People may think farmers prop their stockinged feet up by the woodstove in winter, enjoying novels or video games and big bowls of potato chips all day, with nothing to do while it's cold and wet outside. After all, you can't plow mud, and tomatoes don't grow on cold, cloudy days.
Well, actually tomatoes do grow in winter, but not outside. Farmers and hyper-gardeners have myriad starts under grow-lights in warm spaces or on heated mats already.
Winter is when farmers are prepping for early planting. They know they've got to have your favorite summer produce--things you might well grow in your own garden--ready when your taste-buds crave them fresh and you just have to have the first local zucchini or tomato - you simply can't wait 'til yours are ready. By late summer when you're sated and are sneaking them on neighbors' porches, they're not gonna' be selling many. And especially if everyone is getting them free from gardening neighbors.
This is also the time of year that farmers gather with their cohorts at conferences 'cuz they sure can't do it in any other season. Their families barely see them the rest of the year, unless they're working the fields too, which most probably are. One spouse often has a job in town, though.
Speaking of spouses. When you hear the word farmer, you probably think of a guy, no? Me, too, more often than not, I confess, even though I know numerous women who farm, either on their own, or as part of a family farm. The latest issue of Oregon Tilth magazine, In Good Tilth, is devoted to women farmers and food leaders - and not just locally. I highly recommend finding a copy (in Corvallis at First Alternative Co-ops, by the produce section. It's free!), or you can read it online.
A Novel Idea
A decade ago, a group of folks from non-profits that dealt with food recognized the difficulty of food producers and food consumers making critical contact, especially as the local food movement was gaining traction. So, they organized a gathering where farmers, orchardists, ranchers, processors, grocers, restaurants, schools and others could meet, share concerns and ideas, and exchange business cards. They named it the Local Food Connection. Not every farm or food producer had a website back then, nor were search engines all that efficient. The idea worked and has grown. Each year, about half the folks attending are there for the first time. It's inspiring to see young people connecting not just with potential customers, but to meet mentors in their own fields (no pun intended).
One of the highlights is the always-amazing lunch. Ingredients are generously provided by food producers attending and the Lane Community College's culinary arts students prepare an awesome lunch. Even the continental breakfast was excellent: blueberry coffee cake made with local grains and berries, locally-crafted herbal teas, smoothies, keifer, milks, granola, yogurt, hummus, nuts, dried fruit, etc. It's a world away from typical conference fare of glazed donuts and coffee with artificial creamers. (Bleh!)
While I learned a lot at the workshop featuring chefs with their own farms supplying ingredients (Excelsior Inn & Ristorante of Eugene, .Gathering Together Farm, Philomath, and Agrarian Ales, Coburg), I had a most interesting conversation with a fellow from SnoTemp, a local company that stores and ships so many of the local and regional products that end up at my local food co-op, grocery stores and restaurants. I really hadn't thought much about where businesses stored their foods off season or how they keep them at the best temperatures, be it frozen, cool or warm and dry. "But what happens if the power goes off?" I asked. The manager I talked with said they would be fine for several days if doors weren't opened much because the building is so well-insulated. Interesting!
Seeds of Security
Monday was spent with farmers and buyers. Friday and Saturday will be spent learning about and from the folks who, literally, are at the very source of it all: seeds. We are truly blessed to have some of the best seed professionals in the world right here in "Cascadia" (northern California to southern British Columbia, Idaho and parts of Montana. Even right here in the Willamette Valley. Stay tuned.
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