Winning Ontario Supplier of the Year in 2002 and Canada Supplier of the Year in 2007 were of course extraordinary honours.Being selected as a Local Foods Finalist for the 2010 Green Toronto Awards was another great honour.We always do our best to research, carry-out, and share the most beneficial ecological agriculture practices.We are primarily looking for the best ways to:
·incorporate organic matter into our soil,
·reduce working the soil with tractors,
·minimize the need for irrigation yet maximize the best flavours,
·obtain fertility from natural biological activity.
Hearing all the innovative ways the finalists are enhancing Toronto and adding to a greener world, made it clear that the judges had no easy choices.Debbie Field of FoodShare Toronto was the well deserved Local Foods winner.To learn more about other winners, look at this City of Toronto News Release.
Since 1988, Cookstown Greens has been demonstrating to farmers, top chefs and consumers that providing high-quality local food year-round can be profitable. Founder David Cohlmeyer, a leader on the food scene since 1983, shares his knowledge widely through magazines, e-newsletters, seminars and farm tours. Constantly improving practices, he helps other farmers, gardeners and would-be producers tap into Toronto’s growing interest in ecological local foods.
Many of our chefs receive Recognition
For the past 7 years, everyone’s favourite cheese shop selects 10 acclaimed chefs to present cooking demonstrations.They are also given a White Toque Trophy (and this year they also received a camel hair jacket courtesy of the Toronto Zoo.)Learn more about Cheese Boutique's 2010 Festival of Chefs.
Sent: April 18, 2010
A Perfect Storm?
The summer of ’08 was the wettest on record.Fortunately we were able to pull in a full harvest of storage root vegetables, but the sudden recession meant that for the first time we failed to sell the entire crop.So cash for the summer of ‘09 started a little low.Then Cookstown Greens suffered from yet another wettest summer on record.This time our summer harvest was down 20% and the fall root vegetable harvest was down a whopping 30% from expected.Though demand last winter rose to a record high level, we did not have sufficient inventory to improve cash flow.So available cash for the summer of ‘10 is starting uncomfortably low.To make matters worse, our refrigerated delivery van recently died.
But the most frustrating turn of events is that both the federal and provincial government supports have been nearly eliminated.No one likes talking about this, but in the early 90’s, the Mulroney government saw to it that Canadian farmers would receive annual supports amounting to about 10% of gross sales.This was to help even the NAFTA playing field with the generous U.S. support programs.This program continued until 2004.By 2008 only 1.5% total support remained, (and this has not yet even been paid!)Most farmers welcome elimination of supports; but it is totally unfair for us to be expected to compete with overly generous supports which remain unchanged in the countries we import from.
To help us weather this storm, we ask that you do what you can to choose to use what we do have available at this rather sparse time of year.Seedlings would be great!(For pictures please look at our Seedling Webpage.)How about Purple Basil with a special chocolate dessert?Burgundy Radish looks great on appetisers, soups, salads and entrees.For a great garnishing salad, ask for a sample of Mixed Seedlings.Another way you can help is by working our signature Baby Salad Greens into your menus – either as a garnishing salad or as an impressive small salad.We are now taking advantage of the mild spring weather by getting early starts of Baby Fennel Bulbs, Sugar Snap Peas, Shelling Peas, and Baby Leeks.Fiddleheads, Wild Leeks and Asparagus should be ready any day now.
Sarah Elton’s new book discusses the issues our farmers face.
Locavore is a good read
Sarah’s new book is a little Toronto-centric, but that is a good thing for this audience.She asks (and answers) the questions I keep hearing from chefs, farmers’ market customers, and the media.There is even a page about Cookstown Greens’ greenhouses.Please read
Last week there was no E-newsletter because I took the opportunity to go down to Mexico where my daughter Emma is working in Colima.It is quite interesting that the country has transformed itself from a poor net food importer when I was last there 40 years ago; to now supplying nearly all its own food needs.This has certainly contributed to the Peso doubling in value over the past 40 years.Eventually, local foods benefits just about everyone; and everyone there seemed to be so very happy.
Seedlings (a.k.a. Micro-Greens)
We first started growing Seedlings for chefs in 1988.I first saw them being grown at the Hippocrates Health Institutein Boston.They served them as a healthy raw food; but they tasted so good many high-end chefs quickly adopted them.I knew of no one else growing them for critically acclaimed restaurants.Our first customer was Patrick Allegeude, then Executive Chef at Toronto’s Park Plaza II.He knew Seedlings well, because as a small boy just prior to World War II he had helped his father grow and deliver them to the leading Paris restaurants!It was not until the mid-nineties that they started appearing in American restaurants under the Micro-Greens moniker.
