The Land Connection is sharing a series of blog posts introducing the members of our staff to you, our readers and supporters! Come take a closer look at the heart of our organization: the staff members who work hard to keep TLC thriving. Over the next few weeks, be prepared to see a series of individual profiles of our staff members and get to know The Land Connection a little better! This week meet Amanda, our social media intern!

Summer Intern–Amanda Christenson

I am an Environmental Studies student at Eureka College with a passion for grassroots organizing and ecology. I grew up near a Kyte Creek in a quilt of corn, soybean, and woodland, by a little town in northern Illinois. As a child I remember being in love with the small patch of woods adjacent to the cornfield near my home. Over time I realized that actions of one farmer were significantly affecting the forest I loved. Amphibian habitat became degraded and larger mammals fled when the woodlands were developed and sold. I hope that someday humanity and natural ecosystems can complement each other instead of compete.

I grew up loving plants and animals, resulting in a house full of plants and little critters. I became active in student organizations focused on the issues of agriculture and environment. I served as President of my local 4-H chapter, then President of the Green Club at Kishwaukee College, and now as President of Student Alliance for a Greener Environment (SAGE) at Eureka. I find that when passionate people come together in a productive context, amazing things happen! I have recently interacted with “The Real Food Challenge” an organization striving to change the food system by empowering students to investigate the sources of their schools’ food and demanding more ecologically friendly, local, humane, and fair food.  As a result of this group’s momentum, in spring 2013 SAGE designed, built, and planted an edible garden for Eureka College. Lately I’ve been volunteering at Teresa’s Fruit and Herb Farm, which has been amazing!

I love working at The Land Connection! My job is to maintain Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest writing about all kinds of things from farms to forks. I also have had the opportunity to learn about obscure vegetables and the organic farming counterculture. Honestly, managing social media is way more fun than work. When I started in January I had been a casual Facebooker with a smartphone and a tablet, but I quickly realized I was just a novice user. Over the last six months, I have become familiar with all kinds of web tools, add-ons, and other social media jargon. It has been astounding to look at the world through the lens of the internet. I am so grateful to have found this job and gained so much experience connecting with people from my position here at The Land Connection.  

Aside from my amazing mentors, my favorite sources of inspiration come from Ted Talks. I love the concepts of great minds sharing “Ideas worth spreading” and someday I hope to rise to the occasion and participate in one of their fantastic conferences.  I am looking towards the future, anticipating great things to come that will allow me to evoke the spirit of collaboration into our shared environment. <3

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In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first man-made satellite. It was called Sputnik, and it looked a lot like a kohlrabi.

Now, with so few people familiar with kohlrabi, the vegetable is often described as looking a lot like Sputnik, which is not far from the truth. The flattened globe rests just above the surface of the earth, and long stems shoot up from the curved sides as well as from the top, giving it a spiky space-age look.

Its unique shape is clearly displayed because the leaves don't begin until a foot or so above the pale green or vibrant purple orb. If you find kohlrabi in the store, its foliage will have been removed, so be sure and buy from a local farmer and you’ll get two vegetables for the price of one – the crunchy bulbous stem, and the leaves, which can be used as you would kale or any other cooking green.

Nutritional Value Out of this World!

Although the outside color of kohlrabi depends on the variety, the inside is always the same—crisp white flesh with a clean, mild taste. Kohlrabi is an excellent source of vitamin C and potassium, and also contains vitamin B6, folic acid, magnesium and copper.
The kohlrabi leaves are rich in vitamin A, so don’t forget to sauté them or use them into a soup or stir fry.

A Fresh Discovery

To prepare kohlrabi, cut off the stems and leaves and set them aside to use later. Then cut the top and the root section off the kohlrabi, and work your way around with a paring knife or vegetable peeler. Make sure you remove the skin and the slightly fibrous layer just below.

After it’s peeled, I often eat kohlrabi as-is, just like an apple. Or you can cut it into wedges or matchsticks, and have it as part of a raw vegetable tray, with or without a sprinkle of salt, a light vinaigrette, or a veggie dip.

Summer is not kind to kohlrabi, turning it woody and tough, so get some now or you’ll miss out on one of late spring’s crunchiest delights. These little Sputniks might just orbit your kitchen and rock your world.

Every week, Secrets of the Seasonal Cook profiles a vegetable in season right now, and available at your local farmers' market. Subscribe Now!

The best way to enjoy healthy, seasonal produce is to buy it from your local farmer. To locate the farm, farmers’ market, or CSA nearest you, visit www.localharvest.org.

