The Boise Co-op Produce Department has the distinct pleasure of introducing you to one our beloved local vendors, Global Gardens, purveyors of some of our favorite “pesticide free/conventional” lettuces located along the back, north wall of produce. Global Gardens Farm is a cooperative of Somali Bantu and other African refugee growers operating on 22 acres in Star, ID.  The Boise Co-op is uniquely situated and equipped to provide shelf-space for just this type of smaller-sized produce vendor; our intimate stature compared to that of larger, chain-style grocers provides us the flexibility to work with a small, independent outfit such as Global Gardens:

Global Gardens is a program of the Idaho Office for Refugees. The Office “sponsors refugee agriculture projects at 8 locations in Boise, Eagle, and Star providing garden/farm space for around 100 refugee families as well as training in horticultural production and marketing.”

The intentions of the program benefit not only the refugee families, but also our community and world. By cultivating local food networks grown in the organic spirit, we expend less fossil fuels bringing products to market. “At Global Gardens Farm each family receives land, equipment and training enabling them to build capital and knowledge [in order] to one day start their own farm business.” Local family farms are the key to the new local aesthetic that is defining the local food moment of which the Boise Co-op is a major part. 

By purchasing produce from Global Gardens we not only support a local farm, reducing fossil fuel use, but we are directly supporting refugee families in pursuit of their integration into American society – diversifying and enriching our local community in general. The support of the Boise Co-op, working directly with the produce department enables the refugee farmer to gain entrepreneurial skills that are transferable to many jobs, helps them to improve their English and western communication skills while allowing them to spend quality time with their families and communities.

Global Gardens is also seeking land to farm that is closer to Boise. They are looking for property that is available for at least two years, one acre or larger, and has irrigation water. We support their endeavors and hope that others will also help to grow our community – please contact the Refugee Agriculture Coordinator at the Idaho Office for Refugees if you can help.
 

 Currently we offer various lettuces grown by Global Gardens in our “pesticide free/coventional section” along the back, north wall of produce. Get them quick as our local lettuces season is fast approaching an end judging by the heat we’ve been experiencing recently.

Enjoy this heat, and get ready for local melons and grapes!

~Douglas Bolles

It is an exciting time in produce right now. Our long wet Spring has yielded a beautiful array of both organic and pesticide-free local lettuces from our local growers: Peacefully Belly, Global Gardens, & City Gardens.

Look for  a number of varieties of local organic lettuces featured in our organic green corner by Peaceful Belly: Deer Tongue, Oak Leaf, Butter, as well as standard Red and Romaine.

Also, experience the beautiful pesticide-free lettuces along the north wall of the produce dept. grown by Global Gardens and City Gardens. They are a treat, and are less expensive than their organic counterparts:

These organic Mustard Greens produced by Peaceful Belly have a delightful “sharp” flavor that adds a wonderful accent to a salad – I just like to eat them sans-dressing, in the raw! 

They are gorgeous too!

Do try this speckled Trout-Back Romaine grown by Marty at City Gardens as the main component in a salad, or as a part of your picnic fixings. It’s gorgeous.

As we move into summer proper these cooler weather items will disappear, so do take advantage now. The local season is on!

Enjoy,

&

In joy!

~Douglas Bolles

The BUGS Summer Program helps children connect large-scale environmental issues with real choices they make every day involving diet, health, ecology, economics as well as personal community and responsibility.
This learning opportunity is geared for students aging from 10 to 15 years old and takes place from 9am to 1:30pm every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from June 15^th thru August 5^th at the gardens behind Wright Congregational Church, 4821 W. Franklin.

Tuition is $225 for the entire 7 week course during which students gain hands-on experience in garden and in community building, develop a deeper understanding of nature and food – even work together with other students to develop and operate a small business at the BUGS farm stand. Sign the kids up now, this is an invaluable opportunity for them to grow intellectually and physically while establishing a greater sense of community through sharing their harvests and their experiences!

