Farmers, farm markets, living in NJ

The Garden State.

When I was growing up in Cranbury the potato farms were in full swing. No one was thinking about (at least as far as I knew/know) preserving farmland, the farmers worked the land and we lived in a small town where farming was a mainstay.

Driving on Plainsboro Rd from Main St through to Rt 1, there were a smattering of houses & the rest were fields. No developments, no apartment complexes.

And the markets, as best I remember, had mainly fruits & vegetables in season - season likely included Florida & California (remember the grape workers union as it developed a voice in the 70's?) - did not include Chile, Israel & Australia.

Here we are in 2010; the pendulum swings.

Markets are rife with food from around the globe. And now, many of us want to know the source of our food. For many individual reasons.

How fortunate are we in Cranbury to have working farms. Toward the end of last week a crate of spinach was dropped by the BR, from a local farmer.

And we are enjoying the bounty of early local produce. Spinach omelets, spinach quiche, spinach risotto, spinach salad --- untouched, fresh, crisp & served with fresh strawberries (from Cal) and a bit of balsamic - one of my favorites.

Planting is starting at Brown Dog CSA this week. Samantha Janey is starting her second year in the very local business of growing for families who want field fresh produce each week of our exceptionally long growing season( 22wks). In addition to families, this year Samantha is growing for the BR. We will harvest, with her assistance & training, 4 bushels of produce each week. This is a two way commitment and we are excited with the prospect and have great plans for the produce.

Global awareness, interest, & perhaps a bit of understanding suits our human craving to know more about what's "out there'.

Local awareness, participation, encouragement to continue NJ, The Garden State is (my opinion only of course --as is the nature of blogging!) in our best interest.

FYI - Samantha will be planting a number of heirloom tomato varieties just for the BR -- so we expect to have a few surprise tastes for you as the summer progresses.

How much can you do in an hour & a half?

Last Sunday a woman stopped in between 12:30 - 12:45 and liked what she saw. "May we offer you a seat?"

"No. My husband & I are on our way over to Princeton to pick up our son & we saw you & wanted to see what it was like. - How late are you open?"

"We stop serving at 2pm on Sundays."

"Great, we'll pick him up & come back. It's great to find a spot like this, we've tried all in Princeton & are ready for a change."

"Excellent, we look forward to seeing you later."

Didn't work out for her, whatever the reason. I got to thinking about how much I try to cram into an hour and what can really get done in that amount of time. Two ways: one - just me doing & the other, me working with others, counting on others to be done with something I need, etc -- I imagine there are a few folks who can relate.

I also reminisced to days in college and how unlikely I was to want to go along with a new little place my parents had found! In NC, in Durham, the place to go with parents was and I think still is for some The Angus Barn. Out by the airport, steak house with linen table cloths. It was always good, except for the vegetarian period..

Looking for the sun as I write....

Cleaning up - or policing the area

When I was young there were often "jobs" to be done before play with friends could start. One regular job was picking up bit of paper, sticks & twigs in the front yard. Bags full of them as I recall. Not great fun, however it did seem to do the trick with instilling the value of a tidy yard.

Shift to teenage years -- first Earth Day. Many Cranburians who were student at Hightstown High School at the time rode bikes to school. Symbolic, yes. Influential in ongoing thinking about the earth and how we impact it -- for me, yes.

Many years later, here we are. I take the responsibility to keep the Blue Rooster's "yards" clean of trash, etc. I am continually amazed at the trash left on the sidewalk in our lovely town. And I know sometimes a bit of paper will be dropped by accident, a handoff is missed & something is dropped, there are surely many such possibilities for accidental trash.

Can it all be accidental? Is a plastic cup, straw & lid left just off the curb an oops or someone leaving trash on the street because, why not - someone else will pick it up. I recognize that in comparision to many places, Cranbury is very clean. However, what makes it OK for any bottles, paper napkins, cups, newspaper & more to

Pick up a bit if you see it - help keep Cranbury looking good. I believe it makes a difference.

And since I'm on a bit of a go with this topic of trash -- how is it that cigarette butts seem not to be considered trash by some smokers? These are the top item of trash I pick up, daily.

In the small towns of Ireland, and some of you who have traveled there will remember visiting "Tidy Towns" -- there is a competition among towns for cleanliness, well kept yards, streetscapes and parks, etc.

Could this be a way to keep the trash from gaining more of a foothold here?

Our second April - our second spring

It is amazing to me that we are coming into the heart of springtime -- the second April in the life of the BRBC.

This year we are excited about several approaches we've chosen to bring great food to our customers. You will soon see an announcement & bio of our new head baker. He has a broad, rich background, a flare for desserts that are hitting the mark with our lunch & dinner crowds & he has a solid bread background as well. This will allow Bob the possibility of a day off now & then (Hopefully before too much longer!) --I digress to say -- Bob did sit & watch a few innings of the opening day B'ball game with a hotdog (one of his lifelong traditions!

In addition to the new head baker, we are bringing a new spring dinner menu out this week, courtesy of our head chef, Rich Huarte. He has combined a number of light, delicate taste treats with several items our dinner customers have requested. We will keep this menu set of the month of April, with vegetable changes based on best finds & fish changes based on best catch each week. If you have a taste of great food, prepared with solid skill & a deft hand with flavor combining, join us for dinner soon - the menu is full of great meals.

And although it will not come to fruition in April, we are excited that this year we will bring more local NJ produce into the kitchen directly from the farm. We now have two farms, each within 5 miles of the BR, working with us to bring the freshest, best quality produce to our kitchen. Cornercopia will again be a partner and for the first time, in her second year, Brown Dog CSA has agreed to provide a wide array of vegetables, lettuces, and other summer garden bounty for the BR. This is a great step for both Brown Dog & The BR, thanks Samantha!

The rhythms of a retail / cafe business are wide & varied; at this juncture we have hit a bit of steadiness -- like the beat of a drum, marking the tempo of each day with some degree of precision. How long will it last, what will come up next, what shall we plan, how will we find an avenue to bring growth & perhaps stability? Not clear from here. And if you are a seasoned professional in this business, I imagine you are laughing that I think there could be stability -- seems that change is it & unpredictable change is the usual "it" -- so we go.

Lunch @ BR now.

As many may know, the 10 public parking places in the "old bank lot" are no longer available to the public. We envision the township of Cranbury taking action toward building a visitor-friendly "downtown"; and we know that's not likely in the short term.

So, for now, as a business that brings many visitors to town each day, we will do what we can to make the on-street parking close to the BR more available to our patrons. All of our staff are now walking a bit further from their cars to our front door so you may not have to! We have made agreements with our great neighbors to help us with a spot or two for key staff parking (Thank you!!)

And we hope against hope that every business that has off street parking facilities will make the effort to use the space off Main St - to enhance the experience of all our visitors to Cranbury.

With this issue now on the table, I thought it might be sensible to alert all our weekday lunch visitors to the times you might come for lunch and not find a wait. Try 1 pm or 11:45am- at 1 we are just coming out of the 1st "full" period & at 11:45 we are not yet full.

Easter Treats - almost to beautiful to eat

New leader in the pastry area -- showing up with all kinds of great desserts & ideas for growing into cakes and such.

Have you tried the blackberry crumble?

The lemon merigue tart?

the pot de creme?

but this is an Easter treat blog note - Here are pics for eye feasting

A BR alumna worker raises funds for Haiti with a team of students & food from the neighborhood shops

I got a few shots of the event from our RB & friends. Posted below. The group at PHS raised $1270.00 for Haitian relief! Well done all.