Investing in a farmer's crop

While the granddotter and I were examining the dragon and Tree of Life sculpts behind Prescott Coffee Roasters on Tuesday, another group of people nearby were picking up their week's supply of produce from Whipstone Farms at the table below.

Whipstone is one of two Comunity Supported Agriculture farms in the Prescott area; the other, Wolfberry Farm, is operated by Prescott College. In essense, the customers of a CSA farm pay a fixed sum at the beginning of the farm season and in turn collect fruits, veggies and even flowers on a weekly basis as the goodies are harvested. A neat idea, I'd say, with consumers and the farmer sharing both the risks and the bounty (and farming has always been a risky business -- something that we city dwellers have long forgotten).

How it operates, according to the Whipstone web site: Available shares for the 2009 season are limited to 60. The cost of a share is $500 for the season (or approximately $20 a week over an estimated 26 weeks). A share should provide most of the produce required by a family of four. Whipstone also sells at the Flagstaff and Prescott farmers' markets and to some local restaurants.

In case you are into such things, the foods are Certified Naturally Grown, which basically means organic but missing the USDA paperwork required to carry the organic label. Me? I'm more interested in the simple fact of locally grown produce, which means F*L*A*V*O*R on my plate. (Speaking of which, my neighbor's tomatoes are producing and our taste buds are ODing on the tang that only homegrown fruit produce.)

A nice finishing touch -- Whipstone's Shanti Rade also grows flowers, which are also part of the weekly package. This week, it was sunflowers and glads.

Back to the Farmers Market

Would you believe it's been over two years since I visited the Prescott Farmers Market? The problem is classic: location, location, location. To which I add, day of the week. If the market were on a weekday, I could quite happily travel to the Yavapai College venue and back on the little local bus. Not of a Saturday.

Besides, I am like my mother in that most veggies leave me cold. Fresh from the farm or store-bought, I eat them by way of duty, though that winter squash turned out to be quite yummy. I also have to make an exception for the SIL's home-grown spinach and other greens. There's no question, however, that the eggplant and the peppers and the squash and the melons are most photogenic.


The great exception to the veggie rule: I truly groove on tomatoes, either home-grown or farm-fresh. I refer, of course, to tomatoes with that very special taste that catches you in the corner of your mouth-- there's nothing like it! It is an experience you never get from supermarket tomatoes. The basket of little cherry tomatoes, in red, orange and purple, cost six bucks (plus carfare) but I'll get that much pleasure, if not more. I also bought two sets of pears -- gnarly Bartletts and smooth-skinned Anjous -- plus a pair of little unripe peaches, and a mystery melon which the farm lady declared to be a very tasty Russian breed.

One item I should have picked up, but forgot -- a big sunflower seedhead for the birds. I did buy a small package of sunflower seeds and a fat packet of hollyhock seeds, mixed colors, both for planting next spring.

Like fruit, flowers were scarce. Bright sunflowers and zinnias (above) and everlasting artichoke flowers (below) were all. Oh yes, there was iris root stock.

Other items on sale included specialty baked goods from the Crossroads Cafe over at Prescott College and all manner of preserves, with an emphasis on chile H*O*T. I'm not that macho, so I settled on a couple of cookies from the Cafe booth.

The hokey train delivers BBQ -- and sandwiches were available, as were churned ice cream and tamales.

Just to prove that not all prepared food in Prescott is Mexican, one booth featured Greek goodies.

The chap who paints Indian motifs on sandstone put in an appearance; it looks to me that he's prospering -- that's a bigger, fancier trailer than I had previously seen. But by me, the most intriguing item on sale today was the egg of the moa. Yes, the big birds are raised on a farm hereabouts. I had thought that the basket below held giant avocados (which don't grow hereabouts), but was disabused of this by the farmer, who explained that the egg shells are quite strong and suitable for decorating. I kinda like them as is.

There was music. A banjo picker. Again. Is a ghost is following me?

Farmers from the Dells?

No -- actually, they're more likely to be from Chino Valley or Camp Verde. That doesn't mean that they're not local or that the produce (and other goodies) they bring to market Saturday mornings isn't local-fresh. They are, it is. Yum.


Thanks to Memphis niece (above) and her handy car, I finally made it over to the Prescott Farmers Market at Yavapai College this weekend. We spent a lot of money on things like this H-U-G-E cuke and beet greens and tamales and...


...awesome heirloom tomatoes -- the purplish ones were particularly tasty!


These grapes were not your usual Thompson seedless -- something more like a Concord and wonderfully intense in flavor. Too bad fruit is so limited in its seasons -- the only other fruits to be had were blackberries and apples.


Of course, not everything was directly from the soil. The stand above was selling farmer's cheese, while an impressive array of jams, jellies and pickles ranged from kumquat brandy medley to pumpkin pecan butter.



Nor was it all for the kitchen or the table (above).


Too bad the market is too far for me to walk to on a regular basis! I could usually make it back when the stands were up by the old post office on Cortez street.
Maybe I can content myself with reading about small produce farms and the farmers' adventures, such as those I found at the Ladybug Letter. I learned all about the problem wild boars are causing in Central California and how to make nettle soup, for example.

Food and Old Farm Equipment Go Together

Actually, the Iron Horse Restaurant in Chino Valley preceded the current, huge wave of family farm nostalgia. I'm told that it served more than a generation of CV movers and shakers -- not to mention just plain Good Old Boys. The Iron Horse is definitely a place for classic biscuits & gravy -- and lots of it.

Incidentally, that tractor looks a lot older than the ones I recall from my grandfather's orange "ranch" down on Baseline Road in Phoenix in the ought-30s.


OK, I'm ignorant, farm-wise. Don't have any idea of just what this machine did. What it does today is sit by the roadside to advertise fresh produce, come right in and pick it out.


That more streamlined piece of equipment at the left looks like it might have been used to sort oranges or grapefruit or melons by size. It's also alongside the same roadway down in Camp Verde, where the big draw this weekend was....


...fresh corn. And it was good! I discovered how to microwave corn in the husk last night.


Before heading on to Prescott to deliver me home, daughter and SIL eye yet another piece of machinery. He's an aggie -- so understands what all this equipment was used for in its day.


I have to admit that we're living in a strange world when farms near big cities find it necessary to become bucolic disneylands serving city folk to survive. And, yes, I am one of those slickers who got a kick out of the festivals at Young's Farm -- I will miss it.

Footnote: I received an email from a reader explaining the farm equipment.
He said, "If I am looking at the right ones, one is a road grader, and the other ia a corn picker. I believe both are horse drawn. I come from mid- western farm stock in Minnesota. I claim to know a lot about a little, and a little about a lot."

Thanks for the info, Greg!