Aiki Farm

To complete the ingredients list for your Chez Panisse golden moment, shop for mixed greens at Aiki Farm’s market tent.  Bob Burns engages in a constant patter with his customers.  In his slow nasal New England drawl, he encourages newcomers to try pea shoots or a small cup of wheat grass juice.  Bob, a slim intense man, begins his day at 5:30am with a 45-minute seated meditation.  A former lead instructor of aikido at the United States Marine Corps Depot in San Diego, Bob returned to his native Connecticut to combine the practices of martial arts and farming. 

Each summer, college-aged apprentices come to live and study at Aiki Farm.  The program is farm-based but adds the study of martial arts in a studio called a dojo.  Each day’s schedule combines meditation, aikido practice, field work and lessons in bio-intensive farming techniques.  Students also join Bob at Farmers Markets. 

Bob’s speciality is Aiki Salad Mix, a combination of 27 varieties of field grow lettuces that include zesty additions of Asian and Italian greens.  He sells the mix at Farmers Markets and to local restaurants.  

Bob’s shoots are also popular.  He corrects me sternly when I call them “sprouts.” Shoots of peas, sunflower, popcorn, as well a buckwheat are on offer.  The last is commonly known as wheat grass.  When pressed, the young shoots expel a bright green juice.  Down it neat, like a slug of iced vodka. While Aiki Farms greens are field-gown, shoots need a carefully controlled indoor environment to bring seeds to harvest-size in a little over a week.