As we change seasons, we’re talking seasonal foods with chef Zane Dearien at a unique restaurant in St. Louis’ Central West End — Bowood by Niche. The restaurant is paired with a garden center, providing a perfect patio environment to enjoy a relaxed meal with friends and family. Our conversation focuses on the importance of utilizing seasonal foods and the on-site herb garden at the restaurant, and ways home cooks can up their game too.

A full transcript created by Castmagic AI is available.

Chef Zane Dearien fanning the flames at Bowood by Niche. Photo by Matthew Holleran.

Infusing Food & Seasonality

Zane acknowledges that the farm-to-table buzz may not be the same as it was years ago, but the philosophy and practice of having respect for how food is produced and stewarding it is still near and dear to the heart of many.

And if you are there to enjoy a meal, you can’t help but feel it too, especially if you sit in the patio area. As Zane says, it feels more old world thanks to the abundance of plants in the nursery and the community feel.

Look at the view from my side of the microphone during our interview.

Looking at the menu, the first thing that catches your attention is their unwavering commitment to working with seasonal ingredients. The menu is a reflection of the incredible flavors that each season brings, and it’s awe-inspiring to see how dishes are crafted dishes that truly capture the essence of each ingredient’s peak freshness.

From vibrant spring salads to hearty fall stews (and Zane is looking forward to comfort foods that come with cooler weather & live fire seasonal cooking!), the creativity that emerges from Bowood’s kitchen is nothing short of spectacular.

The view of the outdoor kitchen is also pretty spectacular.

Raising Herbs on the Roof

One aspect of cooking that I’ve always been intrigued by is the use of fresh herbs. Whether it’s a sprinkle of basil on a caprese salad or a pinch of rosemary in a hearty stew, herbs have the power to elevate flavors and add a touch of freshness to any dish. I’ve even been known to have a planter right out the front door so it’s just a few steps from my kitchen.

Zane shared with me his passion for growing herbs right at the restaurant. He explained that having a herb garden is not only practical but also allows them to provide the freshest ingredients to their customers. There are huge planters of herbs on the patio and a much larger herb garden on the roof. 

When it comes to using herbs in the kitchen, Zane believes in the power of simplicity. He emphasized that a sprinkle or a small handful of freshly chopped herbs can completely transform a dish. Whether you’re adding them at the beginning of the cooking process or using them as a final garnish, herbs have the ability to provide a burst of aromatics and bring life to any meal.

I asked Zane about the herbs that he thinks are a must have and he gave a list: basil, mint, chives, parsley and thyme with two additions that stood out. He added chevril which is closely related to parsley but adds in some complexity that he tends to choose over cilantro. And one that we’ve talked about a lot — lavender which is especially good at attracting pollinators that help keep that herb garden thriving outdoors. As the temps drop, indoor growing means a bit of additional light. 

Speaking of indoors and light… the indoor dining rooms are pretty awesome too!

A Culinary Niche in St. Louis

Is it wrong to feel like I need to confess a love of all foods Niche-related before I sign off on the blog post? I moved to St. Louis around the time Gerard Craft, the chef who started Niche more than a decade ago began to get noticed. I started going to his restaurants there and am a forever fan. Absolutely every meal has been fantastically prepared at each and every place in the Niche Food Group, deserving each and every accolade from James Beard and everywhere else.

But there is a lot more than great food whenever you visit Niche restaurants, you feel welcomed in & comfortable. The staff is friendly but some how senses whether this is a day to chat much or let you focus on the guests you are with. Everyone seems to enjoy the work they do and want you to really enjoy your meal. You get that in the restaurants but it also is felt throughout social media too. I have well over a decade of proof in blog posts and social media shares!

Give them a follow and you will see what I mean! You can find Bowood by Niche on their website bowoodbyniche.com, Instagram at @bowoodbyniche and Zane’s chef account @zdearien. You can also check out the other locations, including: @pastariastl, @brasseriestl, @pastariadeliwine, @fordoskillerpizza,
@brasswellstl, @cinderhousestl and for those visiting Tennessee, check out @pastarianashville.

The post Tapping into Fresh & Seasonal Cooking: A Convo with Chef Zane Dearien appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

I love veggies from a backyard garden but I have to admit, I am not the most committed gardener. And I definitely have never kept my backyard in event space shape. After visiting Mortimer Farms in Dewey, Arizona, I’m pretty sure I would leave the food production to them and enjoyment to me!

That would be fine to Ashlee Mortimer who’s family started farming this property years ago on a lease and was later able to purchase it. And they are now growing 54 crops here, many open for u-pick customers as well as available harvested for sale in the farm’s market. You won’t want to miss some of the foods they make themselves in the market or the Windmill Kitchen. We talk about all of that in this episode.

An AI generated transcript for this episode is available.

Checking Out Arizona Agriculture

Arizona has always lured me in with that seemingly constant sun. And it’s no accident that some of the first episodes of Grounded by the Farm were recorded there. (Who remembers Jon talking to us about growing lettuce? I have never looked at romaine the same!) The presence of such great light has made Arizona agriculture a piece of lots of our plates!

I was recently in Arizona for a conference and asked my friend Julie if she had ideas on farms I should visit. She is one of the folks behind the Fill Your Plate site that helps you find farmer’s markets, agritourism, etc. reminded me of the Mortimer family. I had met them several times, but never gotten to the farm. I had my plan and headed north from Phoenix toward Prescott. The drive was GORGEOUS and Mortimer Farms was definitely worth the trip.

Overview of Mortimer Farms

Mortimer Farms is right along State Route 169 and it’s probably best known for some of the festivals it runs but it’s so much more!

They grow an impressive 54 different crops, including sweet corn, tomatoes, and also have created an incredible connection with the community through its market, deli, Windmill Kitchen, farm park, and animal encounter. It’s the perfect destination to immerse yourself in farm-to-table culture whether you are looking for the way to spend several hours or just want to grab a tasty bite to eat (check out the Farmer’s Club I had for breakfast)!

Ashlee Mortimer, who handles the farm’s marketing, shares her family’s history in agriculture, and how they transformed their farm into an agritourism destination. And as the family moved from renting the property to purchase, they have been adding infrastructure including several hoop houses to extend the number of fresh veggies available year-round.

The community reaction is a major factor for employees, “when we set our produce out and we see the customers coming in and everyone’s so happy to see the good quality produce, that’s what makes it worth it.”

Join us for a tour of the farm with Ashlee!

Working with Nature, Facing Challenges

One of the best pieces of Mortimer Farms, is that they actively share what’s happening day in and day out so it’s easy to get a feel for the way they work with nature. (Find them on Instagram, Facebook and the Mortimer Farms website/subscriber email.) Like other farms, nature also can hit them with challenges Ashlee points out.

She says farmers and ranchers face many challenges, from unpredictable weather events to market fluctuations. “We have to diversify. Having diversity in our crops helps us to combat challenges like weather events, pests, and diseases,” Ashlee explains.

And she says the team at Mortimer has been able to make some major shifts in water use over the years as science and technology advances. She highlights the importance of efficient use of resources like water, adding, “We’ve been able to water where it needs to be watered and be more efficient in doing so, saving water.”

There are a few things that came together on that including installing pivot and drip irrigation which puts the water exactly where its needed and amounts are closely monitored. Adding in more perennial crops like the new orchard also encourages deep root growth and rotational grazing adds to soil health. 

Farming isn’t just about producing food, it’s common for farmers to be “living and breathing your work,” Ashlee notes. “It’s a passion that farmers and ranchers carry with them every day, even when they’re not on the clock.” 

If You’re Not in the Area

Seriously, I’d love to have a farm like this in my backyard. So much good food, a chance to really track all the seasonal foods (definitely different in Arizona than here in the Midwest). But we have great farms here in my neck of the woods and probably have some farms near you too!

An AI tool helps me convert the audio into text making my writing go faster. You can read my thoughts on it in this LinkedIn article. If you would like to try it, I’d appreciate your using my castmagic.io affiliate link so I get a small commission from your purchase. It will not change the price you pay. 

The post The Farm Willing to be Your Backyard Garden & Event Space appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Urban farming has so much potential but it can be hard to make a living doing it. With the economy today, every city and town seems to have more people experiencing homelessness. In Iowa, there is a unique approach connecting individuals utilizing services at Central Iowa Shelter & Services (CISS) to fresh local food in a win-win and a unique farm right downtown.

Urban farm manager Aaron Thormodsen and Josh Spain who connects the farm program to culinary efforts at the facility and to restaurants in town sit down with Janice to talk about what the program is seeing, how trainees and local chefs are finding more common ground and more in our latest episode.

(A transcript on this Mulberry Farms episode created by AI is available here.)

CISS was founded years ago in response to a storm in 1992 when sadly five men died on the streets of Des Moines. Despite the freezing temperatures of winter, they were denied by area shelters because they were intoxicated. With nowhere else to go, they went to sleep outside and didn’t make it through the night. CISS was created to offer the city’s residents a place of refuge that doesn’t require sobriety. And they continue to offer unique services.

Nutritious Food a Priority

It didn’t take long for the staff to realize that nutritious food would be an important piece of serving people who were in need of their services.

