“There are a lot of people who are working to make this a better planet – Peaceful Belly happens to be doing it through farming.” — Matt Fuxan

To Boise Co-op Fresh Foods Manager Matt Fuxan, Peaceful Belly Farm is so much more than a “supplier.”

“Peaceful Belly Farm has been a leader in the local food movement, and they’ve helped perpetuate it not only as dedicated organic farmers, but with their engagement of the community through outreach and education,” says Matt.

For nearly a decade, husband and wife Clay and Josie Erskine and their family have managed an ecologically sustainable urban farm on 70 acres in Boise’s Dry Creek Valley.  In addition to growing over 90 types of vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers, and berries — as well as raising pastured poultry — the Erskines and their staff also manage a CSA Program (Community Supported Agriculture) that supplies 160 families locally.

To Matt’s point, however, what has set Peaceful Belly Farm apart has been their commitment to bringing people closer to the land — an outgrowth of their vision of the role that local farms should play in their communities.  This vision is front and center on the homepage of the Peaceful Belly Farm website:

We can’t do what we do without our community. It takes a community to produce veggies the way that Peaceful Belly can. Food should be grown close to the people that consume it. We work very hard to try to connect the people that consume the food to the people that grow the food they enjoy. We strive to help create a better community not only through our produce but through the many outreach and educational programs we have created and partner in. Our goal is to ensure that our food can be enjoyed by all social classes.

At the end of December, Peaceful Belly Farm’s outreach efforts suffered a setback when their uncompleted barn/education center was damaged by a violent storm that swept through the Treasure Valley.  Once completed, this facility will become, to quote the Erskines, “The hub from which all the wonderful food, classes, workshops and dinners pour.”

To finish their barn and education center, Peaceful Belly Farm has set up a Kickstarter site to seek contributors for the $25,000 they will need to complete their facility — thus enhancing not only the farm’s daily operations, but also its educational programs and famous Farm to Fork dinners.

If you believe in the importance not only of family-run organic farms, but in the transformative power of bringing communities closer to the land that sustains them, we at Boise C0-op urge you to go to Peaceful Belly’s Kickstarter site. For as little as $25 you can help support the Erksine’s dream of their farm as a place where you and others can learn “How to grow and make your own healing salves, teas and tinctures; how to design square foot gardens, kitchen gardens and edible landscapes; how to cook seasonally, raise chickens, keep bees, preserve food—and best of all, how to teach children to grow their own food and learn animal husbandry.”

That’s the kind of world we at the Co-op believe in.  If you share that belief, please vote with your wallet and help Clay, Josie, their family and workers realize it.  Along with that appeal, I’ll leave you with a final observation from Mr. Fuxan: ”There are a lot of people who are working the make this a better planet – Peaceful Belly happens to be doing it through farming.”

Yes, summer will soon be a wistful memory as the snow flies, but in the weeks of the liquid amber fall that lay ahead we invite you to join the harvest at our store and share the autumnal bounty of the season.

Just the other day my wife harvested the last of our summer garden. It’s always a bittersweet moment: memories of warm summer evenings picking beans and tomatoes with the smell of the grill and a cold beer in hand. The cats wandering among the Jerusalem artichokes, making sure their human companions aren’t disturbing their favorite backyard hidey-holes. The southeast foothills taking on that tawny color against the robin’s egg blue of a Boise sky. In fall, these memories are all the more poignant for the fact of impending winter as we wake up to crisp mornings with frost on the lawn.

That said, I do love fall in the City of Trees – and it only takes a stroll through our Co-op Produce Department to remind me that nature is no less bountiful in October than in August. But even as leaves are falling, summer has not yet breathed its last. You can still find some peaches in the store, and we have some lovely organic yellow plums from Nelson’s Farm right here in the Gem State. Amazingly, Richardson Farm is still bringing us some flats of strawberries as well, and I’ve found some excellent cherry tomatoes from our neighbors in Emmett.

As George Harrison sang, All Things Must Pass – and while the days of strawberries and tomatoes are numbered, fall is the harvest season for grapes. We’ve got some excellent ones from a number of local sources, including Albor Grapes from Ron Mann and Idaho certified organic Concord and Red Flame Grapes from L&D Organics.

