- [Narrator 1] Coming up on America's heartland.

Meet a first generation Taiwanese American farmer who was inspired by her favorite childhood dishes to grow plants reflecting her heritage.

- I've had a lot of people talk about, "I haven't seen this plant since I left my home country."

- [Narrator 1] Health expert Dr. Daphne Miller explores the nutritional benefit of culturally significant foods like bitter melon and how growing your own garden may improve your health.

Plus, visit a farm led by multiple generations of women building upon a legacy tied to their Armenian culture and faith.

- I love you.

- [Narrator 1] And Farm to Fork host Sharon Profis will show you how to make a mixed berry galette with mascarpone whipped cream.

- When these three berries are in season all at the same time, they come together beautifully in this galette.

- [Narrator 1] These New England apples are ripe for the picking.

Tour a farm that's added a popular fall farm festival as a way to diversify their farming operation.

(upbeat country music) It's all coming up next on America's Heartland.

America's Heartland is made possible by.

(upbeat country music) ♪ You can see in the eyes of every woman and man ♪ ♪ In America's heartland living close to the land ♪ ♪ There's a love for the country and a pride in the brand ♪ ♪ In America's heartland living close, close to the land ♪ (gentle country music) (gentle country music) - [Narrator 1] Whether or not we realize it, along with the food we eat comes a story.

Oftentimes, that story has its roots in our culture and plays a critical role in our sense of community.

That's the backbone of this farmer's story.

- I've been farming since I was 24, so it's been about nine years.

I wasn't raised on a farm.

I don't have farming vegetables, at least in my background, and so how I got into it, I think, was honestly through eating.

- [Narrator 1] For Li Schmidt, the Taiwanese American owner of Cultural Roots Nursery, it started as a journey of rediscovering and reconnecting with foods from her own childhood.

- When I was growing up, I ate a lot of Taiwanese food, and I think that that is something that has really influenced me as a farmer.

- [Narrator 1] But as a child, Li remembers being embarrassed by the foods that were part of her culture because they were different from what other kids ate.

- For me, growing food has been a very empowering experience of reclaiming my identity.

I think growing up I did experience a lot of food shaming, right?

Like, at the cafeteria, opening my lunchbox and having people question what I had brought, what my mom had made.

- [Narrator 1] As her interest in farming grew, Li began collecting seeds from fruits and vegetables that were hard to find but familiar from childhood.

She grew plant starts in her backyard, all the while working and learning on nearby farms and gaining a greater awareness of the challenges in our food system.

Then, the pandemic hit.

- I think all of us saw people panic buying food, right?

I think for the first time people were really waking up to the fragility of the current system that we have.

- [Narrator 1] That's when Li realized that she could make a business out of growing plants, and at the same time, provide cultural foods that resonated more deeply with people.

That's when Cultural Roots Nursery was born.

- The mission of my business is to work towards healing the connection between the Asian diaspora and our cultural foods and the way that I do this is through nursery plants.

- [Narrator 1] Li leased a quarter acre plot and rented a greenhouse in Winters, California, a part of the state that gets very hot in the summer, ideal for the more than 35 varieties of subtropical crops she grows.

In the greenhouse, another 150 varieties of seeds play an important role in her business.

- Do you have any other choy?

- We just have this one, but I don't know if you've ever tried tatsoi.

- [Narrator 1] Today, Li is selling her plant starts primarily to home gardeners at the Midtown Farmer's Market in Sacramento, a place where she's found a loyal following of customers who connect with her plants in a powerful way.

- I've had a lot of people talk about, "I haven't seen this plant since I left my home country, "and the last time I ate it, this is what happened."

- Yeah, she has such a great variety of plants, some that I've seen and some that I've never seen before, and kind of to learn where it came from, its background, whether it's Japanese, Taiwanese, Chinese, or even like some Thai spices or Thai basil.

- It's actually, you can use it for stir fry.

- [Narrator 1] In the greenhouse, Li works alongside two apprentices.

Today, Victoria Deal is learning about seeding.

- So we're gonna do one per cell.

- And to put the seed in the soil and come back two days later and see a plant, it's just like, ah, that's really, really exciting.

- [Li] As a farmer now, I strive to be a mentor to the next generation of farmers, specifically as people of color, as women farmers.

- [Narrator 1] Li, who is passionate about food sovereignty and has a master's degree in community development, says she had a hard time finding mentors when she started farming.

That's why another part of her mission is to educate and inspire people to grow food for themselves, connecting to the food system and perhaps their own culture.

- I am mixed race Uchinanchu, which means that I trace my heritage to the main island of Okinawa.

- [Narrator 1] Corey Ruder is the other apprentice here at Cultural Roots Nursery.

