Summer in a Jar
by Rosemary Rideout

I’ve immersed myself in all things foodie this summer. After reading Michael Pollan’s book In Defense of Food and watching the award-winning documentary, Food, Inc., I decided it was high time I started thinking more about my food sources, and the quality of my food. I’m certainly not alone in my preoccupation. I’ve talked to dozens of people at farmers markets and with friends and acquaintances about where our food comes from and what we know about the conditions in which it is grown. Does the farmer use organic practices or do they use conventional pesticides and herbicides? Is this product that I am considering buying more likely to have pesticide residue? There are now lists of produce that are more likely to have residue. These include celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines, bell peppers, spinach, kale, potatoes and imported grapes. Alongside that list, there are foods which are cleanest, least likely to harbor pesticides. These include onion, avocado, corn, pineapple, mango, sweet peas, asparagus, kiwi, cabbage, eggplant, cantaloupe, watermelon, grapefruit, sweet potato and honeydew melon.

We’re all becoming better informed thanks to the works being done by writers like Michael Pollan. And as a result of our awakening awareness, farmers markets are booming, bustling places these days. Small farmers are both supported and encouraged by this surge of interest. Many small farms, which practice organic-type farming but are still sitting on the fence about becoming certified organic, are taking the leap as they are repeatedly questioned about whether their produce is certified organic. It isn’t an easy leap through the bureaucracy but the marketplace is beginning to offer the incentive by those asking the question, “Are you certified organic?”

As I sought out and found beautiful, clean produce locally at markets and farm stands, I began to lament the short growing season and wonder about how to preserve the bounty by putting a little bit of the beautiful berries, cherries and stone fruit aside for the quiet season. I picked up a book or two about preserving at the local library and tried my hand at cherry jam, a modest success. Then one beautiful Saturday morning, I found myself at the San Francisco Farmers Market on the Embarcadero in front of the jewel-like jars of produce – brilliant orange pickled carrots, pickles and tall, golden bottles of apricot jam made and sold by Happy Girl Kitchen Company of Big Sur. Todd Champagne offered me a brochure for a workshop being offered by his wife and business partner, Jordan Champagne, at Live Earth Farms in Watsonville, just a hop over the hill.

So it is that on a beautiful early July day I joined nine women and no men in the Live Earth Farms’ converted barn kitchen and studio in Watsonville to discover the secret to preserving the sweetness of summer in a jam jar. Demographically we were missing the one token male who seems to take every class said Jordan Champagne, our instructor for the day. The others are a broad demographic of women in their 30s and 40s, co-workers, friends and cousins, one of which was visiting from Las Vegas and looking for a “just-this-once” chance to see how all of this jammin’ stuff works.

We started the day by telling our stories of what inspired us to take the class. Most were rooted in nostalgia of simpler times when our mothers or grandmothers pressed our small hands into service or as we pressed our noses to the edge of the counter to see what magic was happening in our childhood kitchens. I recall expeditions into the meadows on Cape Breton Island with my grandmother in search of summer’s most treasured tiny wild strawberries, barely the size of your baby fingernail, juicy, sweet and free for the picking. Turned into delicious jam for winter morning toast by my grandmother after she toiled over the stove and reminded me how good they would taste months from now. It was hard to argue while my belly was still full of berries picked that morning.

Jordan Champagne knows berries and apricots and all things preserved. By the end of the hands class most, if not all of us, felt confident enough to head home with some organic produce to begin our own building of a larder. I’m looking forward to the Heirloom Tomato class Happy Girl Kitchen is offering in September.

The jamming class location at Live Earth Farms offers a little peek into CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm share program where participants sign up for a share of the seasons fresh, organic produce. These are becoming very popular. If you belong to theirs, you might just find a jar or two of Happy Girl Kitchen Company jam or pickles in your box come winter when the growing season tapers off.

If you are interested in learning more about Community Supported Agriculture, visit www.Localharvest.org online and put in your zip code to find local farm sources. And support local farmers by buying local, freshly grown produce in season. Check out Happy Girl kitchen at www.happygirlkitchen.com for their schedule of farmers markets and workshops.

	~Rosemary Rideout was born in Nova Scotia, Canada. She moved to California in 1993. She is an avid photographer. She has been enchanted by the abundance and diversity that Mother Nature offers here. She can be reached at rideout@garlic.com