The Captain returns to his roots...

Sidebar: This is a long post, but it was a long day...

I don’t know if I ever mentioned this before (I doubt it) but I signed up to be a Forgotten Harvest volunteer two or three years ago. But, due to this or that, I never got to participate in any volunteer activity. Mainly, it was because the emails I would get from Krista, the volunteer coordinator, usually asked for help (unloading a truck, repackaging bulk food, etc.) on a weekday morning or afternoon when I had to be at work. But this past Tuesday, I got an email asking for volunteers to pick both beans and sweet corn from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at a field belonging to the Van Houtte Farm. The field was located on the Northwest Corner of 33 Mile and Old Van Dyke in Romeo.

Forgotten Harvest typically “rescues” good left over food from grocery stores and restaurants, BTW. This is the first year they are going directly to the fields to pick surplus vegetables that farmers have designated as disposable.

So, I replied and said I’d be there. However, I got an email on Friday from Krista, saying a group had backed out of helping on another farm and could I go to Boyka's Farm Stand (20555 23 mile road - between Card Road & Romeo Plank) instead? I figured, hmmm, ten miles closer? Sure!

So, I set the alarm Friday night and put coffee and water to make four cups in the coffee maker and turned on the delay (with all the coffee I got from Jake and Carla, I have been doing this all week and loving it).

I got up at the usual time, shaved and showered and loaded up the car (boots, work gloves and a peanut butter sandwich for lunch). I left at 7:45 AM. The drive was a bit dicey, as I drove in and out of fog and then I-94 was shut down to only one lane from downtown Detroit all the way to East Point. But, due to the light weekend traffic, I still got there in time.

I was greeted by Marilyn (of Bloomfield Hills from Forgotten Harvest) and the owner of the farm, Ken DeCock. I checked out the farm stand while waiting for the rest to show (Beautiful vegetables and fruit and, best of all, a sign that said one bushel of tomatoes for $14.00!)

We finally all assembled, drove down the road a ways and took a lane to the bean field. There was already a wagon, baskets and some milk crates there. Marilyn had brought water and ice in a cooler and a big box of donated plain donuts (I didn't eat any).

So, we got started. I began by picking them the way I was taught at 14, back on that truck farm (you straddle the row, bend over and strip both sides at once with your right and left hands). It is the fastest way to do it, but that lasted only about 10 minutes until my back began to scream in protest.

So, I grabbed a milk crate (like everybody else) and sat down. I was shocked when Angela (of Trenton and a bookkeeper at the Westin – we exchanged Michael Simon stories) asked the farmer if she could pull out the plants. But, he said, “Sure, they are all going to be plowed under anyway.” He explained that the rainy spring was followed by the dry, hot summer. That wreaked havoc on the normal rotation of planting and harvesting of various varieties of green beans. So rather than let these beans go to waste, he decided to help some people out. Nice guy, BTW.


Since Angela was in the row next to me, I watched her. She would pull out the plants, turn them upside down and all the beans were just hanging there. So, I started doing that, too. It was easier and it helped to let you know where you left off if you went to get a drink of water. BTW, Ken (the farmer) instructed us about picking the “right” beans – not the ones that were too little, not the ones that were too big and “lumpy” from overripe bean seeds inside and nothing that had blemishes or mold on them.

We were finally joined by Krista (of Detroit and the volunteer coordinator of Forgotten Harvest), along with her 6-year-old son Demari, and her 7-year-old daughter Kamaria. They had been at the other farm, getting that effort going. There were about 10 volunteers in all; most came from far away, although there was one woman from Macomb along with two teenage brothers, also from Macomb.

At one point, Marilyn asked if anyone had a song to sing. Krista started singing "Kumbaya" as a joke and we all laughed. Marilyn said she’d made an extensive playlist but then realized there wouldn’t be any electricity. She said she had a great song about picking cotton. Krista, who is black, said, “Uh, no, we are NOT going to be singing any ‘picking cotton’ songs when I’m around!” We all laughed again. I explained to Marilyn that I'd worked on a truck farm about three miles from here and never, ever heard anybody singing.

We were visited by the camera and video crew of Forgotten Harvest who took tons of pictures. Then a reporter and camera man from the Macomb Daily (the local paper) showed up and we went through it all again (How do you spell “Goerlich,” etc.).

At around 1:00 PM, about half the people (me included) took off (I had picked five bushels of beans, BTW). The rest said they would stay until 4:00 PM, but I had things to do. On my way out, I stopped at the farm stand and bought a beautiful head of cauliflower (for my brother Carl – I still have to deal with the rest of the cauliflower Lu didn’t use in her salads), two 2-pound bags of parsnips (one for me and one for Carl), six ears of sweet corn (they still have them out here), a bunch of beets (more for the greens but I’ll pickle the beets, I suppose), a nice rutabaga and two acorn squash. And, I said, “I’ll take a bushel of tomatoes, please.” The girl behind the counter said, “Did you already order them? We are only selling them to people who ordered them.” I said, “No, but I live far away from here, can I order them now and take a bushel with me?” She said, “Sorry, we aren’t taking any more orders.” Shoot. So, I bought a berry basket of them that only held seven tomatoes. But, they were beautiful and I will use them somehow.