The facility has been growing vegetables every summer for years but this winter, they opened a greenhouse. Now, some of the people looking for the next steps to housing and employment are spending time planting seeds and growing job skills and their confidence too.

There are other areas of the shelter that also help build skills, etc including working with the chef in the kitchen, working on the building’s upkeep, etc. Trainees frequently enjoy finding the right place to contribute while they are working through paperwork and all the other pieces of housing, employment, etc.

Aaron tells us, the trainees work for a max of 4 hours per day to insure they have plenty of time to work on the other areas. Meeting several trainees during this greenhouse tour, it felt so incredibly positive that I couldn’t help but be moved. I will say, it did give me trouble with the audio though — LOL!

Connecting to Local Chefs

A key factor that sets Mulberry Farms apart from other urban agriculture projects is its close connections with chefs and restaurants in the area. From the very beginning, the team saw potential in partnering with local chefs and restaurants to provide fresh, high-quality produce, while also supporting the local food scene.

This partnership has proven to be a win-win situation for both sides. Chefs and other food professionals get access to a reliable source of local, sustainably grown produce, which helps them to create unique, flavorful dishes. Meanwhile, Mulberry Farms is able to generate revenue by selling their produce, which in turn helps to fund their job training and support programs for people experiencing homelessness.

But Josh tells us the connections with chefs and restaurants go deeper than just a business partnership.

Local chefs have also been involved in helping to shape the production and direction of Mulberry Farms. Josh and Aaron have regularly sought feedback and ideas from chefs when deciding what to grow — either because of limited availability or shipping complications.

This has allowed Mulberry Farms to focus their efforts on growing the most sought-after produce, and has helped to ensure that their products are always in high demand. And a production continues to increase, more locals will have chances to purchase this produce locally.

Learn More about the Urban Farm & Shelter

• The CISS shelter website and the site’s Mulberry Farms page
• The Shelter’s Facebook Page
• CISS on Instagram

If you would like to support the Mulberry Farms program & planned agrihood, you can donate to the greenhouse program or purchase some things from the farm’s Amazon wish list and have it shipped directly! There is also a wish list for the shelter if you’d like to provide some of the items needed there as well. And people in Iowa are encouraged to come volunteer in person. Lots of groups organize volunteers days as does the shelter itself. You can see more on the CISS how to help page.

The post Homeless to hopeful: How urban farming is changing lives in an Iowa shelter appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Not every crop needs the bright sun and blistering heat of summer to flourish. In fact, some of our most familiar vegetables are considered cool weather crops, meaning they may do even better in the early spring and fall than in the middle of summer when all the other crops are growing like crazy. Some examples of cool weather crops include broccoli, cabbage, and other brassicas (relatives of the wild mustard plant: kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and more). Other crops include lettuces, carrots, peas, onions, and the list goes on!

Why Cool Weather Crops?

Growing crops in cool weather, whether on the farm or in the backyard garden, can have some distinct advantages, the biggest of which is a reduction in insect pressure. This means, fewer bugs are around to gobble up the vegetables. It is a lot harder for cabbage moths to lay their eggs with an autumn breeze nipping their wingtips. In addition, these cold- and frost-hardy plants mean farmers can extend their growing seasons into times of the year when they wouldn’t normally be able to farm. Some crops even taste better with a little touch of cool weather, due to plants producing sugars to protect themselves from freezing.

What does this mean for farmers?

Planning for cool weather crops can be a critical part of a farmer’s year. A few years back, I got the chance to visit a friend in Virginia with plans for getting broccoli and cabbage ready to grow for places like Whole Foods and Ingles’ Markets. He lets his seedlings grow in a hydroponic system so the seedling trays are kept in water.

This method ensures his seedlings are healthy and strong when it comes time to plant them out. When the weather is chilly, they grow under tunnel greenhouses, and when things warm up, they open their greenhouses up to let the seedlings bask in the fresh air. In the below picture, you can see how similar the seedlings look! The main way to tell the broccoli apart from the cabbage is the slight color difference.

On the Podcast

We’ve talked to several farmers who grow crops that do well in cool weather.

Lettuce, especially head lettuce (like iceberg) is a great crop to grow when the weather is cooler. Way back in 2019, we talked to lettuce farmer, Jon Dinsmore. You can also check out a tour of his lettuce farm in Arizona.

Onions are another crop that can be grown in the cooler months. In fact, for onions to produce seeds, they need to overwinter! Check out our talk with Shay Myers of Owyhee Produce and see a video of the unique way onions are harvested.

And if you want to know more about gardening, urban farming, and how you can get started with your own cool weather crops (and warm weather crops, for that matter), you should really take a look at the We Sow, We Grow program, led by Natasha Nichols up in Chicago. She’s doing incredible work and helping gardeners of all levels and backgrounds grow food.

The post Cool Weather Crops Means Fall Farming appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Have you ever considered beekeeping as a way to building leadership skills and tapping passions? Kamal Bell has been doing just that on his first generation farm in Cedar Grove, NC. As we sat down to discuss the farm, we found chairs and space in a hot tunnel surrounded by seedlings (beets, celery, turnips, etc) to be planted soon for fall/winter harvests.

A transcript created through AI is available.

Creating Sankofa Farms

Kamal started farming relatively recently and combines it with some of his other loves. Not having family who farmed commercially, he’s had to learn along the way and tap into resources that he discovers as he goes.

He bought 12 acres in “the middle of nowhere” and has slowly been turning it into Sankofa Farms. Learning as he goes is a big piece of it. In fact, he laughed telling me that every year he seems to find something else on the property. This year he had cut down a few trees making room for greenhouses he will be installing this winter. Recently, he noticed someone picking up pecans — that tree was now visible and Kamal will enjoy getting pecans from it.

Clearing land and making the heavy clay soils more productive by introducing compost is hard work. The rewards of seeing so much food harvested and making a difference in the community makes the commitment to growth possible.

Why beekeeping?

While we sat in the hot tunnel for the interview, occasionally gees and other flying insects came by. It was clear then that Kamal and I shared a fear of getting stung! My fear was left unchecked for years but eventually, I faced it visiting a beehive with a colleague who was an expert.

I had to wonder how Kamal had grown such deep beekeeping skills!

Kamal worked as a teacher for a while and decided to go back to graduate school and study agriculture. With a passion for teaching, he has found ways to incorporate that into the farm’s mission. One of the students in the academy he created to bridge in-school learning with personal development was captivated by honey bees and made a good case for having bees on the farm. Kamal says seeing how interested the guy was, he just had to do it. And there’s been no looking back.

As you study bees more, you learn about the role bees play in their community. How they take care of the community keeping it clean, defending it against outsiders and more. The lessons were a total fit for life!

The lessons are so interesting that they’ve drawn Kamal’s middle son Akeem in whole-heartedly. A short video of the younger Bell outfitted and beekeeping went viral on Twitter this summer.

https://twitter.com/SankofaFarms/status/1549121806572863489?s=20&t=6PC_vzKFdi38luwRnrnxBw

Learning about bees seems to be contagious. I remember taking Natasha Nichols (you may remember her episode on the We Sow We Grow urban farm) out to some beehives a few years ago when I had a day job. Kamal has seen that passion a lot and encourages it. In fact, he briefly mentions in the interview about the Bees in the TRAP experience he offers via Air BnB. Since the bees are entering their downtime, he’s not got openings, but the reviews show he’s got a great experience for individuals or groups. Betting once spring comes around I have some friends ready to get geared up!

What bees do what work in the hive?

Beehives have just a few kinds of bees in them and it’s really important to the life of the hive that each does their work.

You can find hives that are just one box or beekeepers can have a colony with several boxes stacked together. No matter the size, there will only be one queen in there. Even if there are bees in the tens of thousands! The rest are workers or drones:

• Females are the workers who leave the hive for pollen, make the honey. All beekeepers seem to point out that women doing all the work seems more common than it should outside of hives too.
• Male drones stay in the hive to mate. That’s it. They will create a cyclone for the queen to come through fertilizing so that the next generation comes along. But after that, drones die. They do nothing else.

The bee larvae is sealed in a waxy area of the hive. That’s in the wooden frames that are constant in beekeeping.  You frequently see pulled out for demonstration or for a beekeeper to inspect when checking on hive health. It takes 21 days for a bee to come to life. The drones are bigger than females, they don’t have stingers, and look a bit different than we are used to. After all, we are used to seeing females only.

The Bee Love Doesn’t Have to Stop Here

Knowing how many friends and family are intrigued by bees, growing vegetables, etc. I absolutely encourage you to follow Kamal at @SankofaFarms on Instagram. He’s does an incredible job with how to videos as we discuss in the episode. You can also find Kamal on LinkedIn and the farm’s website, which offers CSA memberships and more. Kamal is also on Twitter as @SankofaFarms but as he said in the interview, he’s not there as much as he is some of the other places. And we’d love for you to follow Grounded by the Farm on social media too!

We discussed a bit of the other types of bees and how some have simple houses you can make yourself. This is especially easy since paper straws have become more common. My friend Fadra and her son made these bee houses years ago, the directions are clear and I love the photos. This bee house works for native bees.

Finally, a few quick clips from our visit… next time I plan to visit longer!

