Grow Local: Luckyfoot Ranch Peppers

Grow Local: Luckyfoot Ranch Peppers

This week I met a newer farmer, Matthew Thibodeau of Luckyfoot Ranch. The Ranch is based in Charlestown and Thibodeau also farms land in North Kingstown and East Greenwich. This is his second year farming, but he calls it his first as he considers last year his trial year: “little bit of this, little bit of that, see what grows, what doesn’t.” This year Thibodeau has “a good feel for what he needs for each market.” Next year he hopes to expand even further.

Thibodeau calls his farming “natural and old-fashioned.” He doesn’t use any harsh synthetic pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers. He tries not to use any pesticides, herbicides or fungicides at all, just diatomaceous earth. Thibodeau grows about half a dozen kinds of peppers on the land in East Greenwich. He has Italian sweet peppers and traditional bell peppers along with hot peppers such as serranos which are hotter than jalapenos, with a thinner, longer shape and habaneros, one of the hottest peppers in the world.

You can find Luckyfoot Ranch at the two East Greenwich farmers markets on Monday and Friday, as well as the market Fisherman’s Memorial State Park on Sundays. Thibodeau also runs a farm stand from the land in East Greenwich 510 Middle Road. Stop by and pick up some hot peppers, as hot as you like, and if you can find some tomatillos nearby grab some of those and make this week’s hot salsa.

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Roasted Green Salsa

Ingredients:

5 hot peppers, serrano or habanero depending on how much heat you like

10 tomatillos, husks removed

1 large onion, in 1/8” slices

juice of 1 lime

1 bunch of cilantro leaves

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

Procedure:

Place the peppers, tomatillos and onion slices over a grill at medium-high heat. You may need some type of a grilling pan for this, depending on your grill grates and size of vegetables. Grill the vegetables for 15-20 minutes, turning them regularly so they don’t completely burn, but you want to get a good char all over the exterior of the vegetables. If the tomatillos start to deflate remove them from the heat. Set the vegetables aside to cool.

Remove the stems from the peppers. If you’re concerned the peppers may be too hot, remove the seeds as well. Place all the ingredients, except salt and pepper, in a blender (you may need to cut up the onion slices a little depending on your blender). Blend on high until everything is completely pureed. Strain the blended mixture, using a wooden spoon or other similar tool to push the mixture through the strainer, while leaving the larger debris (skins, seeds) behind. Salt and pepper the salsa to taste.

Luckyfoot Ranch   [email protected]   401-481-6203

Photos David Dadekian