Ag Alert is the newspaper of the California Farm Bureau Federation, reaching Farm Bureau agricultural and collegiate members. Agricultural members are owners and decision-makers on California farms and ranches. The California Farm Bureau Federation is a non-governmental, non-profit, voluntary membership organization whose purpose is to protect and promote agricultural interests throughout the state of California and to find solutions to the problems of the farm, the farm home and the rural community. Farm Bureau is California's largest farm organization, comprised of 53 county Farm Bureaus. Farm Bureau strives to protect and improve the ability of farmers and ranchers engaged in production agriculture to provide a reliable supply of food and fiber through responsible stewardship of California's resources.
It’s the real deal: California-grown wasabi
Cheers to sour beers made with local fruit
Why wild rice deserves a place on your plate
January/February 2023
Wintertime WARMUP It’s time to get cozy
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January/February 2023
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Features
4 From the editors 5 A la carte 27 Book reviews 33 Now from Nationwide 39 NEW! Good for you 40 Ask a farme r 42 Gardening 44 Take 5 46 It’s a bountiful life
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The real deal Farm grows genuine wasabi, not the dyed horseradish we’re used to.
12 Glimpses of farm life
Winning photos depict varied joys, beauty and challenges. 18 Imperfect fruits yield perfect partnerships Brewery showcases California fruit in sour beers. 22 Fields of promise Versatile wild rice offers untapped potential. 28 Listening to the land Farmers and ranchers recognized for conservation efforts.
It’s the real deal: California-grown wasabi
Cheers to sour beers made with local fruit
Why wild rice deserves a place on your plate
January/February 2023
ON THE COVER: A former artist, now a chef, adds a “fun spin” to ranch cuisine. Recipes on Page 34.
Wintertime WARMUP It’s time to get cozy
Photo: Karen Pavone
californiabountiful.com 3
From the editors
VOLUME 46 • ISSUE 1
Melanie Duval Chief Marketing Officer Peter Hecht Chief Editor of Publications
In with the new and back with old favorites
Barbara Arciero Managing Editor Linda DuBois Assistant Editor Ching Lee, Christine Souza, Jolaine Collins, Ashley Hawk, Pat Rubin Writers Lori Eanes, Fred Greaves, Karen Pavone, Frank Rebello, Paolo Vescia
Photographers Karin Bakotich Design Services Manager Paula Erath Nicole Pacheco
Graphic Designers Brock Tessandori Business Development Manager
Contact us: California Bountiful, 2600 River Plaza Drive, Sacramento, CA 95833 916-561-5552 cbmagazine@californiabountiful.com californiabountiful.com Subscribe: To subscribe to California Bountiful for yourself or as a gift, call 916-561-5552 or go to californiabountiful.com.
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California Bountiful ® (ISSN 0194-5165) is published bimonthly by the California Farm Bureau Federation, 2600 River Plaza Drive, Sacramento, CA 95833 (telephone: 916-561‑5552). Non-profit periodicals postage paid at Sacramento, California. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to California Bountiful, 2600 River Plaza Drive, Sacramento, CA 95833. The California Farm Bureau Federation does not assume responsibility for statements by advertisers or for products advertised in California Bountiful, nor does the Federation assume responsibility for statements or expressions of opinion other than in editorials or in articles showing authorship by an officer, director or employee of the California Farm Bureau Federation or its affiliates.
identifies California Farm Bureau members
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January/February 2023
a la carte
Resolutions
worth keeping
Every new year, countless people with good intentions make New Year’s resolutions to eat better and exercise more—only for their goals to implode before February. The reason could be they’re forcing themselves to do boring workouts or choke down healthful foods they don’t enjoy. USDA nutritionists have a couple of tips that may increase chances of long-term success: Make a menu plan that regularly incorporates new foods that are important to your ethnic heritage and swap out “exercising” for new physical activities you find fun. That way, you’ll have changes to look forward to rather than dread. For more tips, visit nutrition.gov.
Spreading the word about
butter boards
If you haven’t heard of butter boards, you may not spend much time on social media. This party trend—softened butter spread on a flat surface with toppings such as herbs, chopped fruits or honey—has become all the rage among foodie influencers. Unlike a charcuterie board, a butter board doesn’t include a variety of small snacks but is intended to be a communal condiment to have with French bread, flatbread, crackers, raw veggies—or whatever would taste great with flavored butter. Safety tips: Provide clean dipping spoons so nobody touches the butter and spread it on a nonporous surface to discourage bacteria growth.
Farm-to-school
The USDA Farm to School Program is known for helping schools incorporate locally grown foods into their meals and supporting agriculture education—but it may also help cut down on food waste. According to the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study, a comprehensive assessment of school meal programs conducted in 2019, 31% of vegetables, 41% of milk and 21% of all calories have been discarded from lunch trays since 2012. But the study also showed that participation in a farm-to- school program was associated with less waste, possibly because those programs emphasize minimizing waste and children may feel a more personal connection to the food they’re eating. program gets food into tummies
californiabountiful.com 5
In 2011, electrical contractors Jeff Roller, left, and Tim Hall decided to embark on a new business venture and grow wasabi, a rhizome native to Japan and difficult to grow in California. Top right, a chef grinds wasabi on a sharkskin grater.
