Roots the Restaurant

Today, we met with Donald Billings, owner and chef of Roots, the Restaurant, in downtown Rutland. Roots opens in mid-January and will be serving a menu filled with locally grown and produced food. A REAL Local Foods restaurant right in the heart of Rutland!

We are chatting with Donald about what Radical Roots Farm can grow for Roots, the Restaurant (a match made in heaven). Stay tuned for more information!

In the meantime, check out their Facebook page - and be sure to make reservations as soon as they open!!!

What's Wrong With Our Food System - An 11 Year Old's Perspective

11-year-old Birke Baehr says it all - including this gem: "You can pay your farmer or you can pay your hospital."

Take a few minutes and watch Birke on TED Talks.

GREEN Holiday Wrapping

This is a great way to get your holiday gifts wrapped in recycled and repurposed materials! And to support the Rutland HS Environmental Club. Please check them out!

On Saturday, Dec. 18, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Rutland High School Environmentally Conscious and Active Club will be holding a Holiday Green Gift Wrap fundraiser at LuLu’s Artisan Gallery at 34 Strongs Ave. (next to The Palms). For a small donation, the Club will gladly wrap all your holiday presents in environmentally friendly, recycled and repurposed materials, creating funky, unique and one-of-a-kind packages.

For more information, or to donate materials and/or make a donation to the Club, please contact Jim Sabataso at info@sustainablerutland.org.

The Rutland High School Environmentally Conscious and Active Club is a student-driven service club committed to raising environmental awareness through community engagement and activities.

Sustainable Rutland is a state nonprofit organization committed to promoting environmental, economic and cultural sustainability in the Rutland area.

Contact: Jim Sabataso, Coordinator Sustainable Rutland, 802-236-1141, info@sustainablerutland.org, www.sustainablerutland.org

A Great New Recipe from Eugenia and Joanne!

Thanks to Eugenia Cooke and Joanne Cillo for sharing this delicious sounding recipe with the Radical Roots community! I think we will try this tonight using butternut squash!!!

From Eat Well, a William Sonoma cookbook

1 1/4 lb delicata squash
4 T olive oil
3 T red wine vinegar
8 oz baby spinach
4 oz crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 400.
Peel and halve squash lengthwise. Remove seeds and slice crosswise into 1/2 inch pieces. In a 12 x17 inch baking pan toss with 1 T of the olive oil, 1/4 t sald and a few grindings of pepper. Bake squash until tender, about 20 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix vinegar and 1/4 t salt (or less!). Add squash, spinach, feta and almonds. (Save a few almonds to garnish when salad is served.)

Heat remaining 3 T olive oil in small pan over medium heat. Carefully pour oil over salad (oil may spatter) and toss to coat and wilt spinach evenly. Garnish with a few more almond slices.

Serve immediately. Delicious!

A Terrible Photo - A Wonderful Day

A very bad photo of our last day at Market

As you know, the lighting at Winter Market is none-too-bright (although it is MUCH better than last year!), so even with a flash this photo of our last day at Market is still too dark. But if you look closely, perhaps you can make out the bags and bags of spinach, salad greens, lettuce and baby kale that sold out before the day was half over! The bags are actually made of cellophane (a non-plastic, non-petroleum, plant-based bag), even though they look like space-age foil in this photo! To the left you might be able to make out the bunches of kale, and we are so pleased to say that kale is still growing in our fields and will be feeding our family throughout the winter! We had leeks, lots of celeriac (recipes for celeriac will be coming!), cabbage, onions - and of course an abundance of winter squash. We even had the last of our Napa Cabbage - so sweet and delicious and hopefully back late in the spring!

We want to THANK EVERYONE for supporting our first season as Radical Roots Farm. While it is the land that provides us with the base on which we can grow our vegetables, it is YOU - our community - who provides us with the motivation to do so. And just as the soil nourishes the plants and allows them to grow and thrive, it is our community who nourishes us and allows us to grow and thrive. Thank you all for supporting us, encouraging us, allowing us to become a part of your lives.



Peace and Hope for the New Year

Carol and Dennis

Our Last Farmers Market of the Season

So, the day has finally arrived. After an incredible season, tomorrow will be our last Farmers Market. WOW - it is amazing how quickly the season flew by. It seems like only yesterday when we were so excited to be planting the first of our Radical Roots spinach. And now, we have officially picked the last of it!

Do we feel relief? In a way, as it has gotten pretty cold to be washing our veggies in our outdoor wash station. Human hands are not made for winter dunking in cold well water! Do we feel sad? You bet. Our first year has been spectacular - far better than we could have ever imagined. And while the work has been hard hard hard, we can honestly say we have loved every minute of it (okay, maybe not weeding during the August heat wave!). Maybe the best emotion to sum up how we are feeling right now is.... Gratitude. How lucky we are to have the chance to work the land we love, growing vegetables for the community we love. And to work side-by-side with the person you love - how could we feel anything but incredibly fortunate.

So for tomorrow's last Winter Market, we bring leeks, cabbage, onions, spinach, broccoli rabe, salad greens, lettuce, celeriac, squash, and kale. Not a bad way to end the season. We hope to see you all there.