Farm Fresh Now! is a project of The Land Connection, an educational nonprofit that preserves farmland, trains new farmers, and connects people with great locally-grown foods. This series is made possible with generous support from the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

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The Land Connection is starting a series of blog posts introducing the members of our staff to you, our readers and supporters!  Come take a closer look at the heart of our organization: the staff members who work hard to keep TLC thriving.  Over the next few weeks, be prepared to see a series of individual profiles of our staff members and get to know The Land Connection a little better!  We will start off the first two weeks introducing our interns, starting with Stephanie Fenty, who started working with us in February of this year:

Summer Intern–Stephanie Fenty

Hello!  I am a senior at Illinois Wesleyan University, studying English Writing and Philosophy.  Through my interest in philosophy, I competed in the National Ethics Bowl tournament this year in San Antonio, TX.  I love writing creatively but I have grown increasingly interested in journalism, and writing about the world around me.  As a jokester at heart, I love to make people laugh through my writing while informing them about issues I care about.

Living in a small island off the coast of Sicily for a semester, I came to see firsthand the health and societal benefits that come from buying fresh, local organic food every day.  I will never forget the vibrant colors of the fresh market, the smiling faces of the vendors and locals, and the tight knit family feeling of it all.  There were no prepackaged plastic containers, no cold self-checkout counters.  This was the shopping destination of choice for the locals, not the grocery stores, so the fresh grown food was in high demand and therefore, high supply.  This is a large part of the future I want for communities here—for everyone to realize the great benefits of fresh grown produce and to work to support the farmers that grow it rather than the companies that mass manufacture vegetables.

I discovered The Land Connection while looking for a non-profit to do a project for my Seminar in Journalism course at school.  I stumbled across them, finding that many of our interests overlapped and so came in to talk.  I was welcomed by Cara and Terra immediately and had a wonderful time learning from them and helping to work on the promotion of the play that TLC put on this year, “What Will Be Your Legacy.”  We worked together for months on this project and when it was over, it was tough to say goodbye.  So I didn’t!

I look forward to the projects I will be working on this summer and can’t wait to dig my hands in and watch TLC grow.

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Chard will always be there for you. Like a reliable friend, it is one of the greatest, and often least appreciated, of all the gifts from your local farmer.

Chard’s long, thick stalks have wide, glossy green leaves that may be smooth or curly, depending on the variety. The stalk comes in many colors, from white to green to brilliant red, yellow, and pink. At many farmers markets you’ll see the flashy Ruby Red and Bright Lights varieties. They are glamorous and hard to resist, but the old-fashioned varieties with white stems and green leaves are even tastier.

True Blue, Except it’s Green

Not only is chard giving, it’s forgiving too. It’s much more heat-resistant than spinach, grows well under most weather and soil conditions, and is disease resistant and bug resistant too. After harvesting, the inner leaves come back quickly, so you’ll see chard at farmers markets from early June clear through Thanksgiving. Because it’s always there, you might take it for granted, but, as with a good friend, you shouldn’t.

Easy, Tasty and Convenient

Chard is as close to perfect as a vegetable can get—a low-calorie, high-nutrition green with a mildly sweet, clean taste. It’s also a fast food. Tender young chard leaves can be eaten raw, adding a beet-like flavor to salads and sandwiches. Larger stalks and leaves can be blanched in boiling water, or sauteed up in a matter of minutes, quick and easy. Then toss the cooked chard into pasta with olive oil and garlic, add to omelets and frittatas, or use instead of spinach in your favorite recipe.

Every week, Secrets of the Seasonal Cook profiles a vegetable in season right now, and available at your local farmers' market. Subscribe Now!

Swiss Chard Italian Style

2013-06-03 13:16:03

Chard stalks and leaves are delicious, and there is no reason to discard the stems as many American recipes instruct. French or Italian recipes, on the other hand, often tell you to use just the stems and reserve the leaves for another purpose. That “other purpose” was revealed by the great food writer Richard Olney who wrote in Simple French Food (1977) that “the green leafy parts . . . are usually fed to the rabbits and the ducks.” I’m sure they make a fine treat for rabbits and ducks, but I recommend the obvious – eat the stems, leaves, and all!

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Ingredients

2 pounds chard (2 or 3 bunches, any color), rinsed and coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic

Sea salt and hot red pepper flakes

4 tablespoons olive oil, or 2 Tb butter and 2 Tb olive oil

Instructions

1. Place the chard in a large stockpot with plenty of water still clinging to it and set on medium-high heat. When it begins to sizzle, stir and cover. Reduce heat to medium and cook until chard is wilted but still has texture and the leaves have turned dark green, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook until golden, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the chard to the skillet after squeezing out some of the liquid. Cook, stirring, until the chard has wilted and the garlic is cooked, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Transfer to a warmed platter and drizzle with the remaining olive oil or dot with butter and serve. Serves 4.

