BROOKFIELD MARKET DAY SET FOR AUGUST 28th

On Saturday, August 28^th, the Floating Bridge Food and Farms Cooperative will hold their first official event, Brookfield Market Day: Celebrating the Bounty of the Brookfield Community at the Old Town Hall in historic Pond Village. The newly-formed Cooperative includes local farms, small producers of agricultural products, a fine-dining restaurant, a natural foods retreat and several small lodging choices around Brookfield, Randolph Center and Northfield.

Brookfield Market Day is a joint venture between the Cooperative and the Brookfield Old Town Hall. From 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. a Farmers’ Market will showcase the Coop’s products in the Old Town Hall. Visitors can also walk down the street to view an Art Show or attend cooking classes by cookbook author Jane Doerfer. Also in the village will be a Silent Auction, wagon rides, face painting, live music and the Library Book Sale.

At 5:00, the Coop will host a Family Barbecue of locally produced food and, of course, Ariel’s Restaurant will be open for dinner 5:30 – 9:00 p.m.

Finally, at 7 p.m., the Old Town Hall will host square dancing, with caller Jennifer Steckler and the band “Her Majesty’s Streak o’Lean.” Dancers of all abilities are welcome.

Members of the Floating Bridge Food and Farms Cooperative include ALL Together Farm, Ariel’s Restaurant, Brookfield Bed and Breakfast, Brookfield Bees, Brotherly Farm, Buck’s Wagon Rides, Fat Toad Farm, Fern Hill, Green Mountain Girls, Green Trails Inn, Rough Terrain Farm, Sweet Retreat, Sweet Roots Farm, Twin Pond Retreat, and Turkey Hill Farm.

While there is no admission charge for the Farmers’ Market and many of the day’s events, a $10 charge for the barbecue dinner ($5 for children) will be used to help cover food costs. Also, the $5 square dance admission will benefit the “Potty Time” fund-raiser to bring composting toilets to the Old Town Hall. Proceeds from the Silent Auction will also be donated to the Old Town Hall.

For information about the Floating Bridge Food and Farms Cooperative, contact Judith Irving, Coop Board Chair, 802-276-0787 or visit the web site www.FloatingBridgeFoodandFarms.com for more details.

For information about the Brookfield Old Town Hall, email brookfieldOTH@gmail.com.

It’s been hard to find the time to be inside long enough to sit down and write a bit about the events at the farm. We are in full harvest season already and every moment not spent with the goats or in the production room is spent in the gardening picking bushels of peas and freezing them or pulling out the incessant weeds. The strawberry season has come and gone in a flash, not even enough time to make strawberry shortcake, and now we are picking blueberries for at least a few hours a day.

This year we got a little bored with the quarts and quarts of frozen blueberries in the winter so I decided to take some of our excess kale and juice it with the blueberries and honey to freeze and take out in the middle of a snowstorm for some immune support! We’ll see how that goes… When it’s not unbearably hot out the goats are enjoying themselves on their new pasture. Tons of clover and quite a nice view in the valley, which they told me they truly appreciate. A new intern, named Eric, has arrived and has helped us get our lives back to normal after a few incredibly intense and sometimes unbearably stressful months while Steve has been out of commission with his broken leg. Now we are all taking a deep breath, enjoying wonderfully abundant harvest meals at night together and even finding time for a blog.

New Goat House = Peaceful Herd

For the past couple of winters our expanding herd of goats has lived in a recycled, 19’ X 48’ greenhouse (a goat house in Fat Toad Farm vernacular) with a floor that is insulated day-to-day by the hay the goats don’t eat (by the time winter arrives the insulation layer is at least a foot deep) and heated by the goat manure that is covered up by hay each day and decomposing in the so called ‘manure pack’.

The goat house has proven to be a very comfortable living environment year round, but as the herd has grown, pushing up against the 25 square foot industry recommendation for an adult goat, we’ve noticed a growing disruption of the herd’s social order, evidenced by irritability, fighting, a more pronounced pecking order, etc.

So when the time came last winter to order a new goat house, to make room for continued herd expansion, we decided to buy the biggest one we could fit on the site. That turned out to be a 30’ x 80’ structure on which we began construction in early May with the help of our friends at G. Gilman Excavating, who cut in a new service road to the cheese/caramel room, hauled in fill to enlarge the pad to accommodate the new goat house and cleaned out the 2009/2010 manure pack, which was at least 2 feet deep.

The goat house package had been delivered some time earlier by Ed Person

from Ledgewood Farm in Moultonborough, NH, so as soon as the pad was ready our neighbor, John Lipkvich, who has been the architect and builder of everything  Fat Toad Farm structure to date, laid out ground stake lines for the new goat house paralleling the exterior walls of the old one, and we began erecting the new one right over the old. So, the goats continued to spend the night in their old 19’ X 48’ home as their new and much larger one rose out of the ground completely covering the old one.