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January/February 2023
Farm grows genuine wasabi, not the dyed horseradish we’re used to
Story by Linda DuBois • Photos by Lori Eanes
Electrical contractors Jeff Roller and Tim Hall were eating a sushi dinner after work one night in 2010, when the conversation turned to the pungent green condiment on their plates. “You know, this wasabi we’re eating isn’t really wasabi,” Hall commented. “I didn’t have a clue,” Roller says, referring to the fact that what most Americans call wasabi is instead a concoction of horseradish and green food coloring, often flavored with mustard powder or other spices—not the traditional Japanese rhizome. Unlike horseradish, a root, wasabi is a plant stalk that continually creates new leaves at the top and loses old leaves, like a palm tree trunk. When ground into a paste, it gives diners’ nasal passages a similar blast of heat, but quickly fades to a milder, sweeter aftertaste. Looking back on that dinner, Roller says that simple comment by Hall sparked an idea that led the business partners into a whole new adventure. “During the recession, we were getting underbid for a lot of electrical work and were growing more and more frustrated and we kept saying we needed to have a niche, a specialty,” Roller recalls, “and then we just kept thinking about wasabi.” So, they researched and learned that hardly anyone was growing it commercially in the United States. “We started going around to restaurants and asking the chefs, ‘If we could grow real wasabi, do you think we could sell it?’” Hall says. “And they always said, ‘Yeah, because it’s really hard to source—but I don’t think you’ll be able to grow it in California.’”
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The chefs knew wasabi needs year-round cool weather, takes at least two years to reach maturity and is more vulnerable than most crops to pests, viruses and root pathogens. Hall and Roller just took that as a challenge. So, even though Roller had no farming experience and Hall didn’t have any other than working summers as a youth on an orchard, they decided to give it a try. Rocky start Roller, of Oakland, and Hall, then of San Francisco, found land in Half Moon Bay, a small San Mateo County coastal town with a climate similar to the region in Japan where the crop flourishes. The site also came with
greenhouses, a huge plus since wasabi prefers indirect sunlight and needs controlled moisture. In 2011, they launched Half Moon Bay Wasabi and planted their first crop in a 4,000-square-foot space. They soon would be glad they had kept their day jobs. They had so many problems that they had to pull up and throw away all 800 plants and start over. “It’s not like there’s a guidebook on how to grow this stuff and there’s not much information coming out of Japan,” Roller says. “We learned everything the hard way.” One of the biggest hurdles is the lengthy growing cycle. “Stresses just manifest themselves into diseases a lot easier when plants are older,” Hall says. “You’ve spent all these resources—water, fertilizer, rent—and so when you start losing plants after a year or 14 months, it can be pretty devastating.” Through a process of extensive trial and error, they had a tiny bit to sell after two years and got their first real crop after three. Success at last The upsides to growing wasabi are the perennial plants can be grown and harvested year-round and can be multiplied. “Mature plants put off shoots. You can pull them and replant them,” Roller explains. “Sometimes we do that and sometimes we purchase plant starts.”
At left, Jeff Roller harvests wasabi from one of three greenhouses at the Half Moon Bay farm. Above and right, he and Tim Hall remove the leaves and stems from each rhizome to prepare the wasabi for shipping.
To curb problems, they use natural predators and barriers to thwart hungry pests and carefully manage irrigation— wasabi is vulnerable to even slightly too much or too little water. They regularly walk the rows, checking each plant for problems or changes. Their care has paid off. Today, the plants fill three greenhouses over a half-acre. With help from one to two employees, they do their own harvesting, packing and shipping and Roller often delivers to a few Bay Area restaurants on his way home from the farm. They harvest every Monday and sell anywhere from 20 to 100 pounds a week at $80 to $95 per pound, mostly to high-end Japanese restaurants willing to pay the price for the real stuff. They also sell the leaves, often used as a garnish or pickled in a traditional Japanese side dish. Since they started, they’ve sold to about 200 restaurants throughout the country. Hot commodity One of them is chef Sylvan Brackett’s Rintaro, a San Francisco Japanese restaurant in the izakaya style, a casual bar-like eatery with a tasting menu of small dishes. Brackett serves wasabi regularly with his sashimi and sometimes with tofu, shellfish or chicken dishes and notes it’s also good with steak.
What’s the story on
In the same family (Brassicaceae) but a different genus as horseradish, mustard and cabbage, wasabi has been growing wild, likely for thousands of years, along stream beds in Japan’s mountain valleys. It is believed to have been first eaten as a seasoning for raw fish and venison. The oldest record of wasabi being used as a food dates to the eighth century; cultivation in Japan dates to the 10th century. “There are like 30 different cultivars of wasabi, but we really only have access to three or four of them here,” says Jeff Roller, who co-owns Half Moon Bay Wasabi with his business partner, Tim Hall. Their farm grows Daruma, which is one of two main cultivars. “We’ve tried some other ones and that’s the one we had the most success with,” Roller says. Because the crop is finicky about climate and growing conditions, their coastal farm is one of the few in the U.S. that has been successful. Other productive regions include the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest and parts of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the East. Such scarcity makes the condiment expensive. So, an estimated 95% of U.S. sushi restaurants use a substitute made with dyed-green horseradish. The Japanese call it “Western wasabi.”
