The Perennial Plate: Episode 73

Check out what Greg and Olivia from Detroit Dirt and Brother Nature Produce are doing for urban gardening in Detroit. They’re turning an acre of previously abandoned lots into food producing centers. On top of that they’re developing a compost center in the city for easy access to urban farmers to use. Just what Detroit needs!

The Perennial Plate: Episode 72

The Perennial Plate Episode 72: After the Flood from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

Daniel Klein and  camerawoman Mirra Fine of The Perennial Plate interrupted their Real Food Road Trip last August when Hurricane Irene devastated farms in upstate New York. The flooding that resulted from the hurricane, and the rains that re-flooded farms in the Northeast a week later, wiped out crops in late summer–the most important part of the year for a lot of farmers. It’s like losing your entire income. Such is the story in this video of Pete Taliaferro and Ray Bradley. Although Hurricane Irene is long gone, farmers will feel her effects for a long time.

The Perennial Plate: Episode 71

The Perennial Plate Episode 71: Soil Envy from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

It seems that most farmers these days are philosophers, too. Meet David Cleverdon of Kinnikinnick Farm, who sells certified organic produce directly to Chicago farmers markets and chefs like Chef Paul Kahan from The Publican.

The Perennial Plate: Episode 70

The Perennial Plate Episode 70: The Cows and The Horses from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

In this episode, Daniel Klein visits Bryan Ulring of J Bar L Ranch.  Situated on 30,000 acres in one of the most important wild life corridors in Montana, this ranch tries to replicate the bisons’ role in this habitat.  The result is an area packed with wildlife, fertile soil as well as a healthy and delicious meat.

The Perennial Plate: Episode 69

I’ve been behind on The Perennial Plate videos documenting Chef Daniel Klein and photographer Mirra Fine as they traversed the country from May to November this year. But why not watch an episode about foraging for Washington morel mushrooms at the end of December? It’s a nice way to remember what may buried under snow for the next few months.

The Perennial Plate Episode 69: Mountain Morels from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

The Perennial Plate: Episode 68

The Perennial Plate Episode 68: A Tale of Three Seasides from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

Three seaside visits combined into one:

1. Foraging for greens with Hank Shaw
2. Digging for a giant clam called a geoduck with John Adams and Langdon Cook
3. Making salt from Puget Sound with Chef Chris Weber from The Herbfarm

Then a meal made from these seaside treasures at the kitchen of a new friend found on Facebook. Pretty cool!

The Perennial Plate: Episode 66

The Perennial Plate Episode 66: On A Northern Farm from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

It’s ironic. After cooking up lamb steak for dinner tonight (recipe coming tomorrow), I watched this episode of The Perennial Plate. It made me feel really good about the lamb I had just eaten. Not only does this episode focus on a lamb farmer, but her message is also in line with my philosophy about eating meat. I won’t eat meat unless I know its source and feel confident that it’s been humanely raised in a pasture. And I know where my lamb came from: farmers I know and trust at Lubbers Farm in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Oh, and if you’re a dog lover, check out the border collies in this video. They’re amazing workers, and gorgeous dogs!

The Perennial Plate: Episode 65

Halfway across America from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

I’m a little behind on The Perennial Plate episodes. This one captures three months of hunting, diving, farming and eating around the Western half of America.

The Perennial Plate: Episode 63

The Perennial Plate Episode 63: Three Farms, One Dinner from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

This episode highlights dinner with chef and writer Samin Nosrat at the famed Tartine Bakery. The bakery is not normally a restaurant, but once a month it closes and Samin throws a dinner party of sorts.  For this “after hours” event, she and Daniel Klein harvested ingredients from three farms: Riverdog Farm, Sunny Slope Orchard, and Pluck and Feather — a diverse group of growers that showcase the bounty of the Bay Area.

The Perennial Plate: Episode 62

The Perennial Plate Episode 62: A day in the Life from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

In this episode, Daniel Klein shares three stories that portray food, labor, and community in America: Jason Woods — a fisherman/diver on fire for the cause of sustainable seafood and local economies; Alberta Salazar, a former strawberry laborer from Oaxaca; and how they created dinner together.