Did you know that two years ago, blueberries replaced peaches for the top harvested fruit in Georgia? Or that Georgia is the 4th largest producer of blueberries in the country? Beyond these revelations, "Crop Stories," a new book released by the Athens Farmers Market, explores Georgia's organic blueberries, from farmer to table. The quarterly book features 20 recipes curated from Georgia's organic growers and a highlighted story from one of Athen's Farmers Market's farmers. We talked with Andre Gallant, the editor of the book, to get the scoop on recipe creation, Georgia blueberries and the featured farmer.
Why choose the blueberry as the first crop?
For starters, our first issue was to come out in summer. Tomatoes felt too obvious. Eggplant may have been too far afield for an inaugural issue. Blueberries just made sense. The Athens Farmers Market has a really interesting farmer who sells blueberries. His name is Chris Luther, and he's this loud, magnetic, a little redneck, raspy-voiced blue collar guy who is tailor-made for a long farmer profile, which was a component we knew we wanted to have in Crop Stories - an in-depth narrative about the person who gets the particular crop from seed to market. The other thing is, blueberries aren't that easy to grow organically. To make a living at it, you have to devote a good bit of acreage to it, so your average CSA farmer isn't going to tend too many blueberry bushes. So there was an interesting agricultural story there about how a small farmer scratches out a living growing blueberries. It's not easy.
What do Georgians not know about the state's blueberry crop?
For starters, Georgia makes more money growing blueberries than it does peaches. That change happened a few years ago, and it's only on the rise. Blueberry cultivation as we know it is less than one hundred years old. And maybe this gets hammered home when we talk about respecting the work that farmers do, but the amount of effort - watering, weeding, tending, picking, planting, etc. - and time that goes into producing the small pint of blueberries we buy at the farmers market is ridiculous. I think we get that struggle across pretty well in "Crop Stories."
Crop Stories highlights the history of blueberries. What are the different varieties?
- Lowbush type prevalent in Maine (these are wild)
- Northern Highbush that's grown in Michigan
- Southern Highbush that we can grow down South
- Rabbiteye, the type mostly grown by our organic and non-organic growers here in Georgia.
How were the recipes selected for the book?
For this first issue, most of the recipes came from Caitlyn Hardy and Rhonda Luther. Caitlyn runs a farm along with her boyfriend called Cedar Grove in Oglethorpe County. Before she farmed, she was a cook, and is pretty accomplished, as farmers often are, at being creative with what's coming out of the fields. Rhonda is Chris Luther's wife, and when she's not working as a teller at a bank, is out in the fields tending blueberry bushes with her husband. The two of them brought the bulk of the recipes to the table, though not every one made it through testing.
Were the recipes significant to the farmers?
As far as significance goes, one of the most repeated phrases uttered during testing was, "I remember my momma/grandmomma making these." I think the finished collection of recipes is more indicative of what's grown by market farmers today and current diet trends, and less of, well, a community cookbook feel. Our grandmothers likely weren't cooking with quinoa and bok choy. With that said, I think the next issue's recipe collection will read entirely differently than this first blueberry issue. I should also note that Whitney Otawka of Cinco y Diez contributed an arbol chili blueberry salad and there's a vicious blueberry shrub cocktail crafted by one of our finest watering holes here in Athens, the Old Pal.
What crops are in the future for "Crop Stories"?
Our next issue is slated to be release on November 1, and we're devoting it to winter squashes, especially those native to Georgia. We're focusing Crop Stories' narrative portion on an awesome young couple, the Bretts of Dayspring Farm in Danielsville, Ga. Nathan Brett, in all his energetic youth, is growing these crazy looking heirloom squashes that were grown here hundreds of years ago. Some of them can grow past two feet in length and take on these beautiful orange hues. I'm super excited. The Bretts are also expecting their first child right around the time the issue hits the street. It's also the time when Nathan has to plant the next year's wheat crop. Hugh Acheson is slated to write a foreword, as is Crop Stories' signature, and we'll be highlighting some of the culinary talents of our local restaurants again. The National's Peter Dale has signed on for a cool Mediterranean riff on Southeastern squash, and I'd expect a few more contributions from Athens' most bad ass chefs.
"Crop Stories" will be available to purchase at the Freedom Farmers Market this Saturday (August 9) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The book is $13.99. They will also be available weekly at the Athens Farmers Market or online.
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