The Real Dirt on Farmer John's Cookbook

I met John Peterson AKA Farmer John years ago through my friend Taggart Siegal. At the time, Taggart was working on a film called "The Real Dirt on Farmer John." Let's say John travels to the beat of a different drum, so I was interested to see what his cookbook would be like.

I have a habit of opening a book up in the middle and just starting to read from there. I happened to choose a page that featured a quote from Rudolf Steiner. It reminded me of a Doctor Bonner's soap label, lots of lofty, but odd connections between food and philosophy. John is a follower of Steiner's theory of Biodynamics and his farming is aligned to the guru's philosophy. This was more than I bargained for.

So I went back to the beginning and read Farmer John's preface. "I've been farming for over forty years on the same farm. I stated in 1956 when I was seven, taking care of the chickens. By age nine I was milking seventeen cows a twice a day." Kid + farm and I was hooked. And I loved the page of acknowledgements where Farmer John gives credit to all the people who helped in the collaborative effort.

The recipes are arranged by season and then by the vegetables available in that season. Early Season ranges from Mid-June to Late July and includes things like sugar snap peas, beets, radishes, cucumbers and cooking greens. Mid season is celery, eggplant, peppers, fennel and sweet corn.

I'm a big fan of bitter greens and I use them a lot in cooking. The cookbook had interesting combinations that I would have never thought of. I hate cutting off the lovely greens of radishes and sending back to the compose. I find them little hairy to eat raw in salads but throw them in anyway. The cookbook has a recipe for radish greens with miso sauce. Cooking, what a novel concept!

The book is vegetarian without making much, if any, mention of it until page 320 where Rudolf Steiner's theory about the three kinds of food: milk and milk products, plants and meat, is discussed. The vegetables are spiced and cooked in a way that you don't miss the meat. And that's the point. Some recipes use eggs, some milk products but the majority are vegan.

If you have trouble identifying some of the more unusual vegetables mentioned, there's even a chart of line drawings of each variety. It's printed in a soothing green that is echoed throughout the book. The overall feeling of the book is of freshness - of ingredients and ideas.

The book is full of sidebars. There are notes on how the vegetable grow (Corn will grow 6 inches a day in hot, humid weather) and quotes from Angelic Organic shareholders - a testament to the community that has sprung up around this farmer and his farm. There's also these funny "overheard" comments that give you a perspective on how little some people know about their food and where it comes from.

Although the book seems dense, it's full of wonderful information. It's not a book to read cover to cover, so take your time exploring. You'll uncover something new every time you pick it up.