LOCAVORE’S DELIGHT: The Series # 14. Follow us all summer long as we explore the bounty of our region’s farms through the eyes and palate of our own Chef Jay Pierce
by JAY PIERCE
Earlier this spring I met someone from the Guilford College Sustainability Office at Steve Troxler’s Commissioner Speaker Series at UNCG. They said, “You need to meet this kid, Korey Erb. He’s a rock star farmer, passionate, young, and interested.”
Guilford hired Korey from The College of William and Mary as an Agricultural Consultant a little over a year ago. They brought him in, gave him some land, dug him a well, and he built a climate controlled greenhouse.
He grows food for the school’s cafeteria, the local foods underground scene, and for Guilford College students — it’s a subscription type service: students get $20 worth of fresh vegetables per week.
Read more about Korey Erb, featured in Greensboro’s Daily Photo series, “L is for Land, Sustainable Land.”
But like everything in agriculture, you never know what your yield will be, so with this year’s mild winter and wonderful spring, Korey had a bumper crop. And I was happy to help him out.
When I first met him, it was the week of finals at Guilford College and the cafeteria was closed. It just so happened that he had a truckload of vegetables that were recently harvested.
Among the farm’s bounty:
- Australian Brown heirloom onions
- yellow and red onion sets
- Swiss chard
- four varieties of basil
- four varieties of eggplant
- hot peppers—including anchos chiles, habaneros, and paper lanterns
- cabbage
- green and yellow summer squash
- okra
- mixed greens
- heirloom tomatoes
- cherry tomatoes and slicing tomatoes
- source: Guilford College Sustainability Web site
Now Korey calls me twice a week with beautiful, fresh vegetables for the restaurant. Right now we’re using the heirloom tomatoes and cucumbers (we should have more in 2 weeks) summer squash and zucchini, and beet greens, the daily vegetable on Saturday’s menu.
If you’re not a member of the Guilford College community, you can sample some of Korey’s Rock Star vegetables here, at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen.
Spread the word. Spread the love. Tweet this story.
Sample Korey Erb’s fresh squash in the Parmesan-Crusted Pork Cutlet on the Locavore’s Delight Tasting Menu, now through August 21.
Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen’s Roasted Sesame Squash
Tweet this recipe
1 lb summer squash cut into ½ moon slices
1T canola oil
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper
2 t sesame seeds
Add oil to mixing bowl and stir in seasonings. Add squash and toss well. Roast on baking sheet at 350 for 12 minutes.
