Patch Blog: Farm to Dish--Angel Farms

is hands down the best vendor at the Old L.A. but if she comes in first, Adrian Gaytan would be second.

For years, Adrian, a soft spoken man with a slight but constant mustache, sold produce from his brother's farm in Riverside. Last autumn, he decided to strike out on his own. He and his wife now have their own three acres, Angel Farms, in Mira Loma, a community just south of Ontario. The farm is not certified organic but Adrian claims that no pesticides or chemicals are used on his crops.

When I asked him to go into detail about his farming practices, he did. According to Adrian, Angel Farms uses only natural fertilizer, usually manure. He says that he uses chicken, horse and steer manure but that goat is the best and he uses it whenever he can get it. He also stated that chemical pesticides are not used. He instead uses biodegradable insecticidal soap, specifically Shaklee brand. I assume it's Shaklee's Basic-H soap

While Adrian sells a nice variety of produce that changes seasonally- his cilantro, parsley, mint and green onions are offered year round. He offers beets, carrots, lettuces, cabbages, spinach, broccoli and more in the winter/spring. In the summer, he offers tomatoes, peppers, melons, squash, squash flowers and other produce. Despite all of this, it is the weeds he grows and sells that set him apart.

Angel farms grows and harvests a number of undomesticated, edible weeds- stinging nettles, mallow and two varieties of lamb's quarters/quelites in the winter and spring and purslane/verdolagas and chipil in the summer. Most of these leafy weeds are higher than cultivated veggies in minerals, vitamins and protein and are next to impossible to find elsewhere. While you can find purslane at independent ethnic grocery stores, the only other place I've seen nettles and lamb's quarter is at Sabrina's stand. I've only ever seen chipil sold by Adrian. It is a native of Central America and it is super high in iron.

I did buy some very nice quelities from Adrian, but I've already cooked with lamb's quarter, so I decided to focus on the cabbage family or Brassicas this time. I took home some broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cilantro and green onions from Angel Farms and picked up some baby kale, broccoli (I couldn't resist), turnips, fresh baby lettuce and radishes from Sabrina and headed home.

Angel Farms and the crisp produce of mid-March inspired me to cook Thai food. While this may seem like a strange connection, Thailand's capital, Bangkok, is called Krung Thep in Thai, which means "city of angels." So what better way to cook up the goodies from Angel Farms than some delictible homestyle Thai dishes. I supplemented the produce with some garlic, shallots, fresh eggs and lemons, some local honey (more on that later) and some fresh rice noodles and cooking sauces from LAX-C market in Chinatown. I prepped and chopped everything and we were ready to go.

The menu:

Beefless Beef Salad- Baby Lettuces, shallots, cilantro, green onions, thai chile peppers and dressing (lemon juice [lime would be better], local honey, fish sauce, canola oil)

Thai Veggie Soup with Garlic- Cabbage, broccoli, carrots, celery, onions, turnips, radishes and garlic in a light veggie broth.

Stir Fried Kale with Garlic, Chile and Oyster Sauce- self explanitory

Pad See Ew- Fresh rice noodles, broccoli, garlic, eggs

Kai Kua- Fresh Rice noodles, green onions, cilantro, eggs

Check back next week for the recipes and pics of the completed dishes. Stop by the market today if you get a chance and say hello to Sabrina and Adrian!