For more information visit www.boiseurbangardenschool.org

The BUGS is a wonderful local organization that engages youth, their families, classrooms and community through organic gardening.  This learning environment is instrumental in providing much needed education about the benefits of a sustainable local food system, overall personal nutrition and health, environmental protection and awareness, and the importance of community-mindedness in the development of a local, sustainable economy.

Tim Sommer, Purple Sage Farms

Middleton, ID: tsommer@speedyquick.net

You may recall that this past fall, I attempted to peel an onion–that is, I considered our place in the world, assessing our impact upon others and the planet through how we live. If I came to any answer, it was to the idea of a strong and vibrant self-sustaining local community. That was where I could see hope. And it is exactly these ideas, heralding the local community as the solution, and disproving the myth of the tragedy of the commons for which Elinor Ostrom won the 2009 Nobel Prize in economics.

As a means of communicating the importance of our local community, I’m taking the produce blog on the road. My intention is bring our growers closer to you by showing you what they do, and who they are. So at this time, I’m pleased to introduce to you Tim and Tamara Sommer of Purple Sage Farms.

Purple Sage Farms in Middleton, ID is a Certified Organic producer of Herbs and Salad Greens. This family operation has been a certified organic producer for over 20 years now. In fact, Tim helped create the Idaho organic certification legislation with other local organic growers Nate Jones and Mike Heath. Purple Sage not only sells their greens to the Boise Co-Op, but also to local CSAs, outdoor markets, and local restaurants, such as the “just eat local” beacon, Bittercreek Alehouse.

The operation consists of 12 large greenhouses that are all planted and operated by hand. During the peak of their season, the staff consists of a crew of about 7–of course all but just a couple are family members. The farm is run as a sustainable closed loop system, growing not only the herbs in the greenhouses, but also growing grass upon which goats and sheep are pastured which environmentally balances the system. The animals help close the loop and put back into the soil what the plants remove, which makes Purple Sage a small family farm in the traditional sense, self-sustainable, where most of the family’s food is produced right there.

(the rosemary greenhouse felt like a lush garden even in early march!)

As I toured the farm, I was curious to know what made a farmer tick. Tim is an exceedingly interesting person. In each green house, he exuberantly fed me something right out of the ground. Baby Kale. Watercress. Chives. It was all wonderful and exotically complex. Sharp and tasty.

Tim fits no farmer stereotype with a degree in marketing from ASU and business background chasing million dollar marketing contracts in California’s Orange County. Despite all that, both he and his wife were Middleton High grads. I guess he just needed to see world. Though he and his wife were not high school sweethearts, they did eventually become romantically involved while living in the Seattle area. They married and returned home to Middleton, where they raised their three children. It was a sense of community that brought them back. And we are glad to have them as a part of our family. I know I certainly enjoy his hard work, and I think you should too! Try some of his greens, they are tremendous!

We’ll close with a  photo of Tim taken in his music room. That’s what he does for fun. He plays both American folk and Irish/Scottish traditional folk music both for fun at home and live around town with a band. And that’s Tim & Purple Sage, one of your local family farmers. Enjoy!

~Douglas Bolles

Although St. Patrick’s Day has passed, many claim March as “Irish Heritage Month.” That said, let’s explore a bit of the darker side of the heritage, taking pause to understand why the Irish Potato Famine occurred and why we should appreciate our local growers.  *Please note that our local, organic potato season is beginning to wind down. Don’t worry, they are planting more, but do take advantage of these great spuds while they last!*

Little, local farms have worries similar to those of industrial farms, but they don’t have the same risks involved compared to that of a monoculture system -(the growing of just one kind of crop in an area).  What “little” does well is diversity, probably because that is the only way to survive. A little of this, and a little of that and that’s how they try and stay balanced and insure themselves against loss. Of course no one gets rich this way. . .

