First, in late April we ventured up to Fishbowl Farm in Bowdoinham where we got an inspiring tour and hands-on demo from farmer Chris Cavendish. We’ve bought beautiful produce from Chris at the farmers’ market for several years, but had never actually been to his farm. When the opportunity arose to help him plant a bed in one of his new greenhouses, we jumped at the chance to see where and how his lovingly cared for veggies and herbs grow.

A farmer's feat: happy spinach in one of Fishbowl Farm's snazzy new greenhouses.

I think pretty much everyone knows farming is not easy, but how many people have actually witnessed their local farmers at work? Seeing the steps involved in just planting a small bed of arugula in a greenhouse was so eye-opening. There’s a lot more to it than just digging up some dirt and randomly throwing in the seeds in case you were wondering (even though in our home garden, we don’t do a whole lot more than that!). Trained as an architect, Chris is nothing if not precise. From the systematic watering of seedlings to meticulously cleaning and evening out plots of fertile ground, everything is done a certain way. I had to chuckle a bit when Chris would diplomatically correct Scott’s way of doing something, such as leveling out the soil. The photos below are probably the best way for you to get a sense of some of the steps involved in planting a bed from seed.

Farmer Chris demonstrates how to aerate the soil.

After worm castings have been added as a soil supplement, farmer for the morning tills the soil (while being careful not to step on it) with a nifty contraption powered by a power drill.

The expert soil leveler shows us how it's done.

The magic shoe boards make for a compressed, even surface in which to sow seeds.

Don't forget to check the chart to see what's next in line for planting!

Seeds (in this case arugula) are calculated to evenly disperse in the soil using this pinpoint seeder.

Shopping at the farmers’ market is all well and good, but you will appreciate the produce even more if you witness the planning and hard work that goes into each pea you pop into your mouth. If you get the chance, visit one of your farmers on his/her turf and see exactly what goes into growing and cultivating those gorgeous veggies you are eating. I’m guessing they’d be happy to have you take a look around. We’re very grateful to Chris for generously spending his time educating us about a small piece of sustainable farming. (Our garden beds at home are much more even now as a result!) When we saw him at the farmers’ market on Saturday, he informed us “our” arugula was for sale, so I guess we didn’t mess up too badly!

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Wild Maine plant expert Tom Seymour with edible wintergreen berries.

As you may have guessed from the title of this post, our other field trip involved foraging wild plants. We attended a walk at Crystal Spring Farm with wild plant expert Tom Seymour that was sponsored by the Brunswick Topsham Land Trust. While I’m probably not going to regularly go out and harvest milkweed, cattails and violets—because of taste and texture, as well as the time involved in accumulating enough to make a meal—it was fascinating to learn that these plants, among other commonly found wild vegetation, are edible. Seymour does primarily live off the bounty of the Maine woods (and his garden), claiming to enjoy some of the wild plants so much that he freezes them so he can indulge in the winter. With child-like glee, Seymour described the multiple uses for all these plants in their various stages of development from culinary to medicinal. For instance, the young green shoots of cattails can be peeled to reveal a white inner core that tastes a bit like celery. Later in the season, when the seed buds are green, they can be cooked and eaten like corn on the cob. Finally, the male cattail flowers produce pollen that you can use as a flour substitute (gather it by shaking the flower head into a bag).

The green outer layers of young cattail shoots can be peeled to reveal a crisp, white, edible interior.

The plant with the best taste that we found, in my opinion, is one called Indian cucumber. Its small root has the pleasant taste of a sweet cucumber. Speaking of Indians, I assume it’s them we have to thank for being the guinea pigs with these wild plants. I wonder if it was all a process of trial and error figuring out what could and shouldn’t be eaten. Luckily, there are some good guides out there to help us modern-day foragers locate the right wild plants. Suffice it to say, if I ever find myself in an Into the Wild situation in Maine, I’ll be in good shape—as long as all I have to do all day long is gather food.

Seymour holds the lauded Indian cucumber.

