A New Partnership:
Jody Adams and a portion of the crew from Rialto of Harvard Square, Cambridge take a trip
to Sweetwilliam Farm to see first hand where their food comes from. It is all part of their Guerrilla Grilling Series.
"What's that?" you ask.
The short answer:
Grilling whatever we find, wherever we find ourselves.
The
longer answer: Getting to know the people who make, grow, raise and farm our fabulous New England produce,
meat, fish, seafood, cheese, milk, eggs, honey and whatever else we can find.
The
journey of Rialto to Sweetwilliam Farm June, 2008. A recap of thier adventure:
Forty-five
minutes west on I-90 and south down I-495, sits the semi-rural town of Upton, Massachusetts. A grandmother, her son, his wife
and their two young girls live there on a 90-acre plot of land with Arabian horses, mixed-breed chickens, Sicilian donkeys
and loads of vegetables. The scene is idyllic, pastoral and precarious. Precarious because a modern-day small farm in
New England must continually fight to define itself against bigger farms with lower costs and real estate developers with
larger bank accounts. The second installment in our Guerrilla Grilling adventures took us to Sweetwilliam Farm where the Nicholson
family works to keep their farm afloat.
Leaving the restaurant in the morning, we felt a little weather cocky
at how well we had planned our guerrilla grilling day—we predicted gentle, short-lived showers in the morning followed
by bigger storms in the afternoon when we had all safely returned to Cambridge. We had it backwards.
At 9:00 am buckets of water were dumped from the sky and the lights dimmed. It felt like dusk in a car wash.
Fortunately, we were just around the bend from the farm so we crawled into the parking lot of the Sweet William Farm and raced
for shelter. As we dripped and snacked on freshly baked coffee cake and hard-boiled eggs, Gail and Rob (mother and son)
told us the story of their farm.
Gail bought the farm as a haven for an
Arabian horse some twenty years ago. The horse should have been dead, as he was so cruelly neglected. Gail
adopted him and named him Sweet William. Today he thrives and is the prince of the farm. Summer squash and
rows of lettuce (above)
Gail, a fearless adventurer, (she's ridden horses in Africa, India and other far away places) was joined
by her son Rob and daughter-in-law Caroline and their first daughter Bentley (Briana came a few years later) to save the farm.
They put up a little store and sold ice cream for a few years. They hosted families and parties. But this wasn't
enough. The land needed to be farmed. Rob started with what he knew - hops. He'd always had a
passion for making beer. Later, it was on to vegetables. Gail jumped when Tufts University asked if they’d like
to participate in a chicken project. Today, Rob has 80 chickens that collectively produce on average 50 delicious
eggs/day. They're a mixture of Rhode Island Reds, Leghorns and Aracona and produce an egg the color of a weathered beachside
house—sort of light greeny, bluey, silvery gray. The eggs have thick shells, big perky saffron yolks and dense
firm whites. The chickens are free to run around the yard pulling up worms and bugs and Rob regularly lets them roam
along the grassy edges of the driveway. As one hen in the coop fluffed her feathers, she revealed a blue beautiful egg.
(You can purchase these eggs at the farm for $2.50/½ dozen or $5.00/dozen.) 
Antipasti
plate & Frittata - from hen to plate (above)
Nuno
(the grill-meister) had started the fire and laid out a platter of antipasti for nibbling as he set to making a basil frittata
and grilling zucchini from the garden. Tom and Michael, delightfully resourceful, washed lettuce and tatsoi in rainwater
as it ran off the roof of the tent. We made a salad and grilled the tatsoi. The vibrant yellow eggs played the
lead role at the table.
Tatsoi
on the grill & Jody enjoying grilled tatsoi (above)
We watched the hops growing in the garden and asked Rob about his
making beer. We insisted we try it...all four kinds. 
Rob has continued to grow his knowledge and skills as a farmer. This year he successfully started a CSA that includes 20 local
folks. He figured out what people want—simple regular vegetables like squash, spinach, lettuce, peppers.
When he offered bok choy and tatsoi, there wasn't much interest. That’s where we come in. We want variegated
round eggplants with a custardy texture, Tuscan kale, kohlrabi, cardoons, puntarelle and other deviant vegetables. We'll
meet with him in the winter and talk about alternatives for next summer. A farmer on a farm like this works in the dirt
and often works alone. Single-handedly he is providing a weekly supply of vegetables for 20 families. Next year
he plans on 100. A portrait of beers with Michael (right).
Seedlings in the greenhouse (below)
The family wants to hold onto their land. They've
learned to grow vegetables and chickens, they’ve revamped their store and offer a gathering place on Friday nights with
music. A step they did not know they would have to take is development of the land. They've decided to take
one piece of the farm and build a series of comfortable, green, houses for people who are interested in raising their family
in farmland. It’s clear that this was not an easy decision for Gail, but she knows it's necessary for the
protection of the farm as a whole.
Rob
and his family are students of the land. They are learning as they go and are committed to growing the healthiest food
they can. It is not an easy life, but if you ask them, they will tell you they feel lucky. Lucky to raise their
girls in such a beautiful place.
The Guerrilla Grillers
Sweetwilliam Farm is looking
forward to many more adventures with that gang at Rialto!
