the ones recommending strong fences.  Hummmm.  Was the escape before or after they installed strong fences?

I have found that there is a special electric fence for goats, sheep and chickens.  I read the website It is designed specifically for goats and sheep. The advertisement reads "Keeps your goats and sheep in and predators out."  Yeah, but I don't believe it. 

Once you buy the fence and then get the goat you’re done.  The gig is up, there is no turning back.  The goat will get out, they always do.  I'll end up having to give my neighbor free vegetables for a season.  Or worse while trying to corral the goat it kicks me in an area not meant to be kicked.  To me, goats are Mother Nature’s way of teaching us that ruminants are suppose to roam. 

Then I start to think of the benefits: they can clear brush and eat grass.  I learned of a type of pygmy goat that I found to be quite comical.  There is a goat called a Fainting Goat, and as its name implies when this thing gets scared it faints.  I saw a video of it, and all most spit my milk out from laughing.  So I waited for the right time and told my wife if she gets a milk goat then I wanted to get a fainting goat. "What's a fainting goat?" she asks.  "A pygmy goat," I respond. 

I get a quizzical look but I avoid her eyes and quickly change the subject.  I ask what kind of food would we need to feed the goat.  She starts to rattle off the list of things she has learned that a goat will eat and by the end of the list I'm  thinking she missed our next door neighbor's roses and the Harley. I know she is holding back.

I can tell she is pleased that I've started to ask questions about the goats.  "Ya know," I say "we'll have to think about this whole goat thing".

BUY LOCAL- from a farmer, not a chain advertising "LOCAL"

For the first three years of selling we were at a farmers market that was trying to rebound.  It was located in a stayed community of old houses and income levels.  We didn't learn this until later but it didn't matter.  I liked being part of nostalgia by trying to bring back the old farmers market.

We were learning how to grow organic on a large scale and also learning about farmers markets.  Each market has its own personality, procedures and clientel.  Our enthusiasm and drive were not lacking, but week after week foot traffic was minimal and we often wondered if we were in the right place.  It certainly was not making copious amounts of money.  Slowly we started to build up a clientel and we were bringing in fruits and vegetables that were coming into season.

For six years my wife and I were the only ones doing the work.  As with most small farmers we too had full-time jobs.  We both gave up our weekends and evenings.  In the off season we would plow through insect, plant identification, pasture management and animal husbandry books.  We attended lectures and classes on small farming and other specialties.  We belong to the Maryland Small Farm Co-op, the Pastured Poultry Association, CASA-Future Harvest and the Maryland Organic Food and Farmers Association.

Each of these groups have specific functions but all are setup to gather, trade and disseminate information with most of the emphasis on providing education to there members.   These groups are great for getting started and networking.  It doesn't matter who you are or what you know, or if you've been farming for years there is value to joining and participating in the events. 

It is in these groups were you find kindred spirits, market stories, working knowledge and moral support.  The first three years selling was hard for us, we were putting in maximum effort but were getting little if any return on our investment and time. 

We kept hearing one phrase over and over again at the market.  There was a point where we could identify the person that was going to say it.  We heard the phrase in English, Spanish and German. We couldn't tell what they were saying but the body language of some of the Asian customers spoke loud enough.

It was always the same thing, different languages but the same facial expressions, "Is this all there is?".  We tried not to take it personally but weekend after weekend it did wear on us.  I would often engage the people and ask sincerely what they would like to see.  Mostly the answer was more vendors.  We would pass this information on to the market manager.

What struck me as odd was we had plenty of a variety of fruits and vegetables, we were transitional organic and our prices were a dollar.  We joked that we were the other dollar store.  Cucumbers 4 for a dollar, tomatoes dollar a pound, onions same thing, berries they sold at a premium.  Everything else went for a buck.  Because there wasn't a big vendor presence most people just turned and left.  There were days when we ended up giving more food to our local soup kitchen then what we sold.  Giving to the soup kitchen had its own intrinsic reward and helped us gain perspective with the days events.

It was hard but we made the best of it and made some really good friends that we still have to this day.  The market provided us with a way to sell our vegetables and have fun.  Besides, without the market how would we learn?

