Producer Spotlight: Simple Gifts Farm

Food Connects has been supplying the Simple Gifts Farm store with regionally-produced products since March of 2021. The partnership expanded this April when Food Connects began distributing fresh produce grown by Simple Gifts to other buyers in the area. We’re thrilled about this new, mutually-beneficial partnership centered around a love for fresh, local food. 

We had a chance to talk to Jeremy Barker Plotkin, Founder of Simple Gifts Farm, about the farm’s unique story and inspiring approach to working with their animals, land, and community.

How was Simple Gifts Farm started? What was its inspiration?  

Simple Gifts Farm started in 1999 when I moved to Massachusetts from Maine.  I had just finished graduate school (in agriculture) and wanted to produce something more tangible.  I started farming at the New England Small Farm Institute and bootstrapped the business from a half-acre up to 5 acres of vegetable production.  In 2006, I moved the operation to Amherst and was joined by my business partner, Dave Tepfer.  We took on the stewardship of the newly preserved North Amherst Community Farm.  We met as interns at the Land Institute and have always been motivated by a desire to incorporate ecological principles into an integrated farm system (I run the vegetable cropping, and he raises livestock.).  The North Amherst Community Farm property was the perfect site to also add a strong sense of community to our operation, as it is located within a residential area about a mile from UMass and was preserved by a tremendous effort from the community. 

What makes your products unique?  

My initial main marketing outlet was farmer's markets, so I have always been motivated to produce beautiful and flavorful vegetables that stand out amongst the other vendors.  Salad greens and heirloom tomatoes are particular specialties of ours and really represent both a visual and culinary feast.

Can you tell us more about your approach to farming? 

Our partnership was founded on the idea of rotating our land into pasture and using livestock to dramatically improve our soil health.  Since 2019, we have taken our soil health program to another level as we are transitioning into organic no-till production.  We are now at about 70% of our cropland in no-till production and are seeing definite improvements in the tilth of the soil.  We are hopeful that this change will help us to adapt to increasing climate disruption by making our soils more resilient to extreme weather.  

What is your favorite part of farming? 

I love harvesting the produce; it is the moment that all of our hard work leads up to.  

What is one of your favorite recipes you make with your produce? 

During tomato season, I make a tomato-bread salad whenever I'm invited to a potluck or party.  I typically use somewhat stale bread, broken up into pieces and then mixed with chopped heirloom tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, olives, garlic, and basil.  The bread soaks up all the juice, and it is delicious.

Why is buying and selling locally and the local food movement important to you?  

I love the idea of keeping our food and our economy as localized as possible for sustainability reasons.  Over the last couple of years, the value of a shorter supply chain has been made clear as local businesses really stepped up to keep their communities fed during the pandemic.  I see this need as likely to increase in the years to come. 

How does working with Food Connects help your business/what are you excited about in this partnership?  

We mostly produce food for sale through our farm store, but we also enjoy doing a larger quantity of a few crops to round out our business.  We have sold some of that extra produce to Whole Foods Market, but their corporate structure has become increasingly hard to deal with, and we increasingly feel that that outlet is at odds with our values.  Working with Food Connects gives us the opportunity to provide crops that will strengthen the local food system.  We are also using Food Connects to supply our farm store with products that we don't produce ourselves, so it feels like we are completing a circle.

Any events coming up or fun facts about your business/products?  

We do a Front Porch Jam every month at our farm store and will be doing a Harvest Festival in September.

Anything else you would like me to feature? Anything that you are doing to respond to the COVID-19 crisis? 

Our Farm Store became a real fixture locally during the early days of the pandemic.  We brought in a lot of produce from other local farmers, went to online ordering only, and really felt moved by the huge level of support that we had during that time.

Producer Spotlight: Hosta Hill

We love ferments in any season, but as storage crops empty out and we hold our breath for spring produce to ramp up, we’re incredibly grateful for Hosta Hill’s delicious ferments. They’re so crunchy and flavorful, they have customers saying, “it tastes so fresh!” Host Hill is a family-owned, women-run business based in the Berkshires. Their business is all about making delicious and nutritious food to sustain communities in the Northeast. Maddie Elling, co-founder of Hosta Hill, took some time to share their story with us.

How was Hosta Hill started? What was its inspiration?

