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farming isn't an easy job. my hat goes off to those who can work them and make them profitable
The real chef's kitchens
By Katy McLaughlin of The Wall Street Journal
Farm-to-table has become a popular food-industry catch phrase — even McDonald's launched an ad campaign celebrating farmers earlier this year. Now, chefs are cutting the farmer out of the deal by buying country homes and becoming farmers themselves.
In some cases, they are quickly discovering that farming is tougher than expected. There are many things that can go wrong — and often, expensively so — in a tomato's journey from seedling to Caprese salad.
Chef Jose Garces — who has a small empire of Latin-inspired restaurants, primarily in Philadelphia — examines lettuces in the field of his farm in Bucks Country, Pa. This past year, Garces grew nearly 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables, but he says he plans to cut back to 12 core items to make the farm more financially viable.
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The real chef's kitchens
Square one
In Ottsville, Pa., Garces renovated a 3,000-square-foot, early 1800s stone farmhouse into a weekend home.
He added a 2,500-square-foot deck and outdoor kitchen with a double-basket fryer, two double-deck ovens and a 24-inch plancha, which he uses to fry bacon, arepas — South American cornmeal pancakes — and eggs, the classic "Garces breakfast."
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The real chef's kitchens
Back view
Farming is notoriously laborious, costly and prone to the vagaries of climate and nature. And chefs, regardless of their stature in the culinary world, can face a steep learning curve.
Garces spent $35,000 for a tractor, $30,000 on a deer fence, $25,000 to build a greenhouse, $12,000 to dig a new well and $10,000 for an irrigation system.
On 40 acres, Garces grows produce for 10 of his 15 restaurants, with the help of a professional farmer who he pays "as much as a high-level sous chef" to work the fields. Still, his fields flooded last fall and again in the spring, destroying some of his tomatoes and wiping out nearly the whole potato crop.
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The real chef's kitchens
Where it happens
The farmhouse is now a family retreat. Garces says he relishes cooking with his own produce.
Garces spent about $750,000 for the land and house.
"We got a good deal," says Garces, who adds that he pays lower real-estate taxes because he farms.
On the center island are daikon radishes that are grown onsite.
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The real chef's kitchens
Mobile coop
Garces keeps 75 Rhode Island red and barred-rock hens on the farm.
"They are in a mobile coop," he says. "We move the coop every week. They eat the weeds, the bugs, (and) we eat the eggs."
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The real chef's kitchens
A bug's life
Garces also keeps two bee hives on the property.
"It's part of the same holistic management approach," Garces says.
The bees pollinate the crops and make honey.
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The real chef's kitchens
Farm to table
Eric Skokan farms on 130 acres near his two restaurants in Boulder, Colo. His farming career grew out of a passion for gardening, he says. Now, much of the food served in his restaurants comes from his farm.
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The real chef's kitchens
The whole hog
Skokan had a bumper crop of turnips in 2008 and thought, "I really need a pig to eat all these turnips," he says. That led to him raising American Mulefoot pigs for meat.
He calculates that his pork costs him $3.05 a pound, compared to $3.50 a pound for boutique pork he considers "not as good quality" as his own.
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The real chef's kitchens
Learning on the job
The cost of raising his own food has dropped over the years as he became a better farmer, Skokan says.
"I taught myself to drive a tractor," he says. "If you look at my first rows, they look like a cardiograph."
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The real chef's kitchens
Animal farm
In addition to hogs, Skokan raises sheep, chicken and turkeys.
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The real chef's kitchens
Connected
One of the less tangible benefits of Skokan's farm, he says, is how it connects him to the cycle of nature. "I show up at the restaurant with a truckload of produce from the farm," he says. "All the chefs come out, and we dig through and talk about the possibilities."
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The real chef's kitchens
Staying true to his roots
Chef David Bouley, famous for his top Manhattan restaurant Bouley and the newer Brushstroke, says he is not new to farming.
"I grew up on a farm," he says. "My grandma had a gigantic farm."
Today, on the property he bought in Kent, Conn., he has a one-acre, experimental farm where he studies how to grow the healthiest, tastiest vegetables.
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The real chef's kitchens
Berry good
Bouley relies upon a network of farming innovators and experts for advice on techniques that will coax maximum flavor and nutrition from foods. He regularly calls Raymond Glahn, a nutritional physiologist at the Department of Agriculture, who advises him about seeds and growing conditions.
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The real chef's kitchens
Making plans
Chef Zakary Pelaccio is well-known in downtown Manhattan dining circles for the trendy restaurants he founded, Fatty Crab and Fatty'Cue. Today, he lives and farms in Old Chatham, N.Y., near where he is planning to open a new restaurant.
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The real chef's kitchens
'Striking a balance'
Pelaccio grows basics such as tomatoes and mint, as well as more exotic items, such as dragon-tongue beans, banana peppers and borage.
As he learns more about farming, he says that he and his wife hope to integrate livestock and to plant larger fields. For the time being, the challenge is "striking a balance between our careers and our passion for the land," he says.
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The real chef's kitchens
Warm and soft
Pelaccio converted one of the barns on the 30-acre property, which he shares with other family members, into a home. He built a "huge kitchen" with poured concrete floors and natural lighting.
His goal was to create a warm, soft kitchen, unlike the hard, metallic commercial kitchens in which he has spent his career.
Pelaccio uses another barn as a storehouse for homemade fish sauce, bean-and-borage kimchi, aged butter and other delicacies made from produce he grows on the land.
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The real chef's kitchens
Country life
"Five years ago, I might have gone crazy" living in the countryside, Pelaccio says. "But now, I'm ready for this. You get a feeling in life — 'I'm ready for this' — and you take the plunge. I don't need to be out and part of the scene."
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