Yesterday marked the first day of Local Food Week, a series of events organized by the Northeast Indiana Local Food Network. To celebrate, we hosted a special "Pizza Friday" featuring guest chef Samantha Yim, owner of True Kimchi. Sam made a delicious special featuring her radish kimchi and fresh produce from the garden. We grow Korean radishes (as well Napa cabbage and other vegetables) for Sam's kimchi, so it felt like a "full circle" moment--one of the things we love about local food partnerships!
We also celebrated Local Food Week by leading a farm tour. We talked about our "whole farm" approach and our commitment to Community Supported Agriculture, which was an opportunity to remember how, twenty years ago, we started a “you pick” CSA in which our members came out to the farm every week and literally picked their own produce out of the garden. Needless to say, our CSA looks a lot different now!
We also talked a lot about our current transition to no-till gardening techniques. The group was really interested in learning more about how leaving the soil undisturbed is helping us to save time on weeding while producing a better, more bountiful harvest. Zach showed the group an area of the garden where he is beginning to build some experimental beds using sheet composting or "lasagna gardening." This approach mimics nature's way of building soil by applying alternating layers of nitrogen-rich and carbon-rich materials to garden beds. This past week the farm crew put down the first layer of old hay. By using hay from our pastures where we graze our livestock, we are able to increase the flow of nutrients around the farm. Next we'll add straw from this season's crop of Red Fife wheat and spent grains from a local brewery. Stay tuned for updates!
All in all, it was a perfect night to be outside on the farm and we had fun sharing a bit of our work with our guests. Next week we welcome another guest chef, Ellen from Windrose Urban Farm! We’re looking forward to having Ellen out on the farm and to tasting a Harvest Special featuring roasted shiitake and oyster mushrooms from Windrose paired with braised cabbage and smoked ham hocks from our farm. Hope to see you next week!
