Mensam Mundum – World Table: Treasures await at Edenberry Farm
- ESTHER OERTEL
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Nestled in the green and beautiful Big Valley between Kelseyville and Lakeport lies a hidden treasure of a farm called Edenberry.
It’s possible you’ve spotted their white and red farm stand on the corner of Stone Drive and Soda Bay Road. Perhaps you’ve stopped in and discovered homemade jams and vinegar or farm-fresh eggs.
If not, it’s worth a trip.
Husband and wife team Mike Edenholm and Pauline Biron, who hail from upstate New York and western Maine, respectively, have a 10-acre holding, all flat, of which nearly half (4.5 acres) is planted with blackberries and raspberries available for public picking.
The couple made their way to Lake County via the Cayman Islands. They wanted their daughter, now 9, to grow up in a rural environment as they did.
Interestingly, they found their destiny here by getting lost.
During a visit to Lake County in 2008, they lost their way and ended up meandering around the countryside in the area where they now live. That experience left them feeling that they had found the spot where they wanted to settle.
They bought their place in 2009 and after building a family farmhouse, they began living here permanently in 2016.
Their defining passion is to make healthy, delicious food available to children and families and to provide an experience of this through visits to their farm.
Five varieties of thornless berries – two types of blackberry and three raspberry – thrive in the ample berry patch in alternating rows arranged for easy picking.
Late season berries are currently in different stages of ripening, and as I walked through the fruit garden on a recent day, I became mesmerized by the jewel-like knobs of purples, reds, pinks and greens. I was lucky enough to be able to pluck some especially ripe berries off the canes for tasting.
The canes, which produce fairly quickly, were planted in 2017.
In addition to the berries, the couple planted an orchard with a variety of still young stone fruit trees, a full 300 of them, which may be ready for public harvesting as soon as next year; if not then, shortly thereafter.
Currently their modest crop of these fruits from not-yet-mature trees – peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries and pluots – is made into jams and fruit-infused vinegars. These are sold at their farm stand and at local farmers’ markets.
Their market garden produces melons, tomatoes, peppers and the like, which can also be found at the farm stand or at farmers’ markets when in season. Everything’s certified organic, from the berries to the fruit trees to their vegetable garden.
When they purchased the property, it contained an old walnut orchard. The trees, planted in 1902, were dying and therefore unsalvageable and had to be pulled out. Some walnut trees in a different location survived, however, and these lush green giants stand along a fence line, visible in the distance from the rows of berries. A cluster of beehives shaded under their ample branches belongs to a friend who houses them there.
Through my visit to the farm, I learned of grants and assistance available to small farmers.
The couple recently discovered that the National Resources Conservation Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture with an office in Lakeport, will pay for a hedgerow along their property line to serve as a natural border between their organic holding and the conventionally farmed vineyard next door. They’re currently deciding what to plant, with native plants such as elderberry and California wild grapes among the contenders.
A grant from the Good Farm Fund paid for 100 of the fruit trees in their orchard. The Good Farm Fund is a local organization that seeks to improve access to fresh, locally produced food by assisting small farmers in Lake and Mendocino counties.
As pleasing as the berries were, what especially fascinated me during my visit was learning of Birons’ fruit-infused vinegars.
She brews vinegar at the farm using the fruits that they grow. In addition to the stone fruits noted previously, they use their farm-grown pears and apples.
Their vinegar mother was made on the farm two years ago from apple cider vinegar. “Mother” in this case simply means a form of cellulose and acetic acid bacteria that develops during fermentation. This is added to cider or other liquids, such as wine, to produce vinegar.
Each vinegar is brewed in small batches, no more than five gallons at a time. Fruit is added throughout the aging process. This typically takes three months, though in the case of some fruits (pear, for example), more aging produces better flavor.
Their vinegars are sold raw with the mother, which makes them healthy as well as tasty. Each new batch of vinegar has some of the original mother in it.
In addition to brewing their own vinegar, traditional and white balsamic vinegar is imported from Modena, Italy for infusing with their farm grown fruit.
According to Biron, the balsamic vinegars are good on salads, roasted vegetables or even as a base for a cocktail shrub, an old-fashioned drink using sweet vinegar, soda water and citrus peel. Any form of distilled spirit can be added – gin, vodka, rum or another favorite.
The traditional (dark) balsamic vinegar is sweeter, while the white has a crisp, clean taste.
Their vinegars are sold at local and Sonoma County farmers’ markets, as well as at their farm stand.
If you’d like to visit Edenberry Farm, they’re open for berry picking and fruit stand visits from Memorial Day through Labor Day from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.
Their products can also be found at the Lake County Farmers’ Finest markets in Kelseyville near Steele Winery on Saturdays and at Lakeport Library Park on Tuesdays, as well as at Two Sisters Antiques on Main Street in Kelseyville.
For more information about Lake County Farmers’ Finest and its markets, visit their website here.
And finally, if you’ve got a hankering for fresh peaches (and who doesn’t?), the couple recommends the Fuzzy Peach Pit Stop, a nearby farm located on Davis Drive in Lakeport.
I reached out to owners John and Jennifer Crosswhite and learned that they have 107 peach trees of the August lady variety. These are a late season peach and the crop should be ripe for the picking by mid to late August.
While the public typically picks their own fruit at the Fuzzy Peach Pit Stop, the Crosswhites are undecided as to whether that will be offered this year due to concerns about COVID-19. If not, they’ll have their peaches packed and ready for sale.
I’d suggest calling the farm at 707-845-0187 for details or checking out their Facebook page, where they post current information.
Today’s recipe is for a peach-raspberry cobbler, courtesy of Pauline Biron. If you visit Edenberry Farm for raspberries and the Fuzzy Peach Pit Stop for peaches, the cobbler can be made the same day with freshly picked fruit. Now doesn’t that sound delicious?
Raspberry-Peach Cobbler
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter-flavored or regular shortening
1/3 to ½ cup ice water
1 ½ cups sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 cups peeled and sliced peaches
3 cups fresh red raspberries (blackberries can be substituted)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon sugar
Light cream or vanilla ice cream (optional)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
For cobbler crust, combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually pour in water and blend to form a dough. Divide into two portions of one-third and two-thirds.
On waxed paper pat or roll two-thirds of the dough to form a 12-inch square. Fit into the bottom and up the sides of an 8x8x2-inch baking dish. Trim pastry even with top of dish.
In a large bowl stir together the 1 ½ cups sugar, the cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in peaches and berries. Transfer to pastry-lined baking dish. Dot with butter or margarine.
Roll remaining pastry into a 9x8-inch rectangle. Cut into 8 1-inch-wide strips. Arrange over fruit in a lattice. Trim to fit dish or tuck ends under bottom pastry.
Mix the egg yolk and the milk. Brush the mixture over pastry. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar.
Place on a baking sheet for about 1 hour or until crust browns and filling is bubbly. Serve warm and top with cream or ice cream if you like.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Esther Oertel is a writer and passionate home cook from a family of chefs. She grew up in a restaurant, where she began creating recipes from a young age. She’s taught culinary classes in a variety of venues in Lake County and previously wrote “The Veggie Girl” column for Lake County News. Most recently she’s taught culinary classes at Sur La Table in Santa Rosa, Calif. She lives in Middletown, Calif.