The post Beekeeping and Building Leadership Skills at Sankofa Farms appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

I frequently hear people talk about the goal of being self-sufficient with their food production. Ask yourself though, do you see people do it? Well, for two decades I’ve had a front row to watch as my brother Ray Person, sister-in-law Elizabeth Kelly & a group of friends created a farm co-op that does just that. And they live in northwest Ohio, not exactly the geography that first comes to mind.

(AI generated transcript available for those with hearing difficulties.)

They are producing food the way many think is near dream-like. Thinking about how they have been able to make this work, not just what it looks like, leads to a great conversation and some discoveries.

Our latest episode comes from us sitting down in late May to talk about how this co-op was formed, how it works and as always, we took a look around capturing video too! Since it was cool & damp late, I want to share a photo was from a couple of years ago as we checked out what the garden had coming along. It’s pretty amazing!

Creating a Co-op

Ray & Elizabeth purchased the farm two decades ago knowing the community they were part of was interested in coming together to produce their own food. They went with the co-op model as this was a way to distribute workload so all the members have real sweat equity. And they each get to enjoy harvesting fresh produce as well as doing the planting, weeding, etc. It started with five families and now there are two dozen families! That’s as big as they plan to get though.

They started with a few goals in mind:

• Providing quality food for themselves (was five families, now a dozen or so)
• Improve wildlife habitat
• Build community

We talk about the food side quite a bit in the episode. They are largely self-sufficient with the exceptions of grain and things that don’t grow well there (coffee, sugar, etc.) Some families participate in the meat part while others do produce only. He has a lot of spreadsheets to work through on costs, etc and those are distributed equitably too. And I can tell you, he always brings plenty of eggs to go with the bacon I take for holiday breakfasts and has perfected his deviled egg game! The garden is big and gets turned over during the season so they grow an acre’s worth of food. It’s a lot to be thankful for and Ray wrote a blog post for me a decade ago sharing some of his thanks.

Ray says there have been a range of things tried. Sometimes they found foods they weren’t as familiar with did really well so sharing recipes helped. And they can, freeze and put things in the root cellar for safe keeping through the hard Ohio winter. The weekend I was there recently, we enjoyed edamame as we waited for others to arrive for the dinner that we would have soon.

Improving wildlife habitat is one thing that he says happened without the focus he expected it would need. But that probably speaks to the variety of things that are being done on the pasture and hayfields. The environmental aspects are clear… you can even see the barn swallows in the video.

The co-op community has continued to develop over the years, with some members staying throughout the decades and others coming and going. The same community is likely to gather at the local coffee shop on Saturday mornings to catch up, that’s when I got a photo of Elizabeth & Ray a few years ago.

A Look Around the Farmstead

The farm includes a pasture for all the animals to share, a large hayfield, a garden (about half an acre in size) and a historic barn that was built in 1868. (That’s easier to remember since one summer when I was there they were putting the date back up after having the barn painted.)

Working in the garden is something everyone participates in. There are cool season crops like broccoli, onions, etc. and later tomatoes, peppers and squash go in the ground. On the header of the page, you can see early spring planting of onions and garlic. These are planted every year. They get dried down, distributed to members and used year round!

The pasture is where you are most likely to find animals during the day. Sheep, chickens and their dog protectors are out there a lot, going from shade to sun and looking for things to eat. They also get some feed in the barn. Ray showed me around the barn, its a casual check-in on what’s going on with the pigs, chicken and sheep.

Bottle Feeding Lamb Triplets This Year

If you watched the video around the barn, you met Sage and Socks. They are two ewes who were orphaned as lambs. My niece was visiting that spring and she had a lot of fun bottle feeding them and learning all about sheep.

This year Ray has triplets that lost their mom so he has three to get through the early days. That means mixing up a milk replacement that will give them much needed nutrition until their digestive tracts have fully developed.  After we recorded the podcast he took me out there and you’ll hear, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. I THOUGHT I’d be shooting video, but that stopped so I could feed one of the lambs.

Ray got to finish up with the sweet lamb with a few spots, including on its knees. No doubt the excitement of doing this wears on a person day-after-day, but that’s part of the reality with the farm co-op. It takes a lot of time in addition to everyone’s day jobs.

Since our most recent episode was talking to Kristin Root Patterson about lamb, you may want to catch up on that if you missed it because we talked cooking, rams, and more!

Please Subscribe and Follow

Every two weeks we put out a new episode. Learning more about how foods are produced and the people doing that. If you are new here, you can probably find a favorite food in our previous episodes or maybe you’d just like the . You can subscribe to get emails on future episodes from the website, listen to the podcast in your favorite app (links below) and connect with us online (links below). In fact, if you find a platform we aren’t on, please let us know so we can add it!

Most weeks I tell you how to find the farmer online, but I’m guessing you can tell, my brother really doesn’t have time for all of that! LOL! He does Facebook with friends and family, but doesn’t have public social media channels.

Our Website

• You are on GroundedbytheFarm.com which is our hub for photos & videos, blog posts, show notes, podcasts are here and more. You can even get new content emailed once a week as we publish by subscribing here.
• Find your favorite foods or fun food educational resource information here on the website.

Subscribe in Podcast Apps

There are a lot of these so I’ll list them alphabetically.

• Amazon Music or tell Alexa to play Grounded by the Farm
• Apple podcast — Grounded by the Farm 
• Google podcast link to Grounded by the Farm 
• I Heart Radio 
• Spotify for Grounded by the Farm
• Stitcher podcasts

And Libysn is where we host so we can also be found there groundedbythefarm.libsyn.com/ 

Follow Us on Social Media

• Groundedbythefarm_ on Instagram
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• Grounded by the Farm on Youtube
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• Grounded by the Farm Facebook Page

The post My Brother’s Farm Co-op: Two Decades of Food Self-Sufficiency & Community appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

As someone who loves an abundance of Asian cuisines, tofu may be on my plate or in my soup more than some Americans. But I haven’t had many chances to sit down and talk to someone about growing tofu soybeans. We can check that off the list as the conversation with Jennifer “Jennie” Schmidt about her family’s Maryland farm allowed us a chance to talk about diversification, how they determine what to plant, and more.

In 2021, they grew corn, soybeans, tofu soybeans, wine grapes and green beans for the fresh market. And a nephew is once again raising pigs on the farm. In the past they have grow several other crops including processing tomatoes (tomatoes that will be cooked down for sauces, etc). Understanding how farmers choose what to plant and how it has to be organized, is the central topic in this latest episode.

Note: An AI generated transcript of this episode is available at Talking Tofu with Jennie Schmidt.

Background on Schmidt Farms

Jennie’s family farm — she points out it was her husband’s family farm before she got so involved — is on the Delmarva Peninsula, the Eastern Shore. Her husband and his brother were running the farm for the most part.

Jennie, who trained as a registered dietitian and worked at a hospital as an RD, got involved in the farm with wine grapes. She ended up planting some and doing custom work with some wineries and others in the state for several years before her husband Hans was approached about a job in the state’s department of agriculture, working with conservation programs. Jennie laughs and says she told Hans he needed to work that job for the benefits and next thing she knew, she was partnering with her brother-in-law Alan in the farm’s day-to-day!

For generations, the Schmidts have been looking at various options for the farm. They had pigs for a while and later focused on crops. Now a nephew is choosing to get back into pork. Jennie says they look at a lot of factors when they consider what mix to have on the farm — labor is a piece for some crops, the ability to partner with others who can supply the unique equipment needed for crops is a big piece as well. And like every farm, Jennie looks at the crops adapted to the environment, weather and soils that they are in.

Grain (corn, soybeans and wheat) play a big part in the operation as the poultry farms nearby need feed. Jennie says it’s probably for some people to believe now, but her favorite job is driving the combine for harvest. She puts hours a day in the seat for weeks on end and while she welcomed me joining for a couple of hours, for weeks on end. She says not only does she get a great feel for the results of the year, but it gives her time to think, listen to books, etc. I was lucky enough to join her in the combine for a ride this fall, here’s the video.

Choosing What to Grow

Jennie said labor, equipment, and the environment all play different parts in the decision of what to plant. And of course, knowing perennial crops like grapes, the commitment is for many years.

In fact, Jennie gave us a laundry list of some of the considerations on what goes where on the farm and some of the realities that can impact the choices they have.

Growing Tofu Soybeans

As I mentioned, I’m a fan of Asian cuisine and find the growing of tofu soybeans so interesting I asked a lot of questions! How they began growing them intrigued me though. Jennie pointed immediately to the geography she’s in. DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York are all an easy drive and there are a number of companies specializing in Asian foods.

A group of farmers in the area formed a coop and went out seeking buyers when there was some question about the commitment to poultry in the area. The same equipment used for soybeans for grain can be used on these which was a great connection point. They also offer a high price for the crop. But alas, the market is only so big which means each farmer in the coop is given an allotment to plant rather than having endless opportunities to grow it. Jennie also mentions that harvest needs to be prioritized too as there can sometimes be some staining on soybeans and that is undesirable for tofu uses.

Growing Vegetables

As a registered dietitian, no doubt vegetable crops appeal to Jennie. They have planted tomatoes and green beans both in the hundreds of acres at a time. She points out that means harvesting several 18 wheelers full of either crop in a day. And which much of the crop management is easily done with irrigation that serves whatever is planted in the field, etc. The reality that specific planting and or harvesting equipment is needed means only planting the crops when contracts that also provide the expensive equipment and labor for the critical times. Planning allows farmers and the contractors to work together on timing so harvesting crews move from farm to farm.

