Purple Rock Farm Adds Locally Raised Trout to Its Product Line

Several weeks ago, a site visitor sent me an email about Purple Rock Farm in Frankfort, Indiana. She wrote, "They have the best chicken I've ever tasted". Although Frankfort is just north of us, I'd not heard of Travis and Gina Sheets, who own the farm and was happy to have the introduction.

The Sheets sell pastured chicken and turkey, Scottish Highland beef, and eggs to support their missionary work. When I asked Travis why he thought his chickens received such an enthusiastic recommendation, he credited the praise received with his decision to raise the birds "the old fashioned way" on pasture where they happily wander around in the fresh air and sunshine while they eat plenty of grass, clover, bugs, and a wholesome, high protein blend of feed including soybeans, corn, alfalfa, and oats. Travis likes to call his poultry "Grandma's chicken"--a tribute to the tasty, full flavor of the meat.

In addition to managing his farm, Travis is the Market Manager for the Clinton County Farmer's Market where he has decided this year to "test the waters" with a new product--locally raised rainbow trout. A whole trout stuffed with fresh herbs and lemon slices grilled to moist perfection on a charcoal grill is about as good as it gets for a simple summer supper.

Travis is raising the trout in a spring fed pond on his property in Frankfort and will be offering them on opening day of the Clinton County Farmers' Market which is Saturday, June 7th. The market opens at 7:30 a.m. and the line for that trout will start right behind me!

Purple Rock Farm
2282 East C.R. 250 N
Frankfort, Indiana
www.purplerockfarm.com
Phone: 765-659-5310
(Sales by appointment.)

Photo: Locally Raised Rainbow Trout
Courtesy of Travis Sheets

What the Fashionable Locavore is Wearing this Spring

Does one glance in your closet have you thinking "I have nothing to wear"? No need to despair. You can perk up your spring and summer wardrobe with a few items from the GOING LOCAL Cafepress site where you'll find Ts, tops, totes, ball caps, and lots of other fun, fashionable, and affordable items bearing the GOING LOCAL logo.

Two of my favorite items are the organic cotton T-shirt and the tote bag. Tres chic for those weekly trips to the farmers market!

And don't forget to dress up your vehicle with a GOING LOCAL bumper sticker! Honk if you love local food!

Photo: Just a few of my own GOING LOCAL shirts.

Terre Haute is Growing Local with a New Community Garden

For the urban homeowner or apartment dweller, a large vegetable garden isn't always possible due to a lack of suitable land. But if you're fortunate enough to live near a  community garden, that sought after garden plot can be yours.

This year Terre Haute is opening a newly created community garden at 219 N 11th Street. The land which was purchased by Indiana State University for future expansion projects is being put to good use by providing individuals, families, and organizations with 10 foot by 10 foot garden plots (available free of charge) for growing their own seasonal produce.

The community garden is the result of the collective efforts of Indiana State University, Downtown Terre Haute Inc., Purdue Extension, and the White Violet Center for Eco-Justice. Everyone involved has worked hard and done a fantastic job of organizing this valuable community asset. The goals of the Terre Haute Community Gardening Project are to:

Promote food security and awareness of hunger in the local community.

Support education of children and adults regarding gardening, nutrition, and the environment.

Improve access to health and nutritious food in the local community.

Contribute to the beautification of the community.

Provide a model of best gardening practices and demonstrate what community members can do in their own yards.

Contribute to the environmental sustainability initiatives of the local community and Indiana State University.

The community garden will be pesticide, herbicide, insecticide, and fungicide free. Gardeners are being asked to donate any excess produce to the food pantry of their choice through the Catholic Charities Food Bank. During the planting, growing, and harvest seasons, local Master Gardeners will provide expert on-site consultation and offer educational programs to help the gardeners successfully grow and preserve their harvest. There will also be weekly children's programs.

The next public meeting about the garden will be held on Wednesday, April 9th. Opening day is scheduled for Saturday, April 26, 2008 from 10:00 a.m. to noon. For more information about the next meeting or to reserve your plot contact Donna Isbell at 812-237-2334 or disbell@indstate.edu

You grow Terre Haute!

Photo: Romaine lettuces in the Dirtpatch Garden 

Cracking the Egg

It's 6:30 p.m. You've just arrived home from work. You're tired and hungry. You want supper and you want it NOW. What can you have that's fast, inexpensive, tasty, and good for you? The answer is simple--just crack open a few eggs and a delicious, healthy meal will be ready to hit your plate in no time.