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The best way to enjoy healthy, seasonal produce is to buy it from your local community farmer. To locate the nearest farmers’ market or farm CSA near you, visit www.localharvest.org.

Farm Fresh Now! is a project of The Land Connection, an educational nonprofit that preserves farmland, trains new farmers, and connects people with great locally-grown foods. This series is made possible with generous support from the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

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Broccoli. James Broccoli.

Well, not quite. But it was a certain Italian American, Albert Broccoli, born into a family that worked in the vegetable business in Queens, who went on to produce all of the Bond films made during his life, and his heirs continue the legacy today.

A couple hundred years earlier, in another Italy-America connection, Thomas Jefferson imported broccoli seeds from Italy and planted them at Monticello. From his garden notes, we know he planted green, white, and purple varieties over many years. And I imagine he would not have approved of a future president, George Bush, banning it from the White House dinner table.

Today broccoli is as ubiquitous as the Bond franchise, if not quite as glamorous, and can be found everywhere from fancy restaurants to the frozen food aisle of the grocery store. But none of the broccoli that you find in those places will be as full of flavor and nutrition as what you can get fresh from your local farmer right now.

A Multipurpose Veggie

One of the healthiest and most versatile of vegetables, broccoli can be eaten raw, roasted, boiled, steamed, or sautéed—just don’t overcook it! Besides destroying nutrients, overcooking releases that dreaded cabbage-y stink. If you steam or boil your broccoli, monitor it carefully, and drain it as soon as it is bright green and fork tender.

And in addition to being good to eat, broccoli is very good for you. One serving has only 28 calories and contains 155% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C, approximately 33% of vitamin A, and close to 40% of folic acid. It also has almost the same calcium levels as milk. The American Cancer Society has named broccoli an “anti-cancerous” food because it is so dense in nutrients and high in antioxidants.

Now You See it…

Broccoli doesn’t do well in hot weather, so the spring and early summer farmers markets are the prime time and place for broccoli and its many cousins. Get it while it’s tender and sweet, and be sure and eat the whole thing—florets, stalks, and leaves are all delicious.

Every week, Secrets of the Seasonal Cook profiles a vegetable in season right now, and available at your local farmers' market. Subscribe Now!

Easy Pan-Seared Broccoli

2013-05-24 09:12:07

Everyone, from finicky eaters to fancy food folks, will swoon if you grate some cheese over this simple yet elegant broccoli dish.

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Ingredients

1 pound broccoli, florets cut vertically through the stems—be sure and use the stalks, too!

2 Tb olive oil, plus 1 Tb butter

3 cloves garlic or more, minced

½ tsp crushed red pepper

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock, or water

Optional: a nice melting cheese, like Fontina or Robusto

Instructions

1. Cut the broccoli (florets and stems) longitudinally so that the flat cut surface will be in direct contact with the pan. Don’t throw away the stems. If the base of the stem seems tough, peel off the exterior and then slice longitudinally as well.

2. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Place the broccoli flat side down and sear until it's nicely browned. Remove and set aside.

3. Add the crushed red pepper and minced garlic to the pan and cook, stirring, about 45 seconds.

4. Add the stock or water, and then put the broccoli back in the pan cut side down with the other ingredients. Cover and simmer until the liquid has reduced a little, and the broccoli is fork tender. Salt and pepper to taste.

5. Optional: Before covering, shred a favorite cheese over the broccoli and let it melt as the broccoli simmers.

Notes

Serves 4 as a side dish.

The Land Connection http://www.thelandconnection.org/

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The best way to enjoy healthy, seasonal produce is to buy it from your local community farmer. To locate the nearest farmers’ market or farm CSA near you, visit www.localharvest.org.

Farm Fresh Now! is a project of The Land Connection, an educational nonprofit that preserves farmland, trains new farmers, and connects people with great locally-grown foods. This series is made possible with generous support from the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

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There is nothing quite so graceful as trellised pea plants in full swing. And nothing quite so tasteful as a crunchy sugar snap pea eaten straight off the vine. And nothing that so captures the essence of spring as peas—all kinds of peas.

Peas love cool, wet weather, and so are often only in season for a few weeks. That’s when you’ll find local farmers bringing in the irresistible sugar snap pea, the Chinese or snow pea, and the good old fashioned shell (or English) peas.