Abe and I started Hosta Hill in the spring of 2011. We were working for a blue cheesemaker and started selling the cheese at a farmers' market in Connecticut. At the time, we were inspired by the food scene in the Berkshires and wanted to start something of our own, specifically related to food and farming. On the side, we were playing around with growing food, raising animals, and fermenting things—tempeh, krauts, and beer. We realized that no one locally was making veggie ferments (or tempeh, which was a product we sold in the first few years of the business). Every week we went to the farmers’ market, we thought ‘we could have so much more on our table!’ We eventually got organized and started selling our sauerkraut, kimchi, and tempeh (a cultured bean product). Being young and ambitious, we also grew the vegetables for our ferments. The goal was to be vertically integrated. We farmed on our own and then in collaboration with another farm until about four years ago when it got to the point of being too much work and needing to focus on our product line of ferments. Since then, we have moved into a larger kitchen and facility that we rent, which has allowed us to scale up. We are figuring out what's next!

What makes your products unique?

People often say our ferments are so fresh tasting, which makes me laugh because they are usually aged four to six weeks at a minimum. That said, I think what makes our products stand out is the fact that they are vibrant and crunchy, giving that feeling of “freshness.” Over the past ten years, we have built our brand organically and with lots of love—literally with blood, sweat, tears, and support from our community and families. I think that shines through the product in a way. We make our food for the people and love to offer a delicious and healing product. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Can you tell us more about the farmers you work with?

The vegetables that go into our ferments are sourced from regional, organic farms. This means we process in line with the harvest season. We have about four farmers we set up contracts with, and they grow specifically for us. This gives both us and the farmers security around growing and sourcing. MX Morningstar Farm (Hudson, NY) and Whistle Down Farm (Hudson, NY) grow the bulk of our daikon radish. Atlas Farm (Deerfield, MA) and Markristo Farm (Hillsdale, NY) grow most of our napa, red and green cabbage, carrots, and onions. Then we have an array of farmers who will call us up (or vice versa) if they have a bumper crop of something we use or if one of our farmers has an issue with a crop. Luckily we have many talented farmers to call on to supply us.

What is your favorite part of making ferments?

Capturing the harvest! When we receive pallet bins of freshly harvested cabbage and turn it into a bunch of kraut that same day, that is very satisfying! 

What is one of your favorite recipes you make with your ferments?

I love pairing the ferments with so many foods at all mealtimes. Simple ways like curry kraut or kimchi on an egg sandwich are classic. I also really like our crimson kraut on middle eastern foods like falafel or hummus plates—the crunchy, sour veggies complement the savory falafel flavors very nicely. 

Why is buying and selling locally and the local food movement important to you?

I believe buying and selling locally is going to become more important over the next few years. Between climate change and supply chain disruptions, what we can grow or produce in our region and work in collaboration to distribute to communities is going to be (needs to be!) commonplace. As a business, our model has been to process regionally grown ingredients into locally made products and sell them within our region, and we plan to keep it that way. We don't plan to go national anytime soon (though, to be transparent, we do ship from our online shop across the US, but 80% of our sales are in the Northeast and New England). There are veg ferment companies our size doing the same thing in California, Florida, and Colorado, so we figure: keep it local!

How does working with Food Connects help your business/what are you excited about in this partnership?

There are distributors who are all business, and then there is Food Connects. Working with Food Connects feels more like a partnership and less transactional than some of the larger distributors we work with. We feel like we can call up Food Connects with a question in relation to our distribution or to talk about a challenge we might be facing, which allows each of us to understand each other more holistically. We value these human connections and feel that the future will be better with more understanding and collaboration within like-minded businesses, which I hope will ripple out into our communities for the better.

Any events coming up or fun facts about your business/products?

We attend our local Great Barrington Farmers’ Market each season, so we’ll be there on Saturdays from May to November. It’s a great farmers' market and a good reason to visit the Berkshires! Many festivals are coming back this year, and we hope to be at the Bennington, Vermont May Fest on Memorial Day weekend. Fun fact: we used to head up The Berkshire Ferment Festival, a lively one-day festival in the fall featuring an array of fermented food vendors, workshops on all things cultured, music, and more food. It was a super popular event we are considering bringing back this year. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or signup for our newsletter to be in the know about all things happening with Hosta Hill!