Vegetable crops have rules that require the crop not be planted in the same field more than on a four year rotation, means long-term planning too! If you plant green beans in one field this year, you will be eligible to plant them there again in 4 years. Tomatoes have the same requirement. Limiting the likelihood of disease issues is the biggest reason for the requirement, which is a practice a lot of urban gardeners are familiar with!

Growing Wine Grapes

Growing grapes for wine is something that is a lot more common around the US now. Small acres are needed but the amount of labor required is high when it comes time to harvest. Jennie says they have expanded the vineyard and are growing several varietals. There are always more wineries interested she says, so the only limit is getting grapes harvested when needed. This was their biggest year ever and knowing there are some mechanized harvesters coming that will get tested, who knows what the future will do.

 

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Growing Grain

The largest acreage on Schmidt Farms is in grain — both corn and soybeans. It has a really good market locally with the number of chicken farms in Delmarva. The family likes to rotate corn and soybeans as corn contributes great organic matter for the soil — ie the plant parts that don’t get harvested stay in the field and biodegrade creating something like compost for future crops. And as legumes, soybeans add nitrogen to the soil.

Planting Cover Crops

The Schmidts also plant cover crops on the farm. Cover crops help improve soils, they are not harvested so they add a lot of organic matter. Jennie said wheat is planted as a cover as are a mix of radishes, rye, etc. She shared a photo of one of the tillage radishes she pulled in the vineyard to show her Instagram followers. They have the deep root and as Jennie points out, they can help reduce compaction and make it easier for roots to grow unrestricted.

 

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Find Jennie Online

Jenni can be found on social media in several places:

• Instagram DirtDietitian
• Facebook The Foodie Farmer
• Twitter FarmGirlJen

The post Growing Tofu Soybeans, Grapes, Grain & More: The Planning It Takes to Be a Truly Diversified Farm appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Only an episode about growing bitter gourd and other Filipino foods could bring together connections to boxer Manny Pacquiao, pineapple, sugarcane and pig roasts and today is the day! It’s time to talk about all things Filipino food & farming on this episode of the Grounded by the Farm Podcast! (Get the detailed transcript of this episode on Filipino food here.)

Although rice is probably the biggest constant in Filipino food, there are a variety of foods that many Americans may not be familiar with. And Albert Santos has worked in several areas of The Phillipines studying agriculture and working with plants and people across the way. And he has made sure that I got lots of opportunities to enjoy Filipino food & farms.

Albert is originally from the Philippines but has lived in the US for a long time, though he stays in touch with friends in agriculture there. And he’s brought a lot of Filipino cuisine with him — he even grows a vegetable called bitter gourd (or ampalaya) in his backyard!

Food and farming are and have always been a staple in the Philippines, so much so that there is a piece of cultural song embedded in the minds of many of those from there that link it all together. The song, that features a variety of different kinds of food, instantly binds people to the foods of their native homeland and offers an connection that is unlike anything in other communities across the globe.

What Is Grown in The Philippines?

While we’ve mentioned rice as a staple crop, its emphasis really does have true impact on almost every single meal in The Philippines. In each of the provinces that feature low-lying flatlands you will find rice being grown and cultivated to eventually be placed in the center of an upcoming meal. And the role of the country is significant enough to rate the headquarters of the International Rice Research Institute (I visited IRRI with Albert years ago and learned so much about different kinds of rice!)

Vegetables of all kinds are mostly grown in the mountainous regions and include, cabbage, broccoli, celery and many others. Still other areas feature the growth and harvesting of tomatoes, sugarcane and even others that feature a kind of hemp – that looks like a banana that is used to make ropes for boats and a number of other items. While there is a clear bounty to be found that is grown in the Philippines, there are also Milkfish that are harvested from the wide-ranging coastal waters in the country as well.

You’ve heard the name of it. You may even know some famous celebrities that made The Philippines home, but – did you know the basics of The Philippines? Find out more than you’ve ever known about this island-based country now!

World Exploration & Food

While there are a huge listing of items that are originally found and grown in the Philippines, what a lot of people are unaware of, is that the Spaniards also brought a variety of items to the volcanic island vista, that has now become a common hub of Filipino food and agriculture, These items include mango and corn, which were actually originally collected in Mexico, then brought to the Philippines! Amazing where the things around us not only come from, but how they are continually transplanted, transformed and take hold inside of completely different cultures!

We talk about a LOT of food inside this episode, but if you’re looking for a comprehensive listing of the Top 50 Delicious Filipino Dishes, look no further than right here!

While thinking of Filipino Celebrities, did you think of – Manny Pacquiao? Well, if you did, then not only have you designated one of the most-popular Filipinos on the planet, you’ve also identified one of the greatest fighters that is from the southern areas of the Philippines. This area of the country is known for it’s development of corn, which many people think is the element that powers the mighty mini-powerhouse of Pacquiao!

This whole time we’ve saved up some of the best for last, which include the eggplant, the bitter gourd, long beans and a very special pumpkin but – to learn about all of THESE? You’re going to have to listen to this episode of Grounded By The Farm!

How many of you like “stinky foods?” While there are many that can hardly stomach ill-smelling foods there are those that say that the pungent aroma makes for a very special “umami” that takes a dish to the next level. From fermented fish to fermented shrimp, Filipino foods feature a variety of scents that will send you in one direction or the other, but will all showcase the diversity of the food palette of the country at every opportunity.

When it comes down to it all, the Philippines and their volcanic origins are the perfect platform for food that has a variety of impacts on people from all walks of life across every continent. Each of the endemic dishes and elements of Filipino food and agriculture present themselves boldly, leaving an impression that will last at least as long as the volcanic rocks that are the literal bedrock of it’s grand, bountiful countrysides,

Did you like what you heard inside this episode of Grounded By the Farm? Be sure to share the link to this episode and interact with us via any of our outlets on social media! All of them are listed and can be connected to over at GroundedByTheFarm.Com!

The post Growing Bitter Gourd & other Filipino Foods with Albert Santos appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Todd O’Neal is a sweet potato farmer in Louisiana and his enthusiasm for the crop is electric. He talks to us about how sweet potatoes were considered something for poor people, as small farmers always had a patch to feed their family. But recently, the crop has been better understood as flavorful, nutritious and versatile. Todd talks to us for our holiday foods series about the ins and outs of growing them as well as give us his tip on the best way to enjoy sweet potatoes.

Todd is with Black Gold Farms, you can connect with them on online:

• On the Web: https://blackgoldfarms.com/
• Like Them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlackGoldFarms/
• Connect with Them on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/black-gold-farms/

Watch Todd talk growing sweet potatoes this season with the team at This Week in Louisiana Agriculture.

Sweet Potatoes are now grown & enjoyed 12 months out of the year! It’s no longer just a holiday thing!

Did you know that the “regular potatoes” you think of are often called “white potatoes” or “Irish Potatoes?”

The Curing Process in Sweet potatoes: Regular/white/Irish potatoes are brought inside to an environment to cool. Sweet potatoes on the other hand are heated up to help break down the sugars inside the sweet potato which makes it “sweet”.

The biggest time of the year for sweet potato farmers? Thanksgiving! Holidays are big in general. Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter are all big times for sweet potatoes. But they have been gaining ground and are now enjoyed year round!

Why are sweet potatoes so popular? At one time every farmer grew sweet potatoes but there was a steady decline as farming numbers dwindled. At one time, sweet potatoes were somehow aligned with people “being poor” and so they fell off the general chart of attention span. In just the last decade, sweet potatoes have gained attention momentum, being associated with a general focus on health, being offered as solutions to many people with a variety of dietary needs including those who are diabetic and take take on the starches that are provided in the Regular/White/Irish Potato.They are high in Vitamin A & Beta Carotene.

It’s in the bag, man: When COVID-19 began gripping the US, there was a swell in sales of sweet potatoes (and all general foods that could be purchased/acquired at grocery stores). Todd also noticed something strange in a photo of a grocery store’s produce area – the only things left were “loose apples” which helped to craft a new plan to help the sale of sweet potatoes. It was clear that people were grabbing things in a BAG, because people were paying attention to how many surfaces were touched by how many people.

There’s only ONE kind of sweet potato, right? There are many varieties of sweet potatoes – The Bayou Belle: It’s not the prettiest potato but makes for great sweet potato fries! The Orleans sweet potato is the pretty one for fresh market handsome go to processors and there is a lesser known type – The Beauregard – all of which were developed and named – clearly – from their development at Louisiana State’s Sweet Potato Research Station.

The Count Matters – Which state tops sweet potato production? Wondering who is on top of the “sweet potatoes heap? North Carolina currently grows the most. Mississippi is in the second slot. California comes in third, and Louisiana takes the number 4 slot.

Lookin’ Mighty Fine (For a sweet potato…): Todd is SURE, (not because he lives and has a sweet potato farm there or anything) that Louisiana Potatoes LOOK the best of all available sweet potatoes.

What makes these so great? Silt loam soils!

Silt is a solid, dust-like sediment that water, ice, and wind transport and deposit. Silt is made up of rock and mineral particles that are larger than clay but smaller ..

