What’s in Season: Red and green okra are in abundance at Anna D’s Backyard Farmer’s Market

Tucked behind Anna D’s Café – a staple in town for nearly twenty years – is Portsmouth’s very own farmer’s market. Of course, the town has roadside farm stands, some PYO’s, and CSA programs, but this is truly a collaborative effort between multiple farmers, producers, and makers who all come together and share a space under one organizational name to connect with the local community. The Aquidneck Grower’s Market in Newport has been an iconic example of a farmer’s market on the island, and now Aquidneck Islanders have another choice on where to buy local, fresh produce. The market runs every Monday, May through October, from 2-6 p.m.

Currently, the main grower at Anna D’s Backyard Farmer’s Market is Hawk and Handsaw Farm, which is owned and operated by Kidder Gowen and Horus Khuit. Behind the café, beneath a tent, and stretching across multiple tables lies a bounty of produce, spread like a Thanksgiving feast: salad greens, kohlrabi, peppers – including Thai hot, Poblano, sweet bells, and habanadas – turnips, watermelon radishes, and a variety of squash. The offered spread contrasts to the small size of the market, which is intimate in its vendor offerings. Khuit explains that the organization is still very new; the farmer’s market started in the middle of the summer last year, 2023, by Marco Di Mattino after the death of his mother, the one and only Anna D. He had petitioned the Town of Portsmouth Zoning Board on May 25, 2023. The idea of a farmer’s market in Portsmouth has successfully survived its first year, and Khuit sees great promise in its future: “As it builds, it’s just going to get better.”

The optimism Khuit expresses might come from lived experience. He got into agriculture, food, and community support about two decades ago. “I was doing food security in Oakland – doing Food Not Bombs [an anti-war, anti-food waste movement that combats local hunger] – in the early 2000s,” he remembers. Khuit moved back to Rhode Island in 2014, got connected to farmland on the island, and wanted to grow food for his community. In 2018, he and Gowen started Hawk and Handsaw Farm based out of Aquidneck Land Trust acreage through the Aquidneck Community Table’s Island Community Farm.

Since the early days of Hawk and Handsaw, the farm has fulfilled Khuit’s wishes of giving back to the community. The farm donated produce to the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, and when the nonprofit received grants in 2020, Hawk and Handsaw had since held a wholesale account with the hunger center.

In April of 2022, Hawk and Handsaw grew big enough and independent enough to secure their own acreage in Portsmouth. The farm now consists of about seven acres of fields and close to four acres of woodlot. On the land, the farm grows everything from flax for linen production to medicinal herbs, tea blends to native shrubs, and, of course, seemingly every vegetable that can grow in the New England hardiness zone.

The farm isn’t nearly done growing. At the moment, Hawk and Handsaw are not able to use all of the property’s current acreage. Some of the land is “an old potato field that we are trying to fix,” Khuit explains. The soil is super acidic from the intense potato production- around 5.6 on the pH scale – and vegetables need soil that is more basic, preferably between 6.5-7.1 on the pH scale. Khuit and Gowen have come up with a creative solution to rehabilitate the land from the monocropping and tilling that had severely affected the soil: host bonfire events. These community bonfire celebrations act in four ways: they’re fun; they bring community awareness to the local farm; the bonfires are created in part by burning off invasive weeds and shrubbery that permeate the land; and the fires – which are set on the acidic fields – reduce the wood and plant matter to ash, which acts like a lime substitute and increases the pH levels of the soil. The next community event the farm is hosting is their Samhain Night Creature Carnival (a Halloween party) on October 26. More details can be found on the farm’s Instagram.

With this showcase of success and community support, it’s no wonder why Khuit expects great things from Di Mattino’s new farmer’s market. Given the farm’s interest in growing everything, Portsmouth residents and Aquidneck Islanders have a unique treat in exploring the edible world of Hawk and Handsaw at Anna D’s Backyard Farmer’s Market. Khuit pointed out produce that may be unfamiliar to customers, like kohlrabi, habanadas, and salad eggplant. Something that was especially distinctive at the stand was red okra. On his search for seeds earlier in the year, Khuit “saw two different types of okra and said ‘yes’” to buying and growing the fruit. Identical in every way except color, Khuit admitted he couldn’t really taste a significant difference between the two types of pods – it even cooks down and turns a similar color to the regular green type! However, when cooking with red okra, the fruit seems to be more tender and less hairy than its green equivalent, and the red color indicates its higher antioxidant content.

Okra is famous as being a Southern dish – fried okra as a side dish might be its most common presentation in the American South, with a classic seafood gumbo a close runner-up. The roots of okra as a Southern meal stem from the transatlantic slave trade; okra (as well as other crops) was brought to the Americas by enslaved people from West African nations. Looking to the original use of okra in recipes, I drew inspiration from The Canadian African, Savory Thoughts, and Curious Cuisinière to create West African Shrimp and Okra Stew.

West African Shrimp and Okra Stew Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 ½ – 2 lbs. okra pods

2 c. chicken broth

1 large onion

1 ½” piece of ginger

2 lbs. raw extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 clove garlic

3-4 vine tomatoes (or Roma)

1 habanero

Salt

Pepper

Palm oil (substitute vegetable oil)

2 c. roughly torn kale (optional)

1 Tbsp. tomato paste

1 ½ tsp curry, divided

1 ½ tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp anise*

Farro or brown rice

Instructions:

Start by preparing the vegetables. Wash and drain the okra, and slice the pods into ¼” quarter moons. Dice the onion, tomatoes, and habanero.
If necessary, defrost the shrimp, then season with salt, pepper, and ½ teaspoon of curry powder. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until slightly pink and set aside.
Using the same skillet, add the onions and garlic. Sauté until soft, then add ginger and cook until fragrant, about one minute. Combine the okra to the onion mixture, cover, and cook for about five to seven minutes, stirring once in-between so the mixture does not burn.
In the meantime, prepare the farro or brown rice by getting a large pot of water to boil and following the package cooking instructions.
To the skillet, add tomato paste, habanero, spices, and broth. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.
Uncover, bring to a low simmer, and add back in the shrimp. Continue to cook the mixture for about 10-15 minutes, until it starts to thicken, and the flavors come together. If adding kale, this would be the time to roughly tear up the leaves and add it to the stew. Serve over the farro or rice.

*Kitchen note: Keeping the anise seeds whole means sporadic “pops” of very aromatic flavor throughout the stew. If you prefer a more incorporated flavor profile, grind the seeds with a mortar and pestle before adding them to the dish.