The cheese takes longer, but is just as easy. Ever since Barbara Kingsolver’s book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle came out—detailing the ease with which one can make cheese—DIY cheesemakers have sprung up all over the place. I got the few necessary items needed for soft cheese making (hard cheese is indeed more complex and time consuming and I haven’t ventured into that territory yet) for my birthday and have enjoyed several batches of fresh soft cheese since then. The supplies are easily obtained through New England Cheesemaking Supply. Essentially, you heat milk, add some rennet, let it sit overnight and then drain it during the next day in butter muslin (fine cheesecloth). It’s that easy! It’s a great feeling to be able to serve and eat cheese you made yourself.  And if you can find a local source of fresh milk, all the better. I am lucky enough to know some local goat farmers that can supply me with fresh goat’s milk on demand! (This time around 2 gallons of the milk made 7 of these approximately 3-inch-in-diameter rounds.)

Making soft cheese in Maine in the winter is a bit challenging because it’s supposed to be over 70° when you’re letting the curds form and drain. On the day I made my holiday chèvre it was 11°. So I rigged up these little draining devices and put them on a radiator in the bathroom with the door closed. It worked quite well. The curds seemed to be the right consistency after about 8 hours. I extracted them from the cloth, mixed in some fine Maine sea salt, shaped the cheese into rounds and patted in festively colored fresh rosemary and cracked multi-colored pepper. Voilà, a perfect holiday gift!

]]> http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/12/30/got-cheese/feed/ 0 scramp goat cheese finished goat cheese draining http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/10/21/on-the-road/ http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/10/21/on-the-road/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:24:43 +0000 scramp http://blog.staceycramp.com/?p=722 ]]> Okay, so it’s been a while. Sorry. The past couple of months have been a jumble of personal and work trips, and they aren’t over yet. Here are a few of the pictorial highlights.

LATE AUGUST: We visited my sister in Connecticut, where there were wildflowers, fog….

a bathtub in the woods…

farm-fresh fingerlings and a delectable stew…

LATE SEPTEMBER: I went to the Common Ground Fair (for the first time I’m ashamed to say). There were proud farmers….

and lovely food specimens…

I biked up to Bar Harbor from South Portland (yes, that IS 162 miles) with two wonderful friends over two lovely fall days. We spent the second night on Little Cranberry Island where my friend Kelly grew up. Her mother, Anna, whose picture should be next to the word hospitality in the dictionary, still lives there, as do some of her siblings, some of whom are lobstermen. They provided us with a dinner of the freshest, most succulent lobster ever…

The next day I had a couple hours to explore the island in all its golden fall glory….

EARLY OCTOBER: I traveled to Michigan for a Running Times shoot. There was a world-class runner, a crazy chapati-eating dog (photos of these curiosities to come in the Jan/Feb issue of the magazine) and corn, lots of it…

MID OCTOBER: Fall in Maine isn’t complete without a visit to an orchard. We chose Dole’s in Limington where there was a cat on a mission…

and a surfeit of the round red things….

Stay tuned for more adventures!

I spent two days with the reporter, Julia Moskin, visiting restaurants, markets and shops. We had a jam-packed schedule that usually allowed for about 30 minutes in each locale. This was an excellent test of my ability to get high-quality images in a short time period while working with available props and light. I sent in dozens of images and while the Times managed to run a large number (15 in the online slideshow, another 5 embedded in the online story, and 12 in the print version), there are, of course, some other images I really like that weren’t included. I thought I’d share some of those with you here. Hope you enjoy them!

(Full disclosure: the preponderance of Scratch Baking Co. images is because a) I had a lot of time there with unfettered access (the owners are my friends as I live a block away and worked there for a spell) and b) because I’m addicted to their bread and bagels!)

Selecting a bunch of turnips from Freedom Farm's stand at the Portland Farmers' Market.

Wild Maine blueberries from Beth's Farm Market for sale by Wealden Farm in the parking lot of Rosemont Bakery & Market.

Brian Pramick working in the bread baking area at Micucci Grocery.

Allison Reid, co-owner and baker at Scratch Baking Company, sprinkling flour on dough that will be shaped into baguettes.

Bagels at Scratch ready for the oven (foreground) and to be boiled (background).