- The whole point of Cultural Roots is bringing culturally relevant plants to people, and there is a large population of Okinawans in, like, the Bay Area.

- [Narrator 1] Corey has not only shared these plant starts with the people in her community, but they have shared seeds and stories with her as well.

- That relationship building and that community connection, it has led to some really beautiful things.

- Farming has taught me that anything is possible, you know?

- [Narrator 1] Li Schmidt believes farming can bring communities together.

It can comfort people, help them provide for themselves, and grow a deeper connection to their culture.

(gentle music) - As I looked at the variety of interesting greens and beans and gourds and other plants that Li Schmidt is producing, I wondered, when you rediscover these cultural foods, are you actually rediscovering lost medicine?

And the answer is yes.

Take these bitter melon, for example.

They're used in lots of traditional healing systems, including traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda.

They are rich in a whole variety of antioxidants that help us prevent diabetes and fight cancer.

Antioxidants are also needed for growth and repair of tissues, your skin, your bones, your hair.

The bitterness tells you how strong their antioxidants are.

It's actually the antioxidants that create that bitter flavor.

They also are rich in vitamin C. In fact, some varieties of bitter melon outperform oranges, which we think of as sort of superfoods when it comes to vitamin C. Farmer Li Schmidt started her business during the pandemic, and what's happened is now as the pandemic is receding, this DIY gardening craze is not going away any time soon, and I personally am amazed by the health benefits that it brings.

By growing your own vegetables, you have ones that are fresher and more nutritious.

The time between picking and eating them is much shorter, so you don't get a breakdown in nutrients, and they are more delicious because it's those very same nutrients that give the plants their interesting flavors.

Gardening is also a great way to get physical activity.

It's good on the joints, bending and standing, and it gives you exposure to sunshine, which gives your body some vitamin D, which is great for your bones.

There's also really interesting research showing that gardening actually impact your microbiome, the population of bacteria and viruses and fungi that live inside of you.

(gentle music) Kneeling in the soil and eating fruits and vegetables from that soil exposes us to healthy bugs that might improve our digestion.

A study comparing the intestinal microbiomes of home gardeners to those who didn't garden found that, by the end of the gardening season, the gardeners actually had changed their microbiome and had microbes in there that looked a lot more like microbes in the soil.

And actually, when they compare the profile of the microbiome of gardeners to hunter gatherer tribes, which we know have a very healthy microbiome, they were very similar, so there seems to be a real benefit to gardening, not only for your mental health and your physical health and for the nutritional value of your food, but also what it does to your gut microbiome.

So today, we learned how a home garden with cultural plants can offer us powerful medicine.

(gentle music) - [Narrator 1] Still ahead on America's Heartland.

Visit an apple farm in New Hampshire that hosts a popular fall festival, a tradition that brings families back year after year.

And follow along as our cooking host demonstrates how to make this colorful dessert featuring fresh berries and homemade whipped cream.

But first, a fourth generation farm continues to change and innovate while also honoring its heritage.

(gentle music) - [Narrator 2] It is both a home and a vibrant farm business.

Welcome to Balakian Farms in the town of Reedley in California's Central Valley, a 20 acre property where the Balakians live, work, and grow and pack tree fruit and row crops.

- This is like the central location for where everything kind of takes place and it just works really well, and I think it has, like, a very family kind of oriented feel to it.

- [Narrator 2] Amber Balakian is a fourth generation California farmer.

Following her graduation from Harvard, she made the decision to move back home and work on the farm.

- I grew up in the same kind of environment, the picking, packing.

I would go with my grandpa when he was irrigating and play in the rows and play in the mud, and so I just really enjoy being on the farm.

- [Narrator 2] At this home, the back porch serves as a packing house.

There's cold storage to keep the fruit fresh and workers everywhere coming in and out of the house.

Balakian Farms is old school, a real family farm with Amber's 94-year-old grandma Stella still very much part of the action.

- People can go in and out.

It's just like their home, and they feel comfortable that way, too.

They eat in the kitchen with us lunch, and they use all the facilities.

- The family-like culture that we've created, not just within ourselves, but with our employees, too.

I think that that really sets us apart.

- [Narrator 2] Culture and heritage play a big role.

The Balakians' Armenian heritage and their pursuit of the American dream can be traced back more than a century.

Stella's in-laws immigrated to the US after the 1915 genocide forced them out of the old country.

The Balakians settled in the Reedley area and began growing grapes.

- My husband, John Balakian, was born under the vine, grew up in the country, and loved it.

And then I came along from the city, and I didn't know anything about farming, but it didn't take long.

I learned that, too.

- [Narrator 2] John and Stella married in 1956.

Together, they built their home, grew their farm, and their family.

They had two daughters, Ginger and Kathy.

