>> Funding for
Around the Farm Table
is provided in part by
Wisconsin Farmers Union,
a member driven organization
for family farmers, rural
communities and all people.
Wisconsin Farmers Union, united
to grow family agriculture.
Information at
WisconsinFarmersUnion.com.
* *
>> Hi there, welcome to
the farm.
It's fair season here in
Wisconsin, and to get ready for
it I'm going to go up to
Green Lake County Fair and cook
up some grilled pizza for some
of the 4H kids.
For the ingredients I'm going to
be stopping by The Copper Kettle
Garlic Farm up there in Colgate,
Wisconsin, and then it's off to
Princeton for farm-fresh produce
at the Boursin family farm.
Gather with us,
Around the Farm Table.
I'm your host, Inga Witscher.
>> All: Gather with us,
Around the Farm Table.
>> A few years ago,
I moved up to Wisconsin.
I started an organic dairy farm
at St. Isidore's Mead.
That's when I discovered
the abundance of Midwestern
local food
and small-scale farmers
growing everything
from green zebra tomatoes
to pasture pork.
I'm taking a break
from the cows,
hittin' the road
and seein' if I can't satisfy
my epicurious appetite.
>> One of my favorite parts
about visiting the county fair
is the diversity of dairy cows
that they have there.
There's quite a few different
breeds of dairy cow, like
Milking Shorthorns.
These red, white and roan
beauties, like Allison here,
originally come from England.
Now only are Milking Shorthorn
great dairy cows, but you can
use them for dual purpose.
There's also a beef breed that's
a Shorthorn.
They're beautiful cows, and they
look gorgeous on pasture.
Then there's the Guernsey.
Also known as the Golden
Guernsey because of the milk.
With an average butterfat of
4.5% these are also an
excellent breed of cow if you're
going to start making cheese.
Then there's the brown Swiss.
Now, Brown Swiss come from
Switzerland, from the Swiss Alps
actually.
They're known for being
cold-hardy.
That's why they do so well here
in the Midwest with our harsh
winters.
And I know what you're thinking.
No, she doesn't give
chocolate milk.
Of course, you recognize
the Holstein.
Holsteins are the most common
cow here in Wisconsin
and probably around
the Untied States.
They're know for their milk
production.
They don't have as much
butterfat as some of the other
herds, they only have about
2.5% average.
But they make up for it with the
amount of milk that they give.
And then of course,
there's Jerseys.
Jerseys come from the Isle of
Jersey, which is just off the
coast of Britain, and they're
known for butterfat.
They're a small size and they
actually have a 20% less carbon
footprint than any other cow.
But most of all, Jersey cows and
a really sweet and cute
little calves.
Well, it's time to go to
the fair.
* *
[bike bell tinkles]
Hello there!
>> Well, hi.
>> Hi, I'm Inga.
>> I'm Cathy.
>> Nice to meet you, Cathy.
>> I'm Greg.
>> Nice to meet you, Greg.
>> Would you like to come a
sit down?
>> I would, yes.
>> Want to join us in cleaning
some garlic?
>> Okay, no problem.
You never have to ask me twice.
This is fantastic.
You know, I've been to--
Every once in a while I'll come
up to this part of the state and
I drive through all the
back roads.
I've passed your place quite a
few times.
I was on my way to the Green
Lake County Fair today, and the
smell of garlic permeating the
air brought me right into
finally coming to meet you.
Do you guys do a rotation with
the garlic?
>> We do.
We practice sustainable farming,
so every fourth year we'll be
back to the same field.
>> Oh, all right.
>> We use organic cover crops,
red clover, to get some kind of
nitrogen going into the soil.
Then to control weeds and stuff,
organic buckwheat we grow in
there.
That makes really good tillage
and good organic material.
>> Garlic I think is a wonderful
things because you plant it
once, you watch it, you tend it,
and then you come back and
harvest it, then you plant it
again in the fall.
So what time of year are you
guys going to plant.
>> October.
You try to time it so that it'll
set roots down.
>> Okay.
>> And start building that
energy for the spring.
Then in the spring, that's when
you want the sprouts to come up.
Also, if it gets roots down
it'll prevent it from heaving
up, you know, when you get that
freeze/thaw cycle.
