Food and Drink

Above: ELPD Officer Dave Dekorte and Crunchy’s, both subjects of Council’s work this week.

This week’s meeting of East Lansing’s City Council was videotaped. You can watch the meeting by clicking here. If there’s a particular item you are interested in, click on that item in the index shown below the video screen and the playback will jump to that part of the meeting.

Note: this article originally appeared on October 11, 2014, but the Romanesco is back again this year. 

Currently available at the East Lansing Farmers Market, Romanesco broccoli seems to be a space alien among the squash and apples. Growing in bright green spirals that resemble sea creatures, minarets, or tiny pointed firs on an island, it is actually an edible flower in the Brassica branch of the mustard family. Brassicae include the more familiar cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts.

Photo: Genovese Basil

At this time of year, many gardeners have a bumper crop of basil. Maybe so much basil that it’s hard to find a use for all of it.

A relative of mint, basil is thought to have originated in India. There are several kinds of basil, but most of the time we see (and grow) either the Mediterranean Genovese or Globe varietals or the purple Thai basil.

Photo: Rose and Paul Titus 

Titus Farms is a small, sustainable farm in rural Ingham County, just outside of Dansville. The farm, a fixture at the East Lansing Farmers Market, is owned and run by Paul and Rose Titus and their daughter Rebecca, who says that, “along with my dog and kitties, we grow almost 40 different kinds of veggies that we’ve selected over many years of experimenting.”

“CSA stands for community supported agriculture,” said Ellen Moje, Manager of MSU’s Student Organic Farm.

The Farm, located at 3291 College Rd. in Holt, encompasses fifteen acres of certified organic land including 20,000 sq. ft. of greenhouse space for growing food during the colder times of the year.

Jenny’s Sweets and Treats has something for everyone, whether you really want just to indulge in a tiny, two-bite sea salt and caramel cupcake or homemade jam for your toast. There are vegan and gluten-free options too, so…really something for everyone.

“Sweet Jenny” is Jennifer Rusnock, who grew up in Lansing but now lives in Munith, MI. She’s been married to her husband Steve for ten years and “has three amazing kids” aged seven, five, and two.

Owosso Organics' Richard Bowie at EL Farmers Market

The flowers seem to beckon you into Owosso Organics’ long, narrow booth at the East Lansing Farmers Market. If and when you get past the lisianthus, zinnias and other floral offerings, you’ll find organic herbs, kale, chard, tomatoes, salad mix and more.

The summer is an excellent time to bud-graft fruit trees. The process of bud-grafting is similar to regular grafting covered earlier by ELi, but rather than using a whole stem as is done in traditional grafting, only a new bud is grafted onto the rootstock.

Bud-grafting takes very little effort and can be done quickly, which makes it a popular way to put one variety of fruit tree on a hardier rootstock. It also seems to work particularly well for fruit trees.

The East Lansing Farmers' Market has been featuring a product I've never had before, but I've become addicted to: dark honey, produced as a byproduct of processing beeswax. Beekeeper Dale Woods runs Applegarth Honey. Slogan: "we serve the queen." He appears weekly on Sundays, 10 am - 2 pm, in Valley Court Park.

Behind the colorful, hand-drawn signs and the bundles of kale and garlic scapes of Wildflower Eco Farm is Philip Throop, a man who has dedicated his life to helping things grow.

Peas get a bad rap. Children hide them under the mashed potatoes. They are crammed into cans where they become something resolutely un-fresh, losing their shape and their earthy-sweet taste. They deserve better.

Fresh peas are currently appearing at the East Lansing Farmers Market, and they are (really) something to be excited about. Because they prefer cool temperatures, their season ends when Michigan summers rise into the 80s on a daily basis, so the window is narrow.

One of the best things about having a really local Farmers Market is that we can really get almost everything we need to cook fresh and healthy meals in a single trip to Valley Court on Sunday morning.