Snow Peas: Healthy and Cosmopolitan

Snow peas are long, thin, nearly flat pea pods, with teensy proto-peas inside. But you’re

not after the peas; it’s the tender pod itself you’ll love. Traditionally found in Chinese and other Asian cuisines, they now appear in all sorts of dishes from salads to pastas to stir-fries.

Some say the name snow pea comes from the slight whitish tint reflected from the pods in bright sunlight. Others say it's because they are a cool weather crop—best in the early spring or late fall, when they just might be covered with light frost or even snow. But no matter the name, or where it comes from, snow peas are sweet and crisp and delicious—and an excellent source of fiber, iron, potassium, and vitamins A and C. Snow peas are also among the most venerable of vegetables, with evidence of their cultivation going back more than 12,000 years along the Thai-Burma border.

Sugar Snap Peas: The Back Story

Way on the other end of the pea timeline, one of the newest pea cultivars is the sugar snap pea. Calvin Lamborn of Twin Falls, Idaho began crossing snow peas with shell peas in the 1960s. He was going after a pea that would have the edible, non-fibrous pod of the snow pea, plus the full-size interior peas of English peas. His hybrid was finally perfected in 1979, and has become a favorite of gardeners and market farmers ever since.

Both the pod and the peas are plump, succulent, and sweetly irresistible. The French call them mange-tout, which tells you what to do, "eat the whole thing,” preferably on the way home from market for maximum nutrition and enjoyment. As with all legumes, peas host beneficial bacteria in their root nodules, which make nitrogen in the air available as a fertilizer in the soil for themselves and whatever crop is planted there next. They are one of the true heroes of our fields and tables—so enjoy!

Every week, Secrets of the Seasonal Cook profiles a vegetable in season right now, and available at your local farmers' market. Subscribe Now!

Quick Snow Peas with Lemon Herb Butter

2013-05-23 22:34:18

Fresh peas cook really fast, so keep an eye on them, and take them off the heat as soon as they turn bright green.

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Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter at room temperature

1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest

2 teaspoons finely chopped herbs of your choice (suggest half and half finely chopped tarragon and flat-leaf parsley)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 pound snow peas, trimmed

Instructions

1. Stir together butter, zest, herbs, salt, and pepper.

2. Cook snow peas in boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 1 minute. Drain well.

3. Transfer hot snow peas to a bowl, then add lemon herb butter and toss to coat.

Notes

Snow Peas and Sugar Snap Peas can be used interchangeably in just about any recipe. Sugar snaps are also great raw as part of a vegetable tray or a box lunch.

Serves four as a side dish.

The Land Connection http://www.thelandconnection.org/

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The best way to enjoy healthy, seasonal produce is to buy it from your local farmer. To locate the farm, farmers’ market, or CSA nearest you, visit www.localharvest.org.

Farm Fresh Now! is a project of The Land Connection, an educational nonprofit that preserves farmland, trains new farmers, and connects people with great locally-grown foods. This series is made possible with generous support from the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

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For many baby-boomers, the constant refrain of “Eat your spinach, it’s good for you!” and the olive green glop of canned vegetable that accompanied the words, led to life-long spinach avoidance. Well now is the time, if you haven’t already, to overcome your spinach phobia. One nibble of a local farmer’s sweet and vibrant fresh spinach will do the trick.

Best Fresh!

The first spinach you see every spring at your local farmers' market is most likely from seeds planted late last fall.

The seeds germinate and barely start to put down roots before the frigid weather descends and they go into dormancy under the ice and snow. At the first hint of spring, however, they start growing like mad, and soon the leaves are huge, thick, juicy and sweet—unbelievably rich and meaty. You really have to taste it to believe it.

Health Benefits of Spinach

If great taste alone is not enough, remember that spinach is high in vitamins A and C, and in iron and folate. It is also a good source of fiber and magnesium, and is very low in calories.

And if you’re still not convinced, wine fortified with spinach juice was the healing elixir traditionally given to injured French soldiers. And the Persians, who cultivated the leafy green from at least the 6th century, recognized spinach’s sophistication and called it “the prince of vegetables.”

Every week, Secrets of the Seasonal Cook profiles a vegetable in season right now, and available at your local farmers' market. Subscribe Now!

Spinach Salade Lyonnaise

2013-05-17 07:19:36

This hearty salad is quick and easy to make, yet fit for a king with the combination of meaty-leaved spinach, crisp bacon, barely cooked eggs, and warm, sharp Dijon vinaigrette.

