Ramps (Allium tricoccum)

Lucky Dog Farm

Harvested: May 2013

The ramp, also known as the wild leek, is the alliums’ herald of spring. It is a fleeting introduction to a new season and a foraged onion that has the ability to throw people into a frenzy.

Wild ramps have close ties with the folklore of the central Appalachian Mountains. In the region, they have long celebrated spring with the arrival of the ramp, believing it to have great power as a tonic used to ward off the ailments of winter.

Ramps are members of the lily family and a perennial plant. They grow in groups strongly rooted just beneath the surface of the soil. They don’t take well to traditional farming, but grow wildly as far north as Quebec, as far south as Georgia, and as far west as Oklahoma.

Ramps have a peppery taste and a pungent aroma that is a mix of onions and garlic.

Ramps have broad, smooth, light green leaves, often with deep purple or burgundy tints on the lower stems, and a scallion-like stalk and bulb. Both the white lower leaf stalks and the broad green leaves are edible.

Ramps can be sauteed, grilled, baked, pureed or pickled. We like ours sauteed with butter, chopped and served with eggs.

I feel like there is a great need for small distributors. There are plenty of small farms and artisan food makers creating high quality products, and a huge base of customers who want desperately to buy these products and support these people in their craft. From what I have seen, farmers are extremely stretched for time trying to grow their produce, then also pack, transport, market and distribute it. It would be ideal if there were more small distributors to take the stress off these individual farmers and allow them to focus on farming.

modfarm:

Meet Ben Harris. He’s 29, runs his own company logging timber with draft horses, and is booked solid with work for the rest of 2013. Why? Because draft horses make more economic sense than diesel-powered logging. 

On Lucky Dog Farm, up in the Catskills, the crew has been waiting on the warm weather to begin planting in the fields. While some farms have gotten an early start growng a selection of crops indoors in preparation for this season, their normal schedule for transplanting them into the field had been postponed. This spring has been taking it’s time, unlike last year when the warm weather arrived two weeks early.

Agriculture is a profession that is not known for it’s predictability. Last year’s growing season was tumultuous across all regions. A warm winter in the northeast didn’t allow for the ground to freeze, which normally provides a natural defense against pests. Then as soon as the weather began to warm up, they experienced extreme temperatures which left the fall apple harvest hard hit. This was followed up in the summer by wide spread droughts across most of the midwest.

After a long winter, and with a memory of snow still remaining in some areas upstate, farms are getting a late start north of the city this year. Over the last couple of weeks it has been visible at the farmers market with the tuber and root vegetable lined tables. But what’s not short of hopeful is a basket of spring garlic, preparing us for the procession of rhubarb, asparagus and peas that are soon to follow.

I’ll be darned if I get another plastic bin of anonymous spinach that’s a little sopped from its journeys. The more you think about it, the more you want greens that are full of life. And if you want lively greens, they’d better not spend very much time out of the field. 

So, go to Foragers Market, Greene Grape Provisions, and Rose Water this week to find crops that got to the city within hours of leaving the farms. Taste that Thai Basil for me, people.

Hydroponic Lettuce Mix, Thai basil, and sweet basil
Aqua Vita Farms - Sherrill, New York

Free range eggs
Fitzgerald Farms - Kerhonkson, New York

Onions, shallots, cippolinis
Glebocki Farms - Goshen, New York

Grassfed and finished beef brisket

Good Fence Farm - Fort Edward, New York

If you have any questions please get in touch with us at hello@plovgh.com. 

Ah, the food system. It’s a mess, huh? Seems like farms, trucking companies, commodity brokers, even retailers that get to gargantuan scale really muck things up for everyone else. That’s why we’re excited to bring small businesses like Matthew Clancy’s into the Plovgh network. Have a look at this local transporter who got your crops into your neighborhood this week.

Transporter’s name: Matthew J. Clancy, Clancy’s Transportation Solutions

Homebase: Rotterdam Junction, New York

Years in operation: We are a newly formed business.

What do you drive? 2010 Chevrolet Express van.

What do you do? We offer the best solution to people and businesses that need something moved across town or across country. We provide our clients with a low cost alternative to the big name companies (emphasis added) with the care only a family owned small business can offer!

Why did you start this business? What’s unique or compelling about how you operate? I started this business to find a more fulfilling way to provide for my family’s quality of life. After years of working for the State of New York as a manager, the time spent away from my wife and children coupled with the fact that I felt uninspired by my work led me to leave it behind in order to focus on making Clancy’s Transportation Solutions (CTS) a success. CTS is a family owned and operated small business aimed at helping our local community and beyond. We are focused on providing custom transportation solutions to our clients that result in the highest levels of customer satisfaction.