In the recent GOING LOCAL egg survey, I discovered that 55% of you eat a dozen or less eggs per month with 42% eating between 13 to 18 per month. Three percent of you don't eat them at all. I'm in the "at least a dozen per month" category but my friend and personal trainer Jason Stuckey tops the charts eating more than a dozen per week! When I asked him recently about his egg obsession, he told me that the white of the egg is the perfect protein and the yolk is packed with vitamins and minerals. According to him, eggs are great way to start the day.

For me, eggs are a delicious choice for a meal anytime of the day. Not only are they versatile, they're one of the most economical protein choices for the home cook. A cartoon of eggs at a farmers' market costs about $3.00--which is a mere 25 cents per egg. Not only are they inexpensive, they're quick and easy to fix. You can whip up a meal from them in no time flat.

In the recipe sections on this site you'll find some delicious egg recipes including ones for my egg salad, perfect scrambled eggs, and deviled eggs. But my favorite egg recipe (actually my favorite recipe of all time for sentimental reasons) is Mama's Frittata which can be found in the Winter Recipes Section.

With the arrival of the warmer weather, our Indiana hens are happily laying. So, visit a farm market or farmers' market and stock up on a few dozen of what many call nature's perfect food. A quick meal, anytime of the day, will only be minutes away!

Indiana Artisan Development Project Seeks Local Food Producers

If you're an Indiana producer of food products, the Indiana Artisan Development Project (IADP)may just be the opportunity you've been waiting for to take your business to the next level.

The project is looking for participants including producers of local Indiana food products such as jams/jellies, honey, spices, wine, cheese, meats/jerky, beer, sauces, pastries and baked goods, salsa, and candies/chocolates to help the producers further develop their business and promote their products. Producers will be evaluated in a juried competition in May but the deadline for submitting contact information to the project team is March 31. If your business is not selected for the program, you still come out a winner. The IADP will host a series of seminars and workshops for you to help you get your business growing and prospering.

The IADP is a wonderful opportunity for Indiana local food producers. Selected producers will be given a logo for branding their product as a "made in Indiana item", receive business development support and funding, have an Internet presence on the IADP website, become part of artisan-related tourism trails, and have their product(s) showcased in artisan outreach programs including trade shows and retail outlets.

If you're a producer, contact Eric Freeman, the Project's Director, at artisan@iac.in.gov no later than March 31, 2008 to submit information about your business and participate in the selection process. If you know of a producer who you think would be interested in this opportunity, please send this post to him/her.

The project is supported by a one year grant from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs to the Indiana Arts Commission. The Indiana Department of Agriculture and the Indiana Department of Tourism Development are also supporting this effort.

Carnegie's Restaurant of Greenfield

Ian Harrison enjoyed the challenge and recognition that he received as the Executive Chef of Indianapolis' Benvenuti Restaurant. But every evening on the long commute back home to Greenfield he dreamed of running his own restaurant.

"I wanted to do my own thing and prepare great food for people in Hancock County. Starting my own restaurant was a natural progression in my career so I decided to take that step right here in my hometown.", Chef Ian told me a few weeks ago as he tended to the seedlings he had sprouting in flats in his office. So, in 1999 he opened Carnegie's Restaurant of Greenfield in the historic Carnegie Library building.

The Italian inspired menu at Carnegie's changes seasonally. Ecologically conscious and locally inspired, Chef Ian sources his ingredients from many Indiana producers including Apple Family Farms, Tuttle's Orchard, local grower Debbie Borgman, and Oliver Winery. Eggs are produced by hens owned by Robin, a member of his waitstaff, and chances are, if you come during Indiana's growing season, the produce on your plate will have been grown by the chef himself. He's a talented gardener and grows a variety of herbs and vegetables including oregano, parsley, fennel, carrots, beets, corn, eggplant, tomatoes, radishes, turnips, potatoes, mache, garlic, lettuces, bok choy, and leeks. And,as you might expect, he's a frequent customer at the local farmers' markets.

The creative chef also bakes his own bread daily in a beautiful wood fired bread oven that he constructed himself. The yeast used in the bread is made from grapes grown in his home garden.

To celebrate the arrival of spring, Chef Ian has given me his recipe for Risotto Primavera. The creamy risotto is infused with saffron and loaded with a variety of spring vegetables. The recipe is in the Spring Recipe section on this site. It's a beautiful and delicious way to showcase the first produce of the season.