Buy Local - from a farmer not a chain advertising "Local"

Did you know that you are not suppose to shuck corn at a farmers market?  It's one of those unwritten rules.  As soon as an ear is even partially opened, it begins to go to starch.  As a child I remember the Arraber coming around and he would pick the corn for you.  Depending upon where you were on his route you either got thirteen good ears of corn or a mix.  

That's another thing - whatever happened to a baker's dozen?  People seem actually surprised when we give them another ear of corn or put 13 into the bag.  That use to be standard operating procedure.  When the industrial food complex came into the picture you bought the corn pre-packaged or by the ear.  Please don't get me wrong.  We are a capitalistic society which is built around the principle of making money.  I think it's a wonderful idea but my frustration comes in when I see people cutting corners, ignoring safety, using techniques and tactics that are harmful under the guise of the bottom line.  Besides I'm also jealous that I don't make tons of money or even pounds for that matter. 

I know that when twelve people buy a dozen we lose a dozen. But we also sell by the ear and I learned long ago the smaller the quantity for sale the greater revenue.  Meaning, if 72 people each baught two ears of corn revenue would be greater because the per ear cost is higher.  So we look at it as a wash.  The goodwill it generates for our customers and then back to us surpases the pain of losing a dozen.  In the past six years we've lost more than 90 percent of each year's corn crop due to multiple factors.  So we're kind of use to losing corn.

Seven years ago we were selling at a farmers market, and we had corn that was raised organically but was not from organic seed.  It wasn't being sold as organic but it was local and it was picked hours before.  I was working with a customer when I saw an elderly lady go over to the corn and start to shuck the ears.    I looked right and saw my wife looking at her.  I kept talking to and taking care of my customer, but I noticed my wife's body language and non-verbal cues change.  She was getting agitated.

A minute goes by, I'm trying to finish with my customer but he has questions about cooking. Every so often I take a right peripheral view to see how my wife is doing.  At that time, I don't know why, I can't put my finger on it but my wife's reactions are catching my attention.  I follow her gaze and see the woman is still shucking her way through the corn. 

My customer asked about making a zuchinni recipe, we have adapted from "Chef's Illustrated," and I'm telling him about it and describing the nuances.  I feel my wife walking behind me towards the woman shucking corn.

My wife is one of the most intelligent, kindest, caring, level-headed people I've ever met.  She is the conotation of grace under fire and who you'd want to be with when trouble strikes.  But don't shuck the corn at a famer's market in front of her. 

Buy Local- from a farmer not from a chain that advertises "local"

p.s.  no one was hurt in the actual events or the retelling of events.

Part 3 of 3

I'm good at research, currently we are participating in a study with the University of West Virginia, Graduate School on a nematode study.  But I love giving blind taste tests the best.  Get a foody in the kitchen and sit them down and give them two things to eat and ask which tastes better.

Our County has what’s called Family Fun on the Farm.  It is a two day event where the local farmers sign up and folks take tours of their farm.  It’s a way to promote farming and for the farmer to explain environmental and sustainable practices and show what he or she grows or has for sale.  Families go from farm to farm visiting and learning about milking, free range chickens, organic beef or whatever the farm does.

It is held in October when we are pretty much done with growing and have put the winter covers on all of the gardens.  We have an organic farmer down the road from us who raises chickens. beef, turkeys and feed.  We purchase our organic chicken feed from them.  One summer day we were talking about the upcoming October event and what he had been going through getting permits to sell cooked food and beverages and so fourth.

I've always been an advocate of using cherry wood instead of charcoal.  I've tried apple, maple and oak but not walnut.  DO NOT USE WALNUT; there are toxins in walnut that can remove paint from cars.  The best flavors come from cherry specifically American cherry or choke cherry wood.  I cook with the flames not the coals or smoke.  So I'm telling Nick this.  I said that his organic ground beef and cherry wood would just be terrific and went a step further and said I could prove it.

He took me up on the offer and when October rolled around I took my grill over set it up started the cherry wood and let the fire get ready.  Prior to this I had arrange to have another grill setup but this one was fired with charcoal.  We offered everyone a taste test.  They could by two burgers get 50% off the second burger to participate.  The bottom of each plate was marked with a 1 or 2.  Each person would then give us their number preference.  Everyone could participate, young and old.  This was no empirical study by any means, there was no control group, the conditions were free form and no scientific protocols were followed.

