This fall, families and individuals will trek to Orchard Hill Farm located on Fruit Ridge Line in Central Elgin to collect their vegetable share, chat with the grower and enjoy the view over the ridge. It will mark the beginning of the farm’s seventh generation as Ellen Laing and her husband take on management of the Fall Garden. Ellen chatted recently about her parents’ farm and her return to Elgin County. 

Naomi Pomeroy is a twenty-year veteran chef, owner of acclaimed restaurant Beast in Portland Oregon, and 2014 winner of a prestigious James Beard Foundation Award. Her debut cookbook, Taste & Technique – Recipes to Elevate Your Home Cooking, was released in September 2016. I was intrigued to check it out, having heard that Ellen Laing, daughter of local Orchard Hill Farm owners Ken and Martha Laing, had worked along-side Naomi in preparing dishes for all of the photographs in the book.

I was a little worried about including a kale salad in this book because they were very trendy for a while, and I don’t want the book to seem dated. But this is a magical version of kale salad. It has so much of what other kale salads are often missing: crisp cheese for texture, a creamy dressing for richness, and a serious kick from a strong Dijon mustard. Don’t use something like Grey Poupon here. You need to look for a brand that has some real heat, like Edmond Fallot.

Moosberger Farms, located on Nova Scotia Line just west of Port Burwell on Lake Erie’s north shore, has long been a landmark and popular stop for fresh potatoes. A large distinctive sign marks the farm which has been dedicated, for four generations, to a way of life and to growing really good potatoes.

Read the entire article in the Relish Elgin Summer 2015 Edition

There aren't too many vegetables that grow on five continents, can be prepared using just about every cooking method, and grace the plates of both the most refined and simplest of dining tables. But the potato does.

Read the entire article, plus find Cindy's recipe for Crispy Potato Cakes in Relish Elgin Spring Edition 2015