The Irish potato famine was an example of a worst case scenario faced by a society built upon a monoculture. Because the potato was such a staple food for such a large number of the population, the Irish people faced starvation in the mid 19th century when large numbers of the potato crops failed due an infectious blight. Nature prevents a whole system from collapsing though genetic diversity. Humankind on the other hand has a tendency to breed out diversity by growing only those things that are profitable, durable, or inexpensive. This is what happened in Ireland. Due to the lack of genetic diversity, one pathogen devastated the one plant sustaining large numbers of the population. This is the risk of a monoculture system.

Some similar interesting lessons in the underpinnings of various past societies are noted in Jared Diamond’s recent book, Collapse. In one instance he showed  a “chain” of civilizations tenuously built upon one another by trading with each other for their staple foods and survival. And just like a monoculture, when one link in the chain fell, the whole structure was brought down! It’s a pretty scary book. Maybe not a good one for Spring. Better for the Autumn.

Of course our local guys are building diversity by planting what works in their area, and doing things that create a sustainable, closed-loop system. We are actually very lucky to have such great farmers growing the very best and healthiest foods just for us. We live in Eden. Truly, I hope you realize this!

Happy Irish Heritage Month from your friends in Produce where we always wear our green.

And take a look at the end of the winter citrus crop. It is outrageous!

~Douglas Bolles

Speaking of green, you can get fresh wheatgrass year-round in our Produce Department!

So who was St. Patrick? Well, he was a 5th century someone of Roman/British heritage who was taken as a slave to Ireland when he was 16, but who had a religious calling and eventually escaped. He later returned as a Catholic priest to convert those who held him to a new way of thinking. He was also an early abolitionist and feminist. He died on March 17th of some unagreed upon year which is celebrated as his feast day. And all that was a long way of saying that we are supposed to wear Irish green that day, and perhaps eat Corned Beef and Cabbage. And we’ve got your organic cabbage!

The green is good though. It is a hint of what is really about to come. It is the kick off for another season of eating in the Produce Department. When the fresh spring produce begins arriving, it will be difficult to not swoon. The colors become so vibrant and our little produce section is transformed into a garden of earthly delights. Look for this explosion of color. It is on the way:

It is also a time for green shoots and new beginnings. There has been a desire on the part of our employees and members to get to “know” our local community of farmers better–to experience who they are, and what they do. This is my green shoot for this produce season. I’m going to take on the job of becoming your intrepid Produce Reporter. I’ll load up the kids on the weekends and we’ll get out to the various local farms and meet the people who grow the wonderful things that we eat all summer long. I’ll bring my camera and ask some of those questions that we’ve always wondered. These meetings will likely appear on the Boise Co-op website, but I will be sure and highlight them in the newsletter. It sounds like I have my work cut out for me. Who should we start with? I’m thinking Purple Sage.

As for your March produce month, be sure and sample things as they become available. You can tell when things are “happening” by their color. You will be amazed at how the produce changes over the course of this month. Try something new. One suggestion is perhaps an Irish stew with turnips and rutabagas. The broccoli is looking beautiful. Asparagus is going to happen this month and become amazing! Keep you eyes on fresh greens too. They get so good!

And I suppose there is that. . . how about a Caesar salad to go with your Ides of March? The Ides of March is the 15th, a day previously held as a festival day for the god Mars, honored with military parades, but now more well known as the day Caesar was assassinated. He ignored the warning. Let’s render unto Caesar a salad and get ready for a great season of spring produce.

So whether it comes in like a lion or lamb, enjoy March, and this new spring.

Be Well!

By Douglas Bolles, Produce Department Philosopher

The Produce Department has moved into the peak of winter citrus season. Right now you will find the best prices of the season on both bagged and loose organic navel oranges. Get them while you can! We also have a number a delicious organic citrus varieties available for you try. Check them out!

Apropos of nothing, did you realize that the Boise Coop is your only local source for organic tropical fruits? Can’t make it to Hawaii? Or, maybe you want to pretend like you are lost on an island for some strange reason, come see us for island fare. I don’t think the meat dept. has any wild boar, but the produce department stocks organic Pineapple, organic Mango, and organic Coconut most of the time. Make anytime an island paradise.

