Dispatch from Salinas, CA where more than half our lettuce comes from. Every time I visit one of these fields I come away awed at the efficiency and alarmed by what this says about our food.
Anthocyanin-rich, purple upland rice.
One of 81 upland varieties (rice that doesn’t require flooding) we’re trialing to see which are best suited to our region.
@stonebarns@rhizome.food
5pm at the pass. Where everybody knows your name.
Nick: ice cold still
Kylie: half still half sparkling
Colin: sparkling
Joe: sparkling
Rick: sparkling
Me: 80 / 20 / 10 sparkling / still / love
The expression “grows like a weed” must have been coined by someone who never saw white asparagus grow under heat stress and blackout conditions.
In their warm, dark tunnel the spears grow lightning fast this time of year—inches overnight—pushing up from a perennial root system that returns each spring.
The cooks harvest every day right before service. Cooks being cooks, we’re guilty of leaving the tarp open every now and again. So we’ve taken an oath to protect our sacred structure, and we relish our prize: the most mild, subtly asparagus-tasting asparagus you’ve ever had.
@stonebarns
Maple sap straight from the tree looks indistinguishable from water. Then you taste it. It’s crisp, cool, subtly sweet, and it doesn’t look at all like the stuff you pour on your pancakes. Simmer, reduce, and along the way sap’s transformation is something to behold—and with each stage of reduction, to taste.
Row 7 launched with seeds. Then we started growing them into vegetables. Now we tin them. Selling tinned vegetables to New Yorkers is a tough gig.
@row7seeds
The magnolias lining the sidewalks taste as good as they look. The cooks pluck petals from nearby trees, sparingly, so no tree leaves the encounter looking worse for it. (We’re not vandalists, just cooks hungry for spring).
In the kitchen the magnolia petals get pickled and taste like sushi ginger. At the bar, they’re layered in a big vat with white sugar and kumquats to produce the most magical zingy, floral syrup (inspired by a Korean cheong).
After a long winter this burst of spring is a devour now/save for later situation.
@rick.vonhagn@goddamnitdonovan
We’ve just been named one of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies by @fastcompany . (Google and Anthropic are in the top ten, but you can’t eat an algorithm.) Call it what it is: innovation you can taste.
To everyone growing this work-breeders, seedspeople, farmers, chefs, producers, gardeners and eaters-thank you. We’re just getting started.
Read the full article by @clintrainey at the link in our bio.
#fastcompany #fcmostinnovative #row7seeds #seedtotable
Endives spend the summer soaking up the sun. The leaves are like solar panels, photosynthesizing and sending sugars down into the root, which swells with stored energy.
Then the farmer intervenes, pulling the endive from the ground, roots and all, cutting the green leaves away, and letting them go dormant in cold storage.
Weeks later they’re replanted in just a bit of soil and water, this time in complete darkness. No sunlight means no photosynthesis, only the stored energy in the root pushing up (forcing) a new head of blanched endive.
@jasongrauer@grace_jorgs@stonebarns
