Elspeth Hay

The last commercial dairy on Cape Cod closed in 1971. On the Local Food Report, Elspeth Hay visits Circle Back Farm in Yarmouth Port, where Tanya Daigneault and Don Chapin are working to open a micro-dairy. Once certified, they're hoping to supply milk to forty local families - and eventually even cheese and yogurt.

Find out more about milk cows on Cape Cod on Elspeth's blog, Diary of a Locavore.

Massachusetts has just two USDA-certified slaughterhouses for livestock. On the Local Food Report, an intiative is afoot to create a livestock processing facility on Martha's Vineyard. Plans are already drawn up.

Find out more about the proposal for a slaughterhouse for Martha's Vineyard, and get more information about slaughterhouses in New England, on Elspeth's blog, Diary of a Locavore.

Oysterman Jim O' Connell follows an old practice when it comes to over-wintering his shellfish. It's called "pitting," and it means storing oysters underground.  On the Local Food Report, Elspeth Hay speaks with O'Connell about the method.

Elspeth Hay's great-grandfather kept his eggnog recipe in the safety deposit box - it's that good. This week on The Local Food Report, Elspeth reveals its secrets, and how it got the sexton drunk.

Elspeth gives a version of the family eggnog recipe, adapted from the Joy of Cooking, on her blog, Diary of a Locavore.

At least four dairies in our region are producing feta cheese, and one is on Martha's Vineyard.  On the Local Food Report, Elspeth Hay speaks with Bonnie Alexander of Mermaid Farm and Dairy in Chilmark about making feta. It's one way the dairy uses surplus winter milk to create a product they can sell in summer.

Particularly in the winter, we need all the choices we can get when it comes to vegetables.  On this week's Local Food Report, Elspeth explores locally grown turnip family varieties.  She says it's nice to see local farmers reviving old root vegetables to keep us fed.

If you've never met a daikon radish, you're in for a treat. They're an incredibly large radish, very thick and satiny white. While Americans generally associate them with Japan, they actually found their way to Japan via China about two thousand years ago, and they're incredibly popular all over Asia. They're also called mooli in Britain, and they're used in Asia in all sorts of dishes. They're particularly popular in the winter when they provide a much needed source of Vitamin C. And yes, you really can eat the greens.

An interesting thing about Tromboncincos is that they can be used as both a summer or a winter squash. Right now, Darnell's selling them as winter squash—they look and taste like butternut, and they'll keep through the winter.

At the West Tisbury Winter Farmers' Market on Martha's Vineyard, Elspeth discovers a local, all-beef hot dog.

It's no secret that the fishery is in trouble. The Secretary of Commerce declared a commercial fishery failure in the Northeast groundfish fishery for the 2013 season. Starting in May, there will likely be big cuts to the quotas.

Find out more on Elspeth's blog, Diary of a Locavore.

First off, Stephen, thank you for the apple cake. I knew it would be good—I could tell that much from the warmth and the smell and the soft, crackly apple bits that peeked out around the edges. But I had no idea how good—that it would melt and give way and taste downright heavenly.

Find out more, and get the recipe for Old Truro Road Apple Cake, on Elspeth's blog, Diary of a Locavore.

Let's talk beer. Not the kind you buy, but the kind you make at home. In this 3-part episode of the Local Food Report, originally broadcast in February and March of 2012, Elspeth dives into the process of brewing your own beer.  She begins with a little history: 5000 years ago the Sumerians were already at it...

Elspeth has more information about homebrewing, including a recipe and links for brewing resources, on her blog Diary of a Locavore.