Shuttleworth Farm

The Special
This week we are pleased to feature country style ribs, bacon, and lamb from Shuttleworth Farm of Westfield, Vermont. All this week, Chef Casey Graham will use naturally-raised Shuttleworth Farm meats in main dishes, appetizers, soups, and salads.

The Farm
Shuttleworth Farm is a family owned and operated farm located in the town of Westfield in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Their sheep, pigs, and poultry are raised on the lush pastures that grow in the shadow of Jay Peak and lie along the banks of the Missisquoi River. Most of the meat from Shuttleworth Farm is sold within two hundred miles of the farm to individual customers as well as fine restaurants and natural food stores.

Shuttleworth Farm

In the green meadows of Westfield at the foot of Jay Peak, a flock of Shuttleworth Farm sheep graze contentedly as clouds engulf the moutain above. The flock is guarded by three border collies and two Great Pyrenées who keep the lambs and ewes from straying too near the banks of the Missiquoi River. This graceful valley is home to Kelli Fogg and Todd Shuttleworth and their daughter Isla, along with a few other small farms and country homes. Shuttleworth Farm is one of the biggest lamb producers in the state of Vermont and part of the growing local foods movement. Most of their lamb, pork, and poultry products are sold within two hundred miles of their property.

I am visiting Kelli and Todd at their farm on a cool morning in June. Isla, their sixteen month old, shows me around the barn, fearlessly toddling up to the dogs and sheep. Like her parents, she seems a born farmer. Todd Shuttleworth has loved family farming since spending his childhood summers on the original Shuttleworth Farm in Canaan, New Hampshire, where his grandparents raised dairy cows and vegetables. “A little bit of nostalgia helps you get involved. It can also help you keep going,” he says.

Todd studied farming at the University of Maryland. After graduation, he moved to the Northeast Kingdom to try his hand at running the family farm. It was in Vermont in 2003 that Todd met Kelli, his real estate agent and a former marketing major at Alfred University. Their shared passion for family farming and naturally raised foods led them to purchase a small flock of sheep and the former dairy farm in Westfield. This new generation of Shuttleworth Farm is a wonderful example of how a combination of responsible farming practices, favorable market trends and modern advertising strategies can support and sustain a small family farm. The Shuttleworths currently have 150-250 ewes, produce up to three hundred lambs a year, and have nine sows.

Nostalgic it may be, but this old-fashioned, low-tech approach to farming in many ways works better and is cheaper, healthier, and more environmentally sustainable than industrialized agriculture. The Shuttleworths have successfully adopted many traditional practices on their farm. They keep their pigs in the Swedish manner, with lots of clean deep straw for bedding and a separate area for their manure. “Pigs are very clean animals, if you give them the choice to be,” Todd observes. His work with the dogs is both nostalgic and effective. “I like to joke that the dogs saved our marriage.” He smiles. “Before we got them it would take us hours to round the sheep up.”

The Shuttleworths are excited about the local food movement and the surge of interest in organic and naturally produced food, though they are realistic about its challenges. “It’s tough. It’s tough for us to get the attention of lawmakers. The dairy industry gets plenty of low interest loans and subsidies,“ Todd says. “Getting a bank to believe in you and your business plan, that’s tough. But I think that as the movement grows, and more people are successful, it’ll get better.”

Another challenge lies in educating consumers about the cost of producing healthy food versus the cost of producing cheap food. Though local and natural foods will often be more expensive, consumers should consider that they are also purchasing reassuring knowledge of where their food is coming from and how it is produced. The cost of producing of cheap foods is more hidden, funded by government subsidies and, ultimately, taxpayers. “I think that consumers can provide some of the most powerful oversight, environmentally and otherwise,” says Todd. “When you have to live in the community where you sell your food, if you were raising a poor product you’d have a bad reputation quick. But when your food comes from God knows where, it’s like this invisible curtain that everything is hidden behind. There’s no real accountability, there’s no liability.”