It will keep it from pushing up
off the ground.
>> Now, you sell right off the
farm here right?
>> Yes, we do.
>> How do you do that?
I've seen flyers for one-day
events.
>> We launch our season every
year once our garlic's cleaned
up and ready to go.
On the one-day sale they'll come
and we'll sell probably 70%, 80%
of our garlic on one day.
>> Wow.
What's your favorite way to
eat it?
>> I like it roasted a lot.
>> I like it roasted the best.
>> You can just basically take
this and cut it off at the top,
put some olive oil on there, a
little salt, and roast it in the
oven.
It gets so sweet and, oh, it's
just unbelievable.
>> I was hoping to get some
today because I'm going to be
cooking for some 4H kids at the
county fair.
I wanted to introduce them to
vegetables and the wonderful
flavors that I always love in
the summer, like garlic and
tomatoes.
So I'm going to be making pizza.
But I always add, you know,
three or four cloves of garlic
to everything I cook.
So the poor little dears don't
run away from me I'm probably
just going to add maybe one.
I'll get them started on that
and then go from there.
>> We can fix ya up, absolutely.
>> Thanks.
This is perfect.
>> Here's your garlic.
>> Okay, I'll give you that.
Thank you so much.
>> Thank you.
>> Have a great rest of
the season.
>> Thank you.
>> And next time I'm back I hope
I get to stop in and say
hi again.
>> Thank you very much.
We appreciate it.
[rumbling]
[bike bell tinkles]
>> Hi, Boursin family.
>> How are you doing?
>> Good, so what is this?
>> This is our fantastic
bicycle-powered root washer.
In the past we've spent a lot of
time hunkering over a big tanks.
This is a back-saver.
It's utilizing a discarded bike
form a friend.
The roots the go in, tumble,
tumble, tumble, and they come
out clean.
>> Wow.
>> Say, how do they look down
on that end, Henry?
Carrots gettin' clean
down there?
>> Aw, thanks, little guy.
>> It's a done deal.
Let's go.
>> This is such a great machine.
This is amazing.
Oh, thank you, kiddo.
He's like the carrot master.
>> He is, he loves 'em.
>> I love seeing kids this age
eating carrots, like just hand
over fist, just goin' to town.
I love it
>> Couldn't be fresher.
>> Exactly.
>> This is basically just for
root vegetables, right?
>> Yeah, carrots, beets, cured
potatoes work well, parsnips.
We used it for spring-dug
parsnips this year.
>> What is this goin' on here?
This is so cool.
It's like all of the sudden I'm
in Scandinavia of something.
>> This is what is often
referred to as a holtz housen,
which is wood house, I believe,
in German.
We've been stacking wood this
way for a few years.
It looks nice, but also really
effectively dries it.
>> Okay.
>> The outside is stacked
horizontally, and then the
inside is all stacked
vertically.
The idea is that whichever way
the wind is blowing, it's
entering the stack and kind of
going up like a chimney.
My firewood at our house is just
sort of piled up next to a barn
somewhere, just sitting there
just getting drenched in snow
and rain and things like that.
Maybe I'll just take you back
with me and you can show me how
to do it.
>> I'd be happy to.
>> Well, Matt, the reason I'm
here is I just wanted to pick up
some things.
I'm actually going to be down at
the fair just right down the
road in Green Lake.
I'm helping some kids out there.
I thought, what a great way to
get kids to eat vegetables if
they're farm-fresh, they taste
amazing and they're on pizza.
>> Absolutely, well we'd love to
help you out.
>> Okay.
The greatest thing about coming
and visiting a farm that's doing
vegetables is just to see the
amount of vegetables.
I always think, oh, I've got a
big kitchen garden.
Then I come out to a place like
this and it's like, I'm like
mini, you know.
This is amazing.
It's great to see rows
of things.
How many acres are you guys
growing here?
>> Three acres in vegetable
production.
>> Wow, that's a lot.
I think people think with a farm
you have to have 100 acres of
something, but three acres this
intensively farmed with--
How many different crops are you
guys growing?
>> It's close to 50.
>> That's amazing.
How did you start here?
>> It was a bit serendipitous.
We finished college and didn't
quite know what to do, so we
decided that we'd do a little
bit of traveling.
