The Organic Garden has had a successful season here at White Oak Pastures. With that success comes an overabundance of a variety of Certified Organic produce. While each manager on the farm is able to operate their department as an almost independent business, we frequently come together to develop creative solutions to keep White Oak Pastures running as a zero-waste and regenerative farm.
Bilal Sarwari and LaShonna Butler, both managers at White Oak Pastures, quickly realized that the Dining Pavilion (our on-farm restaurant that feeds 155 employees daily) and General Store would not have a need for the 138 pounds of squash harvested from the garden each week. The garden staff were also continuing to harvest large amounts of zucchini, tomatoes, green tomatoes, herbs, apples, figs, okra, and peppers. Together they brainstormed on where to send this excess product, they landed on a solution - pickled produce!
A small group from White Oak Pastures traveled to the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Georgia to meet with Dr. Anand Mohan. His role as an Associate Professor and Extension Program Coordinator in this department involves certifying businesses like ours to safely preserve our products. Specifically, Dr. Mohan’s team grants “process approval” for each recipe after carefully examining our pickling and preserving methods.
Over the next few months, we will work to perfect our recipes, seek process approval, and offer our General Store and online shoppers some of the finest pickled and preserved produce available. We know our customers would enjoy having canned items to consume at home. Stay tuned to our website and newsletters to be among the first to order these special treats!
