Manakintowne Specialty Growers in Powhatan, VA and Sorrel Soup with Toasted Croutons
The list of their produce and specialty ingredients is quite long, but they are probably best known for their greens which range from salad greens and lettuces to braising greens. (We had a salad with some of their delightful lettuces at Lemaire in Richmond.)
You can dry large quantities of lettuce this way…
Or you can dry them on spin cycle in the Maytag washer!
A short list of some of the other produce they grow includes Easter Egg Radishes, Pea Shoots, Baby Turnips, Broccoli Rabe, Cardoons, Sorrel, Peppers and all types of specialty herbs (French Tarragon, Summer Savory, Mountain Mint, Lemon Verbena, Pineapple Sage and ParCel) and beautiful edible flowers. You might remember the Lavender Honey Ice Cream that I made a few weeks ago. It was made with fresh lavender that was sent to us from Jo.
These were some of the items we received in our goodie box
We want Jo to be our neighbor when we move to Virginia!
The edible flowers are so pretty
Chef Sean Brock told us about Manakintowne when we interviewed him at McCrady’s in Charleston, SC. He was familiar with their produce when he worked as an Executive Sous Chef with Walter Bundy at Lemaire in Richmond. He told us they were way ahead of their time in that they were growing Micro Greens and other specialty ingredients when he worked in Richmond about ten years ago.
Chefs Walter Bundy of Lemaire in Richmond and Dean Maupin of Fossett’s in Charlottesville use Manakintowne’s produce in their kitchens and think very highly of the quality of their ingredients.
More lettuces!
Lots and lots of greens and veggies
Jo and Rob have eight to ten part-time employees (depending on the season) that help them each day with the harvesting, washing and delivery of their produce. Many of them started working with them in their teens and are now still there at 24 years of age. If they get to take home some of these goodies every day, I would be working there for that many years, too. 🙂
Pea Shoots
Their soil may be one of the reasons that everything grows so prolifically. They were fortunate to be able to purchase land that had at one time been a cow pasture. Jo said that this area of Virginia tends to have a good bit of red clay, however, they have been very successful by adding compost and other organic matter back into the soil along with crop rotation.
More Pea Shoots
How cool. I went to high school and lived in the Forest Hill neighborhood and had many friends from Powhatan. I’m so happy to see the land flourishing like this!
Hi Gwen,
Thank you so much for this post. I’ve heard about this farm but never had the change to visit. the closer farm seems always more convenient.
I’m going to talk hubby into taking a ride towards Richmond.
What a lovely visit and a fabulous farm! This is the kind of place we love to visit when we can. And one can just see the quality of what she grows even from the photos. What a great piece! And the soup looks lovely – JP loves sorrel soup! And, Gwen, your photos are exquisite!
LOVE Manakintowne! Used their greens in the dishes photographed for my cookbook.
Wish I knew you were here–would have loved to have met you on the field trip!
Hi Debi,
That would have been fun to meet! I did not know you were in the Richmond area. We will definitely have to plan to get together next time we head up that way.
Gwen
Pingback: The Scout Guide