CHARLOTTE, N.C. - No matter where she goes, Barbara Damrosch can find herself talking with someone about the rewards of growing fresh, wholesome foods at home and becoming less dependent on other sources.
“There is a new awareness of the value of homegrown food,” said Damrosch, co-author of the newly released Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook. “We’re trying to make it easier for people to get out there and grow their own food.”
Damrosch’s husband, Eliot Coleman, has been farming in Maine for more than 45 years. Coleman, 74, started what is now Four Season Farm in 1968.
Today, the operation occupies less than two acres butprovides enough food for a farm stand that is open from June through September, a mobile stand for farmers markets, as well as a yearround wholesale business.
He shares his expertise at extending the growing season with home cooks, chefs and various TV audiences, so they can have access to local food for more of the year, as he does.
Damrosch, 70, came to the farm in 1991, the year she married Coleman. She has emerged as a champion of gardening as a central part of family and community life, even as big corporate farms grew and overshadowed small, local agriculture such as theirs.
Their family garden is a showcase of the plant diversity that is considered vital to a healthy ecosystem butfrightfully lacking in largescale agriculture. They grow old, heirloom varieties alongside newer hybrids.
The couple’s new book (Workman Publishing) includes pictures of their gardens, growing tips and recipes that Damrosch created with produce from their fields.
In her weekly column for The Washington Post, called “A Cook’s Garden,” Damrosch shares pictures of her home-grown vegetables and fruits with the pride of a parent posting her babies’ pictures.
Damrosch says that even the smallest plot can be an abundant source of food for much of the year. The book includes tips for making gardening manageable and efficient, even for those with limited time.
HomeStyle, Pages 36 on 04/27/2013