The easiest and cheapest way to
do it was through the World Wide
Opportunities on Organic Farm
program.
>> WOOFing, yeah.
>> So we took off for Central
America and stayed for about
nine months on several different
farms, and really got a taste
for living out in the rural
areas and bring on farms and
being around animals, and lots
of great food.
When we got back it occurred to
us that we could keep doing that
if we wanted to.
Then an opportunity came up to
move to this farm, and we jumped
on it.
>> That's amazing.
>> We started really small with
just a 25 by 25 foot garden, a
kitchen garden.
>> Yup.
>> And then doubled it the next
year, and then doubled that the
next year.
Slowly we've grow to the three
acres of vegetables that we
have now.
>> Tell me about the different
things that you're growing.
>> Lot's of good things,
broccoli, carrots, Brussels
sprouts, lots of herbs, basil.
We're doing more cut flowers
this season, and that seems to
be appealing on many levels.
We're getting the good
pollinators to come up to
the farm.
It's lovely.
Our member of the CSA are able
to experience a wide range.
For some people a lot of these
crops are new or different.
You know, maybe they've heard
their grandma talk about
kohlrabi and they've tried to
cook eggplant before, but when
they get all this stuff in the
box with the idea that this is
what's in season right now, this
is what we're cooking with.
I think it's the colors and the
flavors and the textures that
really help convince people that
eating well is really a good
thing to do, and a pleasure, not
just a burden.
You know, no more mushy Brussels
sprouts.
If you can eat something that's
so fresh.
>> It's a different experience.
>> Yeah.
>> I got a lot of converts.
>> I think I could just probably
lay back and just stay here
all day.
It's just such a peaceful place
to be, isn't it?
>> It definitely is.
>> Unfortunately, I can't.
But I'm hoping, can we do a
little pickin' and see what we
come up with for these pizzas?
>> Let's do it.
>> I know for many farmers that
I talk to, and even myself, it's
hard finding land.
>> We are currently not
landowners.
It's very difficult to afford.
We feel fortunate to be on the
land.
It's given us a chance to
venture into the type of farming
that we feel passionate about.
>> It's amazing to see this
amount of acreage in vegetables
and very little weeds.
It kind of makes me want to go
home and weed for an entire
weekend because this is just so
amazing.
How do you guys do it?
>> We've been hosting some
crop mobs this season.
>> Oh, no kidding?
>> We really have enjoyed just
putting it out there to people,
getting eight to ten people at a
crack, just hit it hard for four
hours.
Then we finish with a lunch.
>> Perfect timing, you guys do
some work with horses.
>> Yeah.
>> How do you feel about horses?
>> I respect them.
I have a healthy respect for
them.
They really live up to the idea
of horsepower.
When it comes right down to it,
the difference between sitting
on a tractor and sitting behind
the horses is night and day.
You actually get to hear what's
going on a round you.
Quality of life, listening to
the birds, the smell of the
horses, the crinkle of the
leather.
It's really satisfying.
You know, you can't pet a
tractor.
You can, but it's not the same.
>> It's not the same.
I think one thing that's
wonderful about this farm is
that you guys have that animal
component.
>> We knew that we needed some
bovine activity so we started a
small herd.
We getting that nice mix of
carbon and nitrogen.
At the end of the winter
everything gets gathered up and
windrowed into compost rows.
After about a year we have this
beautiful friable substance that
is like black gold that we can
spread onto our fields.
You put this in and you get your
colorful heirloom tomatoes,
your colorful basil.
It's just like a piece of art.
>> Yeah.
>> You hesitate to eat it just
because it looks so beautiful.
>> It must be amazing just
watching your kids eating the
carrots right out the--
You know, they're tiny kids and
they're embracing these
vegetables.
I love that.
>> I do too.
>> I think it's fantastic.
You know, some kids it's just
like, ahh, get those things away
from me.
But I think growing up here on
this beautiful farm and being
really able to eat right out of
the fields, that must be and
amazing experience fro them to
be able to have.
>> We're working on the kale.
They like to pick it, but--
>> That's a little bit more
tricky.
* *
We'll pick blueberries next time
I come visit, okay?
>> Yup.
>> Nice idea.
>> Have a great day!
>> Thanks, Inga.
Have a good ride.
>> Bye, Inga!