Lou Slingerland puts seeds on Scratch's highly sought after bagels.

The Ring Ding a Ling, Scratch's creative alternative to the traditional Maine whoopie pie.

Erik Desjarlais, chef and owner of Evangeline.

Krista Kern Desjarlais, the owner of and chef at Bresca, with sous chef Courtney Loreg (watch out, she wields a mean knife!).

Last but certainly not least, Raleigh, very possibly the best dog ever (sorry, Clara), at Rabelais, a cookbook store devoted to new, used and rare books on food, beverages and gardening.

]]> http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/09/17/nyt-outtakes/feed/ 4 scramp portland farmers' market Rosemont Micucci Scratch Scratch2 Scratch3 Scratch4 Evangeline Bresca Rabelais http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/09/09/more-pretty-food/ http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/09/09/more-pretty-food/#comments Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:40:32 +0000 scramp http://blog.staceycramp.com/?p=643 ]]>

Even in this year of torrents, blight, pests and pestilence, the farmers’ markets are currently replete with late summer and early fall delectables. I think I saw husk cherries for the first time last year at the Thirty Acre Farm stand. This year others have them as well.

Randomly, we discovered one husk cherry plant growing in our garden recently. No idea where it came from other than possibly a stray seed that took root in the compost. What a nice surprise when we discovered what it was though! Husk cherries (also called ground cherries) are in the same family as tomatillos and Chinese lanterns. In fact, when I first saw the plant in our garden, I thought it was a Chinese lantern. But inside the green husks, which eventually turn papery and golden, are firm, marble-sized, yellow globes that are both tart and fruity. People often describe them as having a pineapple flavor. To eat them you just squeeze the stem end of the husk and pop out the fruit. I’ve only put them directly into my mouth as a refreshing treat, but apparently they are very good in salads and dipped in chocolate as well! There’s a good description of them here.

I’m experimenting with a new camera so did variations ad nauseam with these lovely things. Let me know which one you like the best!

Clockwise from top left: The hindquarters of Clara, our dog, in an abandoned quarry in Stonington; gorgeous eggplant from Freedom Farm; a view of Mt. Katahdin from Daicey Pond, where we camped for my birthday; the extreme greenness of the Barred Island Trail in Stonington; the incredibly beautiful and frigidly cold Katahdin Stream in Baxter State Park; a rare self-portrait at Reid State Park (something about turning 40 made me think I should do this!); my husband, Scott, pondering life while waiting for morning coffee during our trip in Baxter; a recent cherry tomato harvest from our garden; and lovely lichen at Two Lights State Park.

]]> http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/08/25/a-smattering-of-summer-shots/feed/ 3 scramp summer http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/08/04/radicchio-revelation/ http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/08/04/radicchio-revelation/#comments Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:31:30 +0000 scramp http://blog.staceycramp.com/?p=578 ]]>

These breathtakingly beautiful treviso radicchio were on offer from Fishbowl Farm at the Portland Farmers’ Market last week. As gorgeous as they were, I was having a hard time getting an image I loved of them. I had two perfect cabernet-colored heads lined with sensational lime green veins and yet I just couldn’t quite get a photo that did them justice. I finally surrendered and sliced them open for the grill. Salt, pepper and a dash of olive oil and they were ready to go. I placed them in a pan and headed out to the grill staring at their beautiful innards, and suddenly realized THIS was the photo. The worn pan, the way I had put them in it, the interior colors, everything was just right. So dinner was delayed another few minutes while I took this shot. It was a good reminder that sometimes you can’t force a photo, that the stars might align when you’re simply going about your business. The trick is to always be aware so that you don’t miss that golden opportunity!

The classes at Wolfe’s Neck Farm and Stone Turtle Baking School were equally enlightening and enjoyable. I wrote an earlier post about the bread, butter and cheese making class at the farm with a photo that didn’t fit into the magazine layout. Of course, there’s never enough room with these articles to fit all my favorite photos from the assignment, so I’m including some more here. Enjoy!

Justin Oliver, the hardworking chef at Fuel, with salmon on a cedar plank, shaved cucumbers and saffron rice.