Producer Spotlight: Winter Moon Roots

It’s root season and that means Winter Moon Roots’ operation is in full swing. Based out of Hadley, MA, Winter Moon Roots specializes in just that—winter roots. These hearty and often sweet vegetables store well throughout the cold winter months and provide a much-needed pop of color (and source of vitamins) when the days are short and dreary. We were able to talk with the Winter Moon Roots team to learn more about this longstanding and environmentally focused farm.

Can you share some of the history of Winter Moon Roots and how it started? And what inspired you to start farming?

Michael Docter started Winter Moon Roots almost 15 years ago with the goal of providing premium quality local Organic roots while minimizing their carbon footprint. We built a storage facility designed to use winter nighttime temperatures to cool the crop instead of energy-intensive refrigeration. Michael and his buddy Merve Brussard have consistently delivered over 20,000 lbs of roots every year by bicycle (sorry they don't bike to VT!)

Rosendo Santizo began working for Winter Moon Roots in 2009, harvesting, washing, and packing roots, and slowly taking over production responsibilities. Originally from Guatemala, Rosendo had worked on many farms throughout his life and was happy to put down roots (no pun intended!) at Winter Moon. Within the next year, the ownership of Winter Moon will transfer to Rosendo and his wife Genevieve, who are excited to continue providing roots to Winter Moon customers.

What makes your produce unique?
Winter Moon root vegetables are super sweet and super fresh. We harvest all of our roots as late as possible in the season, in November, right up until the ground freezes. These cold temperatures allow for sugars to accumulate in the roots, giving them amazing flavor. We choose our varieties carefully for flavor, and also take great pride in caring for our amazing Hadley loam soil, which supports our Certified-Organic production. Our roots are stored dirty and washed up to order, which keeps them fresh all winter long. Roots are our specialty - we don't grow any other crops - so we are able to give our roots the time and attention needed to produce high-quality harvests.

Environmental sustainability is also a driving mission of Winter Moon Roots. Our storage facility uses cold winter air to keep our roots cool, and solar panels on our storage barn offset any electricity we do use. Michael also delivers to our local customers by bike, pulling up to 1000 lbs of roots on a bike trailer throughout Hadley—see photo!

What is one of your favorite vegetables you grow?

It's hard to choose just one! Our carrots are really special—they are nothing like a grocery store carrot from California. They are sweet from the cold fall temperatures, thin-skinned so you don't have to peel them, and even the largest carrots remain tender. You may find some unique shapes in our bags of carrots—intertwined or branched roots. We focus on flavor and our customers have grown to love a few unique shapes in combination with the premium flavor of our carrots.

One of our other favorites is our purple starburst radish. This is the radish for people who don't like radishes. It has beautiful purple skin and a striking flash of purple inside. It's super mild, very juicy, and crunchy, with a little sweetness. They're a staple in the fridges of many of our customers— they're great sliced up and drizzled with lime juice and salt for an appetizer or snack, they make great toppings for tacos or other savory dishes, and of course, they're perfect for salads or dipping.

Do you have any recipes you recommend for your produce?

Often, we find that complicated recipes aren't necessary to produce tasty dishes with our roots. Some of our favorite ways to prepare our roots are:

• Parsnips sliced thin and sauteed on medium heat in butter + a little oil until tender and golden. This is great with our fall parsnips but even better with our spring-dug parsnips, which remain in the ground all winter and are unbelievably sweet when we harvest them in March. No joke, they taste like fried plantains when fried in butter!

• Starburst salad (see photo!): Chop into 1-cm-square pieces: starburst radish, tomato, avocado. Mix, and add finely chopped onion and cilantro, fresh lime juice, and salt to taste. The colors and fresh flavor in the midst of a gray winter are invigorating!

• Root vegetable tacos: The key to a great setup of tacos is to get all of your ingredients prepped, heated, and ready to go. Then heat corn tortillas on a hot skillet - top with any combination of cheese, beans, roasted root vegetables (carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, turnip - anything is great!), grated fresh carrot or radish, salsa, cilantro, sour cream.

Why is buying and selling locally and the local food movement is important to you?

Food is a central part of everyone's lives and it brings folks together. COVID opened many people's eyes to weak points in our national and global food distribution system, and we are really proud to be part of the local food system that works to provide the Northeast with fresh, Organic produce all winter long. Buying local means supporting individuals - farm owners and farm workers—in your community, and that support makes real, substantial differences in the lives of small farm owners. And, if you taste one of our carrots compared to one shipped from California...you'll never go back!