Also, try a young Thai coconut as an exotic drink:

We’d also like to recommend organic peanuts. A great, healthy snack alternative!

and finally,

IT’S NOT TOO LATE!

Enjoy!

~Douglas Bolles

Sometimes taking care of yourself means taking the time to enjoy yourself. Moderation in all things? Does that include moderation in moderation? I think so! Our produce department is now offering the best price of the season on local, organic, Pie Pumpkins. It’s a steal at $.69/lb. Do take advantage of this offer and enjoy yourself before we enter a new spring! (Also, I’m betting the local Cloverleaf heavy cream could whip and top a fresh piece of pie yielding earthly heaven.)

Despite this advocacy of the indulgent, I’d also like to point you toward some of our RAW, healthy choices. These products are featured in the produce “juice cooler” located near the fruit table as you enter the produce department. Try one of the many RAW Perfect Foods Bar. There is nothing better for an energy snack. Also consider one of our RAW crackers from It’s Alive! or Dr. John’s. We also are featuring a RAW sauerkraut and RAW Paté from It’s Alive!.

So in closing. . .? Do enjoy yourself, but also consider some of our RAW healthy choices too!

Be well,

~Douglas Bolles

Did Santa bring you citrus in your stocking as a child? Candy is sweet, but citrus can be an equally wonderful stocking stuffer!  Hey Santa! Don’t forget the produce! We’ve got wonderful citrus available in the Boise Co-op produce department right now, perfectly juicy additions to those unfilled stockings!

Consider our organic clementines, and our organic satsuma mandarins. If you enjoy the sweetness of the winter citrus like I do, perhaps a 5 lb box of organic satsuma mandarins or maybe our bagged organic navel oranges? We also have some beautiful Meyer lemons available now for festive holiday cooking and drinks.

Add some zest to your holiday festivities and enjoy the season!

Happy holidays from your friends in Produce.

~Douglas Bolles

No, I’m not talking about the produce clerks (the world knows I would be a the top of that list). Instead, I’d like to highlight a few varieties of nuts that are just wonderful right now. Everyone is going crazy for the local Carpathian Walnuts. They are easy cracking and as much of a treat as any of the other seasonal items we only are able to enjoy for the moment they’re here. Hurry! We are also featuring a local pesticide free water chestnut in our newly renovated commercial section along the north wall of produce, as well as a roasting chestnut displayed on our fruit table. Both are local, and are a seasonal treat.

Speaking of local: right now, all the potatoes, onions, and squash are local and organic. Two local farmers that need to be mentioned in this respect, are Nate Jones, and Mike Heath. They fill our chests through the winter with the stuff we need–squash and tubers.

As I think I mentioned in the produce monthly newsletter, it’s mulling spice and cider season! We have a cider crock mulling all through the holiday season. Stop and try a sample. It will add spice to your day. The cider we are featuring is from the local Williamson Orchard.

Have you ever included quince in your holiday recipes? It is a baking fruit which offers many fun, creative and delicious options…try it at your Thanksgiving celebrations! It is a local product, and many different recipes are available near its display on the fruit table. Also, you may find a variety of other recipes put together by employees and our Culinary Educator/chef extraordinaire Sylvie Ryan hanging in the new “Member Services” kiosk area near the front of the store.

After some adjustments, we are finally achieving our goals for the new coolers in terms of efficacy and attractiveness.  As always, we want your input. Let us know what you think. The idea with the old coolers was working only on one plane, the horizontal. These new coolers offer us the opportunity to also utilize the vertical plane. But there is definitely a balance between maximizing space and creating a beautiful environment that people enjoy and feel comfortable in. Take a moment and tell us how you feel about our new space.

Oh, and know that our best people are working on the issue of how to engineer the new product signs. That is step two, but it is definitely on our minds now. If you don’t understand the current “wacky” signs, let us know, and we will be more than happy to help you out!

Thanks so much for spending this time with us. Have a great week!

Your friends in produce.

~Douglas Bolles