The purchase of Shuttleworth Farm meats and other locally produced natural foods contributes not only to the growth of strong communities and a safer food system, but also to a healthier environment. “You don’t want to create problems,” Todd says. “We accept responsibility for all of the food we’re producing, everything. All that grain for the animals, all the manure from the animals, that gets handled responsibly.” Their sheep are mostly grass fed, which reduces the use of the fossil fuels it takes to grow and ship grain, and Todd believes the meat is the better for it. “Keeping those animals healthy, and they grow quick on a low or no grain diet, produces a leaner meat, so it’s not greasy,” he says. “You don’t need the mint sauce. It’s very tender.”
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So of course, one of Todd’s favorite things about sheep farming is the opportunity for quality control. “I love it when a package breaks open and we have to eat it ourselves,” he grins. “I like everything grilled.” Kelli prefers roasting; she says that one of the family’s favorite meals is a boneless rolled lamb shoulder with Montreal steak seasoning, slow roasted in the oven.

The Shuttleworths have a wonderful website and farm blog at www.shuttleworthfarm.com. You can visit their website for information on ordering their products and to learn more about the family and their farming philosophy.

Shuttleworth Farm Mission Statement

People speak about sustainable agriculture as an ideal goal, but at Shuttleworth Farm, we think that sustainability is the least we can do. We are not about maintaining, we are about improving:

* Improving our soils with carefully planned rotations of sheep, laying hens, broilers, turkeys, pigs and hay that perfectly complement the natural growth cycle of our native cool season perennial grasses.
* Improving the health of our animals. Fresh air, sunshine, clean water, and lush green grass benefit all types of livestock, yet so much of modern agriculture denies animals these basic necessities. We let our animals eat and behave as nature intended them to.
* Improving the health of our consumers. Pasture-raised meats are much lower in fat, higher in heart healthy Omega-3 fatty acids and Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLA's), and excellent sources of Vitamins A, B3, B6, B12, D and E (Jo Robinson, Eat Wild, 2006)
* Improving the health of our community. The average morsel of food in this country travels more than fifteen-hundred miles before it is consumed. (Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma. New York: The Penguin Press, 2006. 239p). We service our local markets. The vast majority of our meats are consumed within two hundred miles of our farm. This permits us to offer quicker time to market, reduced handling charges and huge reduction of the use of fossil fuels.

Northeast Kingdom Garlic

The Special
This week we are pleased to feature certified organic garlic from Northeast Kingdom Garlic, located in Newport Center, VT. All this week, Chef Casey Graham will use Northeast Kingdom Garlic products in main dishes, appetizers, soups, and salads. Be sure to ask your server about tonight’s Farm to Table Special!

The Farm
Northeast Kingdom Garlic is a certified organic garlic farm located in Newport Center, VT in the shadow of Jay Peak on Clark Mountain Road. Northeast Kingdom Garlic sells most of its product to local Vermont customers in addition to clients as far as Boston, MA. Northeast Kingdom Garlic is a registered trademark and a member of the Garlic Seed Foundation of Rose, NY.

A Tribute to Garlic

Garlic, all powerful
marvelous seasoning,
you are the essence,
the incense which
revives and exhilarates.
You are the spur that
excites, stimulates.
Garlic, you stir up,
you impel, you cheer;
you are the only
condiment, you are
the glorious one,
the sovereign extract
of the Earth.

-G. Coquiot

Mr. Coquiot obviously really liked garlic. We really like garlic, too, here at Juniper’s Restaurant at the Wildflower Inn. So does Zachary Hart of Northeast Kingdom Garlic in Newport Center, Vermont. He has been raising organic garlic for six years, and this week we are pleased to feature it in a variety of our regular and special offerings.

I saw Mr. Coquiot’s poem hanging on the wall in Zack’s off-the-grid homestead, and thought that it spoke beautifully and passionately about the endless possibilities of garlic. “It’s almost hard to find a recipe that doesn’t use garlic,” Zack points out. "It’s almost like a spice or a condiment. I use it in everything, aside from maybe dessert.” He is working to create a local source for this most essential of bulbs in northern Vermont.


Zack is a native of Coventry, Vermont and a 1997 graduate of North Country High School in Newport. He attended college in Boston and Syracuse, New York, obtaining a degree in environmental and forest biology. Zack returned to the Northeast Kingdom several years ago after spending time in various other parts of the country, including in Alaska where he worked for one of the premier birch syrup producers in the state. An opportunity to work full-time for Landvest, a real estate company in Newport where he is a field forester specializing in GIS (digital mapping) technology, brought Zack back to his home turf.

Northeast Kingdom Garlic is a side endeavor, though it is nearly is a full-time job in itself. Zack currently raises around 600 pounds of certified organic music garlic (a popular variety from Germany) per year, and he would like to increase that number in the future. He also keeps bees (Z’s Bees) and raises chickens and vegetables for his own consumption. Zack and his single employee/accomplice, his partner Emily Dehoff, will sell most of their garlic this year to local Vermont customers in addition to clients as far as Boston.