We love you!
* *
[moo]
>> I love being at the fair.
This is so great.
I love the atmosphere,
the smells of everything,
the cows, the kids, everything.
And I love making pizza for some
wonderful 4H kids.
That's what I'm going to
do today.
I thought that pizza was a
wonderful way to introduce kids
to vegetables.
It's one of my favorite things
to make in the summertime
because you can use anything
that's available in your garden.
Today we have all of the
wonderful vegetables from the
Boursin farm.
I'm going to show you first how
to make the dough for your
grilled pizza crust.
It's super easy.
I have in here some warm water,
it's about 105 degrees.
I'm going to add my yeast and a
little bit of sugar.
You want to sugar in your yeast.
That's what's going to
activate that.
It's the food for that yeast.
I'll sprinkle it on top there,
and give it a little mix in.
Let's see, I've got a little
spoon right here.
You always want to put your
yeast on top of your water
because that's what helps it
kind of mix in.
Here we go.
Now, we're just going to let
that sit for about five minutes.
* *
As you can see, the yeast is now
bubbling up.
That means it's activated and we
can start with the rest of
the recipe.
I'm going to add my flour.
I just use a white flour.
I use a local white flour
actually.
Then I'm going to mix it up.
You know, this is kind of a fun
thing because you can do it
with your hands.
You can also do this in your
mixer at home if you've got a
Kitchenaid or something, it
works, it's so fast.
I'm just going to add some
cornmeal.
That's going to give it a little
bit of that texture to let it
hold up when you're grilling it.
Mix it together.
Can you come over here for a
second and just add a little bit
of olive oil for me, to my dish?
Just grab this container and
just add.
I'll just tell you when.
That's good, thank you!
You're so sweet.
See?
4H kids are so sweet.
Mix in a little bit
of olive oil.
You want about two tablespoons
in your dough, and you're mixing
that all together.
Now, what I would do if I was at
my house is that I'd take this
on my countertop with a bunch of
flour and just start mixing it
together.
Let me get cleaned up.
I'll be right back with the
dough that I've already made.
The great thing about this dough
is you can make it in the
morning, come back in the
evening and the pizza's
practically made.
But now I'm going to make the
toppings for the pizza.
This is something I love to make
during the summertime when the
tomatoes are at their peak
ripeness, where they're sweet as
candy and the basil's blooming
and everything is harmonious,
right?
In the summertime.
What I want you to do now is
when you go home to make this
pizza, or you're probably
already at home.
When you want to make this pizza
this summer, do it with whatever
vegetables you can find.
But the one rule with grilled
pizza is less is more.
You never what to put too much
ingredients on it, or else it
just doesn't taste the same.
There's something about
simplicity with these grilled
pizzas that just works so well.
We're going to get started with
these beautiful heirloom
tomatoes that we have.
I'm just going to make a simple
tomato sauce.
I think this is just such a
classic way to eat pizza, with
tomatoes and mozzarella.
Let me get all these out here.
Look at these tomatoes too.
This is the great thing about
getting a CSA box.
You get the most beautiful food
that you could ever imagine, and
varieties that you might not
find at a grocery store, or that
you might not want to grow on
your own.
Look at this guy.
Is this huge?
It's beautiful.
I'm just going to core my
tomatoes out a little bit, just
get the stem out.
I want to dice my tomatoes so
that--
I'm putting that in my compost
bin, by the way.
I want to dice my tomatoes so
that they're a little bit
bite-sized, if you will.
You don't want to miss that
beautiful tomato feel.
This is the time of year to be
eating tomatoes.
You really want to be able to
get that full bite.
I'll put it in the bowl.
Now that you've got the tomatoes
in there, add some basil.
This is my new favorite basil,
the purple basil.
It smells good, and it looks
delicious and colorful.
And like we talked about before,
you're eating with you eyes and
your nose and your mouth and all
these things.
You just want to julienne you
basil, your red basil.
Then I think I'm going to use a
little bit of the classic green
basil to add some of that color.
Here we go.
I love basil.
Basil's one of my favorite
things about summer, basil,
tomatoes.
And you know, they're perfect to
be growing in a companion
garden together.
They do well when you grow them
right next to each other.
I've got my tomatoes, got
my basil.