Loam is a special type of soil that has been formulated to contain a mixture of sand, silt and clay. Sandy loam soil is a very desirable medium that is used by farmers, gardeners, landscapers and property owners because of its very beneficial qualities.

You can learn more about the passion for soil in this conversation with Mr. Ray Young that’s mentioned.

Did You Know: A sweet potato will cure in 4-5 days in general, but depends a bit on time of year, temperature and humidity.

Some Like It Hot – But Not Wet: 85% humidity and nice cool temperatures (55 degrees or so) is best to put sweet potatoes “to sleep” to help prevent CO2 levels form climbing too high that would cause the sweet potatoes to rot. They also like dry environments like Shay told us onions do…

Smart Buildings Help Feed People? Huh? Sweet potato farmers often use buildings that detect how much CO2 is building up to help prevent unfavorable conditions!

The Root of the Matter: A sweet potato is a root. It’s part of the morning glory family – it’s a WEED! It has the same type of flowers you may have seen in a vining garden.

SORRY! You’re Going to Have to Listen to This Episode to Find Out… The process of growing and cultivating sweet potatoes is incredibly detailed! Be sure to listen to this episode of Grounded By The Farm to understand all of it! Thanks, Todd!

Big Machines – Beautiful sweet potatoes – ACTION! Interested in seeing ALL of the sweet potato farming machines in action? “Dig It!”

https://youtu.be/EGFo3bZj_SM

Planting sweet potatoes takes 40-50 days! Harvesting is probably 75 days of the year!

Ready to learn more about “H2A Workers”? Be sure to check out The Grounded By the Farm episode on growing peppers for more details!

Counting Workers to Help Make It COUNT! Did you know that the Black Gold Farm location that Todd supervises, has almost 300 employees? Feeding people requires hard work and they truly enjoy their effort knowing that it will put food on the plates of many people!

You Say “Yam” But They Say “Sweet Potato” — What’s the Story? Are Yams and sweet potatoes the SAME THING? As much as we want you to read and then know the answer, you’re going to have to listen to this episode of Grounded By The Farm with Todd O’Neal from Black Gold sweet potato farm to find out! Suffice it to say, Louisiana is marketing smart!

Finding sweet potatoes near you! The market for sweet potatoes has grown sometimes due to food services and restaurants.

• Do you know what a QSR is? It’s an acronym that in this case stands for Quick Serve Restaurant!
• Do you know what an LTO is? It’s an acronym that in this case stands for Limited Time Offer!
• What does YOUR favorite “QSR” offer as an “LTO?” Tell us PDQ, or you’ll be SOL, and end up doing KP and if you’re in the we’ll surely all end up DOA!

Curious about ONIONS? Be sure to check out the episode of Grounded By The Farm featuring onion farmer that’s so good it’ll make you CRY! https://groundedbythefarm.com/growing-onions/

Black Gold offers value added & bulk sweet potatoes! There are so many innovations that go beyond individual sweet potatoes or bags, doing poly-wrapped and more. Fresh at the grocery really went up when more people stayed at home, but the company also offers them in bulk of 40 pounds at their Delhi, Louisiana location.

How does a sweet potato farmer prefer to eat a sweet potato? First it gets peeled. Then you warm up a seasoned cast iron skillet. Slice the sweet potato length-wise. Toss in half a stick of butter and brown it up on both sides – sprinkle a little salt on it and you’re there! He’s had sweet potato biscuits, sweet potato cakes and more! What’s YOUR favorite kind of sweet potato preparation? Contact us via The Grounded By The Farm’s social media and tell us what yours is!

The Struggle is REAL: Sweet potatoes WITH or WITHOUT – PECANS? That’s a controversy

Storing them at home — keep them in a cool, dark place. Heat is the enemy that causes it to put sprouts on and it changes the texture inside.

Stick It – In The Window! Even Todd grows sweet potatoes in his window sill! Have you tried to be a sweet potato farmer? He gives the instructions on how to do it inside this episode! Listen, Learn, Grow and EAT!

We Need to Hear from You! 

What did YOU find interesting about this episode of Grounded by The Farm? What would you like us to be sure we include in the second season of the podcast? Tell Janice what you thought about it now and we just may use your feedback on a future episode

The team at EditorCorps.com helped with show notes and editing of this episode.

The post Sweet Potato Farmer Todd O’Neal Is Feeling the Love as Sweet Potatoes Grow in Favor appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Fall has arrived and we have a lot of holidays to look forward to — that leads us to visit a pumpkin farm. Join us as we talk to Shannon Latham at Enchanted Acres in Northern Iowa today.

Shannon loves pumpkins so much that she started a pumpkin patch several years ago. And while toddlers and other young children definitely enjoy the pumpkin farm, Shannon offers something for everyone. She says they have had bridal parties, engagement photo shoots and school groups all.  From carving and decorating, to picking your own pumpkin or simply choosing from the ones the team at Enchanted Acres have already picked, cleaned and stacked, you will find something there that tickles your fancy.

And cooking with pumpkin is something she does so often that friends of her children call her the muffin lady! She shares tips with us on those favorite foods, recipes and cooking tips for the ages!

They plant dozens of varieties to offer the color, shape and intended use (cooking, decorating, carving or whatever!) as well as homemade jams and jellies. And with various activities featured each weekend — including great photo opps like the how tall this fall backdrop.

As Shannon mentioned, she and her husband have a seed company. Here’s a recent post I did on things you may want to know about seed.

Pumpkin Recipes Shannon Mentioned

• Taste of Home pumpkin seed recipes
• Pumpkin pudding (like pumpkin pie without the crust!)
• Pumpkin pie in a bag
• Shannon’s kid’s favorite pumpkin muffins
• Savory pumpkin recipe from the gourmet cooking club
• Sausage & Squash Soup
• Butternut squash bake

Find Enchanted Acres Pumpkin Farm Online

Facebook Enchanted Acres

Instagram Enchanted Acres

Website:  https://www.enchantedacresia.com

Where to Find Grounded by the Farm on Social Media

• GroundedbytheFarm.com for photos, blog posts, show notes and more
• Ask the Farmers Facebook Page
• Groundedbythefarm_ on Instagram
• Grounded by the Farm on Youtube
• @groundedbythef on Twitter

Holiday Foods Series

This is the first in a series of episodes about our favorite holiday foods that will be building through the end of 2020.

Detailed, Raw Transcript of the Pumpkin Episode with Shannon Latham

Grounded by the Farm  00:02

Food is more than just what’s on our plate. It’s the places where it’s grown. It’s the people who grow it and so much more. Join me, Janice person, your host on Grounded by the Farm every other week as we talk about the foods we love. I don’t know about some of you, but when it comes to fall, and those first few days of hoodie weather come, I can’t wait for holidays to get here. And the first big holiday of the year is one of my favorites Halloween. I can’t imagine Halloween without pumpkins. We’re gonna do things a little bit differently. For the next couple of months, we’re only going to be talking about foods that have a specific place in our holidays. And so with that we’re talking pumpkins today was Shannon Lake them from Northern Iowa. Shannon runs enchanted acres. Her family does a lot of other things in agriculture, too. But enchanted acres is our personal passion. She loves growing pumpkins. She loves having the public come out and visit doing the decorations, talking about which pumpkins are better for pies, talking about what recipe she wants. And luckily for us, we’ve got all of that in the show notes this week. So let’s go ahead and get started right off with Shannon, talking about how fall is going this year in Northern Iowa.

Shannon Latham  01:28

It has been a beautiful fall so far in North Iowa, which you know, Janice, I always get a kick out of following you on social media and talking about how cold it gets. I’m always hopeful we can finish the pumpkin season without a snow, snow and the pumpkin patch is not my friend. But it’s going great. The leaves are starting to turn we’ve had the perfect hoodie, apple cider, wet weather. So let’s hope that that continues.

Grounded by the Farm  01:53

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s horrible to get to a pumpkin patch and be hot and sweaty. I think like, you know, it’s like football games. You want me a little bit chilly. But you don’t want to be right told right?

Shannon Latham  02:07

Right. So there is nothing like the super hot 85 degree weather to kill business at a pumpkin patch. You’re absolutely right. Another one is drizzle. No one wants to go out and pick pumpkins in a drizzle. And if we could only order like 65 degree and sunshine with no wind. That’s what I would put on tap for every weekend of October.

Grounded by the Farm  02:28

I love it. I love it. So we’re talking right at the changeover from September to October this will go up in about two weeks. Can you tell me when is your busy season? Was I crazy for scheduling you as the first of October hit?

Shannon Latham  02:43

No, that’s perfect. And I don’t know if you know this, but October is National pumpkin month. So as a foodie, I’m all about celebrating food holidays or early and often. So October is National pumpkin month and we typically open mid September. So in Iowa, the Iowa State game weekend is like our Super Bowl. And when I was new to the pumpkin patch business, I opened that weekend, and it was a lonely place to be it wasn’t because everybody in Iowa is either watching the game hosting a watch party or going to the game. So I have learned and I typically open the week following which is usually the third Saturday of September.

