Bring a dish to the farm, and share a meal with your farmers and fellow members!

The potlucks are informal, but will always include a farm tour, and we hope to add u-pick opportunities, seasonal themes, tastings, games, music, etc.  They are a great chance to spend time together with food at the farm.  We hope you can all make it out!

These are the dates (subject to change as needed, with notice):
 
            Sunday, May 20, 5-7 p.m.
            Saturday, June 16,  6- 8 p.m.
            Sunday, July 15, 6-8 p.m.
            Saturday, August 18, 5-7 p.m.
            Sunday, September 16, 5-7 p.m.
            Sunday, October 21, 4-6 p.m.  

Hot Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes

Greek Salad

Spicy Grilled Tomato Sauce

Charbaked Tomato, Zucchini, & Eggplant

Fennel & Tomato Salad

Crystie's Gazpacho

Cherry Tomato, Melon, and Mint Salad

Eggplant Caponata

Alex Lee's Green Tomato Gazpacho

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Greek Salad

 Sweet Pepper & Sausage Frittata

 Romesco

Sauteed Peppers over Rice

Crystie's Gazpacho

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Fennel and Tomato Salad

Couscous with Fennel, Chickpeas and Chard

Eggplant Caponata

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• Slow Food St. Louis

• St. Louis Green Drinks

• Local Harvest

Area Farms & CSA's

• Three Rivers Community Farm

• Community Supported Garden at La Vista

• Live Springs Farm

• Luna Farm

• Earthdance Farms

Restaurants & Grocery Stores

• State Street Market, Alton, IL
  

• Schlafly Bottleworks & Taproom

• Local Harvest Cafe & Catering

• Maudes Market

   Pesto

   Herb Butter

   Hot Pasta With Fresh Tomatoes

   Great Green Vegetable Pasta

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Basil

Beets

Bok Choy

Cabbage

Carrots

Celery

Cilantro

Collards

Cucumbers

Dill

Eggplant

Fennel

Garlic Scapes

Green Beans

Kale

Kohlrabi

Melons

Parsley

Peppers

Radicchio

Radishes

Rutabaga

Salad Dressings

Scallions

Spinach

Summer Squash & Zucchini

Sweet Potatoes

Swiss Chard

Tomatoes

Turnips

Winter Squash

Additional Recipes

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  Riverbend Roots Farm is a 5-acre vegetable farm in Alton, IL, owned and operated by Stacey and Kris Larson, local farmers with 12 years experience in organic agriculture.  They have farmed in the Riverbend region since 2006, where they are raising their family, after several years on the West Coast, in California and Oregon, as well as in Massachusetts.  

     Riverbend Roots Farm is a product of their passion for great food, living soils, the work of farming, and the opportunity to serve and provide local communities a nutrient-rich, tasty supply of hand-picked vegetables, herbs, flowers, and fruits.  They hope to make local foods easy to find, affordable to purchase, and varied in choice, starting with the soil and the ecological health of the entire farm.  In order to achieve true sustainability & all-nourishing food, Kris and Stacey work to build the soil through crop rotations, green manures, cover crops, mulches, organic amendments, and timely fallow. 

The farm uses only the best sustainable, ecological practices, based on the principles of organics, permaculture, and biodynamics.  Their practices are founded on feeding and promoting the life of the soil, full of diverse and vibrant microbial populations, to ensure that our food is dense with nutrients and teeming with eating quality.  If you want to know more about our growing practices, please don't hesitate to ask the farmers!

The Mission of Riverbend Roots is to:

• STEWARD…

a farm that supports our community, our land, and our family.

• PROVIDE…

a seasonal variety of fresh vegetables, herbs, flowers, and small fruits to our members, local farmers markets, and the Riverbend community.

• RECONNECT…

People to fresh, locally-grown produce by knowing where and how their food is grown, how to prepare fresh foods, and eating with the cycle of the seasons.

• CARE…

For the soil by rotating crops, enhancing local biodiversity, building soil organic matter, & following ecological principles and sustainable practices.

• SHARE…

Our passion, knowledge & experience with those who are eager to learn.

• INVEST…

In our local community of food, health, land, and friendships.

 Please Contact Us for any questions! 

 Find more resources for local foods here.

“Kim chee is a kind of Korean sauerkraut flavored with chile peppers.  It ranges from spicy to hot as hell and is absolutely delicious.  You can buy it in jars in good grocery stores and Korean markets, but the homemade kind is more traditional, easy to make, and very tasty.  It is served as a side dish at most Korean main meals.”

1 head Chinese cabbage, cored and shredded

1 bunch scallions (white and green parts), chopped

1 cup grated carrots

½ cup grated daikon radish

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp cayenne

2 Tbsp kosher salt

1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

Unseasoned rice vinegar, as needed

1. Place everything except the vinegar in a strong bowl (I used a wooden bowl but a strong stoneware bowl would work).  Using a wooden mallet, meat tenderizer, or the blunt handle of a large cleaver, pound everything together until the cabbage is mashed and juices are flowing.

2.  Place the mixture in quart-size Mason jars- you’ll probably need two.  Use the mallet to press the mixture firmly into the jars until the juices cover the mixture and the top of the kim chee is about ¾ inch below the lid.  If you don’t have enough liquid, either add more pressed-out cabbage juice or top with rice vinegar or water.  Lightly screw down the lids just until they resist.  Allow the jars to sit on the counter at room temperature for 3 days, then refrigerate.  Use within 2 weeks.