Seacoast Eat Local

Seacoast Eat Local is happy and proud to be a partner in the winter growing grant that sparked this terrific partnership! It’s great to note this research and know that it is helping to inform winter growing of greens – much of which is also being done in unheated or minimally heated greenhouses in the ground.

UNH Dairy Bar Serving Local Greens With a Side of Science

DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire’s Dairy Bar, a restaurant with the tag line “Local, Fresh, Sustainable,” is serving salad greens this spring that couldn’t be more local: they’re grown several hundred yards away in the UNH Macfarlane Greenhouses. And before they’re doused in vinaigrette, the gourmet greens have served science and helped inform New Hampshire growers about a potential new winter crop.

The project represents a collaboration among UNH Dining, which operates the Dairy Bar, and UNH Cooperative Extension and the N.H. Agricultural Experiment Station at UNH, which spearheaded the research.

“The goal of the research project was to investigate the feasibility of profitably producing greens and herbs in underutilized greenhouses during the winter months,” says Becky Sideman, associate professor and Extension specialist in sustainable horticulture, who is conducting the research with Brian Krug, Extension specialist in greenhouse production.

Greenhouses around the state are often empty between November and February, Sideman says. Yet this time period coincides with the coldest, darkest time of the year. Given energy costs, she and Krug wondered, what are the optimum amounts of supplemental heat and light needed for growers to produce a profitable winter crop of gourmet greens?

The researchers launched their pilot study in September 2010 by planting 12 varieties of greens – including lettuce, endive, arugula, mache, mizuna, tatsoi, and spinach – in two identical UNH greenhouses with minimum temperatures of 60 degrees Fahrenheit in one and 40 degrees in another. All were grown in potting mix in “benchtop production” rather than in beds, since that’s the setup of many greenhouses that are empty during this time period.

Calculating growth rate and production costs, the duo refined their pilot for a second planting in March 2011; it’s these greens that are being used by the Dairy Bar. While results are very preliminary, Sideman notes that production during a New Hampshire winter is not cheap.

“The key to any kind of winter production is to have a pretty good market,” she says. “Producers would need to sell these greens direct to consumers who are willing to pay for a local product.” Farmers markets, community supported agriculture (CSAs), or perhaps restaurants committed to local procurement are potential outlets, she says.

Primarily supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, the project received additional support from UNH Dining, which is using about 50 pounds week of the greens per in Dairy Bar salads. “We’re hoping it can go from a research project to how we do business,” says Rick MacDonald, assistant director of UNH Dining. “The greens are delicious, and people really like them.”

No stranger to sourcing local food, UNH Dining, through its Local Harvest Initiative, spends more than 20 percent of its budget on items produced within a 250 mile radius of UNH and hosts a popular Local Harvest Feast each fall. It regularly serves apples from UNH’s Woodman Farm and since 2008 have cooperated with professor of plant biology Brent Loy to serve a butternut squash hybrid he was developing for farmers in the Northeast (see news release here: http://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/2008/oct/bp21squash.cfm).

The Dairy Bar, revamped in summer 2008 with a focus on local foods and sustainable operations, provides the ideal outlet for Sideman and Krug’s winter greens. “They’re as fresh as you can get,” says MacDonald.

“They’re just fantastic,” Sideman adds.

Transition Newburyport, along with a host of other great organizations in the area, are bringing Sharon Astyk to speak about creating healthy, resiliant, and equitable food systems. I’ve read a number of her books, thanks to a recommendation from Audrey, and the practicalities alongside the vision help spur concrete action. This event is free and open to the public:

Sharon Astyk, a North Shore native and nationally known energy and environmental writer, will speak about local food resilience on Thursday, June 2 at 7:00 PM.  She will talk about the importance of developing a strong local food system and how we can work toward individual and community food resilience, including eating local food year-round. This is the second event of a local food series organized by Transition Newburyport.

“The structure of our globalized industrial food system is not sustainable or healthy for us or the planet.” says Elizabeth Marcus of Transition Newburyport, “Sharon Astyk is a leader in creating a new approach by showing how we can create sustainable food systems and a vibrant local economy through buying, growing, preparing and eating local food.”

Sharon Astyk is a farmer near Albany, NY, and an expert on building individual and community resilience in the face of an uncertain future. She has authored several books including A Nation of Farmers: Defeating the Food Crisis on American Soil (co-author Aaron Newton), Depletion and Abundance: Life on the New Homefront, and Independence Days: A Guide to Sustainable Food Storage and Preservation. Ms. Astyk is a member of the Board of Directors for ASPO-USA (Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas-USA) and is a prolific, insightful blogger whose posts regularly appear in the Energy Bulletin and at Science Blogs.

This program to be held at the First Parish Church of Newbury at 20 High Road is sponsored by the Central Congregational Church (UCC), First Parish Church, First Religious Society of Newburyport (UU), New Eden Collaborative, Northshore Permaculture, Pennies for Poverty: 2 Cents for Change, Newburyport Farmers Market and Transition Newburyport.  The program is free and open to the public.

For inquiries please contact transitionnewburyport@gmail.org

As we head into spring, CSAs are continuing to take sign-ups. If you’re considering joining one, The Wire explores some of the new options available from local farms this year:

Way to grow: still more options at CSAs

 

There’s still time to sign up for a community supported agriculture share at many local farms, and this year, there are even more options to choose from.

 

Farms are offering more variety in the food and products available, as well as in the size and seasons of shares.

 

In addition to vegetables, some shares include fruits, herbs, flowers, plants, seafood, meat, dairy, eggs, grain, bread and other homemade goods. Some farms are also starting to allow shareholders to customize their choices.

 

At Brookford Farm in Rollinsford, the four-season CSA includes local grain, raw milk and other dairy products, eggs, pasture-raised beef and pork, and organic vegetables. New this season are broiler chickens.

 

Also new at Brookford is the option of a build-your-own share featuring a quarterly signup system, a la carte registration, and more affordable prices. Shareholders pick two of three base groups—dairy, vegetables, or grains, then can supplement their shares with additions depending on their diet and needs during the season.

 

At Meadow’s Mirth, a certified organic farm in Stratham, one share costing $400 entitles you to $440 worth of vegetables, herbs and flowers throughout the season. Shareholders choose the products at farmers’ markets or at the farm stand. They are also offering a pick-your-own blueberry share.

 

There is a similar, flexible option at Wild Miller Gardens in Lee. Shareholders can get credit for $330 worth of produce, eggs, pork and garlic for $300 up front.

 

Eastman’s Local Catch, a community supported fishery based in Seabrook, lets shareholders decide how many pounds of fish they would like each week for the six-week summer share starting in mid-June. This year, they have added a lobster option that can be substituted for one week.

Carolyn Eastman said a representative from the fishery will be available to talk to shareholders about their food at every pickup location this year.She said people are interested in maintaining a relationship with their food providers and she has seen a 95 percent renewal rate as a result. This is their third season offering a CSF.

 

She said as demand for their fish grows, they’ll add more fishing boats, which is good for local fishermen, like her husband, in a challenging climate…

Continue reading about CSAs, including Heron Pond Farm, Riverside Farm, and Two Toad Farm, among others at www.wirenh.com.

For more information about CSAs currently offering shares > mm