Most garlic used in Vermont is imported from places like China, Mexico, and Argentina. Zack thinks it makes more sense to create a reliable local source for this crop that grows so well in Vermont’s cool climate. “I want to be the go-to garlic guy,” he says. He sees great potential for Vermonters to grow and distribute many crops locally, and his foray into garlic farming is a response to local demand for naturally produced food. “I think Vermont is lucky in that we already have a strong agricultural base intact,” he says. “People want to know where their food is coming from, and that knowledge is hard to put a price on. I’ve always farmed naturally. It makes sense for our health and the health of the soil.”

“I got into garlic because I love to cook,” Zack says. “It is a great crop. Good for the circulatory system, immune system boosting, and a natural antibiotic.” He is hard-pressed to choose a favorite way of preparing his garlic, but stresses that, “The most important thing you can do is to get a good garlic press.”

nekgarlic[at]gmail.com

Zucchini Nation

We are pleased to once again offer farm to table vegetables from Pete's Greens in Juniper's Restaurant this week. I'd like to take this opportunity to acquaint you with a hallmark of the summer, the great zucchini invasion.


They say that August is the only month you need to lock your car around here. If you don’t, you might find it filled with zucchini. Everyone who’s planted it has more than enough, and they’d be thrilled to give you their extras, with or without your consent.

We’ve had an exceptionally warm summer in the Northeast Kingdom this year, with the perfect amount of rain to send gardens into overdrive. Overnight, innocent little zucchini become monster two-foot-long zukes. My kitchen table holds a growing pile of giant zucchini that I don’t quite know what to do with, the prodigy of only two plants. With my pile of zucchini as inspiration, the Northeast Kingdom Farm to Table blog post this week is about this incredible edible vegetable and how to use it up.

Know Your Zucchini

A bit of zucchini history from Wikipedia:

“The zucchini or courgette is a small summer squash. Along with some other squashes, it belongs to the species Cucurbita pepo. They can be yellow, green or light green, and generally have a similar shape to a ridged cucumber, though a few cultivars are available that produce round or bottle-shaped fruit.

Zucchini, like all summer squash, has its ancestry in the Americas; however, the varieties of squash typically called "zucchini" were developed in Italy, many generations after their introduction from the "New World". The first records of zucchini in the United States date to the early 1920s. It was almost certainly brought over by Italian immigrants and probably was first cultivated in the United States in California.”

Eat Your Zucchini

Some recipes:

Zucchini Frittata, from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest

Yields 4 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup minced onion
¾ teaspoon salt
pinch dried oregano
pinch dried thyme
8-10 mushrooms, sliced,
about 1 cup diced zucchini
½ cup minced bell pepper
1 small clove garlic, minced
2 handfuls chopped spinach and/or arugula
freshly ground black pepper
a few leaves of fresh basil
4 or 5 eggs (okay to delete a yolk or two)
¼ lb. fontina cheese, grated or sliced (optional

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Heat the oil on the stovetop in a 9 or 10 inch cast-iron skillet. Add the onion and half the salt, and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the dried herbs, mushrooms, zucchini, bell pepper, and garlic, and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat for another 5 minutes – or until the vegetables are just tender.
4. Turn the heat up, and add the spinach or arugula with remaining salt and black pepper to taste. Stir and coook for just a minute or two – until some of the liquid evaporates. Stir in the basil.
5. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, then pouthem into the vegetables. Sprinkle in some cheese, if desired. Place the pan in the preheated oven for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the frittata is solid when you shake the pan. (If you so desire, you can ad some extra cheese to the top midway through the baking).
6. Serve cut into sedges – hot, warm or room temperature. This will even tast good cold in a sandwich on lightly toasted bread, with a little mayonnaise, and sliced, very ripe tomatoes.

*top with fresh tomatoes and sliced green peppers, add basil for garnish

Sweet Zucchini Bread, from the Joy of Cooking

Makes one 9 x 5 inch loaf

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Whisk together:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Blend well in a large bowl:
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
½ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
Stir in the dry ingredients. Blend in with a few swift strokes:
2 cups grated zucchini, squeezed of excess moisture
1 ½ cups ground pecans or walnuts
Scrape the batter into the greased pan. Bake until the bread pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 45 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before unmolding to cool completely on the rack.