Carnival Squash

A seasonal star of the produce show, however, has to be our squash. We have Carnival Squash from Rice Family Farms, and M&M Heath from Kinghill, Idaho is bringing us their Butternut and Buttercup Squash as well. Our squash varieties also include Spaghetti, Kabocha, Delicata, Sweet Dumpling, and the always colorful Kuri.

Fall is also a great time for root veggies. We have Rainbow Carrots, Celery Root, Parsnips, Gold Beets, Burdock Root, and Watermelon Radishes and Black Radishes. Among the more interesting fruits and vegetables I’ve encountered of late, however, would have to be Red Scallions, Purple Cauliflower, and Kiwi Berries – which I would never have known existed if it hadn’t been for one of my co-workers urging me to try one. These come to us from Eugene, Oregon, and you can sample them while the supply lasts in our Produce Department.

Paw Paws

Also in the “not your everyday fruit” category are our Paw Paws (asimina triloba). They are the only tropical fruit native to North America, and we actually grow them in Nampa, Idaho! On my personal “must try” list are different pear varieties. The ones I’m currently eyeing based on the name alone are Flemish Beauties, which we’re getting from Richland, Oregon.

On a more conventional, but no less delicious note, we’re getting in new crop apples from Washington. You’ll find Fuji, Gala, Ambrosia, McIntosh, Jonagold, and my spouse’s favorite, Cameo. Fall is still a good time of the year for kale and chard, when that extra iron will come in handy in fortifying yourself for those cold winter days ahead. And last, but certainly not least, you’ll find that most iconic of fall harbingers, pumpkins. Along with the jack-o-lantern variety, we have some delightful mini pumpkins, which are great as both an ingredient and a container for pumpkin soup – a recipe for which we’ve included from our Culinary Educator, Sylvie Ryan.

Red Scallions

Yes, summer will soon be a wistful memory as the snow flies, but in the weeks of the liquid amber fall that lay ahead we invite you to join the harvest at our store and share the autumnal bounty of the season.

Michael Sommer describes his kombucha as a “living fermented beverage made with organic herbs grown by Purple Sage Farms.”  The available varieties reflect his farm’s diversity: Lemongrass, Basil, Holy Basil (Batman!), Nettle, Mint, Bronze Fennel, and Rose.

I can’t distinctly remember when the word “kombucha” entered my culinary lexicon, but I suspect it was less than two years ago.  Since that blessed day, this fermented herbal infusion has become a beverage mainstay for my wife and me — and we’ve become pretty creative with our blends of “kombucha cocktails” by mixing it with various fruit juices (we especially love pomegranate juice with ginger flavored kombucha).  On a hot summer day, a tall, icy kombucha is both refreshing and restorative — and judging from how quickly kombucha moves off our beverage shelves, a lot of our customers share our love for this ancient elixir.

A few months ago I started hearing rumors that Michael Sommer from Purple Sage (it’s in my brain) was mixing up some small batch kombucha.  It’s a small town, and one hears all sorts of rumors (does Bonnie Raitt REALLY have a house in Boise?), but I hoped this one would be the real deal.  My friends, I’m happy to inform you that it is.  Please give a warm C0-op welcome to Purple Sage Brewing Co.!

It only stands to reason that Michael would be engaged in herbal moonshine.  After all, consider the number of herbs Purple Sage grows, from basil to bronze fennel.  Purple Sage’s artisan kombucha is handmade in small batches, and because of the process it uses the result tends to be more concentrated than other commercially available kombucha — so much so, in fact, that Michael recommends enjoying the beverage in small amounts, “like you would a bottle of wine,”  since even a small portion contains many rich flavors and beneficial probiotics.  In fact, Purple Sage Kombucha is sold in reused wine bottles provided by Sustainable Futures of Boise (whose recycled glass products we are proud to carry).

Michael describes his kombucha as a “living fermented beverage made with organic herbs grown by Purple Sage Farms.”  The available varieties reflect his farm’s diversity: Lemongrass, Basil, Holy Basil (Batman!), Nettle, Mint, Bronze Fennel, and Rose.

Purple Sage kombucha begins as an herbal infusion that is fermented by a culture of bacteria and yeast, following a recipe that goes back about 2,000 years in China.  The yeast turn the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, while the bacteria turn the alcohol into many different compounds.  Organic acids like acetic, ascorbic and saccharic acid are produced, as well as amino acids, antioxidants, and active enzymes that all have health benefits.

