Gorgeous organic specimens: Black Oxfords and Golden Russet

A few weeks ago, shortly after that late October storm pummeled parts of the Northeast, I headed northwest across the state and into the mountains of New Hampshire to take photos for this piece on organic apple growing that recently ran in The New York Times. I always love seeing parts of the state that I’ve never been in. Since much of my work takes me up and down the coast, I don’t get inland very often. The drive was so lovely that the three hours actually went by quite quickly. The thick fog melding with a light layer of snow and punctuated by the occasional tree still dressed in its fall colors soon gave way to a bright, sunny day. It was mid-morning by the time I reached Groveton, N.H., home of Michael Phillips’ Lost Nation Orchard, and luckily, most of the snow in the orchard had melted. Phillips is well known and respected among organic growers (at least based on my random sampling of those here in Maine). His new book, The Holistic Orchard, which will be published in December, will no doubt add to his acclaim in this field.

Organic-apple-growing guru Michael Phillips

Only a few trees in the orchard still had apples on them at this late date, including this lovely GoldRush variety.

Growing fruit organically is still rare enough that a sign seen recently at my local farmers’ market next to a bin of sad, beat-up looking apples read “as close to organic as you’re going to get.” Well, it turns out, this is not the case! There are organic apples out there and they are not only gorgeous, but out-of-this-world delicious (and I mean so tasty that you can easily envision being totally satisfied having one for dessert). However, you have to work hard to find them. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if this was not the case? Apples routinely top the list of pesticide-tainted fruits and vegetables, and while most apples tested are below the EPA’s levels of concern, call me crazy, but I have a hard time imagining that consuming trace amounts of pesticides is good for you (not to mention what they do to the environment). You can help encourage more orchards to grow organically with your purchasing power. Seek out organically grown apples whenever possible. (There’s a good list of orchards who emphasize health in their farming practices here). Trust me, you won’t be sorry.

As part of the process of organically nourishing his apple trees, Michael Phillips lightly spreads a compost of manure and deciduous wood chips under the drip line of the tree (the circular area at the outer ends of the branches) each fall.

I had the pleasure of seeing the loving care Phillips puts into his trees, as well as tasting a selection of the more than 80 varieties of organic apples he grows. I have honestly never tasted such incredible apples. They all had such distinctive flavors, but my favorite on this day was also possibly the most beautiful one—the Black Oxford. At once sweet and tart, this dramatic purpley-black fruit is satisfyingly crisp. As if that weren’t enough to make it my new favorite apple, I then learned it originated in West Paris, Maine, in the late 1700s! Oh, if only I had a stockpile of these for the winter, I’d be one happy organic apple convert.

Among the 80 varieties of organic apples that Michael Phillips grows are (clockwise from upper left) Golden Russet, Erwin Bauer, Rhode Island Greening, Cox's Orange Pippin, and Black Oxford.

GoldRush apples are considered a great holiday dessert and cider apple because of their high sugar content.

Tim Huppe, farm manager at Sanborn Mills Farm in Loudon, N.H., driving a team of oxen as they haul lumber.

The New York Times ran an article last week about a rising interest in using animal power on small farms as an alternative to gas-powered machinery. I had the pleasure of photographing two oxen experts on a farm in central New Hampshire for this piece. Tim Huppe, farm manager at Sanborn Mills Farm, and Drew Conroy, professor of applied animals sciences at the University of New Hampshire, demonstrated for me how well-trained oxen can haul lumber and plow fields.

Tim has spent years training Joe and Jake, and other teams like them, including one that was used in the John Adams miniseries.

Drew Conroy wrote the definitive guide to working with oxen.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about these incredible creatures, who, despite weighing a ton (literally!) and sporting some seriously pointy horns, were as gentle as could be. Okay, so the fact that they’re castrated may have just a little something to do with that. Did you know that an ox is simply any castrated bovine that is used in a work capacity? I didn’t. Other interesting oxen facts I learned on the bright, warm April day that I visited the picturesque farm included that oxen who are injured while they are growing get what are called misery rings in their horns. One of the oxen at the farm, Joe, has a circular mark on each horn due to a problem he had with his leg when he was younger. I also learned that oxen who work in teams for several years form an unusually close bond with each other, to the extent that if one dies or needs to be euthanized for some reason, it is often more humane to put the other one down at the same time.