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A plate of sashimi is complemented by wasabi at Rintaro Japanese restaurant in San Francisco. Chef/owner Sylvan Brackett, right, is particular about serving only real wasabi, not dyed-green horseradish. He buys it exclusively from Half Moon Bay Wasabi, which ships it to him the same day it’s harvested.
beginning of each dinner shift and another later, keeping each in a sealed container until ready to plate. He uses the back of a knife to scrape off the skin of the wasabi (a peeler takes too much off). Then, he grates it on a sharkskin grater. “A sharkskin is very fine, almost like sandpaper and it yields a really smooth paste,” he says. If preparing a small batch, often chefs will shave a little off the sweeter leaf end and then off the hotter root end and blend the two to maintain a uniform flavor. Brackett says any leftover grated wasabi can be wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen “if you don’t want to waste it … but it won’t be the same as freshly grated.” Brackett used to buy wasabi from Japan, “but it would show up just in terrible shape. It was just old, having gone through all the transportation.” Now he buys it exclusively from Half Moon Bay Wasabi, which ships it the same day it’s harvested. He notes that he appreciates and admires Roller and Hall. “They chose one of the hardest things in the world to grow and they’re doing a really good job.”
Brackett opened Rintaro in 2014 after cooking at Chez Panisse in Berkeley and restaurants in Japan (where he was born) and running his catering company, Peko Peko. When developing the concept, he was “trying to think of California as a region of Japan and what that would look like.” Wanting to buy from local farms, he says he was thrilled to discover Half Moon Bay Wasabi. Brackett suspects most of his customers had never eaten real wasabi before coming into his restaurant, but he says they seem to notice the difference between it and the horseradish they’re accustomed to. “We get a lot of people commenting that it’s delicious,” he says. “They both give you the heat, but wasabi has a natural sweetness to it. It’s a more distinct and clear flavor—like you can taste it as a vegetable—and the texture is a little smoother.” Preparation process Wasabi’s heat comes from a gas that will dissipate if left uncovered for a few hours. So, when Roller delivers his wasabi, Brackett typically stores it in a covered container in the refrigerator or buried in ice, but doesn’t freeze it, which would alter the texture. He prepares a batch at the
Linda DuBois ldubois@californiabountiful.com
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January/February 2023
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January/February 2023
of farm life
Winning photos depict varied joys, beauty and challenges Story by Linda DuBois
Nuts growing on a tree, a stunning vista, a tractor in a field of row crops, a cow nuzzling her calf, a ray of sunlight shining through the haze of a smoldering fire. Each image helps tell the collective story of California’s farmers and ranchers. These are just a few examples of the winning photographs in the 41st annual California Farm Bureau Photo Contest. The contest invited Farm Bureau members to enter photographs that showed a slice of farm and ranch life. They came through with shots of animals, produce, machinery, landscapes and employees hard at work or breaking for play. Cash prizes were given to the adult winners as well as the Budding Artists under age 14, in a category sponsored by the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom. Winning photos are also featured in a calendar.
First Place Maddison Easley Nevada County Farm Bureau
Easley works in land conservation, helping farmers, ranchers and forest stewards manage the land. Prescribed fires are used to improve grazing vegetation for livestock, reduce wildfire risk and increase the land’s overall health. During one such fire at a Nevada City ranch, she was struck by the way the sun’s rays were shining through the smoke and silhouetting the trees “in a very ominous and soothing way. … It was an eerily beautiful scene I wanted to capture on camera,” she says. So, she took out her smartphone and quickly snapped it. “The smoke and trees allowed for great lighting naturally.”
Second Place Amy Blagg Nevada County Farm Bureau
Blagg, her husband and three boys grow grapes and hay in Lodi and run cattle in Grass Valley. “The photo was taken in Grass Valley at the beginning of our fall calving season. I was out checking for new calves and had brought my camera along. I have always enjoyed taking farm and ranch photos and have been trying to get back in the habit of having my camera, not just my cellphone, on hand,” she says. When she spotted this red Angus cow “showing off her maternal traits, posing with her days-old heifer calf,” she saw the perfect photo op. Even while using a telephoto lens, she got this crystal-clear image.
First Place Lane Toledo, age 12, Tulare County Farm Bureau Budding Artists
Lane is an Angus breeder from Visalia who has been honing his photography skills for the past four years. He’s taken a 4-H course and online classes and earned a Best of Show at the Kings Fair for a sunset picture. When his family was ready to wean calves in September, he brought his camera along. “I got this shot of my cow that I showed at California Jr. Angus shows a few years back that has her second calf. I called to her by name and she picked up her head and looked over the fence at me. So, with a long lens, I was able to get the closeup.”