A lot of farm families look to their sons and grandsons to take over the family business, including many traditional Armenian households.

For the Balakians, it was no son, no problem.

Ginger was proud to take over for her dad, and her daughter Amber is breaking stereotypes as a woman of color in agriculture.

- My background is my mom's side is Armenian, and my dad's side is African American.

I'm very much connected to both heritages of my family.

I very much still try to celebrate a lot of the different aspects of my cultures.

- [Narrator 2] While Balakian Farms has an old fashioned vibe, they have not been afraid to evolve.

In the 1990s, they began transitioning away from grapes.

The farm is now made up of organic tree fruit like peaches, plums, and nectarines, and row crops like tomatoes and guta, which is an Armenian cucumber.

The Balakians sell directly to the public at farmer's markets in the Bay Area, including the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco.

They say restaurateurs buy from Balakian Farms because they trust their quality.

- Well, that makes me feel good because, really, sometimes they come and they say, "Oh, you guys have the best fruits.

"I always come to you guys because you got the best."

And I say, "Oh, that makes me glad "because we work hard for this."

- [Narrator 2] Angel Chavez has worked for the Balakians since he was 16 years old.

He had just moved to California from Mexico.

He remembers the old days traveling to the farmer's markets with Stella and John, eating Stella's homemade lunches in the Balakian kitchen and even driving Amber to school.

- I like this place.

Yeah, that's why I'm here.

Yeah, it's hard for me to decide to move.

Probably, I thought before moving out of here, like look for another job, but it was very hard for me to just leave this 'cause this is where I start.

- Our help is a couple of them are like my sons.

They've been here since they were 16, and they're in their forties and they're still here.

- [Narrator 2] A few years back, the Balakians began canning tomatoes and bread and butter pickles using Stella's recipe and the Armenian cucumbers that they grow.

To turn this idea into reality, the Balakians got some help from the Armenian church in Reedley.

They were granted access to the church and its kitchen.

Amber got it food safety certified and is able to bottle there.

- That's kind of like the epitome of being Armenian.

It's like they, you know, it's just culturally, they very much, like, help each other.

- [Narrator 2] And it doesn't stop with canning.

Balakian Farms is now venturing into skincare, starting to create lotions using oils harvested from their farm.

- I see the future of Balakian Farms continuing to grow fresh produce and new value added products.

I think continuing to be, like, innovative.

- [Narrator 2] Although times change and challenges continue for small family farms, the Balakians say they hope to stay strong in their faith, rooted in their culture, and together on the ranch.

- I love you.

- I love you.

(upbeat music) - Today, we're making a mixed berry galette with a mascarpone whipped cream.

When berries are in season, this is a recipe that celebrates all kinds of berries, and today, we're using raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries.

When these three berries are in season all at the same time, they come together beautifully in this galette, so let's get started.

First, we will prep our strawberries.

When you're shopping for strawberries, what you want to look out for is a uniform color and not too many bright white patches and definitely not too many bruises.

We'll just quarter these, and to this bowl, we'll add our beautiful raspberries and blackberries.

Now we'll add a few more ingredients to our berry filling.

We have two tablespoons of corn starch.

To this, I'll add a third cup of sugar.

This is granulated sugar.

And a tablespoon of lemon juice.

When you bake berries, and really any fruit, they get sweeter, and so we can retain some of the acidity by adding a little bit of lemon juice.

This is a very simple filling, and it's intentional because the berries are the star of the show here.

Our filling is ready, so now let's prep the dough.

Here we have prepared pie dough.

You can either purchase that at the grocery store or make it yourself.

To make this galette, we're going to roll it out to a 12 to 14 inch circle.

It's really important when you're working with an all butter pie dough like this to keep it really, really cold.

So don't take it out until you're ready to roll it out, and if it's taking you a while to do it and the dough starts to warm up, then stick it back in the fridge for a few minutes to let it cool off again.

I want to clean up this presentation a little bit.

Now I'll take the opportunity to make sure that this is all even.

We're looking for a thickness of about one eighth of an inch.

Now let's transfer the dough to the baking sheet.

The way to do that is to just use your rolling pin.

Ta-dah!

Now let's put the filling in.

At this point, because the berries have been sitting in the sugar and the lemon juice for some time, they will have released some juices.

For that reason, I'm using a slotted spoon, and I'm going to leave any accumulated juices behind.

Now let's wrap up this galette, and at this point you should have about an inch of dough around the edges, so we'll just fold and crimp.

Doesn't have to be perfect.

We just want it to be round.

Just like that.

Oh, look at that.

It's so cute.

If you find that at this point that the dough is starting to warm up, stick all of this in the fridge for about 10 minutes before baking it, okay?

So that all the butter doesn't run out when it bakes.