"Misery rings" on an ox's horns indicate a past injury.

Tim was kind enough to let me try my hand at “driving” the oxen, which basically involves saying “gee,” “haw,” “whoa” and other universally used commands while raising or lowering a stick. This team was so well trained that I think they would have walked all the way back to Maine with me if I’d asked them to. While that was tempting given the short work they could make of overturning my garden beds, I decided they’d be happier on their 350-acre idyllic estate.

The boys, doing what they do best.

A big chunk of my spring and summer was consumed with styling and shooting (and sometimes even baking the recipes for) a gluten-free cookie cookbook that will be published by Sellers Publishing in spring 2011. The cookbook author lives in New York, but the publisher, who was interested in working with me here in Maine, didn’t let that stop them. They arranged to have most of the cookies shipped! For the most part this went surprisingly well. On only a few occasions did it seem like FedEx must have run over the box of goods…repeatedly. In those cases, I would manage to rescue two or three undamaged ones out of a dozen and a half, or maybe show a “half-eaten” one in the shot. And the answer to everyone’s first question about this project is “Yes, I did get to eat them afterward.” (And I shared them when I was feeling generous…or had a dentist visit on the horizon.) The book will feature fifty recipes (and photos) organized into six chapters. Two of my favorites (both the photos and the taste) are below. Keep an eye out for this title next spring. It will make a great gift for your gluten-intolerant or gluten-sensitive friends, and those who can consume gluten safely will find several keeper recipes as well.

Walnut brownies and jam thumbprints, 2 of 50 photos I took for Gluten-Free Cookies, which will be published in spring 2011.

When not styling, shooting or eating cookies, I still surrounded myself with food, of course, including gardening, cooking and indulging in amazing meals made by others.

Ample sun and warmth this summer made for happy veggies—like these purple-top turnips—in our ever-expanding garden.

An alfresco dinner of food foraged from Maine waters, fields, shores and forests prepared by talented local cooks and chefs was a welcome respite on a sultry July evening.

And then it was back to work. For a New York Times article on the resurgence of locally grown wheat in the U.S., I shot at the Kneading Conference in Skowhegan, Maine, and at a nearby farm.

Grassland Farm in Skowhegan is experimenting with growing wheat, while Jim Amaral of Borealis Breads uses 10-20% local wheat in his bakery's bread.

As August neared its steamy end, I revisited the gardens belonging to a Cape Elizabeth woman who grows and preserves copious amounts of vegetables and fruit. Earlier in the year, I photographed her and her delicious peach salsa, made from her very own peaches, hot peppers and honey, for this story in Yankee magazine. It was a treat to go back when the trees were laden with fruit.

Locally grown peaches enjoyed the summer heat.

Currently, in addition to day-long assignments here and there, I’m in the midst of two longer-term projects. I’m shooting for Maine College of Art’s student viewbook, which has so far brought me to more than a half dozen colorful and creative events, including one of my favorite places to shoot in Portland, the farmers’ market. More on this project—which, thanks to a great graphic designer has pushed my shooting in a new and good direction—later.

Rainbows of color provided by Fishbowl Farm (left) and Green Spark Farm at the Portland Farmers' Market, one event of many I shot for Maine College of Art's viewbook.

The other project is a resurrection of the well-loved Savoring Maine food calendar that I produced in 2009. This time Down East will be publishing it with recipes from their various cookbooks. It will be called Great Maine Food and will feature my photography. It’s for 2012 (yes, publishers work WAY in advance) so look for it in local bookstores mid next year!

Candidates for the 2012 Great Maine Food calendar being published by Down East.

For someone who is busy, that was one lengthy blog post! But, I owed you. I’ll aim for shorter, more frequent updates in the future. Now I must go get ready for tomorrow’s shoot, a fun assignment for the cheese magazine, Culture.