Third Place Andrea Traphagan Lassen County Farm Bureau
First-generation farmers, Traphagan’s family grows certified-organic grains in Ravendale, a tiny Lassen County town. One day, while harvesting alfalfa, part of the crew ran into some machinery problems and Traphagan was called out to help. On the way, she glanced over to the other side of the field, saw this picturesque scene, grabbed her smartphone and snapped the photo. “Every once in a while, I just stop and go, ‘Wow! We live in a really pretty spot.’ … When I see something like this, I love taking an opportunity to capture it and it’s usually spur of the moment—that’s when the best stuff happens.”
Fourth Place Ed Williams
Farm Bureau of Ventura County Williams is an agricultural commissioner and sealer of weights and measures for the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Just after a spring storm, he was out on a Saturday drive with his wife and in-laws enjoying the scenery in the Santa Clara Valley, when he came upon a sight that warranted pulling over for a photo. “Coming back home just west of Fillmore, we saw this beautiful landscape of the Topatopa Mountains and the orange, lemon and avocado orchards along Sespe Creek,” he says. He notes that although he has two good cameras and lenses, for this image, he used what he had on hand: his phone.
Second Place Natalie Webb, age 9, Sonoma County Farm Bureau
For the third year in a row, Natalie has earned second place in the Budding Artists category for a photo shot in the vineyards near her St. Helena home. While her other photos were of grapes in the summer, this year, she captured the spring bud break (when vines begin to wake up from their winter dormancy). “I asked my mom to stop the car on the way home from school so I could take some pictures,” she says. She squatted down and pointed her smartphone upward so she could capture the foggy mountain in the background. She likes how the gray and foggy afternoon made her photo “all cool and swirly.” californiabountiful.com 15
Honorable mentions
Brayden Gish Solano County Farm Bureau
Gish is a full-time student at Woodland Community College, majoring in animal science. He also raises cattle with his father on the family’s Vacaville property. “I have a passion for photography and sometimes when I’m bored, I enjoy going out and taking photos of our cattle,” he says. For this photo of a female Hereford he took in March, he focused only on her eyes and top of her head “to create a more dramatic and intense photo of the cow.” Keith Bettencourt Tulare and Kings County Farm Bureaus Bettencourt of Visalia has been farming for more than 50 years. So, when he saw his 3 1/2-year-old grandson, Zachary, driving his toy tractor next to the family’s garden and carefully loading vegetables into his wagon, the proud grandpa needed to get a picture. “I thought he looked so cute—like a little farmer in his overalls checking his vegetable crop,” Bettencourt says. “Zachary is driving the tractor my wife and I gave our son, his father, Keith Jr., when he was a child.” Bailey Randel Tehama County Farm Bureau Randel’s husband looks after a walnut orchard in Tehama County. The Los Molinos couple were walking through the property in September, a week before harvest, when she looked up and spotted this walnut hanging on a tree. It had a split-open husk, making it look almost like a flower. “It caught my eye that the nut was barely hanging on inside the husk,” she says. Thinking it would be an unusual shot, she was inspired to pull out her phone and take the picture.
Gloria Hauff Tulare County Farm Bureau
Hauff grew up on a farm in Tulare, where her father grew row crops and she now manages orchards with cherries and pistachios. Over her 50 years in agriculture, she says she’s always enjoyed the “spectacular beauty of farming.” She notes that the gorgeous scenery is “always changing yet remains the same.” She took this photo of pistachios hanging from one of her trees over the summer. “I’m always looking at the beauty of farming the lands,” she says, adding that this made her photo both “planned and spontaneous.”
Mackenzie Yerian Stanislaus County Farm Bureau
Tracy resident Yerian, a communications manager for a cattle-breeding services cooperative, grew up on a Glenn County dairy. Although they have since sold the cows, her parents now have other animals living with them on the property. While visiting in May, Yerian photographed their two newest additions: Whoopi, a 2 1/2-week-old miniature donkey, and Maxine, a 6-month-old miniature Australian shepherd. “Whoopi and Maxine became fast friends,” Yerian says. “We’re still not sure if they realize they are different species, as they run and play together in the corral.”
Gloria Mercado-Martín Solano County Farm Bureau
Mercado-Martín of Fairfield, who grows winegrapes in Green Valley, was out shopping one day at her favorite produce stand, the nearby Erickson Ranch, when this rustic door displaying a hodgepodge of colorful signs caught her eye. Intrigued, she pulled the phone out of her pocket and snapped the picture. She says she never paid much attention to photography until she got her first smartphone. “The ability to capture a great image in the spur of the moment made this photo possible.”
californiabountiful.com 17
“When peaches are in season, we’ll brew with them. Sometimes we’ll create limited editions or experiment with blending them with other fruits.”
— TUCKER BUSH Almanac Beer Co.