Grounded by the Farm  03:24

I love it. I love it out of all the farmers I’ve talked to you’re probably one of the few that a lot of people think hey, pumpkin farm, I’ve done that. Right. So a lot of people have gone out and picked pumpkins or taken photos on a pumpkin farm and your farm is one of those farms for people in Northern Iowa. Right,

Shannon Latham  03:42

right. In fact, one of when you talk about that, you know and we all kind of joke about what’s Pinterest inspired. One of my favorite photo opportunities was when a young couple came out, she showed me a picture that was Pinterest inspired or Instagram inspired. I’m not sure which at the time, but it was this couple kissing in the pumpkin patch. And she’s like, would you take this for me? So yes, it is that place. And I just like having cute places if you’re whether you’re a young couple in love, or you’re a family, and you make it an annual tradition. So I really love seeing that we’re where people come and bring their kids back year after year. We have a photo board that says how how tall this fall. And it allows them to continue to measure and it’s just really fun to see those families come back time and again. But I think that might be one of the biggest misconceptions is that people think oh, pumpkin patch that’s just for people with toddlers. But we really tried to provide activities. I’m a big believer in experiences and creating experiences, I believe experiences create memories, right. And so yeah, so we offer activities every weekend with different ages in mind. So every weekend we offer a special pumpkin decorating workshop. It might be buttons and bows it might decorating pumpkins was succulents to make a centerpiece for you. Thanksgiving table, but I try to think of things that people might not do at home. So right people traditionally think of carving pumpkins. Yeah, but they don’t maybe think about other things they could do one weekend this fall we’ll be doing we’ll be using furniture tax to decorate pumpkins. And, and then every weekend, we allow people to paint pumpkins, and they can glitter them up because you know

Grounded by the Farm  05:23

what I was gonna ask about today litter because that’s one of those things I would not do at home. But I would love Xander pumpkin to stay out on the front porch never come in the house.

Shannon Latham  05:33

Right. So I like to say, leave the mess with us and take home your masterpiece. And so the name of our area where we do all of the pumpkin workshops is called Japan owes workshop because I’m a big Disney fan. And I just thought that was Yeah, I just thought that was a good fit. It’s like leave the mess. And also we only charge $5 that includes your pumpkin, your paint your glitter. If you went to Hobby Lobby or Walmart and you wanted to buy different colors of paint as well as the pumpkin. You couldn’t do it for $5. So I think it’s just affordable. I was gonna say affordable family fun, but really affordable fun for the whole family. It’s fun to see grown. Mother daughters come last weekend I had a mother daughter and daughter in law come out. Yeah. And they did succulents. It’s also been a great area, or great activity, I should say for bridal showers, like the bridal party come out and decorate pumpkins. So yeah, I really like to think that we appeal to a broad audience.

Grounded by the Farm  06:33

I would tell you our office over the years, probably 20 years ago, I started doing pumpkin carving contest or pumpkin decoration contest. And it’s amazing how competitive people can get in that

Shannon Latham  06:46

if it’s aggressive. Yeah, exactly. contest is the key word people. Especially I worked in an advertising agency in West Des Moines and we did the same thing. And those graphic designers, there was no way I could compete with them on the pumpkin carving. So I had to enter the pumpkin baking contest.

Shannon Latham  07:03

And I you know, the

Shannon Latham  07:05

the little for me is proud to say I won the pumpkin baking contest one year.

Grounded by the Farm  07:10

Oh, that’s funny. I actually can claim ownership of a ribbon from the pumpkin decorating contest because I used inside humor, right. Like at an office, we all have those insider jokes. And to create a pumpkin that illustrated one of those. Prop me the big, the big prize one year. So quite proud of that. Well, you just see. Exactly. So I was an accidental pumpkin grower one year, I don’t I don’t know how many people have had that happen. Right? My front porch when I bought a new house, the people had young kids. And I don’t know if somebody accidentally brought you know, broke the pumpkin into the nice flower bed. Or if somebody just never dealt with it and ultimately just kicked it there to die. But the first year I lived there in the fall, I had this weird vine come up. And you know, and I can’t help my curiosity. I had to let it go. Right. So from the spring, and then I started seeing the flowers and I’m like, squash or pumpkin. I’m one of those. What do you think people should know if they try and grow a pumpkin? probably not the best way to

Shannon Latham  08:24

add a space. A lot of space, which I’m sure you found out right.

Grounded by the Farm  08:29

Those leaves got big for four. Yes,

Shannon Latham  08:32

the leaves get big and the vines can go for feet. Yeah. So when we plant our pumpkins, we plant them anywhere from eight to 14 feet apart. And there’s a couple of reasons that we want them to vine out. But we also pump raising pumpkins in large quantities like we do is really hands on. It takes a lot of labor. And so we do it every so often we make it a little bit wider so we can get through with the tractor and cultivator.

Grounded by the Farm  08:59

Yeah. So tell me, I obviously did not have that kind of space. It took over part of my front yard as well as the flower bed. And it was not your typical orange pumpkin. So do you guys grow just traditional orange pumpkins? Or there seems to be a lot of different things going on in the pumpkin world?

Shannon Latham  09:23

Yeah, I think you would be amazed if you saw pumpkin growers catalog. It’s literally like, and I know you Janice would be familiar with a seed catalog. Not everybody who’s listening probably is but what would that be half inch thick, maybe. And it’s all different pumpkin varieties. And I I’m like a kid in a candy store when I open that book because this year what was new was yellow pumpkins. So I am totally fascinated by pumpkin breeders because who thinks of this stuff like a yellow pumpkin. I plant more than 20 varieties, but it’s honestly a struggle to keep it down to 20 varieties.

Grounded by the Farm  09:59

I would say if you Got a half inch thick book of different seat varieties, even if it’s just one per page that’s a lot of pages I would really it

Shannon Latham  10:09

is a lot of pages I mean you would be amazed by the number of different colors and and so many different uses. So one of the pumpkins that I grow is called the peanut pumpkin for those who know French, I can’t even pronounce it but you would know it by a French name. And it looks like little peanuts are growing on there. So I just harvested some of those. Some of them are called speckled hound. That’s the other thing. The marketer in me loves the name of these different pumpkins and squashes. So the speckled hound is orange and green together. And it’s speckle Yeah, then there’s one year I bought something just because it was called fairy tale. And I really thought, you know, enchanted acres should offer the fairy tale, it’s probably no surprise to you that our signature pumpkin is called the Cinderella. And it’s like, if you watch the Disney movie, it looks just like a Cinderella coach. It’s flat. And they are awesome for stacking. And so I usually put a Cinderella pumpkin on the bottom, there’s the jarrahdale. And it’s kind of a greenish blue color. And it’s a little bit thicker. It’s so pretty. And I had that’s the other thing I love about the pumpkin patch is you get visitors from everywhere. And I had a lady who was from Australia. And she’s like, Oh, you have the squash, which I think it’s actually I don’t know if it is a winter squash or it’s a pumpkin, but it’s very popular apparently in Australia. And this is going to be my ninth season and I have yet to eat one every year, I think I’m going to fix one of these. And every year I don’t know I guess I get busy and forget to do it. But they are really good eating, you know, squash is related to the pumpkin. So that’s that’s no big surprise. And then where I live, we have a very big Latino population. And so I’ll help people stop by because they love to eat pumpkin there too. So there’s just yeah, every kind of squash and pumpkin really has a use whether it’s decorating some or even better for painting. Then as we’ve learned over the years, how do

Grounded by the Farm  12:05

you help the people who are coming to visit you figure those kind of things out, right? Because if you come to the shark and match, I typically just look for one that has the shape I like but Jennifer wanted to make a pie. Maybe not the best one to have.

Shannon Latham  12:20

Exactly. So there are definitely pie pumpkins in at our place. They’re called baby Pam are sweet sugars. So they make a better pie because they have I suppose a higher sugar content. Yeah. And they’re smaller. So we put signs we offer a you pick pumpkin patch, but not everyone wants to get dirty. And not everyone wants to climb through the vines because I’m sure you learned in your accidental pumpkin patch that pumpkin vines are prickly. And yeah, well to the tee. Yeah, you want to make sure exactly. You want to make sure you’re dressed for it. So I would recommend a long sleeve shirt and boots. It loves fans, you don’t mind getting dirty long pants. Exactly. So if you’re going to wear tennis shoes, make sure they’re ones that you know you’re okay with throwing them in the washing machine. Because that’s the other thing. Sometimes people dress so cute to come to the pumpkin patch, or they dress their kids so cute. And then they’re like, oh, but don’t get dirty. Well, I’m just a big believer, you’re on a farm like half of that, especially especially if you’re like a little kid is getting dirty. That’s half the fun. Anyway, we provide that experience for those who think getting down and dirty is fine or picking their own just like you would go out to a Christmas tree farm and pick out a tree. We offer

Grounded by the Farm  13:28

that nice pictures first before you get really exactly,

Shannon Latham  13:32

exactly and then change your shoes like Mr. Rogers, you know, we provide palettes so if you if you want to have the pumpkin picking experience without all the dirt, we’ve already picked them, washed them and place them on a pallet. And then to help people choose I make signs. I’ve had them designed so that we can use them year after year. But it lists the name of the pumpkin and talks about what what its best uses are and then a picture. So that’s how we try to do it. I

Grounded by the Farm  13:59

mean, who would have thought when we were kids? Right? It was such a simple world you had either as a tall as an orange or a perfectly round pumpkin, right? Like it was taller. It was round. And that was how it was the only question

Shannon Latham  14:14

so absolutely. I didn’t know there was anything other than a jack o’ lantern pumpkin when

Grounded by the Farm  14:18

I was a kid. Right, right. So that traditional jack lantern pumpkin. Do you guys have those? I assume as well?