But now we'll just take our egg wash.

This is one egg mixed with a tablespoon of water.

And finally, for an extra special touch, I have coarse sugar, and that'll go right on the edge here.

Let's throw a little bit on top.

Why not?

Our galette is ready to bake.

This goes into the oven at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the crust is a beautiful golden brown.

While that bakes, let me show you how to make the mascarpone whipped cream.

To make the mascarpone whipped cream, use a stand mixer or a hand mixer.

To the bowl, add three quarters of a cup of heavy cream, two tablespoons of granulated sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt.

Whip the cream until it thickens, then add half a cup of mascarpone.

Keep whipping it until it's thick enough to stand on its own.

That's it.

This whipped cream can be prepared up to a day in advance.

Just seal it tight and store it in the fridge.

The galette came out of the oven, and I let it cool for about 30 minutes so that the juices can set and make it a little bit easier to cut.

These berries were very juicy, so there will be some juice that drizzles out, but that's totally fine.

Now of course, this wouldn't be complete without our mascarpone whipped cream.

Is that a beautiful dessert or what?

Now that our galette is ready, all that's left to do is eat.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - [Narrator 1] From Gravenstein to Golden Delicious, McIntosh to Macoun, with 40 different varieties this may well be New England's epicenter of apples.

(upbeat banjo strumming) Welcome to Apple Crest Farms in New Hampshire.

On this brilliant fall weekend, thousands of apple lovers are gathering to enjoy some guitar and banjo picking, then heading to the orchards to do a little picking of their own.

- Go slow.

Pick the good ones.

- I am.

- [Narrator 1] It's become a tradition for hundreds of families throughout New England.

- I've been doing it for years, and it's a blast.

I've come here since I was a kid, so it's always fun.

Just a good time.

- This is actually my third time here.

- And this is my first time for riding a pony.

- [Narrator 1] From pony rides, to pumpkins, to pie eating contests, to stuffing your face with roasted corn on the cob or stuffing a scarecrow.

It's all part of the yearly Apple Crest Fall Festival, an event dating back nearly four decades.

- This is just such a typical New England event to go apple picking.

I love it.

- This land that you see has been farmed for hundreds of years.

- [Narrator 1] Todd Wagner grew up on Apple Crest Farms.

It was purchased by Todd's grandfather back in the 1950s, but its roots go back to 1913 when a New Englander named Walter Farmer planted the very first apple trees.

- These trees that you see here were part of the original planting back in 1913, so 100 years and still, as you can see, pretty incredible crop.

- That's a nice crop in here.

Look at the size of those apples.

- [Narrator 1] Though Todd and his dad Peter grew up here, both spent years away from the farm, Peter in business, Todd as a filmmaker, but something drew them back to a lifestyle they missed more than they knew.

- My wife and I thought about it and said, "That's not a bad way to bring up a family.

"It's not a bad way to live a life, "being outdoors and doing what you want to do "and feeding the world with apples."

- [Todd] I live in the house that my grandparents lived in, and I like that connection to the history, and it gives you a sense of place and it's pretty cool.

- [Narrator 1] Continuing the agricultural tradition of Apple Crest Farms means adopting new strategies and finding ways to profit beyond simply growing apples, things like their Fall Festival, which provides a steady source of revenue unaffected by uncertain commodity prices.

- [Todd] I can't imagine my grandfather or grandmother could ever have imagined back then that those festivals are really what keep us afloat.

- [Narrator 1] Like most pick it yourself farms, Apple Crest has some food favorites that draw folks back every year.

Cider donuts made fresh daily, homemade ice cream, fresh apple cider, and oh, those apple pies.

- I think it's just like a second home to me.

I've been here here forever.

- [Narrator 1] Meet Evelyn Tuttle and Gertrude Eaton.

Every fall for the last quarter century, Gert and Evelyn have baked close to 500 pies each weekend, close to 200,000 in all.

So do you eat pie at home?

- No.

- Probably we should say yes.

(both laughing) - Gert and Evelyn.

It's incredible what they do.

They give their heart and soul to this place.

- [Narrator 1] As the Wagners celebrate their farm centennial, they cherish their own family bonds and celebrate traditions they help other families create.

- [Todd] We've got grandmothers with their kids and their kids.

- And they all say thank you.

They say, "Thank you for still being here.

"Thank you so much."

- [Narrator 1] That's it for this edition of America's Heartland.

For more stories, full episodes, and recipes, visit americasheartland.org, or connect with us on Facebook.

♪ You can see it in the eyes of every woman and man ♪ ♪ In America's heartland living close to the land ♪ ♪ There's a love for the country and a pride in the brand ♪ ♪ In America's heartland living close, close to the land ♪ - [Narrator 1] America's heartland is made possible by.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music)