These types of structures are extremely gratifying to erect, because they literally go up in a matter of days. We took a little extra time on this one to frame in and plywood sheath the two ends and to build heavy, sliding doors for easy equipment access and ventilation control, but the whole process only took about 2 weeks to complete. On Friday, June 2^nd John organized a crew — I had broken my leg a few days earlier and was ‘on the bench’ — to pull the white plastic cover over the frame, stretch it tight and fasten it in place.

By Wednesday, June 7^th the old goat house had been completely dismantled — and set aside for use elsewhere on the farm — and the goats returned from pasture to find that their home had grown from 912sf to 2,400sf. We’ve still got sliding doors to hang, a water line to install, and fans, lights and electrical outlets to wire, but from the herd’s perspective it’s time to decide where the furniture’s going and to draw straws for the best bedrooms.

The thing we noticed almost immediately, which ties back to the social disruption I mentioned earlier, is that the atmosphere in the goat house is suddenly very calm and relaxed. Very little fighting, fewer signs of irritability, etc., which we all attribute directly to the enlarged living space. We plan to continue growing our herd from 35 adult does and 15 doelings now to +-60 goats, which will mean that each doe has 40sf of living space. There is little doubt in our minds as we observe The Girls in their new home that bigger is better, at least when it comes to goat houses!

By Calley Hastings, Special to the Free Press • Sunday, May 23, 2010

Some already have gone to seed, but the majority are at their prime flower stage.

Fried dandelion flowers are a spring delicacy, and you can use dandelions in many ways. The first spring greens can be sauteed and eaten like kale, the flowers can be fried, and the root can be used medicinally.

This time of year I’m making dandelion fritters with the flowers. It’s a great excuse to wander out into a beautiful field to harvest them on a sunny day.

This recipe calls for both flour and cornmeal. We grow Calais Flint Corn during the summer and dry it late in the season. Then we remove the dried kernels throughout the year and grind them into fresh cornmeal using our small household-size mill. You can grind corn as fine as you want, but I like the texture or coarse cornmeal, which I use in this recipe.

Try growing a small plot of Flint corn this year, or look for locally grown cornmeal. In this recipe you also can alter amounts of flour or cornmeal to your preference and its availability. All versions are great. The flour leads to a more tempura-like batter, and the cornmeal adds texture and a slight crunch.

Also, note that the dandelion flowers start to close up as daylight diminishes. The earlier in the day you make the fritters, the more open the flower will be, but make sure to eat them fresh out of the pan so they are still crisp and warm.

Last night’s dinner included dandelion fritters, greens for our garden with maple chevre and a balsamic dressing, a potato-and-garlic quiche, and a caramel rhubarb pie. The crusts for the quiche and the pie used lard rendered from our own pigs.

Calley Hastings runs Fat Toad Farm, a small goat dairy in Brookfield, along with family members Steve Reid, Judith Irving and Josey Hastings. They produce fresh goat cheese and goat’s milk caramel (cajeta). Find their products in natural food stores throughout Vermont. Look for more recipes and information about the farm at www.fattoadfarm.com.

Thunder came to us from Colorado this week on a plane in a little crate labeled ‘Live Goat.’ He was very excited to see Steve at the airport. We purchased him as our new buck which will help diversify the genetics of our goat herd. He comes from a great line of milking goats and we are so excited to introduce his genes to our herd. After a while the gene pool in this area can get a little limited and it’s good to keep the gene pool diverse for the health and vitality of a herd. He is incredibly cute and has gorgeous brown markings. We have many black and white Alpine goats and white Saanen goats so we wanted to mix some brown in. We are having him follow us around some as he gets adjusted so that he will be a very tame and friendly buck. There is nothing worse than an unruly buck that you can’t catch! Our two other bucks, Danny and Evan are adjusting quite well… so far.

By Calley Hastings, Special to the Free Press • Sunday, April 18, 2010

There are many indications we have emerged from the white, insular cold of winter into the fresh, warm green of spring. These two colors, white and green, that mark this transition also are found in the foods available to us in April.

Once the snow has melted, and the ground is workable, you can go out with your pitchfork and dig up white tubers and roots that have been storing starches and carbohydrates underground all winter. The three that come to mind are parsnips, horseradish and Jerusalem artichokes. All look strikingly similar though they are nuanced in taste, texture and appearance.

Parsnips are planted in the spring and grow until fall, when they can be covered with mulch and harvested the following spring. Parsnips also can be harvested in the fall or winter as long as they have been through a few frosts to sweeten them up.

Horseradish, on the other hand, is a perennial plant, and its roots can be harvested in the spring every year. If you harvest too early they won’t have developed much heat. The horseradish roots look strikingly similar to the other white vegetables of spring and are dug around the same time. You peel the roots, chop them up and store them in vinegar or use fresh.

Jerusalem artichokes, also known as sunchokes, are an interesting tuber. They are made up primarily of carbohydrates rather than starch like in potatoes. They are crisp when fresh but can become mushy if overcooked. The flowers look similar to sunflowers. Sunchokes easily can become a weed in any garden if they aren’t properly managed.

While the previous year’s bounty can be dug up in the spring garden, there are also myriad green things shooting up everywhere to be harvested. Many gardeners and farmers are growing spring greens in greenhouses, and others are out foraging in the woods. The food theme is green and leafy.