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January/February 2023
Brewery showcases California fruit in sour beers Story by Jolaine Collins • Photos by Lori Eanes
Fresno County farmer Bryce Loewen had a chat at a San Francisco farmers market more than a decade ago with a couple of avid home brewers intrigued with the idea of using his peaches to make beer. Recalling that conversation today, he says he couldn’t have imagined where it would lead. As it turned out, those home brewers grew their venture into Almanac Beer Co., one of California’s top-selling craft breweries. And Loewen now supplies the company with up to 12 tons of organic stone fruit each summer from his family’s Blossom Bluff Orchards. His peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums are showcased in Almanac’s popular oak-aged sour beers, sold in cans across the United States. John Carlon, owner of Sierra Cascade Blueberry Farm in the Butte County foothills, shares a similar experience where ideas for making sour beers sparked between farmer and brewer over berry bins at the farmers market. “The connection and inspiration that happened while tasting blueberries evolved into a valued, long-term relationship,” Carlon says. Almanac Beer Co. is Sierra Cascade’s largest customer of secondary fruit. Since 2014, the craft brewery has purchased an average of 8,000 pounds of blueberries a year from Carlon’s 9-acre organic blueberry farm, depending on the season’s yield. The blueberries and stone fruits are hand sorted, and any imperfect fruit is frozen fresh and packed at the farms for delivery to the brewery. Almanac’s brewer estimates that close to 1/4 to 1/2 pound of stone fruit or blueberries go into making each 16-ounce can of Almanac’s Sournova sour beer featuring the fruit’s name. Growing long-term partnerships Such long-term partnerships between family farms and local businesses benefit both parties. For growers such as Carlon and Loewen, it means having a secondary market for imperfect fruit that may be slightly blemished, over- or under-ripe and doesn’t meet their premium standards for retail customers and farmers markets. For a craft brewery such as Almanac, it means having a supply of seasonal fruit with which to build its reputation as a producer of specialty beers and bold, experimental brews. “We love working with California producers as much as we can,” says Damian Fagan, the founder and CEO of Almanac Beer Co., who was part of those initial conversations with Loewen and Carlon. “Many of the relationships we enjoy today began at local farmers markets. We value those long-term partnerships.”
Tucker Bush, lead brewer of Almanac Beer Co., sources fruit from California farms to make seasonal favorites featuring stone fruit and blueberries.
The refreshing acidity of sour beers makes them enjoyable on their own or with your favorite foods. Those aged in oak barrels can be fun and funky, and are especially adept at complementing what’s on your table. • Begin with a stemmed tulip glass, which enhances the aromatic experience. • Serve sour beers at 45 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The slight chill helps to relax the beer’s acidic notes. • The “zing” of sour beers can be a shock to the palate. You might need a couple sips to acclimate to the flavors, which evolve as the beer opens up in the glass. • Sour beers can refresh the palate when served with fatty cuts of beef such as a ribeye steak or salty, cured meats. • Their bright acidity complements seafood and briny shellfish, especially those prepared with lemon and butter.
Founded in 2011, Almanac Beer Co.—named for “The Old Farmer’s Almanac” and inspired by California’s agricultural bounty—had a modest beginning, releasing just four barrel- aged ales honoring the fruits of each season during its first year. Beer aficionados sought and savored each quarterly release. While sour beers have been around for more than a century, they were piquing the interest of American consumers during Almanac’s early days. A broad lineup of beer Initially encouraged by California’s farm-to-table movement, Almanac’s brewers set out to honor the state’s agricultural diversity, growing the company’s sour beer line by incorpor- ating a broad range of seasonal fruits. Almanac’s specialty beers also feature California-grown barley from Admiral Maltings, conveniently located next door to the brewery. These days Almanac produces up to 200,000 cases a year featuring 40 to 60 types of fresh beer, including a hazy IPA as well as the oak-aged sour ales the company is best known for.
• Bring on the spice. Sour beers can stand up to curries, Mexican food and chili. • Serve fruity sour beers with strong cheeses such as goat, sharp cheddar and Gorgonzola. Or try burrata cheese, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt. • Consider pairing a variety of sour beers made with stone fruit or berries with creamy desserts such as cheesecake. • Sour beer can be used for cooking, adding complexity to acidic salad dressings and extra texture to the batter for fried fish or chicken.
At Almanac’s brewing facility, located in a World War II airplane repair hangar in Alameda, Alex Wright-Broughton takes care of brewing details while beer lovers gather in the outdoor beer garden.
A lively taproom and outdoor beer garden welcome beer lovers to Almanac’s 30,000-square-foot, redwood-beamed production and aging facility—a former airplane hangar on the decommissioned Alameda Naval Air Station near Oakland, built in 1942. Sour beers and oak aging As the name suggests, sour beers taste pleasantly sour or tart. They are lively and complex, often exhibiting slightly funky flavors and aromas. Unlike fresh beers, sour beers are brewed with wild bacteria and yeast, resulting in tart, crisp flavors. By adding fruits, brewers can achieve a balance of sweet and acidic qualities with layered fruit flavors. Almanac brewers age their sour beers in hundreds of oak barrels—many repurposed from wineries and distilleries—ranging from 50 to 1,500 gallons. The brewers typically use several yeast strains and lactobacillus (the bacteria used to make yogurt) to create layers of nuanced flavors. They allow these mixed cultures to ferment for months before adding fruit, hand selecting and blending the barrels’
One such blend is Almanac’s Bourbon Barrel Peche, a sour farmhouse ale aged in bourbon barrels using Blossom Bluff Orchards peaches and nectarines, and vanilla beans. Relationships are like safety nets Almanac’s leaders agree with farmers Carlon and Loewen, who say their long- term partnerships are dependent on respect between the farmer and buyer. “Relationships like the one we have with Almanac are not super common,” Loewen says. “Both parties must be willing to grow and be flexible, and appreciate what the other does.” “When you have imperfect fruit, you need someone who can turn it into something that’s valued,” Carlon says. “Good partnerships with people like Almanac who are willing to work with you and take imperfect fruits are like safety nets for farmers. If the weather turns against you or things don’t work perfectly, these are the people who will get you through the rough years.”