Their quick cash turnover (10-20 days) was key to getting us started in business.The following year these Seedlings allowed us begin growing and selling Baby Salad Greens (which have a cash turnover of 6-10 weeks).After a couple years of this, we could finally afford to provide some root vegetables (which have a cash turnover of 9-12 months).Theoretically, restaurants have a cash turnover of 1 day, but when slow in paying it is actually negative days!
We are still using the same soil for growing our seedlings are we started with over 20 years ago.It just keeps gaining more and more fertility and biological activity; and no valuable soil has been dumped into landfills.Kelly starts buy sifting the soil into growing trays.She sprinkles in new seeds and waters them well.Then she covers them with either more soil or peatmoss.Kelly moves the trays into warm and dark germinating racks for a few days.When the new plants are just the right height, she moves the trays into sunlight to finish growing for several more days.The day prior to delivery, they should be just the right height for harvest.They are then carefully cut with sharp scissors, washed, inspected, dried, chilled and bagged.We back them for a one week shelf-life; but chefs regularly tell us a two-week shelf-life is common. Check CookstownGreens.com Seedlings for more details and pictures.
Kelly proudly grows seedlings in real soil in a sunny greenhouse.
CFRA survey of Canadian Chefs
Close to 400 professional chefs participated in the survey.Local, Sustainable, Organic, Artisanal, Simple, and Nutritious lead the list.Read the full report in Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association.This is nice to know, but I fear that many of these chefs do not understand how difficult and expensive filling this demand will be.Another article has chefs, distributors and a farmer discussing their take on meeting this sudden demand.Read this article in Foodservice World.Of course most of these demands can eventually be met.But I pray that everyone has the patience and energy to actually make this happen.Mexico did it.As long as guests don’t get discouraged, and powerful companies don’t block the way; Canadian Hospitality will win.
Congratulations!!!
Gail Gordon Oliver and Edible Toronto Magazine have just been honoured with a nomination for the World’s Best Food Magazine!WOW.Win or not, being on the short list is reason enough to pat ourselves on the back for creating and telling our Toronto food stories.Read the full list of nominees.This might be a sign that the world may be looking to Toronto as a food destination; let’s all work together to make sure we have the ingredients and the stories to make this really happen.
Sent April
27, 2009
Slow Food Toronto has been very busy lately. Last week a number of Slow chefs and farmers participated in the Green Living Show’s Farm Fresh Fare. It was great to be strengthening the link between Slow Food and Green Living. On Friday, May 1, Toronto is welcoming the founder of Slow Food International, Carlo Petrini, with a “Do It Slow Banchetto” being held at Hart House. This “Slow Feast” will be prepared by a consortium of Cookstown Green’s most supportive Slow Food chefs – Jeff Crump, Mark Cutara, Jonathon Gushue, David Chrystian, Mike Steh, Anthony Walsh, Anthony Rose, Ted Corrado, Anne Yarymowich, and Scott Vivian. Please read more details and order your tickets clickDo It Slow Banchetto.
Slow Food chefs getting ready (The Globe and Mail)
Carlo Petrini has not only transformed the way the world thinks about food, he clearly has the ear of many world leaders. So to hear more of his experiences and insights, there is another event on Saturday, May 2 at the Al Green Theatre. Petrini will be presented with the 2008 Planet in Focus (the film festival) International Eco Hero Award. Please read more then reserve your tickets at Planet in Focus.
To carry on with the award theme, the Ontario Hostelry Institute presented top awards on April 16 to many who have been an important help to the development of Cookstown Greens: Anita Stewart, Martin Kouprie and Peter Geary, Anne Yarymowich, Rose Murray, Arlene Stein, Gail Gordon Oliver, Claudio Aprile, Anthony Rose, Ruth Klahsen, and Pamela Cuthbert. Then on April 21 the award winning Cheese Boutique also awarded many of our most supportive chefs (some are proudly repeated) Anthony Walsh, Anne Yarymowich, John Higgins, Ryan Gufstason, Robert Bartley, Mike Steh, and Jonathon Gushue. Thank you, thank you, to all!
Sent: April 20, 2009
There is one rule we must remember each spring: If it is muddy enough to require boots, we do not belong in the fields. We always wish for a warm dry taste of spring in March in order to get an early start (such as we did last year). The usual April blizzard is not a problem. But this year it did not become dry enough until last week. Nevertheless in March (to speed up the process), we spread out and anchored “retired” sheets of greenhouse plastic where we wanted to seed this year’s earliest crops. With the ground pre-warmed and dried, last week we were finally able to seed Lettuces, Mustards, Asian Greens, and Arugulas. This weekend we put in seeds for the first White Turnips, Red Icicle Radishes, Breakfast Radishes, Sugar Snap Peas, Purple Snow Peas, and Shelling Peas. As soon as the wind calms down enough, we can pull the plastic back over the newly seeded beds to maintain enough warmth for everything to germinate quickly. Next week, the soil under the root vegetable beds should be warm enough to start the first new Beets and Carrots. In two weeks it should be warm enough for all the plastic to come off. Then we will roll it up for use again next spring.