We’re currently keeping our Purple Sage Kombucha in the refrigerated case in our Produce Department (so it can live near its herbal cousins), right next to the juices that department manager Roben Latham prepares.  In addition to the Co-op, Purple Sage sells its kombucha through Idaho’s Bounty.

The only downside to all of this is that I now have yet another pairing decision to make in my life.  Would the Lemongrass or Nettle Kombucha go better with roasted chicken?

Fifty years ago we spent 17% of our disposal income on food and 5% on healthcare. Now we spend 9% on food and 17% on healthcare.  There’s a message in there somewhere, isn’t there? -Lee Rice

Lee Rice and Grace Davila of Rice Family Farms

Lee Rice came by his love of farming quite naturally. For as long as he can remember, his father Gilbert loved to grow vegetables at their southeast Meridian home. As a teenager in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, Lee participated in Meridian High School’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) program and raised as many as 200 hogs, which also involved cultivating 17 acres of irrigated grain in order to feed them. As much as he loved the farming life, however, he couldn’t see a future in it.

If you’d asked him twenty years ago about the future of family farming, Lee would probably have warned you against quitting your day job. In fact, both he and his father retired from vocations as professional plumbers to pursue their love of growing things. Today, Rice Family Farms cultivates a total of 28 acres of certified organic produce that includes a variety of root crops, leafy greens, and warm season vegetables like sweet corn, cantaloupe, watermelon, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and cucumbers.

What was once a time consuming hobby for Lee has turned into a viable living some two generations after his father first began hauling his crops to market. I recently caught up with Lee at the East End Market at Bown Crossing to ask him what it’s like to be an organic farmer in the 21st century.

Q: As someone who loved to farm, why didn’t you become a farmer years ago?

A: Back then, if your dad didn’t have land and equipment, you couldn’t get into farming. Interest rates were about 15 percent, so I had to give up on my first love and pursue a career in plumbing. I had no idea that 20 years later I’d be growing organic vegetables.

Q: What changed?

A: Organic farms on a small to medium scale are far more viable today, mainly because of the public. The consumer is driving a movement toward knowing more about where their food comes from and how it was produced – things they used to take for granted or didn’t even think about 20 years ago.

Q: How do you see the next 20 years?

A: That will depend a lot on changes to the distribution infrastructure. We’re not big enough to sell to more than a few grocery stores, but there isn’t the infrastructure in place to get local food produced and marketed on a very big scale in grocery stores and markets. The supermarkets want to buy in volume and ship it longer distances, and that isn’t going to work for local farmers. The model needs to change to where the produce buyers at individual stores have the autonomy to work with the local farmers they choose.

Q: Do you see signs that this is changing?

A: The big grocery chains sell from $15,000 to $25,000 worth of produce every day. What percentage of it is local? Even if they were just buying what was seasonally available, think of what they would mean to local farmers economically. If this local food movement keeps on going and we can get some cooperatives on the distribution end, maybe we can get more organic farmers concentrating on crops they could specialize in and get more profitable at – especially if we can get food into institutions like schools and hospitals.

Q: Is an organic enterprise like Rice Family Farms a viable business model long term?

A: Without the Boise Co-op and farmers markets, we wouldn’t be here. We need to have people to buy the food when it becomes available. Most organic farms in this area are seasonal since we can’t grow during winter. We also have to be really diverse because we’re trying to satisfy peoples’ desires for a variety of fresh, local produce. This diversity makes it really challenging but also really rewarding, because instead of just growing two or three crops you grow 25-30 – but you may not be successful at all of them.

Q: How do you feel about the future of organic farming on a local scale?

A: I learned a lot from my dad, but there’s not a lot of research and education available for people who want to organically farm on a larger scale. Most of the money spent on agricultural development through land grant universities has been on more traditional commercial crops and conventional production methods for large scale agriculture, but this is beginning to change. You’re starting to see more resources being devoted toward research and development aimed at organic farming. Even USDA programs are developing initiatives to help organic farmers, and the FFA has adapted to so many changes in agriculture that they will fall in line with organic as well.