The next major ingredient, which
is one of my favorite
ingredients of all time,
is garlic.
I'm going to use one clove of
garlic today for this recipe
just because of the kids.
I think that maybe they don't
want to smell like garlic when
they're getting ready to show
their cows.
I'm just going to give them a
little bit.
All righty, look at those
beautiful cloves.
Here's a tip, when you're doing
garlic, and I'm sure most of you
probably already know this.
Set your garlic clove down,
put your knife on top,
and then smash.
We can just take the skins off
that way.
Just dice up your garlic as
small as possible.
We're going to be putting it
right in here raw.
Okay, and then once your garlic
is diced up, just add that right
to your tomato and basil
mixture.
A little pepper,
a little salt,
and I like to use the sunflower
oil.
It's from Wisconsin, and I love
everything form Wisconsin, but
you could use olive oil
here too.
That's perfectly fine.
Sprinkle about two or three
tablespoons on top.
You can just mix this all
up together.
If you want to just let it marry
for a few hours and just kind of
meld together.
Oh, look at this.
It's so beautiful with the
different colors of tomatoes all
coming together in the sauce.
That's what's going to be
beautiful on the pizza.
Now, I'm going to set this aside
so it can just marinate down for
a few minutes.
I'm going to get my area cleaned
up, and we'll start rolling the
dough out and start getting
that ready.
* *
One of my favorite things about
homemade pizza is that it never
looks--
You can make it look however you
want.
You almost want that.
That's what makes it give it
that artisan feel.
You can pull it out a little
bit.
I've got my roller.
You want it to be about 1/8 inch
so that it can cook faster.
So keep rolling.
When I get it rolled out a
little bit then I like to kind
of shake it out.
The nice thing about doing this
recipe is you can actually roll
all you dough out at the
beginning of the day, cook it on
one side.
Then when your friends show up
or you're cooking for people,
you can actually just finish it
out five minutes before you're
ready to eat.
You know me, I'm always thinking
of things that I can make ahead
of time.
I hate doing things last minute.
So I'll just roll out the rest
of them.
* *
Now with the dough that you have
we're going to grill one
side first.
I'll just open this up and
gently lay this down.
I'm just going to let this grill
for a few minute to get brown on
one side and then I'll take it
back up to put the ingredients
on it.
See how it's nice and bubbled.
That's what you really want it
to be like.
You can pop the bubbles if
you want.
Take this off and flip it
upside-down onto your board.
You've got this nice little
surface now that's going be for
your filling.
So the first thing I want to put
on here is my cheese.
Remember I was telling you, less
is more, and it really is.
You don't want to overdo the
topping on the pizza here.
This looks good.
I'm using fresh mozzarella
cheese because I love fresh
mozzarella, but be wiling to
experiment with your pizzas.
Use Gruyere cheese, use feta
cheese, use goat cheese.
Use different toppings, things
that you wouldn't think about.
Another great thing is doing
ricotta with some sliced peaches
or some fresh fruit and a
drizzle of honey.
Really think outside the box
when you're doing these pizzas.
Then stir up my mixture here,
and I'm just going to go through
and just add a little bit of my
tomato mixture right onto
the pizza.
Now this is going to go back on
the grill to finish for a few
minutes, three, four minutes,
tops.
* *
[moo]
I think that grilled pizza is
such a fun way to celebrate show
day at the fair.
It's something that I'm so
excited to feed to the kids for
lunch time.
It's all ready to go.
All I have to do just cut it up
and serve it to the kids
for lunch.
* *
[conversations]
Gather with us
>> All: Around the farm table.
* *
>> I like style when she's on
the move, I like the --.
She handles real well with the
showperson.
Kudos on that too, for the way
the calf handles.
* *
[moo]
* *
[applause]
>> Congratulations to Abby --
for getting first blue in this
Holstein senior calf class.
Abby, make sure you keep your
animal handy, because you're
going to be back in here again
for the junior champion
presentation.
Okay, that was out biggest
class.
* *
>> Funding for
Around the Farm Table
is provided in part by
Wisconsin Farmers Union,
a member driven organization
for family farmers, rural
communities and all people.
Wisconsin Farmers Union, united
to grow family agriculture.
Information at
WisconsinFarmersUnion.com.