It would seem as though what to do with the landscaping over on Pennsylvania Avenue might be the last thing on the mind of our new president. But it's the first thing on the minds of others—lots of others.
There is the "Eat the View" contingency, a group with over 10,000 people working to make a White House garden a first order of business for the new administration. There is also a group with the following edict: "There has always been a White House Chef, Now is the time for a White House Farmer." A Midwestern family called the Brockmans built a website (www.whitehousefarmer.com) to take nominations for a job that entails cultivating five "prime south-facing acres of the White House lawn and planting in the place of the lawn, an organic fruit and vegetable garden." The winning White House Farmer will be announced sometime in February. So far there are no entries from the Commonwealth!
My nomination for White House Farmer is Eric Toensmeier, an author, teacher and gardener who specializes in perennial food gardens, permaculture and sustainable gardening. He has a large permaculture garden in Holyoke, which feeds his family with a wide variety of food crops including edible seeds, fruits and vegetables. Toensmeier is also cultivating a sustainable garden with community members as a member of Nuestras Raices (Our Roots), also in Holyoke.
In his book Perennial Vegetables: From Artichokes to Zuiki Taro, a Gardener's Guide to Over 100 Delicious, Easy-to-Grow Edibles, Toensmeier writes of the wild foods that can be harvested year after year. One item is the Jerusalem artichoke, also known as the Sunchoke, which is a relative of native sunflowers and has "enormous yields of sweet, crisp roots." Sunchokes are excellent for crunch in stir fry or saut?ed with olive oil, fresh rosemary and garlic. They are in season now along with other root vegetables and some hearty greens.
Permaculture is a method of producing foodstuffs in a closed loop that maintains a self-sufficient system. Self-seeding (perennial) plants live for three years or more. They are not destroyed by harvesting. The main goal is to plant a perennial polyculture of multi-purpose plants of multiple species. They grow in the same place but do not compete. They share the sun and work together to avoid pests. Ground cover provides fixed nitrogen. It is not as wicked complicated as it seems. For example, plants like corn act as support for climbing beans and plants like squash provide nutrients in the ground.
Toensmeier started his garden with nothing but an empty lot, adding compost, cardboard and leaves collected from over 100 bags on the corners of nearby streets. In what he describes as the "bleakest and most difficult part of the country to grow a perennial garden," Toensmeier has seen victory in Holyoke and could easily take on the White House lawn. A video of Toensmeir in his Holyoke garden demonstrating the principles of permaculture can be seen on his publisher's website at www.chelseagreen.com/tv.
In an open letter to the president-elect published by the New York Times last October, author and food activist Michael Pollan championed the renewal of the Victory Garden. He wrote that by the end of World War II, 20 million home gardens were supplying 40 percent of the produce Americans had for supper in those lean years. Pollan goes on to say that eating from one's own garden, "the shortest food chain of all," would be a victory over the three challenges of high food prices, poor diets and sedentary living. In the words of Dennis Leary, Victory Gardens might get people "off the #$**^#* couch."
Market News
Eric Toensmeier and Dave Jacke co-authored Edible Forest Gardens, a two-volume book on ecological landscape design around the country. They will give a public talk entitled "The Epicurean Imperative: Energy Descent, Climate Change, and the Future of Food in Franklin County" at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 10 at Boswell's Books in Shelburne Falls. Their recently created Apios Institute will collaborate with the Shelburne Falls-based Central Connecticut River Valley Institute (CCRVI) to sponsor the talk. It will be part of Winterfare, the Greenfield-based winter farmers' market, and associated events beginning on February 7. For more information, visit www.winterfare.org.
Tiny Maine rock shrimp are in season; selling for around $.37 per pound in Portland wholesale, for $1 per pound off a truck on the coast of Maine and at $2.99 per pound locally, they're a steal. The tiny shrimp are very, very flavorful and great in risotto because of their size and richness. They come with the heads on and are delicious boiled briefly in beer as served at the Halibut Point Restaurant in Rockport. It's easy enough to do at home. Put them in a net bag, dip them in boiling beer until they're pink, and eat them like mudbugs, just spitting out the heads and shells. Maybe create a dipping sauce of garlic and butter with something green.
Recipe: Maine Rocks Risotto
4 servings
Ingredients: 3 3/4 cups shrimp broth
(see Locavore blog for recipe)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter
1 small onion, finely chopped (3/4 cup), or shallot
Pinch fine sea salt, more if desired
2 cups risotto
1/2 cup shitake mushrooms, finely diced
2/3 cup dry white wine (maybe not chardonnay)
1/4 cup finely chopped onion green (the green shoots from a sprouted onion)
1 1/2 to 2 pounds (uncooked) Maine Rock shrimp, peeled and deheaded (reserve heads and shells for broth)
Coarsely ground black pepper
Directions:
Heat the broth in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat while you prepare the risotto.
Heat the oil or butter in a large saucepan, preferably an ironclad saucepan, over medium heat. Add the onion, the mushrooms and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes until the onion is translucent.
Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes, until a white dot is visible in the center of each grain (really). Add the wine and cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute until it is mostly absorbed.
Add 1 cup of the hot broth and cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes until mostly absorbed. Add a half-cup of broth and cook, stirring, until mostly absorbed.
Repeat, adding the broth in half-cupfuls, until the rice is tender yet still slightly firm to the bite. (Wine can be consumed during this lengthy process, just not the wine for the broth.)
Add the remaining 1/4 cup of broth and onion green, stirring to combine. Remove from the heat and add the deheaded and peeled shrimp, stirring to incorporate. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.
Season the risotto with salt and pepper to taste; serve immediately. No cheese.
Note: Only small shrimp will do, due to the fact that risotto should never encompass any thing large, such as a big tiger shrimp or even a sea scallop. It's a matter of scale. It is common knowledge that cheese should never be eaten with fish unless the dish is a Filet-O-Fish.