contents to create unique flavor profiles. “Oak aging creates a beer that changes over time,” says longtime Almanac brewmaster Phil Emerson. “The barrels allow oxygen in, amplifying and mellowing the fruit flavors more than a beer made only in stainless steel. Sometimes it takes a year to see the result of making a barrel-aged sour, but it’s worth the wait. As with wine, oak-aged sour beers can be cellared and enjoyed years later for their nuanced flavors and aromas. They’re very food friendly. “Barrel-aged beers should be interesting enough for a veteran fan of sour beers and approachable enough for someone who is trying a sour for the first time,” he adds. Seasonal fruit favorites and limited editions The Almanac crew is constantly developing new beers using seasonal fruits, encouraged by the company’s motto of “farm-to-barrel brewing.” “When peaches are in season, we’ll brew with them. Sometimes we’ll create limited editions or experiment with blending them with other fruits,” says lead brewer Tucker Bush.
Jolaine Collins cbmagazine@californiabountiful.com
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Story by Ching Lee Photos by Frank Rebello
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January/February 2023
Versatile wild rice offers untapped potential
Next time you need a different twist on your favorite soup, salad or stuffing recipe, you might look to wild rice for a revamp. The nutty, chewy, nutrient-dense grain makes for wonderful side dishes that can be turned into hearty meals with little fuss, says Shasta County farmer Mary Rickert. She and her husband, Jim, have been growing wild rice for more than 40 years. “I think a lot of people are intimidated by wild rice, and they only think of it as something that they get in their pilaf,” Mary Rickert says. “They need to rethink the versatility of wild rice.” One of her favorite ways to prepare it is to toss cooked wild rice with tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, grated cheddar cheese and Italian dressing. She calls this wild rice salad her “go-to dish” for potlucks “because, generally speaking, nobody else brings it.” “It’s not another potato salad or macaroni salad,” she says. That wild rice dishes are not as common as other standard potluck fare is something the Rickerts and others in the wild rice business would like to change. Changing its reputation Rendy Christie, who markets wild rice for Alturas Ranches in Modoc County, says one of the biggest challenges she faces is trying to raise the profile of wild rice so that people are aware of it—and busting misconceptions that it’s difficult
Most California wild rice is grown in the mountainous regions of the North State, including in Shasta County, where this field is located.
to cook. When she serves samples of wild rice at food shows, she says, most people tell her they can’t believe how good it is. “They remember eating it years ago when they called it sticks and twigs because it took so long to cook, and it was so chewy and kind of hard,” she says. Another misconception to overcome, Christie says, is the name itself. Wild rice, she notes, is not technically rice, even though it looks and cooks like other types of rice. The long, slender, dark grain is the seed of an aquatic grass, just as regular rice and other cereal grains also are grasses. But white rice and wild rice are two different species, says Whitney Brim-DeForest, a University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisor. Whereas white rice originated in China and parts of Africa and has been cultivated for thousands of years, wild rice is native to North America, specifically the Upper Midwest, where Native Americans have harvested the crop in shallow lakes and slow-moving streams for generations. A relatively young crop Despite its name, wild rice is not truly wild, Brim- DeForest says. But it’s not fully domesticated either, as the seeds tend to fall to the ground when the plant is mature, the way wild plants reproduce. Fully domesticated crops such as white rice or wheat that have undergone years of selective breeding retain their seed, so humans can harvest it, she adds.
When preparing her wild rice salad, above, farmer Mary Rickert cooks the kernels until they pop open to ensure a soft and tender chew.
“You could think of (wild rice) as a relatively young crop,” Brim-DeForest says. “It’s only been grown commercially in California since the 1970s. Before that, it was only grown in the Minnesota area.” Wild rice was introduced to California farmers in 1972, using seeds from Minnesota. When Jim Rickert planted his first field in 1982, it was still considered a very new crop. He says he decided to try it because he wanted to grow something that other California farmers at the time didn’t grow. Today, California represents one of two major growing regions for the grain. Its production accounts for more than half of the world’s wild rice. Minnesota remains the other top grower, with some production in Idaho, Oregon and Wisconsin, according to USA Rice Federation.