Shannon Latham  14:26

Yes, absolutely. But they come in all different sizes too. I mean, I’ve grown some that are big white pumpkins, and they’re called polar bears, and they get just huge. I also have Atlantic giants, which are big orange pumpkins. In fact, one this year we had to use the forks of the tractor to move it I’m not sure who’s going to take that home with them because it’s, it’s so big, but it’s been kind of fun. And when you were talking about accidental pumpkins, some of our biggest pumpkins actually grow in our compost pile. And, and I think it’s just because it’s so full of nutrient into that pile. Yeah, it’s also kind of shady. So it probably helps keep a little bit more moisture over there as well. But it’s kind of fun to see what just grows naturally over by that compost pile. Well that we don’t open that part up to the public though.

Shannon Latham  15:18

would want to pick from there

Grounded by the Farm  15:20

playing in the compost pile doesn’t sound as fun as it you know, digging worms is one thing, but in the compost pile something else that’s so funny. So when you guys look at pumpkins, is one of the big difference in what would be considered a carving pumpkin, sort of the the texture or the width of the write, like what’s different between carving pumpkins and painting pumpkins?

Shannon Latham  15:45

Yeah, I

Shannon Latham  15:46

think it has to do with the skin. You’re right. carving pumpkins are a little bit thicker. Some of the pumpkins, though, are too thick, so they don’t make a good carving pumpkin. Right. Um, and some of them might it’s just basically I think size and preference anymore. I would have never thought about carving a white pumpkin though. My mom’s it. Yeah, so cute. And then if you’re going for some designs, you don’t even have to paint the pumpkin because you could just use the color pumpkin. We have some that are, are called knuckleheads. And, and they make the perfect like which face because they have all these It almost looks like little works growing all over,

Grounded by the Farm  16:21

though. Kind of doubling up. That looks like probably a disease or something. But that’s it does. Yeah.

Shannon Latham  16:30

In fact, of the first year I grew knuckleheads, my brother was out looking at my pumpkin patch, and I wasn’t there. And he said, What’s wrong with your pumpkins? And I said, Which ones? Any any says, sent me a picture and I said, Oh, that’s a knucklehead. And he’s like, That’s not nice to call me names. I’m like,

Shannon Latham  16:46

No, that’s right. So they just don’t

Shannon Latham  16:50

love it. They really, it’s funny to say but pumpkins have a lot of character. Like each variety. Kind of has its own personality, if you will, just like that is a little bit bumpy. We have one called orange roughy thing. We have a really popular gourd Friday called the lunch lady. So sometimes people see that and they buy it just because the name is funny.

Grounded by the Farm  17:11

Yeah, that’s funny for those people who are either carving it or using it for a, you know, some kind of eating extravaganza baking or whatever. What do you suggest they do with the seeds? Do you have like ways to use the seeds that are yummy or useful? My

Shannon Latham  17:27

my family loves roasted pumpkin seeds. My son’s favorite is with cinnamon and sugar. But then I did a taste test. Yeah, I did a taste test a couple of years ago at the pumpkin patch. And it did some with Italian seasoning, some that had a little bit more of a Mexican flair. And then the cinnamon, cinnamon, and also we just like butter and salt on some of them too. So I think you know why not? Kind of like spice up your salads. I don’t know if spice it up is the right word. I guess it depends on what you put on there. But But why not add some pumpkin seeds to a salad? Give it give it a little bit different flavor instead of the same old same old also, you could put it on the tops of soups.

Grounded by the Farm  18:07

Yeah. Which

Shannon Latham  18:09

this time of yours great soup. Whether so how do you roast them my go to is taste of home. By the way, if anybody which probably dates me a little bit, but taste of home is online. And it to me all those recipes are like what my mom and my grandma would make. So they’re just looking for food. So so that’s where I usually go to grab a recipe. And what what I do is I go ahead and scoop out the insides of the pumpkin By the way, if you get a pie pumpkin, they’ll have way more seeds in them and they’ll be smaller. So you could go ahead, yeah, you could go ahead buy a pie pumpkin, use the seeds for your salad soup or just plain as a snack to eat them by themselves. And then you could actually turn that pie pumpkin into pie. I see that you also share on your Facebook page, some recipes, I get to share you my favorite share with you my favorite recipe if you want to buy a pumpkin pie pumpkin and turn it into pudding. Yeah, so pumpkin pudding tastes like pumpkin pie, but you don’t have to make

19:05

the crust. So like how awesome

Shannon Latham  19:08

is that? So I’ll send that your way. If you want to share that and scream it. It’s really simple. Like I followed the Pioneer woman’s recipe for making your own pumpkin puree. It’s really not hard. It’s a vest as an investment in time, but it’s really not that hard. And then yeah, so then that way you can have the seeds and you can use the fruit. In fact, that’s one of the things that I make sure I do a lot of field trips, usually. I love field trips because kids are so curious. They ask a lot of questions. But the one thing I want them to go home remembering is that pumpkin is a fruit and we can

19:41

eat it.

Shannon Latham  19:42

So usually we’ll make pumpkin pie in a bag for them. And then I just do little single servings of little cups that put graham crackers in the bottom. Then we squeeze some of that pumpkin pie filling into it. And I always love getting the thank you notes from Little kids and my favorite one was You are such a good cook, will you be my friend, I just love it because first of all, like pumpkin pie in a bag is the easiest thing you’ll ever make. And second of all, it requires no cooking. So when

Grounded by the Farm  20:13

it sounds like the perfect, perfect setup well so you say pumpkin pie requires no cooking, it’s a really easy thing. You make it a lot

Shannon Latham  20:22

of good buying a bag pumpkin kind of bag, I should say. And that’s what we do on our field trips. And so really, we just mix it in a Ziploc bag. It’s pumpkin pie filling out of a can. It’s instant pudding, it’s milk and some pumpkin pie spice. You squish it all together in a Ziploc bag, and it’s ready to eat in a matter of minutes.

Grounded by the Farm  20:41

Yeah. What’s one of your favorite ways of putting pumpkin on the table? Like as a food product?

Shannon Latham  20:48

pumpkin bread is definitely one of my family’s favorite pumpkin muffins. So I’m newly an empty nester. So it’s very strange for me, I used to I used to be called like the muffin lady because I did make muffins all the time. And so last year during my kids a senior year it again, I change out my recipes like some people change their word. I definitely have a pumpkin muffin season. And I’ve shared that recipe several times in several different blogs. pumpkin muffins are one of my kids is favorite. I’ll have

Grounded by the Farm  21:20

the link for the show notes. Yeah,

Shannon Latham  21:22

definitely. And I like pumpkin muffins even as a side dish. So if we’re going to do a bowl of chili, some people might put that with cornbread, I’m going to serve it with pumpkin muffins. And then I’ve also made pumpkin chili. And at enchanted acres we have a little restaurant called the marketplace cafe and we’ll serve pumpkin chili there sometimes you really don’t taste it. I think it really just kind of gets absorbed by the other flavors of the chili but I figure you know when at the pumpkin patch, right? Why not give it a try? So we’ve done that

Grounded by the Farm  21:55

what did and why do yum cans kinda add nutritionally what’s what’s there that we

Shannon Latham  22:00

should they are high in vitamin A and beta carotene for sure. I just said carrot wood. Uh huh. Good for your

Grounded by the Farm  22:07

eyesight.

Shannon Latham  22:08

They are definitely good for your eyesight. So they’re sometimes we’ll feed some of the pumpkins that we aren’t able to sell. We’ll feed them to our goats or we’ll feed them to our chickens and they eat everything but the shell they love to eat out.

Grounded by the Farm  22:20

They love to eat the little seeds. They love to eat the filling. When you think about pumpkins, a lot of us go to sweet things like the pies and, and things. Are there more savory pumpkin recipes.

Shannon Latham  22:32

Yes. And I have a recipe actually for so there was a gourmet food club in the area that came about pie pumpkins, and then they shared a recipe for me. And it’s it is a savory recipe. So

Grounded by the Farm  22:44

I’ll have to get that. Yeah, I think that’s what’s really interesting about so many of the holiday kinds of things, right? So many of them, you can make them into total sweet as a dessert or something like that. But you can also make them into the savory kind of moments that other people who don’t necessarily like sweets as much we’ll go Wait a minute, that’s really good.

Shannon Latham  23:07

I often stuffed zucchini, like some people stuffed peppers,

23:11

yam,

Shannon Latham  23:12

I stuffed zucchini, but I don’t know why you couldn’t stuff a pie pumpkin, or even cut it up and then layer it, I’m gonna have to give it a try. Gosh, we might have we might be on to something there.

Grounded by the Farm  23:24

Well, and I can tell you some of the squash and things that I’ve had when I’m in places like Japan, they have some great, great ones that they’ll do that way. And so I’m always looking for some of those to come back again, when I’m in the US. I never know when I’m going to find one. So kind of look around to see if I can find something similar. Uh huh. Can you tell me one of the questions I had for you because so many of us have gotten the pumpkin patches at various times in our lives this year. Is it going to be a little bit different with some of the issues around Coronavirus? And how are you guys kind of planning for this season?

