A Look Inside a Modern Combine Harvester
Farmers across the country (and increasingly the world) rely upon technology as an integral part of their day to day farming operations. In The Dalles, Oregon, fifth generation farmer David Brewer shows us the insides of his John Deere combine harvester, a self-propelled thresher machine that separates the straw (chafe) from the grain. The soft white winter wheat grain is used primarily in pastries and crackers.
How to Make a Galette
Veteran pastry chef Mary O’Rourke of The Waffle Window in Portland, Ore., shows us how to make a rustic tart (also known as a galette) with fresh pears and figs. The recipe is here.
Wheat Harvest
The day we visited David Brewer of Emerson Dell Farm in late July, he was nearing the end of his wheat harvest on about 1200 acres of dry-land crop. Brewer’s soft white winter wheat is low in gluten protein, and most of it is shipped to overseas markets used to make pastries and crackers. Read the full post for Wheat Harvest.
Next Week: Food Buyers Club
- Tuesday
Chilled Squash Soup and Lamb-Stuffed Squash Fall season brings a multitude of summer squash to the garden and the market. Chef Donald Kotler, of restaurant TOAST, shares two tasty dishes that use both zucchini and yellow squash. The first is Chilled Squash Soup and for the second he brings out the electric power tools to make Lamb Stuffed Squash. - Wednesday
Food Buyers Club
It began with a small parenting group for expectant mothers, and in just a few short years, expanded into a 900-member food buyer’s club, with hundreds of fresh (sustainable and organic) foods available from local farmers, and specialty food distributors. Next week, we meet Rebecca Anderssen, the founder and driving force behind her enterprise, and find out more about her Know Thy Food buyer’s club, and the adjoining cafe she also started, to one day help support her food warehouse operation. - Thursday
Food Wisdoms
As food buying clubs grow in popularity in larger cities across the country, we ask some club members why they choose to shop this way, and what are the real benefits they experience compared to shopping at the supermarket?
The Weekly Roundup
- Processing wheat flour locally (Cooking Up a Story) The story of what happened when wheat farmers decided to make their own flour — which is an extremely rare thing to do.
- I want to be a farmer (Joshua Metcalfe) A 21-year-old British man muses on what it means to decide to pursue agriculture.
- The straight poop on sustainable farming (Peak Moment TV) Interview with Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms
- My farm roots: From pastime to passion (Harvest Public Media)
Young Nebraska farmer planned to go to medical school. Things don’t always go as planned. - Breakfast Popsicles (Janice Novkam)
Frozen yogurt with fruit, drizzled with honey and dipped in granola. Of course. - Hate cilantro? It might be in your genes (NPR)
Some people think cilantro takes like soap. There might be a good reason for that. - Pressing apple cider (Cooking Up a Story) Video on how the fall favorite is made.
- Make your own Worcestershire sauce (Blue Kale Road)
Easy. Yummy. You should do this. - Choicelunch founder on why new USDA standards will make school lunches worse (Beyond Chron)
“School food is at a place right now where it is so difficult and cumbersome to cook from scratch that the processed food manufacturers are going to have a field day with it.” - At the Honolulu Fish Auction, it’s like Storage Wars but with tuna (Food Republic)
- Growing ginger indoors, in containers (LilFrugalGardener)
- Against Apple Picking: Why U-Pick orchards are a wasteful scam (Slate)
Our Facebook friends thought the author of this article was a dastardly person. You read, you decide, and let us know what you think on our Facebook page. - What happens when a chef puts his email on the menu? (Food Republic)
Diners start emailing him. While they’re eating. And while he’s cooking. He says that’s a good thing. - White House Garden Tours (Obama Foodarama)
In October, free tickets will be distributed for a tour of the flower and kitchen gardens. - Why my CSA is run by geniuses (Homegrown)
Because they were smart enough to make samples of the recipe they included in the box, so you could try it when you picked up your food. - Nature outsmarts Monsanto (Treehugger)
Pests develop resistance to GM corn.
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