Dave seeding the first turnips, radishes and peas of the year.
The first tender and sweet wild Dandelion Leaves are nearly ready for harvest. However, it is still difficult to guess when the first Welsh Onions, Fiddleheads, Green and WhiteAsparagus, Wild Leeks and Tulip Chives will be ready, but early May seems to be the current “best guess”. Watch this weekly E-NewsLetterto keep up with the latest. Your customers will not want to miss any Spring delicacies.
Sent: April 13, 2009
It was only a couple of weeks ago that the huge brouhaha over the new House of Representatives Bill 875 exploded. Last week I Googled “HR 875” and received over 4 million hits. One of the more level headed responses is at Sustainable Farmer. For other sensible details, you can follow their links to articles by Food & Water Watch and to Slow Food USA. This bill is really meant to be about “safer” food. But you can clearly see that millions of food-lovers continue to fear that government and big-business will harm local and small-scale farming.
“Improving Water Quality” at our headwaters with fences
The bridge beside our irrigation intake 4km downstream
One of my first reasons to get E-mail was to receive timely notification (and follow-up) of food safety issues. The cause of every single farm-related disasters I have followed up on has been severely contaminated irrigation water. Each of these disaster farm’s irrigation intake was directly downstream from a huge dairy or beef operation. Duh, of course there was a problem.
The Cookstown Greens’ headwaters for our irrigation water is only 4km away. So it is easy for us to monitor that the one small cattle operation upstream from us remains a good steward. We test this water during the summer months and find it actually remains “potable”. But just in case there is a problem we take care to irrigate leafy greens a few sunny days prior to harvest. (The sun’s UV light is a great sterilizer.)
For further safety we wash these greens in at least 3 baths of fresh filtered and UV sterilized deep well water. We test this water specifically for E.coli 0157:H7, Salmonella enteritidis,, and Listeria monocytoenes but have never had an issue with any of these pathogens. We appreciate the support you provide us.
Sent: April 6, 2009
While taking an alternative nutrition course in Boston I first encountered ready-to-harvest tiny seedlings at Ann Wigmore’s Hippocrates Health Institute. They tasted great! To augment cash flow in 1988, at my new Specialty Vegetable Farm, I decided to give these quick growing gems a try. I happened to mention this to my friend, Chef Patrick Alleguede who immediately put my trials onto the Hotel Plaza II menu. He was so eager because his father had grown and delivered these to premier Paris restaurants prior to WWII. This was Patrick’s introduction to the world of chefs. Sadly, his father died during the war. But Patrick says we grow them exactly as he remembers his father did back in the 30’s.
Composting seedling soil
Seedlings growing in sunlight
Sprinkling of Seedling Salad
We have been composting the same soil since we started with back in the ‘88. We continue using this valuable resource (keeping it out of landfills) and also keeping dirt away from your sanitary kitchens. There has never been any need to add fertility because the roots and seed hulls naturally nourish this soil. After planting organic seeds in it, we grow the seedlings under sunlight for superior flavour and shelf-life. We harvest, clean, remove culls,dry, pre-chill, then package them ready-to-use.
We prefer to call them “seedlings” because that is what they are. Some call them “micro-greens” which infers that it is a millionth of the normal size (but they are of course much larger than this). Some call them “cress”, but this refers to one family of piquant plants within the brassica group. Call them what you will, but make generous use of these little morsels for their fresh flavour and their aesthetic use as a garnish.
We have run out of those wonderful Titan Leeks. So far, it looks as though some of the smaller ones we left outside through the winter have survived for delicious tender spring leeks. We will let you know when (and if) they are ready. Again, please remind your menu planners not to rush into the new season before it has actually begun. For local reliability, you’ll have to wait until May before counting on anything spring-like. Your customers will appreciate waiting for the real thing.
Jeff Crump, chef at Ancaster Old Mill, is sponsoring a local celebration of Canada’s Slow Food contributions to the Ark of Taste. For more information about this May 3rd event, take a look at Sunday Supper. Might this be the first of many such events this summer?
A Taste of Spring
From Our Spring Greenhouses
Baby Salad Greens continue to be our main spring greenhouse crop.With longer days and more sunshine, colours and flavours and textures are becoming evermore intense.You may even consider serving the salad with no dressing (or at least with a little dressing in a small side-bowl).
