There’s a certain kind of excitement that comes with discovering an ingredient so delightful you can already imagine what it might become. For J.J., Owner and Farmer at Mise En Place Farm in Davidsonville, Maryland, that feeling began long before he planted a crop of his own.

While working as a professional chef, J.J. made a point of buying from local farms. He remembers the anticipation of those deliveries, opening each box to see what had come in.