I ate my sandwich on the road. As you probably already guessed, I stopped at my Brother Carl’s house on the way back home. The first thing I did was wash my hands (I found I couldn’t use the gloves on the farm – you are supposed to pick the beans with the stems on, you see). Then I went out and chatted with Carl. I hadn’t seen him since his operation and wanted to know first-hand how he was doing. He’s still using a walker and still in considerable pain. But, he’s getting around.

He showed me his scar (wicked!) and copies of his x-rays (plates and six damn-long screws in his spine).

He had all the windows in his house open (it was sunny and a high of 80 degrees F. here today) and a delicious breeze was blowing through the house. I eventually took my leave and he thanked me again for the veggies (I know he loves parsnips).

I took Groesbeck to 8-Mile to avoid that construction on I-94. I stopped at the post office on my way home to mail a package which took some time (long line), but I finally made it, treated the cats and took a nice long shower. Then I, too, opened all my windows.

Jake had called while I was out, so I returned his call. We chatted for a bit (they are down to just a few boxes left to unpack – non-essential like books, etc., and doing fine).

I went out to spray the bottom (flat) part of the handrail. Since the rest of the handrail is round, this seemed a bit daunting. But I solved the problem by putting some sand into two of those plastic bags you get at the grocery store, tying them up, draping them on the saw horses and pressing the round part down in them. It worked great. I sprayed the bottom and went inside, noting the time.

Then I decided to deal with that cauliflower before it goes bad. So, I made a basic Cream Soup Base. I melted one stick (or 1/2 cup) of butter in a large saucepan. Then I whisked in six tablespoons of AP flour to make a roux (or a paste if you’re not into cooking terms). When all the flour was incorporated, I added two cups of whole milk and two chicken bouillon cubes. I seasoned it with fresh ground pepper (at this point you do not want to add salt, because there is salt in the bouillon cubes). I cooked that over low heat (whisking, mainly to break up the bouillon cubes) until it thickened.

I had already taken out the stem and chopped up the remaining half of the cauliflower. I do have a steamer, but I thought I’d try a technique a woman at work told me. She said she puts her veggies in a baggie with a couple of tablespoons of water and cooks them in the microwave on high for six minutes. Since it would make for an easier cleanup, I tried it. Wrongo! At 4+ minutes, the zip-lock blew out and sprayed water inside the microwave (so much for less cleanup). I’m not sure what I did wrong, but I tucked the very (VERY) hot end of the bag under the bags and cooked it for two minutes more.

I added the cauliflower to the cream soup base. Note: you can use this base for anything: broccoli and cheese, chunks of baked potatoes with cheese, bacon bits and chives, chopped leeks, asparagus (you get the idea). After adding what you want, you may have to adjust the thickness of the base by adding more milk a little at a time until you get the right consistency.

I added about a cup of shredded cheddar cheese, which thickened it up, so I kept adding more milk until it was where I wanted it (maybe about another cup or less). I tasted it and added a bit more pepper and some sea salt. Another taste test: Perfect!

I put the soup in my four cup freezer containers and let that cool. I got about 6 cups, BTW, so I wish I’d doubled the recipe.

I cleaned up the mess from that and then went out to spray the second coat on the bottom of the handrail.

Back inside, I started dinner. I had seen this made on Bitchin’ Kitchen (yes, it’s a Nadia G. recipe). Now, she made “Swiss Chard Mascarpone Ravioli, Pan-Seared and Drizzled with Truffled Crème.” But, I knew it would be getting late and I would be tired, so hand-made ravioli was out. Instead, I had bought some of those refrigerated (not frozen) Wild Mushroom Agnolotti made by Buitoni. I am basically just stealing her sauce and cooking technique.

So, I heated a saucepan over medium heat and added 1/3 cup of butter and a sprig of fresh thyme. I melted that until it began to turn brown (Keep a damn close eye on this as it will burn in seconds) When it was a medium brown, I pulled it off the heat and added 3 tablespoons of white truffle oil. I pulled out the thyme sprig and whisked it to mix. I reserved two tablespoons of this butter sauce to pan fry the ravioli, later. Then I added to the saucepan 1/3 cup of heavy cream, a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper. I whisked that until the mixture was emulsified.

Meanwhile, I boiled the ravioli according to the package instructions (salted water for six minutes). When five minutes had passed, I turned the skillet on medium-high and added a teaspoon of olive oil. I drained the ravioli and then added them (in two batches) to the skillet, searing them about a minute on each side until they started to turn golden. When they were done, I put them in a single layer on a plate and drizzled them with two or three tablespoons of the sauce. I topped them with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and went in to eat them, watching TV. OMG, that was good! I must admit, I ate them all!

I took the sawhorses and the handrail back inside the garage so it could dry completely overnight.

My daughter Melissa called just after that. She was sick of watching the Tiger’s game, so we chatted for a long while. She said she wasn’t really mad at me for not coming to their house (she understood that) but that since I didn’t tell her it was all going down, she and Dave couldn’t drive down to help Jake and Carla get set up, as they’d hoped to do. I apologized yet again and told her the next time Jake and Carla move; I would definitely let her know in advance.

I started falling asleep while watching a movie, so I turned it off and went to bed. It was then that I noticed that, along with a feeling of community and a nice sense of giving back, I took yet another thing away from my field hand adventure this morning: I sunburned the top of my head and the back of my neck!