August 22, 2011

The Kitchen Garden- Sunderland

            Many of the restaurant owners I have talked to cited The Kitchen Garden as one of their most reliable produce venders. So I was excited to head down to the farm to see what Caroline Pam had to say about her uniquely restaurant-focused farming operation.
            Caroline and her husband, Tim Wilcox, founded the farm in 2005. Caroline has an extensive background in the food industry, and her love of cooking inspired her to create a farm that would cater to local restaurants. Before establishing the farm, she worked at Green Street Café as a baker and formed relationships with the people there, including Paul Hathaway, the head chef of Chez Albert restaurant in Amherst. Paul later became The Kitchen Garden’s first customer.







Image from http://kitchengardenfarm.com/
Since then, The Kitchen Garden has maintained close relationships with about fifteen restaurants. The farm also delivers to stores and retail outlets in the area, such as Serio’s Market and River Valley Market. “A lot of these are business relationship that started as friendships or have become that,” said Caroline.
            But the farm doesn’t do business with just any restaurant that seems to be interested in local agriculture.
“We are a niche farm that grows specialty products,” explained Caroline, “so there’s a type of restaurant that is the best fit for us— usually one that is on the smaller side and changes their menu regularly. What we grow is the color on the plate, the vegetable that will be featured in their specials.”
The quality of The Kitchen Garden’s product results from Tim and Caroline’s thoughtful engagement with the restaurants. “I like to eat there to get a sense of how they’re using the produce,” said Caroline, “There are a lot of different ways to handle vegetables depending on what application they’re going to have. For example, [it affects] whether we grow small or large carrots. Being familiar with their cooking style helps me give them best possible product.”
Image from http://kitchengardenfarm.com/
It seems that the farm has partnered with only the most dedicated restaurants, and the resulting relationships have proved to be exemplary. The demand for and interest in The Kitchen Garden’s product has also increased in recent years. Caroline commented on the community’s growing awareness of eating local.
“It’s on peoples’ radars in a way it wasn’t five or ten years ago,” she said. “Customers are now interested in seeing local food on menus.”
            The Kitchen Garden is certainly not the place for the lazy farmer (if there even exists such a thing.) Tim and Caroline work relentlessly to maintain a smooth operation and satisfy their customers. “Our farm does well because we work hard to make the process easier," Caroline said. "I’m familiar with how to get products to a restaurant in way that’s convenient. By being up to date, being accessible, and responsive I feel like we’ve made it possible for certain people to work with us.”
            And the commitment goes both ways. “It requires extra time and effort of the chef to coordinate with a farmer whose availability changes week to week. We need to work with chefs who are willing to put in that effort.”
Image from http://kitchengardenfarm.com/






I got a sense of the busy nature of the farm as Caroline led me around for the brief time she had to spare. We walked through the fields, past the greenhouse, and into the shed where Tim and a crew of about six others were busy sorting garlic. Caroline explained how everyday the crew breaks to cook and eat a farm-fresh lunch together. 

“It’s definitely the food that keeps us going,” she said. “Growing it, enjoying eating it together with my crew, and hearing from customers how they’ve enjoyed what were growing…it’s that direct connection with them as people and having a shared experience through the food that is so special.”
Image from http://kitchengardenfarm.com/

1 comment:

  1. I enjoy it for creating the details, keep up the truly amazing perform continuing invigorated water

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