We did this for two days; each day lasted about six hours.  We sold out of beef mid-day the second day.  We kept the numbering system up and let people weigh in on what they liked and thought.

I had people come back with analysis that floored me, I'm a foody, I know other foodies but some of Nick's customers just amazed me with their palettes.  I delighted in the seriousness that some people took with this test.  Some saw this challenge the way I would have, which would have been to thoroughly analyze every aspect of the food, the taste, texture, flavor of the meet the outer smoke ring and its color.

I think people really had fun with it and were truly interested in the outcomes.  What surprised me most were the results.  Age definitely made a difference in taste preference.  Almost one hundred percent of the children preferred charcoal.  Their parents on the other hand went in the complete opposite direction.  That didn't surprise me.  I've advocated for cherry wood cooking ever since we went camping and cooked over a cherry wood fire.  We had hamburgers and chicken the first night and people raved.  They all wanted to know how we prepared both meats.

Truth was that nothing special was done but cooking on an open fire.  I admit I liked it too and could taste the flavor that they were talking about.  My thought was everything taste good when camping, you’re cooking on an open fire, you're communing with nature and the environment is different.  I wanted to see if the same was true once we got home.  I started cooking with cherry instead of charcoal.  I grilled fish, shrimp, pork, corn on the cob, squash, tomatoes just about everything I could.  

So I got to take the show on the road and for two days we had people voting on the better taste.   The meat was the same the only difference was cherry wood versus charcoal.  What I learned was a sophisticated palette gravitates to new flavors while unsophisticated tended towards the familiar.  No matter the outcome, taste tests are always fun.

We hold Italian cooking classes on the farm.  I learned to make bread dough, pasta dough, lasagna, meat ravioli, Italian sausage, salads, cookies, pizza, calzones, meatloaf, macaroni and cheese and others from my mom and her mom.

Two of the three most influential women in my life were my mom and my mom-mom.  I learned allot from both of them and I won't bore you with the details of the religious, moral, ethical, social and community mores they instilled.  Instead it’s my other passion besides growing, food.  Not just food but home made from scratch, stick to your ribs, comfort food.  Technically what would be classified as peasant food.

As a child no meal prepared in the maternal kitchens ever smelled as good as when they were preparing Italian dishes.  Starting with the smell of sautéed onion and garlic in olive oil.  Then pile on tomatoes, Romano cheese, oregano some salt and pepper.  The fragrance was mouth watering.  Add to the olfactory the forbiddingness, as children we were never allowed in the kitchen.  Mom-mom years before had here dress catch fire in the kitchen and she was burned pretty badly.  We didn't realize as kids but she bore the burden of both the physical and emotional from that accident.  Being a child we only new that we were not allowed in the kitchen when mom-mom was cooking.  I think my mom kept the practice because she was allowed some peace.   Human nature took over and I wanted what I couldn't have.  There was a great attraction to the kitchen for me.

It wasn't until I was sixteen before I was allowed in the kitchen without being asked what I was doing; sometimes in unison. In the beginning of my tutelage I focused on the Italian dishes that mom and mom-mom made.  Meatballs and spaghetti sauce were first, then I learned how to make pasta dough.  All preparations were done by hand.  Those six words in the last sentence barely describe the manual labor and effort that goes into making pasta dough by hand.  The process and ingredients are simple, eggs, flour water, mix until incorporated.  Today I use semolina flour and a Cuisinart but I was taught to use all purpose flour and my hands.

My grandmother was about five feet tall and one hundred ten pounds when drenched.  At the age of sixteen, she put a hurting on me, and I was starting to hit my peak physical shape.  I was running, lifting, playing baseball in the summer, pick-up football, and basketball games and soccer in the winter.  But to mix those simple ingredients made me sweat and my arms and hands ache.  All those times I watched them make pasta then ravioli it seemed simple.  They both looked like they worked effortlessly.  Well I can tell you it was not, even with the tools we have today it is still labor intensive to make ravioli.  Its one of longest classes we teach and one that leaves the students tired but sated.