Carnegie's spring menu will soon be available. What will this talented chef have in store for you as the first arrivals from the Indiana spring harvest inspire him? You'll have to go to Carnegie's and see (and taste) for yourself!

Carnegie's Restaurant of Greenfield
100 W North Street
Greenfield, IN
Phone: 317-462-8480

Photo courtesy of Chef Ian Harrison: Freshly baked bread from Chef Ian's wood fired oven





   

Welcome Spring!

This week the first calves (twins) of the season were born in my neighbor Sam's pasture, a Canada geese couple arrived to settle in at our pond, the robin was inspecting the corner of our patio's pergola where she builds her nest every year, and my chives have burst through the wet soil of my kitchen garden to once again confirm that the earth is waking up from her winter's nap.

Enjoy the day.


Photo:Encrusted with mud from yesterday's rain, the chives in
my garden welcome the first day of spring!

Local Food Searchable Database is Up and Running

Indiana local food lovers now have a new resource to help them find locally grown and raised products. Market Maker , which has been made possible by a collaboration of Purdue Extension, Indiana Cooperative Development Center, Indiana State Department of Agriculture, and the United States Department of Agriculture Rural development, helps link consumers and producers in a number of unique ways. A consumer who is looking for certain items can go to the site and find producers. Businesses such as restaurants and grocery stores can also use the site, which is free to everyone, to find commercial quantities of items for their establishments. Producers will also benefit from the site's strategic marketing information which includes consumer demographic information, census data, and a feature which allows users to post requests or offer products for sale by using the "Buy-Sell Forum".

If you're a producer and haven't listed your operation on the site, just visit www.inmarketmaker.com and click on the "register your business" button.

If you're a consumer, you'll find a link to Market Maker in the Indiana Food Guide on this site.

Like any database, the site will only be as good as the data being input into it. So, please let all your favorite producers know about this new and valuable resource and encourage them to list their business today. If the producer does not have Internet access, he/she can call Maria Marshall at 765-494-4268 and she will assist them.

 

Isn't She Lovely?

Last week I mentioned that Walnut Grove's Spring Water packaging was getting a make-over. So, today it's out with the old and in with the new as we reveal the more carbon friendly package.

Why the change? Ryan Bass, the company's Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, told me last week that the larger, screwtop bottle is more environmentally friendly than the former one which is in the process of being phased out. The new bottle is now produced in the United States rather than being imported from overseas.

There were a variety of reasons for the change, but perhaps the most impressive one is that the decision is a part of what Walnut Grove calls being a "socially responsible company". The corporation has committed to a set of priorities that guide their behavior as individuals and as an organization. The decision to "go local" and "go green" with the water's packaging allows the company to use even more local suppliers, increase product quality, and reduce the product's cost to the consumer.

Walnut Grove water is available through retailers and online. Five gallon home/office bottles are also available in central and southern Indiana.

Walnut Grove Spring Water Company, LLC
RR 3 Box 183 AA
Bloomfield, Indiana 47424
Phone: 812-384-9395

Terre Foods Co-Op: An Inspiration

Graphic designer and photographer Christina Blust knows that artistic inspiration comes at the most unexpected moments. Two months ago when she decided to develop some designs to enter in the Terre Foods Co-op  logo contest, she knew she wanted her entries to communicate a "sense of place". So, she got in her car and drove around Terre Haute looking for ideas and images to inspire her.

She tried to locate the area where the train tracks crossed the Wabash River but a succession of one-way streets and dead-ends thwarted her efforts. Frustrated, as she sat in her car while a long train whizzed by her in an industrialized part of the city, she noticed a second set of tracks in the distance and focused on the soil between them. The juxtaposition of the tracks, the setting, and the soil spoke to her. She instantly knew what one of her designs would be!

At the January 24, 2008 Community Meeting, where over 100 people gathered to continue their work in developing the newly forming Terre Foods Co-op, Christina's train track inspired design was chosen by a group vote to represent the co-op. One of the Committee members said the design presented a positive image of Terre Haute, embodied the spirit of the group's efforts, and was inspiring. Congratulations to Christina for creating this beautiful logo!

Speaking of inspiring, I'm very impressed with the work that's being done to establish the Terre Foods Co-op. To follow the progress of this exciting new venture, join the co-op's mailing list.