During the past 50 years, California became one of the world’s top producers of wild rice. The Golden State is also renowned for growing regular rice. It ranks behind Arkansas as the nation’s second largest rice-producing state. Most of the state’s rice comes out of the Sacramento Valley, where Calrose remains the predominant variety. It is a type of japonica rice, which is often used to make sushi because of its short, round grain and soft, sticky quality. As its name indicates, Calrose originated in California. It was developed by plant breeders at the Rice Experiment Station in Butte County, which released it to growers in 1948, according to the station. The “rose” refers to its kernel size, as it was named after an earlier medium-grain variety that was popular in the South. Having achieved world market recognition, the name stuck, even though new, improved varieties have been released through the years. That’s because Calrose by any other name would not be medium- grain rice from California. California farmers also grow 'regular rice
Wild rice: special and local Most California wild rice acreage is found in the mountainous regions of Shasta, Lassen and Modoc counties, where the climate mimics the growing conditions of Minnesota. Some wild rice is also grown in the Sacramento Valley, which produces nearly all the state’s white rice. Through the years, the Golden State has grown as many as 20,000 acres of wild rice and as few as 10,000 acres, depending on market conditions. It remains a small “specialty” crop compared to white rice, acreage of which has topped 500,000. “It’s definitely a unique crop,” Brim-DeForest says. “There’s not that many crops that we grow in the United States anymore that are from the United States. If you’re trying to eat locally, wild rice would be one of the crops that would be quite local.” Christie of Alturas Ranches, which has been growing wild rice for more than 35 years, says she thinks many consumers have yet to discover the “great nutritional value of wild rice,” which has dietary fiber and protein levels higher than regular white rice and most other grains. From breakfast to dessert Christie says she likes to cook it ahead, refrigerate it and eat it for breakfast by adding milk, fresh or dried fruits, nuts, coconut, flax seed and “whatever you want to throw in there.” She adds that using wild rice in burgers, breads, cookies and other desserts adds color and texture. Wild rice also lends heft and dimension to clam chowder and all kinds of soups, farmer Mary Rickert says. She has substituted wild rice for beans in chili. As an alternative to holiday cranberry sauce, she’s made gelatin with wild rice, whole cranberries and chopped walnuts. For an earthy wintertime side dish, sauté sliced
Wild rice, above, is an aquatic grass in which the seeds are harvested for food, above left.
mushrooms, chopped onions, chopped celery and chunks of bacon, and then stir in cooked wild rice, Rickert recommends. This dish is so simple, Rickert says, yet “people just go crazy for it.” She prefers to cook the rice in the oven using a covered casserole dish rather than in a rice cooker or on the stovetop. Baking it, she says, makes the rice come out “beautifully soft and tender” while also “puffy and light.” It’s important to cook it until all the water is absorbed and the kernels pop open, she says, because undercooked wild rice has a hard texture that’s difficult to chew. The oven method usually takes about an hour and a half to achieve the tenderness she prefers. For speedier cooking, look for wild rice that has been scarified, which means the kernel’s outer bran
californiabountiful.com 25
Jim Rickert, right, with his wife Mary, first grew wild rice more than 40 years ago when it was still a relatively new crop for California farmers.
has been mechanically scratched so water can be absorbed faster. The process retains the nutritional value of the grain but reduces the cooking time to 20 to 25 minutes, or 12 minutes in a pressure cooker, Christie says. Rice blends that combine wild rice with white rice use scarified wild rice so they have the same cooking time. Unwelcome fans Humans are not the only creatures that have discovered the tastiness of wild rice. Jim Rickert says blackbirds “love this stuff, and they can decimate a field.” Damage can be so severe in some years that he’s left small fields behind rather than harvest what’s left of the crop. Most deterrents he’s tried don’t work once the birds get used to them, he says. Noise guns, for example, “annoy my neighbors” more than they protect his crop. Other times he would blast loud music at the birds from his old pickup. “Blackbirds don’t seem to like classical music,” Rickert says. “You could give them a little William Tell Overture or something, and they seem to fly off pretty good with that.”
Saving Farms Saving Profits Saving Futures
CHAPTER 12
Imagine a Better Future | Restore Your Farming Legacy Eliminate debt. Stop foreclosure. Stop repossessions. Cancel bad vendor and packing house contracts. Sell farmland with little to no capital gains tax.
Ching Lee clee@californiabountiful.com
Free Consultation | 760.884.4444 | www.JDL.law
book reviews
The Vegetable Gardening Book: Your Complete Guide to Growing an Edible Organic Garden from Seed to Harvest , by television and podcast host Joe Lamp’l, draws on the author’s insights from years of interviewing gardening experts. Even seasoned vegetable gardeners can learn from this comprehensive book. It covers how to design a garden, choose tools, start seeds, select plant varieties, build raised beds and support structures,
encourage pollinators, create biodiverse soil and reduce maintenance. Paperback from Cool Springs Press. $28.99.
Hero for the Hungry: The Life and Work of Norman Borlaug , written by Peggy Thomas and illustrated by Sam Kalda, tells the story of a 20th-century American known for dedicating his life’s work to ending world hunger. The 157-page book designed for ages 10-15 is written in an engaging, kid-friendly style with colorful illustrations. The story follows Borlaug from his childhood on a small farm to his innovation improving wheat productivity that helped feed millions during a famine and earned him a Nobel Peace Prize. Paperback from Feeding Minds Press of the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. $15.99.
