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Business & Tech

Bloomfield Farms' Daikon Radish

Farmer Michael Collins of Bloomfield Farms brings his harvest to the market, family in tow, with a flurry of creative ideas for cooking his bounty.

I took the slow approach at the market this week, wandering from stall to stall tasting granola, pomegranate jelly, couscous salad and olive oil from different food vendors. As I did so, I kept my eyes peeled for the perfect veggie to experiment with this week.

Midway through my meandering I noticed a stall stacked with beautiful tender vegetables and greens. Behind the table a big man talked enthusiastically to each person that stopped, motioning at his harvest with soil stained hands, the dirt still caked under his fingernails. 

He told one customer what to do with rainbow chard, and another how to cook broccolini. For example, he liked to saute the supple stalks in olive oil, then throw them in a tortilla with chicken and red thai chili paste. 

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The man was Michael Collins, farmer and owner of Bloomfield Farms. He and his wife Karen and their two children, 12-year-old Maja and 15-year-old Oran, raise vegetables and greens on their land 15 miles west of Petaluma. 

Michael Collins had been a farmer for years but left to pursue construction and also run the ranch at a big hotel in southern Baja, Mexico. The family got back into farming a year ago.

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"I was over it," Michael Collins said of the construction work. "Plus, the economy didn't help."

"We are really happy," Karen Collins said.

The family has now planted 25 acres and escaped some of the wet weather problems that have kept farms like Green Gulch away from the market this winter. 

"The kids enjoy it, they help out on the farm and get to see where their food comes from," Collins said. "Also, people are more supportive of small farms these days. They're into it." 

The family also had some good luck on its side. They were able to lease some land at a good price from free-range turkey farmer Willie Benedetti, who is a real supporter of small farms. Benedetti has more than 600 acres of land outside Petaluma and Santa Rosa where his family has raised turkeys since 1948. 

"The land is amazing," Michael Collins said. "The earth is so rich. It's black like Watsonville. That's why we get this deeper coloring," he says holding up a bunch of red leaf lettuces. He attributes the rich soil to the cooler-than-average temperatures they get in Bloomfield. "It's four degrees cooler than other places." 

The town of Bloomfield, one of the oldest settlements in Sonoma County, gets some of the cool air coming off Bodega Bay.  

Collins has a masters degree from UC Davis in Vegetable Crops.

"That's a botanist really," said Karen, reaching over and trying to tame some of her husband's wild sun-bleached hair. "His idea of a vacation is seeking out markets wherever he is, and working with veggies he doesn't know much about." 

I asked Michael what was in its prime out of his harvest. He pointed out some hulking white Daikon radishes, something I have never cooked with before. The Diakon originated in continental Asia, and is not spicy like smaller radishes. 

"It's really mild," he said. "I would shave it like a celery root."

He also suggested I add golden beets for a "beautiful rosy color." 

And so I did. Here is a recipe for Daikon Radish Salad with Golden Beets inspired by Michael Collins of Bloomfield Farms. 

Daikon Radish Salad with Golden Beets

1 Daikon radish

2 golden beets peeled 

 

Vinagrette

1/3 cup Olive oil

3 Tbs champagne vinegar

2 tsp honey

dash salt

dash pepper

Peel Daikon radish and put through a food processor on the cheese grater setting. Blanch beets in boiling water for 3 minutes then shock them in cold water to cool. Run them through the food processor as well. Mix radish and beets together. Lightly dress salad with vinaigrette, you may not need to use all the vinaigrette in the recipe. Serve! A colorful and crisp and tangy side dish.

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