]]> http://blog.staceycramp.com/2010/10/06/busy-being-busy/feed/ 3 scramp gluten-free cookies purple top turnips from our garden Dinner of foraged food kneading conference peaches farmers' market MEfoodcalendar http://blog.staceycramp.com/2010/03/26/capturing-corey/ http://blog.staceycramp.com/2010/03/26/capturing-corey/#comments Fri, 26 Mar 2010 20:33:10 +0000 Stacey Cramp http://blog.staceycramp.com/?p=964 ]]>

Artist Corey Daniels at his gallery.

It never ceases to amaze me what incredible people reside in the state of Maine. I am privileged in my job that I come into contact with lots of them. One of the most recent I met is a compulsively creative man by the name of Corey Daniels. It’s hard to describe what he does in a few words so you’ll just have to read the perceptive article in The New York Times about him that appeared this week. Because I was assigned to take photos for the story, I got to peek into his enchanting world, and I came away from it charged up and inspired, awestruck and impressed, filled with a desire to start making something, anything!

Multiple layers of art cover some spaces in Daniels' house, including here where he has drawn on the wall and then covered it with another piece of his art work.

This is someone I’d never heard of before who is quietly going about his business of creating and recreating all day long and into the night. Doing it out of some irrepressible urge. Doing it out of love for shape and form. Making compelling scenes by combining disparate found objects. Painting and drawing on canvases, walls and floors. Taking stunning large format photographs. Regularly reinventing himself and his vision. At a time in his life when most people would be content to curl up on the couch and watch TV in their spare time, Daniels is constantly occupied with crafting things that please his eye. And one of the most wonderful things about it all is he’s doing it without an ego. He’s humble, approachable, full of all the doubts most of the rest of us have. But that doesn’t stop him from getting up everyday and doing his thing, and doing it like no one else.

The juxtaposition between the 19th-century house and the contemporary passageway that connects the two older buildings of Daniels' gallery is indicative of his vision—a desire to meld old and new. Large-scale paintings by Daniels hang on the walls and chairs by Cleveland metalworker Doug Meyer are aligned in neat rows.

Daniels is currently transforming his well-established antique-dealing business housed in two 19th-century buildings connected by a recently renovated modern passageway into more of a contemporary art gallery. But it’s not your every day art gallery. He has a unique and exceptional eye for furniture as art for one thing. And he isn’t necessarily concerned with carrying artists who have already made a name for themselves. He’ll go out on a local art walk, find a piece of sculpture he loves and display it in the gallery. These works of contemporary art, which make their home among the wonderfully worn objects he finds at flea markets and antique shows make for an unusual combination of new and old, a blurring of the line between art and antiques.

Even Daniels' closets at the gallery are packed with artfully arranged objects that have caught his eye at flea markets and antique shows.

If you’re in the state and care about art, you owe yourself a visit to Daniels’ magical kingdom at 2208 Post Road in Wells. And if you’re out of state, I’d venture to say it’s more than worth a special trip.

The converted 19th-century barn that makes up part of Daniels' gallery is adorned with a stone sculpture from the 1960s by Tony Conway.

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/2009/01/06/hello-world/ http://blog.staceycramp.com/2009/01/06/hello-world/#comments Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:50:08 +0000 Stacey Cramp ]]> I thought it was quite amusing when the captain of this water taxi (who happened to be a guy I know who lives one street over from me) said “Come aboard, make yourself at home.” If my home were an igloo, perhaps I could have done that! My first assignment in the new year was a real estate gig for the New York Times. For some reason their “What You Get” online feature has been fixated on Maine properties lately. Each one I do is a window into another world, and this was no exception. It was a property on Great Diamond Island and because the ferry doesn’t run very frequently out there in the winter, we took a water taxi on the way out. Let me tell ya, the water taxi is the way to go if money is no object. We were at the island in a flash and the next thing I knew I was on a golf cart being taken to the designated property. It turns out riding in an open boat and then an open golf cart in sub-freezing temperatures does not cure the common cold, but makes it much worse. Who knew? More importantly though, I learned that there are some amazing people living on the islands of Casco Bay year-round. I’m always intrigued by people who enjoy being so isolated and who don’t get worked up over not having easy access to the conveniences most of us are accustomed to, such as, say, being able to run to the corner store when you need a lemon. Such circumstances definitely promote resourcefulness and neighborliness…assuming your neighbor hasn’t skipped the island for the winter.