Mushrooms, saffron rice and squash risotto over the flame at Fuel.

The dining room at anneke jans is intimate and homey, and almost always bustling!

Large baskets of pomme frites are a favorite at anneke jans.

]]> http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/06/25/maine-eats/feed/ 0 scramp Maine Eats cover fuel kitchen fuel kitchen anneke jans dining room anneke jans bar http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/06/17/trendiness/ http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/06/17/trendiness/#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:54:53 +0000 scramp http://blog.staceycramp.com/?p=519 ]]> I know in my last post I said I’d write next about food photo tips mentioned during the conference I recently attended, but I decided first to talk about trends, which is somewhat more fun and interesting. First I have a question though. Once a trend is identified does that mean it starts to no longer be a trend? Is it passé already at that point? Because if you think about it, it must have been seen all over the place for it to be identified as a trend and then maybe it’s not so cool any more. In any case, here are some of the trends in food photography identified by presenters at the conference, especially by Delores Custer, a food stylist, consultant and teacher who was a wonderfully informative presenter. She humorously referred to certain time periods as “the year of the edible flower” or “the year of the black plate.”

1. Casual, less controlled, not too perfect, more fun, doable. This theme was brought up again and again over the course of the weekend. Natural light is all the rage (yay!), less precise images (with crumbs, etc.) are favored over stuffy, pristine or ornately decorated scenes (yay, again!).

2. Inferred food. This is related to the first trend and was mentioned by the warm and witty Clare Ferguson. Have you noticed you frequently see photos where half a casserole is missing, a sandwich has a bite out of it, or a pie has some slices missing and the insides dripping out? The idea is that the food is irresistible and someone has already delved into it. It shows that this is real, edible food that people are enjoying, not something shellacked and unappetizing. Makes sense, no? Here’s my extreme take on that trend…can you tell what I had for lunch yesterday based on the remnants of the plate? Ok, so maybe that’s a little TOO inferred!

3. Organic, sustainable food and styling. Mette Neilsen and Steph Culberson gave a passionate presentation on this very topic. They talked about ways to reduce waste, which is rampant in food photography. They emphasized that the way to get clients on board in doing things more sustainably is to show them how it will save them time and money. Suggestions included things like buying just the amount of food you need to shoot from your local grocery store if it’s available there instead of having your client send you those 100 boxes of frozen pizza. Or how about suggesting to your client that they garnish that chicken breast with local sage instead of strawberries in April when the only strawberries available are from thousands of miles away and are barely red on the inside?

4. Tight shots. Food that is shot just showing the subject matter. Again, makes sense to me. Shouldn’t we really be focusing on the food? (Not that I don’t enjoy lovely props now and then…)

5. Graphic shots. Often food is shot with primary regard for its shape and form. As I mentioned earlier, Pornchai Mittongtare does this beautifully. Here’s one of my more graphic shots.

6. No backgrounds or white backgrounds. White is big. Maybe this will be “the year of the white plate” or was that last year? Anyway, here’s a recent image of mine employing this trend (unintentionally!).

7. Stacking. Delores Custer says stacking is back in vogue. I definitely recall seeing lots of images of stacked cookies over the holidays last year. A stack of pancakes certainly makes sense. What other food stacks well I wonder? They’re can’t be that many, can there? Let me know if you think of some.

8. Salts and peppers. Fat and chocolate. Yum, yum. I know from my own ridiculous salt collection that this is a fact. Maybe I’ll take a photo of all the different salts currently in my cupboard as my next project. And I hereby make a note to myself to investigate fun pepper options. The new cookbook Fat was mentioned several times. It’s filled with wonderful photos by Leigh Beisch. And chocolate. What need I say about that?

And I should mention a trend that Christopher Hersheimer pointed out is over with, done ad nauseam…please, please just stop it already with the tight shots of hands holding food! Ok, we’ve all done it. It can be handy (har, har) when you have no other background to work with and hey, hands are interesting, but IT’S BEEN DONE. Get a new schtick, people. May I suggest one of the above items? Or better yet, come up with the NEXT big trend. Quick, before it’s called a trend.