Shannon Latham  24:03

I think one of the great things about a pumpkin patch is that it’s a lot of the activities naturally happen outdoors. And when we’re talking about early on in the pandemic and people weren’t getting out of their houses, just not good for people’s mental health. I think why not take your family, why not take your friends and spend a day out at the pumpkin patch. So it’s really easy at enchanted acres. I know in some of the urban pumpkin patches, it can be a little more crowded, but social distancing is not a problem at and change makers at all. And so because we are located in rural North Iowa, but what we’re doing with our pumpkin decorating classes is if you don’t come your group can stay together. So if it’s your family, that’s fine, but we’re easily able to spread out so people can be socially distancing. Again, you know, our hay rides, we’re taking a lot fewer people. So again, we can be socially distance if you’re not part of the crowd. So we’re doing more frequent hay rides and not filling the racks all the way up. We are not requiring masks. Outside, that’s optional, we’re only requiring mask if you come inside our store. And then we’re doing we also do storytime, which is we do a book and a craft, a lot of what I try to do is help people understand farming and where their food comes from. So a lot of my stories are kids stories that help tell the story of agriculture, we’re doing those outside. Now, when the weather turns a little bit cooler, or it snows God forbid, we’ll be upstairs and bells tower. And again, we’ll be able to socially distance. So we might have to do more than one storytime. Yeah, to allow for that. But but we’re flexible. I mean, that’s one of the great things about being a privately owned small pumpkin patches, we can be flexible and adapt as needed. But I am really glad to see so many families coming out, I think it’s a perfect way to spend a couple of hours. And I think that’s the other blessing that’s come out of the pandemic is that families are able to have more time to enjoy family

25:57

together.

Grounded by the Farm  25:58

Yeah, and I think more people have the option with their kids doing virtual schooling and stuff to maybe make a trip out during the week, or something for those wages that are open during the week in places like St. Louis, when you live in a major city, calling around to see where there are other places outside of the city a little bit further, maybe a new option to try not only your traditional pumpkin patch that you’ve always supported, go to those but also get out in the car, go for a ride out in the country a little bit further out and see what else you can find.

Shannon Latham  26:29

Yeah, that’s a great point. In fact, today, I just took a phone call from a homeschool group that asked if they could schedule a time to come and say, so we’re going to, you know, open up on a on a morning for them to come in. So I think you’re right, why not call and see if they could make accommodations for your group. But also going you don’t have to go too far out of the city, you know, to have a little bit more of a rural experience. I’ve had people drive up from Des Moines, which is two hours for us. But they like to come up because it is even a different experience. And in fact, they say it’s more of a farm experience rather than a commercial experience. Yeah. And then, you know, camping has been so wildly popular. I happen to just jump in on a Facebook conversation where somebody was saying they had rented an RV, but the campground they wanted to go to was was booked. And yeah, so Oh, I was like, here’s some places you could check out in Franklin County. And while you’re there come visit our pumpkin patch. So I think you’re right, some of those key Yeah, some of those campgrounds might be full, but up where we’re at, there’s plenty of availability.

Grounded by the Farm  27:31

Yeah, that sounds awesome. Now, I know you said you were trying to make sure people have an opportunity to learn about the farm because you are in a really rural area. We didn’t really mention it, but your family’s in other parts of agriculture, too. So you, you bring a lot of agriculture to the pumpkin patch. Right?

Shannon Latham  27:48

That’s right. My husband currently is chair of the American seed trade association. And I served as the American seed trade associations first chair of the Communications Committee, and I’m still active on it. So we’re very much involved in the seed industry. So that’s why I’m such an advocate for people who come especially those on field trips to learn where the pumpkin comes from. I want them to know that it starts with a seed. And then we’ll actually walk out into the pumpkin patch and show the different parts of the lifecycle. So some people may not know that the blossom is what is where the little baby pumpkin forms. So you can add see the seed, then we can see the blast, and you can see the little baby pumpkin start to grow. And then we’ll see it when the pumpkin is a little bit bigger. It starts out green, and then it turns orange and then we know it’s ripe and mature. So for me, that’s really fun way for people to learn where their food literally comes from. Also, my husband and I own a seed company. And so we sell corn, soybeans, alfalfa and cover crops across six states in the upper Midwest. So that is so this pumpkin patch is definitely one of my passions. It’s kind of my it’s literally my little Hobby Farm. But my day job is doing marketing for leaf on high tech seeds.

Grounded by the Farm  29:03

Yeah, yeah. which is how I got to know you. It wasn’t through the pumpkin patch. Back in my days as a seed business. It’s funny, I actually had a chance here a couple of weeks ago to talk about seed with a bunch of gardeners, right. So people who are new to gardening, or people who are a little more established. You know, for a lot of people, they look at a seed catalog or they look at the seed rack in their local nurseries or whatever. They never necessarily haven’t seen the full pumpkin catalog.

Shannon Latham  29:33

Right? Right. Because who knew there was just a pumpkin catalog, right?

Grounded by the Farm  29:39

I didn’t. It makes sense to me, but I’ve never thought about it. Even though I’ve been working with farmers for so long. Well listen, if people want to get in touch or they want to see what all you’re doing, tell them a bit about your social media presence and your website, things like that.

Shannon Latham  29:54

I’m very active on Facebook and chanted acres. To find us you might need to put in a chat dacres Ay ay ay ay ay, are enchanted acres I because apparently there are other people that think they haven’t chanted acres as well. I’ll put the link

Grounded by the Farm  30:06

in the show notes to make that

Shannon Latham  30:09

look great. Yeah. So I try to I try to post several times a week, actually all year long, just because there’s always something going on in the farm, whether it’s baby goats being born, or chick, little chicks coming in, I just like to show people that and I always love answering people’s questions there, too. I’m just in the process of revamping my enchanted acres website. So it’s enchanted acres. iaa.com. I noticed that my blogs haven’t transferred over. So I usually blog there once a month, and hopefully we’ll get those back up. I’m hoping they’re not lost. And then also, I’m on Instagram, at enchanted acres.

Grounded by the Farm  30:48

Right, right. Well, I really appreciate it. Those were all the questions I had. Did I miss anything that you think a pumpkin novice would need to know? You know,

Shannon Latham  30:59

I think at the end of the day, I’m always about asking, I’m always about answering people’s questions. So I think if you have any questions about how your food is grown, how great that you can actually meet the local farmer who has grown it so you can get their questions answered right then and there. I didn’t change the acres, we have our own apple trees, and my mom has her own grape vines. And then of course, we grow our own pumpkins. But when you talk about being locally sourced, people love knowing that the apple butter was made from our trees when we cashew was not, unfortunately, the Sherry did not have a good Apple crop, but I was able to source apples from a local orchard. So we’re still making our own homemade apple butter. And our own homemade pumpkin butter, my mom makes all of the jams. And like I said, the grapes come from her own grape vines. Another great local connection is in talking about sharing that story of agriculture as we grow our own oats. So the oats then become a feed either for my neighbor’s dairy cattle or they’ll get put into a ration for my goats. The oats make straw, so the straw becomes bedding for my livestock or it also gets sold as fall decorations. So if you’re buying large square bales of straw and chanted acres, you know that it was produced right there.

Grounded by the Farm  32:13

That’s great. I love fall for all the jams and jellies and all the things that get pickled all those kind of pieces and start at small farms. And farmers markets are a critical piece of my farm activities

32:29

that the end of the day

Shannon Latham  32:29

I just want. I want people to feel comfortable, confident, knowing how we produced it and feel good about whether they eat it or whether they just stick reading with it. I want them to feel good about that purchase.

Grounded by the Farm  32:43

Yeah, they’re inviting you into their homes in some ways. And you want to I want to feel welcome there, right? Like you want to know that you’ve earned your spot, and that they feel really comfortable with having you.

Shannon Latham  32:56

Yeah, that’s a great way to word it. And it just means the world to me when I’ve got families that I’ve literally watched their kids grow up from the stroller to like being nine year olds now. It’s just, it really means a lot to me that they make that be an annual tradition, you know, coming back to enchanted acres to make those false false memories.

Grounded by the Farm  33:15

Thanks again for coming. This was a great way to spend part of my afternoon and I love that you are willing to be the first in the holiday series we are going to be talking about things like cranberries and turkeys and have a lot of fun for the holidays. So this got us kicked off in the great way. And we didn’t have to get too scary.

Shannon Latham  33:37

Well, thanks for having me and thinking of me.

Grounded by the Farm  33:40

So there we go. The first of the holiday episodes is now out we have several more coming. In fact, that’s what we’re going to be doing through the end of the year. Please tell your friends that are also holiday people to check us out. I think they are gonna find we have so many great foods coming and the farmers who are telling their stories. I am learning so much in this I almost feel guilty. So please tell your friends where to find us. Check us out in the show notes we try and put as many links there as we can. But you know on the website Grounded by the Farm calm we also get some of those photos, sometimes videos on there and can really add to it a bit more. Thanks so much. And we’ll see you again in two weeks as we continue our holiday series here on Grounded by the Farm.

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