* I added 2 tablespoons cocoa and some dried cranberries for a variation on this recipe.

Zucchini Blossoms

This is my favorite way to involve zucchini in a meal, though it doesn’t make the zucchini pile any smaller. Use the unopened male flowers (they are longer and thinner, and lack a round ovary at the base) of zucchini or any other squash plant and remove the stamens (center spike inside the flower) for cooking. Make a stuffing out of soft cheese (ricotta, chevre, etc.), herbs, and anything else you want to add - I made some out of herbed chevre, bleu and mozzarella cheeses, sautéed mushrooms, tomatoes, minced garlic, and fresh basil. Stuff the blossom carefully, trying to not rip the petals. Dip it into a beaten egg and lightly coat it with flour, then pan fry in oil or butter until golden brown, turning the blossom to cook each side.

Take heart friends, the zucchini flood will soon recede. In the meantime, I hope this gives you some ideas!

Pete's Greens

The Special:
This week we are pleased to feature fresh basil, fingerling potatoes, mixed beets, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, carrots, kale, basil, dill and chicken from Pete’s Greens of Craftsbury, Vermont. All this week, Chef Casey Graham will use locally-grown Pete’s Greens veggies and herbs in main dishes, appetizers, soups, and salads. Be sure to ask your server about tonight’s Pete’s Greens Special!

The Farm:
Pete’s Greens is a certified organic vegetable farm in Craftsbury, located on the southern edge of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. They are a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), providing weekly shares of vegetables to members of the local community, and they have a farmstand in scenic Craftsbury. The folks at Pete’s Greens are making a name for themselves and the Green Mountain state by providing high quality Vermont produce and meat products to restaurants and markets in Vermont, Boston and New York.

Pete’s Greens:
Craftsbury, VT – Pete’s Greens of Craftsbury is not your average small Vermont farm. During a time when so many are going out of business due to rising energy costs and an inability to compete with big agriculture, Pete’s Greens and a number of other small agricultural businesses in the Hardwick, Vermont area are thriving and even expanding production. A rising demand for local, organic, and safely processed foods is creating markets for vegetables, eggs, and meat from Pete’s Greens as far as Boston and New York.

Pete Johnson, owner, is a native of Greensboro, VT. He’s been farming for over twelve years, six of those on his land in Craftsbury. Pete is a big believer in small-scale agricultural production. “We are really interested in rebuilding village-based local food systems,” he says. For Pete, it’s a matter of long-term sustainability. “A lot of factors are pointing to local and regional production,” he notes. “As energy costs rise, so will the price of food that is shipped long distances. Soon local food will be almost as cheap as stuff grown elsewhere.”

Greenhouses powered by recycled vegetable oil allow the folks at Pete’s Greens to supply vegetables to wholesale and CSA customers year-round. Members of their Localvore CSA receive 30 pounds of locally produced vegetables and other Vermont products once a week throughout the year. This includes six to eight varieties of vegetables and three to five local food items, like Elmore Mountain bread and pies made with organic apples from Champlain Orchards. At $792 per yearly share, it’s a small price to pay for delicious produce, Vermont products and for the peace of mind that comes with eating safe, healthy food.

Recently, Pete’s Greens and other Hardwick, Vermont area businesses have garnered a good deal of positive local and national press. With their success and growth comes a role of leadership and advocacy on behalf of other small Vermont farms. “We want to stimulate the success of local business,” Pete says. Last year, Pete’s Greens purchased over $300,000 worth of products from other local business for their Localvore CSA shares.

So what does Pete see for the future of Vermont’s food economy? “The sky is the limit. Technology is really making it possible,” he enthuses. He refers not only the use of alternative energies and advances in organic growing techniques that allow for his year-round production schedule, but also to the power of technology to connect farmers directly to consumers, and to each other. Through formal and informal networks, small Vermont farms are coming together to promote themselves and their high quality products. The Vermont Fresh Network (www.vermontfreshnetwork.org) allows consumers to find business and restaurants that produce and use Vermont products.