Our new Seedling Salad provides a delicious alternative to leafy salads.A little can go a very long way.Alternatively, all our seedlings remain available as single varieties.
Now that the sun has some heat, our Edible Flower Mix (with viola, bachelor button, gem marigold, phlox, dianthus, and borage blossoms) are blooming prolifically. Edible Flower Petals. are a labour-saving way to enjoy the delicate presentation flowers can bring. What happier garnish for Spring presentations is there?Also consider our Mixed Garnishing Leaves which are a blend of attractive and luscious herbs.Fava Bean Leaves have lovely tender, buttery fava flavour which is a great spring addition to salads or cooked into sauces.Nasturium Leaves have a great black peppery flavour which makes a fine alternative to ubiquitous watercress.White and green variegated leaves look totally stunning.
Now coming from the Greenhouses are springtime French Breakfast Radishes.Of course you don’t have to limit yourself to enjoying these gems only for breakfast.They look oh so elegant when presented with their fresh green leaves attached.Easter Egg Radishes are not intricately painted, but the small orbs do come in an assortment of pastel pinks and purples along with various hues of red and white.Baby White Turnips with delightfully delectable spring-time green leaves are now at their springtime best.Fresh Red Icicle Radishes will be returning soon.
From Our Winter Root Cellar
We apologize for running out of some of our winter storage root vegetables a little early this year.Please check the (MONTH) beside each root on our Now Available list before you put items on your menus.Or better yet, give us a call for our most up-to-date guesstimate.
White Carrots make a very attractive contrast with other carrots in your presentations.Yellow Carrots are another fine variation of our heritage carrots that can also be used for its colour contrast. Parsley Roots are the carrots’ close cousin.Use them in much the same way.But I like their luscious flavour best in soups and sauces.For an extra special flavour note consider incorporating some celery-likeLovage Stalks.
Candy Cane Beets look beautiful and taste great pickled in a marinade.You can quickly cook them to maintain their unique red and white stripes; or cook them longer for a handsome light red colour.Red Cylinder Beets can be cut length-wise for mysterious deep red strips; or quickly cut cross-wise into even slices.
Green Flesh and Black Icicle Radishes are two stunning accompaniments in colourful winter salads, gorgeous garnishes, quick pickles, or amazing grilled vegetables.
Waxy and luscious Fingerling Potatoes are deservedly our most popular waxy potato.They are exceptional in spring and summer potato salads.Starchy Ratte Potatoes are ready to absorb rich sauces and drippings.Ask for large ones to prepare classic mashed potatoes.Stunning and luscious Black Fingerling Potatoes maintain their colour and texture.Include a few in you potato salads and maybe consider them as a garnish a la truffle.Blue Potatoes are pale blue when freshly cooked; then turn a stunning royal blue after a few hours in the fridge.
Fuseau Artichokes are not cousins of potatoes, but you can use them in many of the same preparations.These smooth skinned beauties are very easy to clean and peel.Being free of knobs makes them easy to slice for luscious chips.You may order small ones which work best for roasting whole.Crosnes (Baby Artichokes) are stunning little morsels which are more a garnish than a vegetable.Serve them raw or quickly sauteed.
Anticipate Spring
Delicacies from Our Root Cellar
It may be spring in our greenhouses, but as far as the garden is concerned, winter is really still here! Now is still a good time to savor some of the elegant roots of winter: White Salsify has a refined oyster-like muskiness so beloved by French diners it is often served on a plate of its own. Leeks are usually a base ingredient. But our Long White Leeks (Titan) are so rich and creamy they also can be served alone. (We take great care in hilling them so you can be assured there will be no dirt inside – opening up the opportunity to serve them in full ring slices!) Another delicious delicacy that easily stands on its own is Parsley Root. Think “white carrots”. The tiny spirals of Crosnes make an absolutely charming garnishing vegetable. (But they also have a nutty artichoke flavour completely belying their origins in the mint family). A little known root, (likely because it is so tricky to grow) is the Tuberous Chervil Root. Its delicate licorice notes are superb as a puree. To lower your labour costs, make generous use of our large and easy to clean, peel and slice (i.e. knob-free) Jerusalem Artichokes. And don’t forget our true Turnips – another great delicacy (when not overcooked). To assist with your presentations we have them in Red, Amber and White. For a bit of spice Red Valentine Radishes, Green Flesh Radishes, Black Icicle Radishes and Red Icicle Radishes are all lovely accompaniments in colourful winter salads, stunning garnishes, quick pickles, or amazing grilled vegetables. For drama, our whit