My two favorite foods to harvest this time of year are wild leeks, commonly known as ramps, and fiddleheads. The fiddlehead season hasn’t hit this area of Vermont yet, but the ramps are prolific and have been since Easter. Both the bulb and the green leafy part of the ramp are edible. Ramps are easily identifiable in the woods.

If you are interested in learning to forage wild edibles check out, “Stalking the Wild Asparagus,” or have an experienced forager take you out. There also are many courses about wild edibles offered in Vermont in the spring.

It’s great to be in the kitchen this time of year with a new variety of vegetables and wild edibles to work with. Think: leek and garlic pesto, or leek, sunchoke and parsnip quiche!

Most recently I made a leek, parsnip, potato and horseradish soup. The parsnips and horseradish were harvested from our garden, the leeks from a local patch, and the potatoes from the root cellar. The base of the soup is glorious dairy. Of course, there is always ample dairy to be found in Vermont, so I used goat’s milk from our farm, butter from Cabot and cream from Strafford Organic Creamery. Even though the days are warming up, it is still chilly enough at night to enjoy a warm soup.

As always spring is full of new and wonderful surprises. Most recently in this state we experienced several inches of snow right after a few days straight of glorious 65 degree weather. The biggest issue of course, was that just a few days before our snow tires had been taken off, and the new summer tires led to one car in the ditch! Luckily we got it out without too much fanfare. Other spring news is the renovation of our storage barn into a shipping and handling ‘department’ and a fun new farm store. We hope to have lots of visitors this summer. Find out more!

The most challenging and exciting new addition to the farm is a 3 month old border collie pup named Gracie.  She is in a rigorous training program! Ideally, she will be able to work our herd of goats over the next couple of years. So far she has taken to herding our other border collie Molly. The verdict is still out as to whether this with be a good thing or not! Stay tuned for news about the new greenhouse/barn, the garden and goats going to pasture when all this snow melts! Learn more.

Lily (intern at Fat Toad Farm)

A few weeks ago Lily, an avid farmer and writer, joined the crew at Fat Toad Farm to spend three months living and working with us. She is amazing and has taken on the renovation of a shipping and handling ‘department’ as well as a new farm store. Not to mention her incredible way with the animals. Here are a few of her reflections with many more to come over the next few months…

“For the first time, in the midst of my second week at Fat Toad, I am left alone at the farm to find the day ending peacefully with wind. I am sitting outside beneath the kitchen windows looking across the grass and the dirt road nearby — to the field that harbors the garden — which lies dormant for only a few more weeks.

In this quiet, only the dogs are moving — Molly waiting always for me to toss a stick. She picks it up and drops it over my lap repeatedly as I write this — reminding me — trying — trying again — persistent. Momentarily she pauses to notice and sniff the breeze — to assess it’s far off rustle, and feel it move in her fur. Her stick is wet, and mostly I throw it off my bare legs to be rid of the slobber I feel chilling my skin as it dampens my feet.

When she misses the pass and paces the grass for a long bit of time, her panting grows distant and the small echo of frogs in the woods beyond the field takes up in the slow, quiet silence.

A white sheep with a brass tail that twirls in the wind creaks as it spins on a pole in the grass.

And in all this, time passes — though it’s hard to believe.

Looking up, the sky is bedding on a milky stretch of cloud that covers all horizons and holds only the faintest wash of color drawn out by the sun – which has now set beyond the hillside to the west. Out over those hills, where trees stand ruddy, budding – darker clouds loom in the same unbroken stretch, bearing rain moving forward.

Then thunder really does ripple thru the sky — like in water — out above the darkly painted clouds. A cold breeze comes on. But the birds call out their evening chorus — unbroken — perhaps saying something about the weather, too.

I listen for the goats over the hill, and hear only a few chickens squawking nearby.

There are times and ways when the rain and cloudy wet weather feel like a hindrance to life moving forward. But to see it and know it as a part of a great and necessary rhythm — and to go out in to it, humbled, head bent, working — this is a great gift that allows one to enjoy things as they are — the way animals do.

As humans, we exist beyond instinct. We know desires and indulgence and drama and emotion. For some of that, I suppose, we are blessed. But right now, I feel blessed to be here where I am serving other lives, where I am, with others, nurturing the lives of these animals who are so sweet and so simple. By giving way to these other beings, so much suddenly becomes easier to take in.

Why not marvel at the cold wet air! Soon enough it will be what is green glowing grass…and by then the goat kids will be many days bigger – growing to a point where it’s harder to pick them up and to hold them and breathe them in. And all this rain water undoubtedly waits for our fingers to draw it up in the garden. I can feel the fertile earth beneath my boots waiting to push life through her muddy surface. What a mate she’ll make for the sun!

Thus, I do not mourn these rainy days, but grow evermore eager to see the change.”

Sticky Sweets | Say It With Caramel, by Charlotte Druckman, in the Food section of the New York Times Style Magazine features Fat Toad Farm Caramel (cajeta).

A brief video of our farm and how we make our caramel.