Farm to Table

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The past few weeks have been hectic. One reason for this is our decision to open the Ridge Berry Farm Tea Room. Our concept is to use our Tea Room space and kitchen to share our love for local foods - basically a "farm to table" operation.

In order to do this, we have hired a young local chef: Ryan Beck.

Ryan shares our passion for local and organically grown foods. As a result, he has been working to develop a seasonal menu which reflects what our farm, our neighbors and our forest have to offer (Our Tea Room Link).

Ridge Berry Farm Tea Room Chef: Ryan Beck and his catch of Ramps

He and I have already had an opportunity to hunt for Ramps (Wild Garlic)...and I must admit his pickled ramps are amazing (much better than what I have produced to date).

We've also been sourcing some amazing Ontario artisan cheeses. Touring the facilities was a thrill for cheese fanatic Tristan who managed to get a day off the field.

Shep Ysselstein of Gunn's Hill Artisan Cheese...this young man makes amazing cheeses (you  MUST try his Five Brothers cheese).

It's actually been a pleasure to begin working with Ryan. Not only have we had a chance to sample his pickled ramps, but we've had a taste of his excellent jellies and breads.

Chef's Walnut Sourdough bread...what a treat!

With all of this under our belts, we're now committed to open both the Tea Room and Country Market on June 7th. This will make for an exciting (and very busy) summer!

In the meantime, our foraging activities continue to surprise us. This week, we discovered the May Apple.

This plant covers shady groves in our Carolinian forest, often close to wet lands. Long used as a medicinal plant by the Native Americans, it is also highly toxic. In fact, it is an important wild crop for the pharmaceutical industry which uses it in cancer treatment (primarily for chemotherapy).

The May Apple (Podophyllum Peltatum)

Our interest in this plant however extends beyond its pharmaceutical use. Under the umbrella-like leaves is a singular large flower which turns into an "apple". When green, this apple is also toxic. When ripe however, this is a perfectly edible fruit which was enjoyed by both Native Americans and early settlers.

The May Apple flower which will transform into an "apple"

Now that we know we have a large quantity of May Apples on the property, we will be sure to follow its development and give it a try when it ripens.

This week was also an opportunity to follow up on our initial foraging experiments with cattails. This Winter, we used the rhizomes to make flour. This Spring, it was time to harvest Cossack Asparagus. These are the young green shoots of the cattail.

Cossack Asparagus (or young Cattail shoots)

In order to have tender shoots, we picked the youngest growth (those are the shorter and smaller diameter shoots). Like conventional asparagus, the larger shoots quickly become "stringy" or "woody".

To prepare, we just cut back the shoots to their white parts (some 6 to 8 inches) and pealed back any green or stringy layers.

The shoots can be eaten raw. They are reminiscent of cucumber. However, they do take on an additional dimension when cooked.

Our "wild" harvest: Asparagus, Spring Onions and Cossack Asparagus (Cattail shoots)

We decided to pick some of our wild asparagus and Spring onions and prepare a plate that would allow us to compare the Cossack Asparagus (cattail shoots) to the conventional Asparagus.

Using some butter, we simply pan fried the cattail shoots, the asparagus, the Spring onions and some of our Garlic Scapes. We served these with farm fresh scrambled eggs.

Scrambled farm eggs with Asparagus and Cattail Shoots

This actually made for a very good meal!

So what about the Cossack Asparagus? Well, it is actually very good. It has a mild flavour and the texture is very similar to Asparagus. It also reminds me a bit of Palm Hearts. The taste is not as intense as Asparagus, so it actually complemented the eggs very well and really absorbed the flavour of our butter.

Will we do it again? Absolutely; this is good food. We can now hardly wait for the next experiment: green cattails heads.

As we wait for our crops to grow, we've continued to plant and transplant our vegetables. It is hard to believe but our Zucchini is already flowering. I also cannot believe the size of our Brussel Sprouts and our Garlic.

Our first Zucchini flower.

From tiny seeds...a lush bed of Brussel Sprouts.

Even the Garlic is exceeding our expectations

Given how rapidly things are growing, this is also the point where we realize we've created an amazing salad bar for all sorts of wild creatures that inhabit the farm.

We'll try to defend our plot as best we can....but we are prepared to see some major losses over time. Let's hope they just leave enough for us.

Work on the home renovations continue and this week we will close this week with a new discovery.

The entrance to the cellar which we discovered in the west wing (next to an old foundation which preceded the house) have been worked on. We had to add a step since we were now constructing a floor above the old foundation.

The existing steps were in 2 parts: concrete and a rather thick slab of wood on the top surface. Our contractors decided to re-use the landing which had some damage to the edge, to re-create a step in the same fashion.

The old cellar stairs (Note the thick wood slabs on the upper surface)

The surprise came when this piece was cut. From the cutting we could not only identify the tree (White Oak), but as well the age of the tree.

We're still counting rings....but this amazing piece of wood came from an ancient tree which would have been well over two centuries old!

A cross-section of the landing: a very ancient White Oak!

Needless to say we will now treasure these stairs....we will also keep and preserve the cutting as a discussion piece.