Eat Your Veggies
If you live in the Northeast, chances are you’ve happened upon some of Pete’s greens. Since the mid-’90s, Pete Johnson ’97 has operated an organic vegetable farm on the southern edge of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. In 2001, he moved his operation to a 190-acre expanse in the village of Craftsbury, where he grows baby greens, heirloom tomatoes, and root vegetables. A half-acre greenhouse allows Johnson to grow produce year-round, and he sells his wares to more than 50 stores and restaurants throughout Vermont and in Boston and New York City.
It’s a fact: Pete Johnson, the founder and owner of Pete’s Greens, claims he began gardening at the age of three.
www.petesgreens.com
Add Some Heat
Silver Spring Gardens, headquartered in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is the world’s largest grower and retail processor of horseradish. Since 1993, Ed Schaefer ’84 has served as president of the company, which has made quite a name for itself. Silver Spring’s Bookbinder’s Hot Horseradish Mustard won a gold medal at the Napa Valley World Mustard festival, while its Beer’n Brat Mustard was named the official brat mustard of Lambeau Field—home of the Green Bay Packers.
It’s a fact: Belying its name, horseradish isn’t a radish at all—it’s a member of the mustard family.
www.silverspringgardens.com
Grape Expectations
In 1975, Earl Samson ’55 chose Little Compton, Rhode Island, as the site for Sakonnet Vineyards, believing that the microclimate and soil conditions found along the Rhode Island coast closely resembled the maritime climate of northern France—one of the great wine regions of the world. He was right. For the past 30-plus years, Sakonnet has thrived in Rhode Island and today produces more than 30,000 cases of wine annually.
It’s a fact: In the making of Sakonnet’s award-winning 2002 Gewürztraminer, nine tons of grapes were hand harvested over two October days and received almost 24 hours of skin contact after being crushed. After pressing, the juice was fermented at 52 degrees in stainless steel, aged for five months, and then bottle aged for five months before being released.
www.sakonnetwine.com
Dough!
Frank and Brinna Sands ’60 —the power behind the throne of King Arthur Flour—are considered the dynamic duo of the bread baking industry. Under their stewardship, the Norwich, Vermont-based company has evolved from a small regional concern into a business recognized by American bakers as the nation’s premier baking resource.
It’s a fact: Founded in 1790, King Arthur Flour is the oldest flour company in the country.
www.kingarthurflour.com