Liz Adler and her husband Ben Perrault established Easthampton’s Mountain View Farm in 2006. The farm offers CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares to individuals, families, and some local restaurants. I talked with Liz to get a better sense of her farm’s customer base and see why the model she and her husband have established works well in the community.
What is your reasoning behind offering CSAs?
We really like the CSA model; it works well for the consumer and the farmer. By cutting out the middleman, the consumer gets a better price, so it works out for everyone. And as farmers, we also like being able to grow a wide variety of things and having a sort of built-in crop insurance. It is also valuable in terms of educating people. We always have lots of kids running around—it’s really great to have that community aspect.
Would you consider the Pioneer Valley community supportive?
Absolutely. In general the [CSA] model isn’t so common, but I think that this area is really enthusiastic and supportive of it.
I hear you sell to the Apollo Grill in Easthampton. Can you describe how this relationship works?
They’ve been coming to us since we started. The way it works is we sell in trades. Right now, we trade about three shares. The chef comes to the farm several times a week picking his own herbs and picking out the vegetables himself. If we have a lot of something one week, he’ll feature it on the menu. We also love the restaurant itself—we’ll out to eat there a lot—so it’s great that we get to support them.
Do you sell to any other restaurants?
We do another trade with Sam’s Pizza in Northampton—they’re really committed to the CSA. When we sell to a restaurant it’s mostly because we want to go out to eat there! But we love to trade with as many people as we can; it’s a nice way to do business.
What is the most rewarding aspect of maintaining a farm such as yours?
Just this morning I was out with my kids picking tomatoes for breakfast. I think it’s important for my kids to know about food and know where it comes from. We want to have a space like this for our family and for other families.
My family has a summer CSA share with Mountain View Farm, which means we always have an excess of fresh vegetables with which to cook. And in summer, when the sultry weather calls for bright, refreshing flavors, I find that a few vegetable-based dishes leave little else to be desired.
So what to make from bags bulging with just-picked produce? Here are some ideas:
3 garlic scapes (from Mountain View)
1 clove garlic (from Mountain View)
½ cup roasted almonds
1/3 cup olive oil
about 15 leaves purple Thai basil (from our home garden)
½ cup cashews
2 T nutritional yeast
cold water
pinch of sea salt
2 T lemon juice
optional add-ins: arugula, chives
Loosely chop garlic scapes, garlic clove, and basil and put into food processer with almonds.
Put cashews in blender and cover with enough cold water so that cashews are immersed. Add nutritional yeast and blend until creamy.
Add cashew cream to food processer. While blending, add in olive oil.
Add in salt and lemon juice to taste. Stir with spoon.
Serving suggestion: spread onto toasted baguette and top with tomatoes and balsamic vinegar.
1 large eggplant or about 3 small eggplants
3 T neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn, or more as needed
1 T sesame oil
Salt and black pepper
½ cup miso
¼ cup honey
¼ cup hot water
If time allows, sprinkle the eggplant liberally with salt, put it in a colander in the sink and let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes; rinse and pat dry with paper towels.
Heat a charcoal or gas grill to medium-high heat and put the rack about 4 inches from the flame
Combine the neutral and sesame oils and brush the eggplant on both sides with the oil mixture. Sprinkle with salt (if you salted the eggplant, hold off) and pepper, then brush with more oil
Grill until browned on both sides, about 10 minutes total, turning once or twice and brushing with more oil if it looks dry.
When the eggplant is almost done, whisk together the miso, honey and hot water and generously brush the eggplant with this mixture
Continue to grill for another minute or two, then serve hot, warm or at room temperature, drizzled with any remaining miso sauce
*Note: I do not know how to use a grill, so instead I baked the eggplant for 35 min at 400 degrees F, stopping with 10 min left to glaze with miso sauce.
Swiss Chard with Crispy Capers
olive oil
ground pepper
½ red onion
1 clove garlic
1 red pepper
1 bunch swiss chard (or kale or collard greens)
1 T capers
1 T lemon juice
Heat olive oil in a pan and add chopped onion. Season with pepper.
Mince garlic and chop red pepper into thin slices. Add to pan after about a minute.
Add in chopped swiss chard.
Sauté until chard is bright green and slightly softened (about 5 minutes).
In a separate pan, heat 2 T olive oil
Drain 1 T capers of excess liquid and add to pan
Cook until capers are crispy and slightly browned (about 2 minutes)
Remove capers onto paper towel (to rid excess oil) and then sprinkle over swiss chard
Squeeze lemon juice over chard and add more pepper to taste. Serve immediately before capers de-crisp.
We go there, too! How come I never see your family there? RIP OFF!
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