The recipes that I have from both women are still with me.  When I first started cooking on my own I didn't really change the ingredients as much as make them upscale.  I mean why buy the cheapest meat when a better cut was available, or use cheap olive oil.  Both my mom and mom-mom would have to buy the cheapest meat, cheese and olive oil because they could not afford anything more expensive.  In my quest to make dishes taste like theirs I had to learn that sometimes cost does matter.  We were so use to eating the ingredients that when I went to high-end x-virgin olive oil or choice ground beef the taste was not the same.

One of the greatest compliments I received was when my niece said my ravioli tasted like mom-mom's.  Still to this day I am humbled when family tells me how close my pizza is to mom and mom-moms or how good my meatballs taste.  I think it is a way to pay tribute and homage to the women that shaped me and nurtured my interests in cooking.  My mom's side of the family has been making Italian sausage for over 75 years, with me being part of it for the last twenty five.  We make it once a year the week before Christmas.  Christmas morning home made bread rolls are made, the sausage is cooked and we have eggs for breakfast.   A couple of years ago we added our own organic eggs to the mix.  To sit down to a meal and everything you eat you've had a hand in making is special.  Add to that feeling the significance of day and we get a profound sense of well being.

The Italian cooking lessons I had with my mom and her mom will forever be etched in my mind and cherished for what they truly were.  A passing of the torch if you will, they are both gone but as I said they live on each time I add water to flour, or cheese to meat or stuff casing with seasoned pork.  Fresh vegetables, meats, fish, fruits, eggs and berries are as fundamental to our being as breathing and in some cases so to is learning from Italian cooking classes.  

Buy Local!!

It’s been strawberry season and we've been trying to pick as much as we can when they are dry.  We've had a bad season this year as was mentioned before, but none the less we forge ahead and try to make the best of the situation.  Everybody was picking while I had the torch and was weeding.  At one point I stopped to check and see how it was going, when I approached the strawberry beds I noticed some nice looking strawberries.

I asked if anyone had done the row I was standing in and got a reply I didn't really like.  It was affirmative, I was informed that the row was done and on both sides.  Now I know I am somewhat of a perfectionist and we've already had the problem of leaving fruit on the ground and sap beetles so I launched into how you need to be careful and you need to look at all the angles and that strawberries are very adept at hiding themselves.  I look at correcting mistakes as an opportunity to learn and to teach if there is a point to make.  I try to make them understand the importance yet let them know that no one is perfect.  

Like the time we were growing Italian eggplants.  We had about one hundred feet of eggplants that we were growing the summer of 2007.  The weather was good most of the summer and we had little watering to do.  As the eggplants grew we would harvest and sell them or make something from them, babaganoush, fried eggplant pancakes, grilled or whatever other way suited our fancy for the night.  The summer progressed and the eggplants kept coming.  I find string beans, strawberries and some other fruit hard to harvest or easy to miss, but knowing this is one thing, taking the time to uncover them all is another.  Eggplants however are not that hard to harvest.  Eventually the size will stick out enough to catch someones attention.

Which leads us to the volleyball sized eggplant that we eventually discovered.  This thing was huge, it was at least a foot tall and had a beautiful purple cover.  I actually took it on tour showing anyone that would look; it was prominently displayed on our vegetable cart on the weekends (image below).  We had watermelon that was smaller than this thing.  We just had to laugh at how huge it was, one of my first thoughts after cutting the beast from its plant was, "How did we miss this when it was half its size,' You would of thought someone would see it when it grew to the size of grapefruit, or when it got bigger and was the size of cantaloupe, or when it grew even more into the size of a small pumpkin.  When it comes to harvesting you don't make money if you don't pick it and put it on the cart, we also learned you don't make money when you miss it and it grows bigger than your head and nobody in their right mind would buy it.  That eggplant certainly was the conversation piece and had our customers asking if it was really organic.  One of the few proud moments we had from this thing was admiting that it was indeed one hundred percent certified organic.

So your wondering, what happened to it?  Did we open it and look inside, did we cook it and taste it or did we get it stuffed and mounted?  Well truth is I put it on top of the compost pile and watched it fade away as winter took hold.