Welcome, Matthew! The maiden voyage was a success and we look forward to many more.

We are SO excited that Foragers Market in DUMBO has joined the Plovgh network. This week, you can find harvest from Fitzgerald Farms and Slow Roots Farm at the shop, including:

Free range eggs - Fitzgerald Farms - Kerhonkson, New York - harvested April 9, 2013

Nicola Gold potatoes - Slow Roots Farm - Kingston, New York - harvested Winter 2012

Look for this little tag and be sure to ask for the Plovgh farms when you stop in!

In recognition of the transition of seasons, we thought it would be appropriate to get hands on with some of the crops that we think best establish the beginning of spring on both the east coast and the west coast. Learn more about some old and new favorites now being harvested, and cast your vote on which you can’t wait to try.

Buddha’s Hand Citron, also known as bushukan, is a giant, fleshy, lemon-like citrus. It symbolizes happiness and long life in China, and appropriately so because I can see how it would proffer both of those attributes to anyone who eats it. It has a strong citrus nose but a subtle, earthy flavor and clear lemon finish. 

Great for: roasting (it comes out almost squash-like but with a refreshing lemon quality), lemon zest, vodka infusion, lemon candies, or this vinaigrette. I sliced it, put it in the oven for 20 minutes at 375, and put it on a slice of pumpernickel with mustard greens. Delightful.

Request a sample from a Plovgh farm.

We’d like to extend a hearty welcome to Mark, who drives his first Plovgh route today, connecting farms’ harvest with New York City. We met Mark through Slow Food NYC and we’re excited to fuel the movement of harvest from source to city. 

Transporter’s name: Mark Jaffe, The Fresh Connection

Homebase: New York City

Years in operation: 1

What do you do? The Fresh Connection is an NYC-based company that provides transportation and logistics services for food producers who are independent, artisanal, and environmentally and economically sustainable. 

Why did you start this business? What’s unique or compelling about how you operate? Through talking to people and through my own previous experience in the local and sustainable food world I saw that the groundwork has been laid in New York City for a strong local food system with many small- to mid-size farmers producing high quality product and customers eager to receive these goods. There are also many groups and individuals working to build networks for the local food system. However, these networks often do not fully address the needs and challenges of actually transporting product from Point A to Point B (emphasis added). I started The Fresh Connection with the aim of creating an efficient model for product delivery in and around NYC and providing the local food system with an affordable transportation and delivery service.

The Fresh Connection is unique in that we combine practical knowledge of the food distribution industry and the logistics surrounding it with an ideological belief that we must create a food system that supports independent producers whose products are environmentally and economically sustainable, with an emphasis on locally produced goods. We offer a flexible model and are not looking to simply replicate the traditional distributor model but to help in creating a new distribution system that addresses the needs of a local and sustainable food system.

Say hello to Mark when you see him along his route. This kind of collaboration is the beginning of the change we want to see. To get your farm on one of the Plovgh routes, or to order from the farms on Plovgh, get in touch here!

Last week the Plovgh team reconvened in Downtown Las Vegas. Aside from time spent brainstorming and strategizing, we had a chance to check out all of the projects and businesses that are beginning to grow and reshape the culture in the neighborhood. There is a unique energy there and the innovative community of folks who are taking part in the transformation are cultivating a more vibrant and sustainable vision for a part of the city that has long been neglected.

We found ourselves on a rainy Friday morning at the Downtown Third farmers market, drawn by the promise of a solid cup of coffee as well as to meet some of the regional producers responsible for growing food for the downtown community.

Growers from Nevada, California, and Arizona made up the handful of stands and the diversity of products, at a market in the desert no less, was remarkable. Pyramids of root vegetables, alongside colorful cauliflower and young asparagus filled the room. The varieties of citrus – limequats, kishu tangerines, blood oranges - were a refreshing addition compared to the bins upon bins of apples we’ve grown accustomed to at the east coast markets all winter. The highlight of our visit that day was chatting with Rosalind and Randy of Bloomin’ Desert Herb Farm about raising culinary and medicinal herbs. We learned about their farm-grown, freshly dried herbal teas and collection of seasonings, including one made with Mexican Hatch Chiles – XHot with Habanero pepper is where it’s at.

It was a great visit and one that only made us more excited to start exploring the Southwest and meeting producers there that we can start connecting with the Vegas community.