This past November, he turned that vision into reality by opening the Wild Hive Farm Store in the building that was once the town of Clinton Corners’ general store (and further back, its post office).
“It’s a local food store,” says Lewis. “Meats, vegetables, and fruits, dairy, honey, and maple syrup from right here. We’ll make people more aware of where their food comes from, and we’ll give these small producers help with retail sales and distribution.”
Lewis also moved operations for his existing business, The Wild Hive Farm Bakery, from his house to the new site. Through a picture window at the building’s rear, bakers can be spied swiping pizza dough with locally-grown tomato sauce and slipping ciabatta onto cooling racks.
The café and retail shop in the 30- by 48-foot space features moveable shelving that will allow Wild Hive to rearrange for performances, guest chef cooking classes, and events. It’s a completely locally-focused food enterprise; area producers and farmers will come together to show off and vend their products, and customers can buy those products from a centralized source. “And that makes our footprint even smaller,” adds Lewis.
New old ideas are Lewis’ specialty. His bread and baked goods, created from locally grown and milled grains, make him a “part of returning the Hudson Valley to the major grain-growing region it once was,” he says. To distinguish his products, about eight years ago he began using 10 percent locally grown grains. In his search for sources of local grain, he came across Al Earnhart of Lightning Tree Farm near Millbrook, who was growing organic animal feed. Now the farm produces people food, about 50 acres of wheat, spelt, oats, corn, rye, and other grains, custom-grown for Wild Hive.
Since that time, Lewis has moved to 100 percent local grains. Surplus created an additional line of flours and processed grains.
“I love Don Lewis’ products,” says Ric Orlando of New World Home Cooking in Saugerties. “As I get older, I realize that I really am Italian to the depth of my being, and being able to know the guy who grows and mills my polenta is pretty cool! At the restaurant, we use his coarse polenta as yellow grits and regular polenta, and use the wheatberries for ‘risotto.’”
With the help of the Heritage Grain Conservancy, Lewis is now sourcing and test-growing more grains, especially very old cultivars such as Red Fife wheat, which was grown in this region 150 years ago, ancient wheat from Georgia in Russia, durum wheat from Jerusalem, and two varieties of heritage flint corn.
Marcus Ware, chef at Aureole in Manhattan, uses Wild Hive flours “because the wheat has not been treated with pesticides and has not been stripped of all the natural nutrients. It also has a lot more flavor. As a chef today, I feel it is very important to use as many organic and artisanal ingredients as possible, in order to get the most flavor and to support local farmers and producers,” Ware says.
“I never heard the word sustainable when I was growing up,” Lewis says, “but when my dad opened a farm stand and eventually a restaurant (called Chicken and Chips) in Middletown where he had a chicken farm, he sourced from his farmer cronies. It turns out I’m following the basics of how my dad operated.”
His Russian grandmother was his inspiration, too. An “awesome baker,” she filled the family freezer with chicken pot pies and blintzes. As a result, Lewis began baking “what I was used to eating at home,” i.e. home style wheat and white breads, scones, and biscuits. Now his bakery list ranges from spinach pies to cranberry-orange scones, from onion rye bread to peasant loaves.
The big black contraption sitting on a flatbed out back is Wild Hive’s ingenious mobile wood-burning oven, which manager Amy Lawton and Lewis sometimes set up to bake bread at farmers’ markets or area festivals. Lewis also mentors and lectures to new and immigrant farmers through a number of organizations in order to share the benefits of his expertise and long experience. “When you buy a loaf of bread, you might think about where it’s baked, but maybe not the source of the grain. It’s starting to click for more people, and I’m already in a position to answer the demand for more local food. People are paying attention now.”
Wild Hive Farm’s bakery products are available at Health and Nutrition Center and 60 Main in New Paltz, Morning Brew in High Falls, Hawthorne Valley Farm Store in Ghent, Nature’s Pantry in Fishkill, Beacon Natural Foods, Mother Earth in Kingston, and from mypersonalfarmer.com, as well as other locations. Check Wild Hive’s Web site for market and additional retail outlets at wildhivefarm.com or call (845) 266-5863.
Spiced Pumpkin Waffles
Marcus Ware, Chef, Aureole Restaurant
34 E. 61 St., New York, NY 10065
(212) 319-1660
Marcus Ware serves these waffles with bourbon maple syrup, blackberry puree, sautéed foie gras, and a ruffle of herbs. You’ll love them with just pure maple syrup. Ingredients:
Makes 15 waffles
- 2 cups Wild Hive Farm Bakery organic all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 4 large eggs
- 6 tbsp. melted butter
Sift dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Mix all wet ingredients, except melted butter, in a pitcher. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients, whisking until the mixture is smooth. Add melted butter and let mix rest in the refrigerator about 20 minutes. Coat heated waffle iron with cooking spray. Pour mixture into waffle iron and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
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