If we can come up with better distribution systems that make it possible for organic farmers to concentrate on fewer but better crops, it might improve their margins and lower costs to consumers – but consumers are going to have to change their thinking about the cost of food. Today we spend less than 10% of our disposal income on food – less than any country on earth. Fifty years ago we spent 17% of our disposal income on food and 5% on healthcare. Now we spend 9% on food and 17% on healthcare.  There’s a message in there somewhere, isn’t there? We’re just eating too much processed food.

Q: Will you be expanding your farming operations?

A: If there is a market, we’ll grow to meet the demand if we can get good enough at certain things and keep the organic matter in our soil where we want it to be. Down the road there might be more opportunities to take advantage of government loans for small organic farmers to put smaller tracts of land into production. It’s an interesting and exciting time – we’re reclaiming the food supply in a way.

Q: Are you making a living?

A: Like any other farmer, I’ll let you know in December. If you can make enough money at the end of one season to do it all over again, you’re successful.

Walk into the Produce Department these days, and the first thing I would recommend that you do is search for a sign.  Not in some mystical sense, mind you, but in the much more tangible form of the a colorful chalkboard display of what’s hip, hot, and harvested.  While you can expect information to frequently change as the season progresses, this current snapshot is illustrative of our local bounty.

Let’s start with wildcrafted morels.  Unless you’ve lived in Idaho for awhile, you may not realize that the Gem State is also a ’shroomer’s paradise — and if you’re a Co-op member, we can cut you sweet deal on this prince of fungi.  I’m thinking a grilled, grass-fed New York steak smothered with morels sauteed in CloverLeaf Creamery butter with some thinly slice leeks.  Tell me to stop if I’m making you hungry.

For our vegetarian friends, we’ve got organic rutabagas on special, which conjures up visions of roasted roots and tubers, paired with some mixed salad greens from the good folks at Purple Sage Farms.  If you’ve experienced the wonder of their macha, you just might be ready for a further walk on the wild side by adding some pea shoots, dandelion greens and stinging nettles.  That’s right…I said stinging nettles.  Don’t knock it if you ain’t tried it.

In a more conventional vein, we’re getting in hothouse tomotoes from H&H Farms in Eagle…at least until the sinewy green vines yield their fruit under the summer sun.  The thought is enough to make you wax poetic…which is a darn sight more appealing than the waxy red things that too often pass for tomatoes in the supermarket.  Remember, the only two things that money won’t buy are love and homegrown tomatoes.

Getting back to those roasted roots we were scheming on, our friends at Peaceful Belly in Boise can contribute some turnips to the mix.  They’re also bringing us arugula to go with our mixed green salad and some lovely baby bok choy.  Our Co-op Culinary Instructor Sylvie Ryan (who is currently visiting family in the Alsace) likes to cut baby bok choy in half, lengthwise, and sautee them in olive oil until they caramelize.  If you haven’t tried this simple preparation, you don’t know what you’re missing.  Make Sylvie smile and give it a go.

The Produce Department chalkboard is a marvelous portal to what is fresh, organic, and local.  But the folks who can always be counted on to get you there from here are the equally fresh, organic and local Produce employees, who are delighted to share their knowledge of their department’s bounty from source to plate.

Oh…as to mourning the last of my garden’s strawberries, I’m more than consoled by the fact that Richardson Farms in Emmett is making regular deliveries of 2-pound flats straight from their fields, and in the process are saving me the task of picking my own.  When one door closes…

“Americans may not realize how extensively Mexico contributes to our fruit and vegetable consumption,” says writer Lola Milholland from Portland, Oregon.  “In 2007, we imported 3.2 million metric tons of vegetables and 1.8 million metric tons of fruit from our southern neighbor.”

One of the suppliers we rely on for our “south of the border” connection is Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo.  Jacobs Farm began in 1980 as a small organic family farm on California’s Central Coast.  Founders Larry Jacobs and Sandra Belin focused on producing organic, sustainable crops of healthy, flavorful food from the very beginning, and today they produce more than sixty varieties of fresh culinary herbs and edible flowers.

In 1986, Jacobs and Belin brought their agricultural experience, their knowledge of markets and their vision of social change to rural Baja California, where farmers were struggling to make ends meet.  Their goal — to significantly improve the quality of life for small-scale farmers, their families and their communities using an economic engine fueled on principles of sustainability — was realized when the first eight farmers joined the Del Cabo cooperative.  Today, more than four hundred farmers work the land that has been with their families for generations, enjoying significant economic gains while farming organically and sustainably.  Del Cabo farmers offer a year-round selection of high-quality certified organic specialty tomatoes, basil, vegetables and fruits.