How does working with Food Connects help your business/what are you excited about in this partnership?

We've been so happy to work with Food Connects over the last year. We share a common goal - to increase access to local, healthy, delicious food throughout the Northeast. Food Connects has helped us efficiently reach customers that we can't deliver directly to, and we're excited to expand those markets and get more local, Organic produce to more people through our relationship with Food Connects.

Any events coming up or fun facts about your business/products?

The big next step for Winter Moon within the next year is the transition of ownership from Michael Docter, who started the farm, to Rosendo Santizo, who has worked at Winter Moon since 2009. Rosendo and his wife Genevieve are excited to carry Winter Moon into its next chapter and to continue growing and distributing roots to all of of you!

Anything else you would like me to feature? Anything that you are doing to respond to the COVID-19 crisis?

We had a great harvest in fall 2020, and we were proud to be able to donate around 20,000 lbs of roots to the Greater Boston Food Banks as well as several non-profit, food access organizations throughout MA. The 2021 growing season was more difficult with the persistent rains, but we were still able to make sizable donations to the Food Banks and other non-profits and we are proud to continue working with them in future years as well.

Producer Spotlight: Queen's Greens

Matt & Danya in a field of greens!

If you are looking for high-quality, beautiful local produce that is packed with flavor, look no further than Queen’s Greens. Located in Amherst, MA, Queen’s Green grows certified organic greens and root vegetables that you will definitely want on your plate at the next family gathering. Owners and founders, Danya Teitelbaum and Matt Biskup employ a small team of farmers and sell their products to restaurants, retailers, and universities in the region.

Their main specialty is soil-grown baby greens. In the summer their greens are grown outdoors and are full of flavor and terroir. In the winter they grow spinach in the soil in unheated high tunnels. The spinach freezes every night which makes it exceptionally sweet. Not only are their greens packed with delicious flavors, but their rainbow of root vegetables are sweet, flavorful, and packed with nutrition. 

Packed Gemstone Salad Mix, courtesy of @queensgreensfarm on Instagram.

“This time of year we love a classic spinach, roasted beet and goat cheese salad with our beets and spinach” exclaim Danya and Matt. We recommended adding some maple-sweetened and roasted walnuts to top off this delicious meal. You simply have to try it!

And it should come as no suprise that the local food movement is incredibly important to them.

“When you buy a case of spinach or a case of carrots from us that money stays in your community. Those dollars directly keep a family farm in business, keep a small business running, pay employees who are also all members of this community, pay local truckers, contractors, plumbers, trash collectors, accountants, and mechanics, pay local property taxes, and keeps land in agriculture. In short buying locally grown food keeps money and useful land in your community. Also, local food always tastes better!”

So why don’t you give Queen’s Greens a try next time you a looking for a delicious new local product? ”We love that Food Connects gets Queen's Greens into many meals in Vermont!” And we love their products!

Producer Spotlight: Mycoterra Farm

It’s time to meet one of our newest producers—Mycoterra Farm! Founded by Julia Coffey, Mycoterra Farm is a mushroom farm in South Deerfield, MA. All of their mushrooms are handcrafted in small batches and picked fresh for delivery. And boy, are they delicious!

Something really unique about Mycoterra Farm is that they are a woman-owned and women-run operation. They are also Certified Organic and operate at a unique mid-level scale. “We produce year round indoors in small batches” says Julia. “We also maintain our own culture library and produce all of our own spawn in house.“

With all the different varieties to grow, it is hard for us to pick a favorite. “I absolutely adore shiitake. While we grow more ‘exotic’ species, shiitake are our most popular product for a reason. They are known for their umami taste, they act as a natural flavor enhancer for any dish.”

Producing great food is important to what Julia does at Mycoterra Farm but her work goes beyond that. “We farm to feed people. We feel like it makes sense to start at home and to extend outwards into the community. It’s important to have connections with you neighbors, community, farmers, customers. We thrive on being anchored in an abundant and fruitful local web.“

“Food Connects is vibrant and up and coming with a ton of potential. We are thrilled for the new reach and connections our relationship will build.” And we are excited to work with Mycoterra! Food Connects is fortunate to have such a great local food champion in our family.