Summer Harvest: From the Farm

A weekend highlight for me is visiting local farms. I'll take this over stifling, over-sized mega supermarkets any day. Summertime means an abundance of local delights.

At Old Hood Farm in Emerson: New Jersey sugar plums and raspberries. Both are like nature's candy.


Blueberries. Love seasonal berries over granola and either almond milk or soy yogurt as a simple summer breakfast.


Jersey beans. My mom sautés these in Earth Balance (or use olive oil), garlic and parsley. Mine never come out as good as hers. I think even peanut butter and jelly tastes better when your mom makes it.


At Abram Demaree Homestead on Old Hook Road in Closter, some new items were offered from last week's visit.

Bruschetta, the perfect recipe to make with summer tomatoes and basil. I topped it on a crusty bread I picked up at nearby Old Hook Farm. Served with their chopped salad (assorted greens with diced celery) and you've got a light summer meal.


Charbroiled zucchini, topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. Veganize at home: just leave off the cheese.


Salsa bites: tomato, garlic, onion and chipotle in a pastry crust.

I eat a little something sweet every day. No apologies. Burnt sugar cookies.


Home grown flowers.

Wishing you were here...


I left thinking of 10,000 Maniacs delightful ode to the infectious pleasures of summer, "Stockton Gala Days," and its declaration:

"That summer fields grow high.
We had wildflower fever.
We had to lay down where they grow."

Catch wildflower fever, and delight in all the season's bounty.

Support New Jersey Farms

Don't want your local farm stand to be sold and developed into a housing complex, strip mall or yet another CVS Pharmacy (how many does New Jersey need?) Simple: spend some of your dollar there.

I paid a recent visit to Abram Demaree Homestead on Old Hook and Schraalenburgh Roads in Closter, New Jersey. Check out this 2008 profile of the farm from The New York Times, which been a working farm since the 1700s. Let's keep it that way.


You can lunch outside on their quaint patio Tuesdays through Sundays. Vegetarian options include a spinach Swiss cheese quiche, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, chopped salad, and split pea soup - all made on the premises.


The view.

Fresh baked cookies. Ever look at the ingredient list on those grocery store baked goods? Alarming. If you made a rule, 'don't eat it if you can't pronounce all the ingredients' you'd go hungry fast in American supermarkets.

Homemade blueberry pie, $4.95. We bought one of these, and a strawberry rhubarb pie. Yummy à la mode or on its own.

Have strawberries? Try this easy and vegan strawberry pie recipe.


Jersey Girl tomato sauce. Love the vintage pie sign. Pie is the ultimate comfort dessert for me.

Lavender grows on the fields as you drive in. Buy it here.


For organic and local produce, right down the road at Old Hook Farm in Emerson (also featured in the Times), the first corn of the season! I feasted on this corn at a summer solstice supper.

A wonderful selection of organic, homegrown lettuce. So many pay 'convenience' costs of purchasing salads at lunch, but with a little effort, it's so much cheaper to bring your own. Who wants to pay $7 for lettuce and veggies you'll eat while checking e-mail?

When Anton Ego takes his first bite of ratatouille in the film of the same name, he in a flash mentally time travels to a day in his childhood when his mother made the soul-nourishing dish. Upon taking a taste of these New Jersey cherries, my mom and I were instantly transported to a family farmhouse in Switzerland with its cherry trees. Reflect on the food memories you have from your childhood.

Sunflowers from, you guessed it, the beautiful state of New Jersey: $5.99 a bunch.


Find a family farm near you through Local Harvest.