Eating fresh food through the winter

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When was the last time you had chicory? How about a dish of the leaves braised and seasoned with a splash of balsamic vinegar and tossed with toasted walnuts and blue cheese?

That’s how Organic Seed Alliance’s (OSA) program director, Micaela Colley, likes to prepare the bitter greens – one of a few winter crops the Port Townsend–based nonprofit has been evaluating to help Pacific Northwest farmers extend their growing season.

Expanding production of winter crops means that fresh food would be available locally during the period between February and April, when storage crops are running out and the new spring ones have yet to arrive, Colley said.

It is during these winter months that the organic produce industry is usually dependent on imported crops.

“It’s been several years now that we’ve been conducting trials for local food availability,” Colley said. The first winter trial in 2009 was funded by the Port Townsend Food Co-op to further its mission of supporting local farmers.

“We work with local organic farmers to determine what crops will grow here,” Colley said. Then, they figure out which varieties within those crops would adapt best to the Olympic Peninsula’s colder months.

A more recent variety trial, conducted 2014-2016 and supported by the state Department of Agriculture, focused on nearly 90 varieties of four crops: overwintering chicory, overwintering purple sprouting broccoli, storage cabbage and storage onions.

Varieties were grown in multiple locations, including Port Townsend, Chimacum and on Marrowstone Island.

The four crops were identified as priorities through focus groups, gatherings of farmers and roundtable discussions as opportunities for expanding year-round production, according to a report.

IN DEMAND

Chicory, for example, is in demand with chefs and offers a salad alternative in the winter, when local lettuce is rarely available. One of the varieties of chicory that OSA has tested over the years, the Castelfranco, has a mild flavor and is good to eat raw, Colley said. Midori Farm in Quilcene has successfully been harvesting this crop every winter and selling it at the Food Co-op.

Purple sprouting broccoli is another crop that does extremely well on the Olympic Peninsula, and, like chicory, grows over the winter and is harvested between February and April.

“It’s a wonderful crop because it’s overwintering and it produces an abundance of tender, purple, small broccoli-type heads,” Colley said.

A report on the trial results, released in December, includes data and discussion of the nearly 90 varieties of the four crops that were evaluated, as well as discussion on flavor, storability, winter hardiness and general product quality.

“It’s very rare that all the qualities come together,” said Laurie McKenzie, research and education associate, noting that OSA tends to use categories in making recommendations on varieties; some may taste better, while others may be more hardy.

Now, OSA is actively conducting breeding work. “We’re taking what we’ve learned from the report and integrating that into what we’re breeding,” McKenzie said.

The alliance is also making farmer-consumer education a priority. “Relationship building between the farmers and retailers” is key, Colley said, and sustaining these relationships ensures farmers have orders to fill through winter.

Getting chefs involved in the conversation is also essential to helping get everyone engaged in the conversation.

“Chefs are great conduits,” McKenzie said.

A copy of the report is available at seedalliance.org/publications.