And now, the important question: How do the folks at Pete’s Greens like to eat their basil? “With Vermont mozzarella and tomatoes, on homemade bread, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and cracked pepper.” Mmmm. Simple, fresh, delicious. That’s how to eat like a local.

http://www.petesgreens.com/

The Lyndon Farmers' Market

The Special
This week we are pleased to feature all natural blueberries, tomatoes, Rhond de Nice squash, garlic, fingerling potatoes, peanut potatoes, beans, and dill from the Lyndon Farmer’s Market in downtown Lyndonville, Vermont. All this week, Chef Casey Graham will use Lyndon Farmer’s Market products in main dishes, appetizers, soups, and salads. Be sure to ask your server about tonight’s Farm to Table Special!

The Market
The Lyndon Farmer’s Market takes place in historic Bandstand Park on Main Street in downtown Lyndonville, VT every Friday from 3-7pm.

www.lyndonfarmersmarket.com

On a beautiful Friday afternoon in July I have the delightful task of purchasing the freshest local fruit and vegetables in the Northeast Kingdom for the patrons of Juniper’s Restaurant at the Wildflower Inn. I am visiting the Lyndon Farmers’ Market in Bandstand Park on Main Street in Lyndonville, VT, where all summer long between 16-18 vendors will sell their local produce and handmade goods on Friday afternoons from 3-7pm. During the winter a smaller group of vendors gathers on a Saturday once a month at the Tom Breslin Community Center, just down the street from Bandstand Park.

This is the third year of the Lyndon Farmers’ Market, and it is already one of the most vibrant and best-attended outdoor markets in the Northeast Kingdom. Residents and visitors stroll the green in historic Bandstand Park where they have the opportunity to support Vermont’s agricultural economy by purchasing fresh produce from local growers and the goods of local bakers, food vendors and crafts people. A band offers free live music throughout the afternoon, and the wide lawn invites sunbathers and games of Frisbee. I am enjoying perusing the stalls and purchasing the best-looking produce the Kingdom has to offer.


The tomatoes from Joe’s Brook Farm look great. Mary Skovsted helps me pick out some of the best ones.


Our organic blueberries this week come from Biz-Z-Bee Farm in Lunenberg. Brothers Dylan and Korey Cantin provide excellent sales service while their father Tom bags up the berries.


At Gourmet Gardens, I purchase Rhond de Nice squash, an heirloom variety from France that make excellent stuffing squashes, and peanut potatoes, a diminutive and hardy variety developed in Alaska. Owner Jill Rebillard recommends frying the peanut potatoes in a pan with a little water until tender, then adding cream and rosemary.

Chandler Pond Farm is busier than ever, and their market stand shows it. I pick out dill, garlic, and fingerling potatoes. The Martins are getting ready for their Feast in the Field on August 29.


H & H Farm Products uses no chemicals or pesticides on their green and yellow beans. The ladies of the Hartsock and Houghton families assist me with my purchase.


Eden Ice Cider Company offers samples of their delicious dessert wine, a regular feature on our menu at Juniper’s Restaurant. Not too sweet and not too tart, Eden Ice Cider use several apples varieties to create their delightful drink.


Meadowview Farm is in attendance today, offering choice cuts of belted Galloway beef raised on Darling Hill next to the Wildflower Inn.

To visit the Lyndon Farmers’ Market, simply leave the Wildflower Inn and follow Darling Hill Road to where it intersects Route 114 and make a right. Go straight through the traffic light in front of the Lynburke Motel into the town of Lyndonville. The Market is held in Bandstand Park, about a quarter mile up the road on the right, across the street from White’s Market.

From the Lyndon Farmer’s Market Website

The Lyndon Farmers’ Market was started in June 2008 by local farmers Eric and Cathy Paris. It was held for the first year next to the Freighthouse Restaurant beginning in June, 2008. A small number of dedicated farmers and craftspeople attended the market faithfully during its first season, then organized a winter market which enjoyed the participation of additional vendors from Lyndonville and surrounding towns. After much discussion and with the advice of a NOFA consultant they decided to change the day of the 2009 summer market from Sunday to Friday and were fortunate enough to be given permission by the Lyndonville trustees to use Bandstand Park as a new location for the market. This beautiful park has ample parking and great visibility in the center of Lyndonville.

The Lyndon Farmers' Market has a variety of fresh produce, canned produce and fruits, organic products, and products from local craftsmen and artisans. Here is a list of products that are offered at the farmers' market on a regular basis:

Vegetables
Fruits
Home baked Breads
Pies
Maple Syrup
Maple Products
Aprons
Wood Carvings
Vegetable Plants
Flowering Plants
Eggs
Herbs
Meat
Milk
Crafts

www.lyndonfarmersmarket.com