Jacobs Farm consists of seven farming sites located along the California coast, from Watsonville to Pescadero, while Del Cabo’s cooperative of farms spans the entire length of the Baja California peninsula.  Together, Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo includes nearly four thousand certified organic field and greenhouse acres.  None of these farms has ever used toxic, persistent pesticides or herbicides on any of its crops or soils, and all of their field acres and greenhouses are certified by Oregon Tilth.

That being said, our customers naturally have questions about the organic credentials of produce originating in Mexico.  The story of the organic sector in Mexico is an impressive one, and is best told by shining a light on its producers.  For that perspective, our Produce Department manager Roben Latham recommends an online article that appeared in February 2011 on the website GoodFood World, “Organics From Mexico – Are They Safe?”.  We think you’ll feel a lot better about the organic foods from our Produce Department that bear a Made in Mexico label on them after you read this.

Established in 1995, Mycological Natural Product’s mission is to raise public awareness of the symbiotic relationship between wild fungi, healthy forest ecosystems, and their mutual sustainability.

Mushrooms, the gift of the rain. I never much cared for them as a kid, but being older and wiser now, I can honestly say that I have yet to make the acquaintance of an edible fungi that I didn’t enjoy.

While you may be used to thinking of mushrooms as a seasonal item, our Produce Department can make wildcrafted mushrooms a part your diet any old time you have a hankering, thanks to Mycological Natural Products, a supplier of dried organic mushrooms out of Eugene, Oregon.

Established in 1995, Mycological Natural Product’s mission is to raise public awareness of the symbiotic relationship between wild fungi, healthy forest ecosystems, and their mutual sustainability.

To accomplish this, the company begins by getting people’s attention with delicious mushrooms for rare culinary experiences. Mycological is the premier source for fresh and dried wild mushrooms gathered from pristine mountain rainforests in the rugged terrain of the Pacific Northwest. The area’s vast wildlands and mild climate create ideal habitats for mushroom growth, providing a cornucopia of delightful, exotic, edible mushroom species almost year round.

The company offers two product lines, both of which you’ll find in our Produce Department: Mycological Wild and Organic Gourmet Mushrooms and Terra Dolce certified dried organic mushrooms and chile peppers from around the world. Among the different types of mushrooms you’ll find in the Mycological line are morel, lobster, blue oyster, chanterelle, enoki, king oyster, and shiitake, and Northwest Mix (for the indecisive among you). The Terra Dolce line includes not only mushrooms, but dried organic chili peppers such as chipotle, aji panca and aji amarillo.

One of the things we love about Mycological mushrooms is not just the product itself but all the recipes you can find with each of their varieties of fungi. You can go with some basics such as morel stroganoff and cream of chanterelle soup, or up the culinary ante with a lobster mushroom frittata or a Hungarian mushroom soup. For a walk on the wild side, you can find recipes on the company’s website that have been contributed by executive chefs John Kane and Gary Roth, who will challenge your culinary skills with entrees such as roasted hen of the woods mushrooms and seared porcinis with barley, artichoke hearts, caramelized shallots and water chestnuts in a mushroom broth. You know you want this.

When you buy from Mycological Natural Products, you also give something back to the environment. As the company explains on their website, “We are proud to play a role in a fascinating story with the scores of dedicated foragers who gather these bountiful fungal delights from this region. Since the mushroom pickers’ livelihoods depend on living, growing, majestic forests, their continued efforts are dependent on the implementation of sustainable forest management policies and practices. Mycological pledges 50 percent of net profits to forest conservation efforts. Because of this commitment to environmental sustainability, we work closely with certified organic growers to provide the finest cultivated specialty mushrooms, which include shiitake, maitake, lion’s mane, and several varieties of oyster mushrooms.”

We think the more you know about Mycological Natural Products, the more zest it will add to however you use them. More than anything, it’s just nice to know that whenever you feel like adding some great tasting mushrooms to your diet, wildcrafted organic fungi are always in season in our Produce Department, thanks to Mycological Natural Products.

Click here for a video with Boise Co-op Produce Department employee Peter Tanorikiho declaring his love for Mycological mushrooms.