Hillary and the Ladybug Butterflies , by Mary Cohen, William Dandurand, Gary Revel and Elisabeth Revel with illustrations and photography by William Dandurand, is the 18th book in the Adventures of Hillary the Little Ladybug children’s series. Here, the ever-curious Hillary witnesses two “ladybugs” with unusually large and beautiful wings—the mythical “Ladybug Butterflies.” She then
embarks on a dangerous adventure and eventually helps prove ladybugs and ladybug butterflies can live in harmony. Hardcover from Jongleur Books. $29.79.
Serendipity: A History of Accidental Culinary Discoveries by Oscar Farinetti is a treasure-trove for foodies with a curious mind. Through engaging interviews and entertaining details, Farinetti, the founder of the food chain Eataly, tells almost 50 stories of how some of the world’s most popular food inventions actually came about by chance. These include such successes as the ice-cream cone, brownies, corn flakes, Coca-Cola, french fries and rum, coming from locations around the world, including right here in California. Hardcover from Apollo Publishers. $24.99.
Plant-Based Gourmet: Vegan Cuisine for the Home Chef by Suzannah Gerber has 150 original recipes for vegans or anyone interested in nutrition-minded recipes. It includes main dishes, breads and baked goods, appetizers, brunch and breakfast dishes, soups and sauces, desserts and beverages. It also has sections on using herbs
and spices, advice on prepping ahead, tips for using knives and cooking tools, instructions for techniques like sous vide and even plating advice. Hardcover from Apollo Publishers. $35.
California Bountiful’s Book Reviews highlight books related to rural living and California agriculture. To suggest a book, email cbmagazine@californiabountiful.com.
californiabountiful.com 27
Listening to the land
Farmers and ranchers recognized for conservation efforts
Story by Christine Souza ∞ Photos by Paolo Vescia
To preserve the land under their care for future generations, many farmers and ranchers employ sustainable practices to maintain natural resources. The Leopold Conservation Award, established in memory of conservationist Aldo Leopold, recognizes agriculturists who inspire others with their dedication to land, water and wildlife habitat on private, working land. The 2022 award was presented to the Beretta Family Dairy of Sonoma County. “I’ve tried to be ahead of the curve for a number of years,” says Doug Beretta, who farms with his wife, Sharon, and adult children Ryan and Jennifer, with help from daughter
Lisa and her son, Braydon. “The more conservation that I can do to make sure that this property stays in the family and stays as a farm, that’s the biggest thing for me.” Sardella Ranch of Tuolumne County was also an award finalist. The Leopold Conservation Award in California is made possible thanks to American Farmland Trust, Sustainable Conservation, California Farm Bureau, Sand County Foundation, The Harvey L. & Maud C. Sorensen Foundation, Farm Credit, The Nature Conservancy in California, McDonald’s and California Leopold Conservation Award recipient alumni.
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Beretta Family Dairy Sonoma County
Striving for a lasting legacy Doug Beretta, who started milking cows on the dairy at a young age, leads the next generations at the Beretta Family Dairy, while carrying on the legacy started by his grandfather. Beretta Family Dairy is a 100% certified-organic dairy with 300 milk cows and 400 heifers. As a pasture-based dairy, the family manages 400 acres at the home ranch and 120 acres on which the family raises heifers. They lease an additional 150 acres of public land for grazing. “Conserving is something we do every day. You just do your job and implement projects as they come up and think, this may be neat for the dairy,” Jennifer Beretta says. “It is really neat to be recognized (with this award) and know that you did a good job.” The family’s conservation efforts include an automatic scraper and separating system that allows them to compost dried manure solids. The compost is applied to pastureland to improve soil health and used in the barn for cow bedding. These practices help the dairy reduce its carbon footprint by sequestering carbon and reducing fuel emissions, while also cutting costs. “My grandfather built the first manure ponds on this ranch in 1968, before the Clean Water Act, because he knew that by capturing manure, he had fertilizer to put back on the ground,” Doug Beretta says. “It means a lot to me to be that kind of an innovator.” By using compost for animal bedding instead of river sand, the Beretta family has noticed an increase in cow comfort and cleanliness. “The cows love the bedding and our foot trimmer noticed a difference in our cows’ feet,” Jennifer Beretta says. The Berettas have partnered with the city of Santa Rosa since the early 1980s on water use and became one of the first producers to accept the city’s recycled wastewater for irrigation. The Berettas also have 75 acres of vernal pools that provide habitat for the California tiger salamander, a federally endangered species, and three endangered flowers. “Having that 75 acres as critical habitat for tiger salamander, our cows are still able to graze and that has allowed for the salamander to still thrive and the flowers to still grow,” Jennifer Beretta says. The Berettas have invited visitors to the family dairy to showcase their conservation work and educate people about agriculture. “I enjoy getting up every day and being able to work outside, whether it’s pouring down rain or 30 degrees. I love being with the cows, with the land and seeing what we’ve accomplished,” says Jennifer Beretta, who is president of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau. “It’s neat to watch the baby calves be born, get raised up into a milk cow and then see how they produce. It’s neat to plant the fields and watch your crop grow. It’s just fun to watch it all happen.”
Doug Beretta and daughter Jennifer prioritize conservation at the family dairy in Sonoma County. Above right, Doug monitors the temperature of compost that will be used for cattle bedding.
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