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Ingredients

4 cups torn spinach, or a mixture of spinach, lettuce, escarole, and other greens

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

About 1/4 pound (or less) good bacon or ham, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 to 4 tablespoons sherry or wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Salt

2 eggs

Black pepper

Instructions

1. Put greens in a large salad bowl. Put olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the bacon and cook slowly until crisp all over, about 10 minutes. Add vinegar and mustard to the skillet and bring just to a boil, stirring, then turn off heat.

2. Meanwhile, bring a couple inches of salted water to a boil in a small pan, then lower heat to barely bubbling. One at a time, break eggs into a shallow bowl and slip them into the bubbling water. Poach the eggs for 2 minutes, until the white is set but the yolk is still runny. Remove each egg with a slotted spoon, and place onto the greens.

3. Pour the bacon dressing over the greens (they’ll wilt a bit). Toss the salad, breaking the yolks of the poached eggs and distributing them evenly over the spinach. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, with croutons or toast if you like.

Notes

The best thing to do with any fresh vegetable is almost nothing. But I confess that I have become dangerously enamored of this Fresh Spinach Salade Lyonnaise. If you want to go vegetarian or vegan, just leave out the bacon and egg, adding another few tablespoons of olive oil to the dressing. Keep this salad in mind when fall greens like frisee, escarole, and radicchio roll around because the hot dressing will soften and sweeten those sturdy leaves.

Serves 4 as a side dish, or 2 as a main course.

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The best way to enjoy healthy, seasonal produce is to buy it from your local farmer. To locate the farm, farmers’ market, or CSA nearest you, visit www.localharvest.org.

Farm Fresh Now! is a project of The Land Connection, an educational nonprofit that preserves farmland, trains new farmers, and connects people with great locally-grown foods. This series is made possible with generous support from the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

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“We don’t really own this land. Nobody does.  We’re all just stewards—taking care of it for whoever comes next.” From “What Will Be Your Legacy?”

All seats were filled at The Launch Pad in downtown Bloomington last Friday for the opening performance of the Land Connection produced play, “What Will Be Your Legacy?”  After a quick introduction to the local farmland issues that this play illustrates, the one act show commenced.

Centering on the dilemma faced by Gerald and Nettie, a retiring farmer and his wife about what to do with their farm, “What Will Be Your Legacy?” highlights the problems of an aging farmer population and of farm loss in Illinois and the Midwest.  Gerald and Nettie must choose between getting top dollar from a large industrial operation, or taking less, and taking a chance on a young couple who wish to farm sustainably and naturally.

After the show, Terra Brockman, the executive director of The Land Connection facilitated a discussion among the audience members, who ranged from farmers and families of farmers, to students and local food supporters. The room was filled with lively conversation as community members voiced their opinions on the issues that are often swept under the rug.

“It reminded me of the way my mom and dad talk when they talk about the farm,” said one audience member.

The discussion continued as people tried their best to identify and find solutions to the problems faced by retiring and aspiring farmers, and by society at large.

As director Doug Day put it, “The current [high input] system works, until it doesn’t anymore.”

As the conversation wound down, Brockman explained what The Land Connection is doing to help solve these issues.

“The hardest thing to do is to have everyone involved with a family farm transition sit down at the table,” she explains, “We can be the matchmakers, and we can help people tap into their core values of stewardship and explore creative solutions.”

The Land Connections works to facilitate meetings and foster connections between farmers, forming a web, and a society of support to help combat farm loss in Illinois.  They offer training programs for new farmers, as well as offering professional services in the transferal of land from one hand to the next. By taking steps to promote a community of the preservation of natural farmland and methods, the Land Connection hopes to change the direction we are heading.

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The Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) conference, now in its 24th year, is an event that welcomes everyone, and that you shouldn't miss!

Going up the escalator, you'll pass an Amish family, a young African-American couple, a young hipster, a white-bearded old-timer, and a Hispanic family. Basically there's one of everyone–and it doesn't matter where you are on the social, political, ethnic, or religious spectra–you are here for one thing: to learn more about organic farming, and to learn from experienced farmers themselves. And along the way, you eat great locally-sourced organic food, dig into meaty topics, and make new friend.

The conference begins Thursday, Feb 21 with ten full-day pre-conference Organic University courses, and goes on to feature more than 70 workshops Friday and Saturday, Feb 22-23. There are also 170 tradeshow exhibitors from seed companies to equipment manufacturers. This is the largest educational and networking event for the U.S. organic farming community, in 2012, the MOSES conference welcomed over 3,000 people, and expects to surpass that number this year.

In my humble opinion, it is not only the biggest, but the best. For more information: www.mosesorganic.org/conference/html

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