New Year - New Earth Farm

“Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence.

 

Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance.

Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence.

Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.”

― Yoko Ono

 I woke up last Saturday to a heavy January fog.  

At one point in my life, the sight of winter fog would have caused me to draw the curtains and turn over in bed, but these days I have a new appreciation for winter. The New Year, for obvious reasons, is a great time for slowing down and looking inward. As for the fog, I absolutely love the way it softly drops a blanket of silence over the earth and renders time in slow motion. Just like a good camera, fog selectively focuses and changes your perspective.  So on that foggy January day, I couldn't wait to grab my camera and get out to take in the gray atmosphere. I knew I wanted to capture a winter farmscape, and I chose New Earth Farm as the setting.

 

 

 



 

 

Despite the starkness of the sky, the fields were full of green.

 

 

 

 

The market was also full of beautiful things. I took home some black kale (for kale chips) and red Russian kale (for raw kale salad).

 

 

 



 

It made me laugh to watch this hen find its balance before sailing off this trailer.

 

Chickens in flight just look funny.

 



 

 My quiet contemplative time did not last long. After all, Ava, the most talkative kid on the planet, was with me. And she was not nearly as entertained by watching chickens as I was.

 

 

She, on the other hand, was extremely interested in going and sitting on a huge pile of rocks so that she could enjoy her packed lunch.

 

 

 

Check out New Earth Farm on Facebook, and pay them a visit in southern Virginia Beach!

 

 

 

 

Farm to Fork - in New York!

Last month I visited the greatest city on earth, narrowly escaping Hurricane Sandy. I arrived in New York by train the Friday before the storm hit. I had planned to stay through Monday, but by the time I awoke on Saturday morning, the weather reports were growing more intimidating. When I turned on the t.v. and the first thing I saw was Mayor Bloomberg briefing New Yorkers on storm preparations, I knew I had to cut the trip short. I called Amtrak, booked the 3AM trip home, and decided to get out and make the most of my only full day in the city.

From my hotel in Midtown, I started downtown and walked all day. In the course of my wanderings, I stopped at an empanada foodtruck called Nuchas and bought some graffiti style art from an artist named Elinor a really cool Brooklyn-based artist who sells her work in the streets of New York. Later that day I met my friend Kristin, originally from VA, in the East Village at a restaurant called Cafe Himalaya. How often do you get to eat at a hole in the wall, BYOB Tibetan food restaurant?!?! I ate light at the Tibetan restaurant, so that I could fit in one final small meal - a falafel sandwich. Man, I love New York!!!

I especially loved the GrowNYC's GreenMarket, in Union Square Park, and I spent a lot of time there. This farmers' market has been in operation since 1976 and features 140 regional farmers, fishermen, and bakers. It's huge!

Because it didn't make sense for me to buy produce while on travel, I just decided to slow down and take in my surroundings. Not having a shopping list or any real time restrictions allowed me to do that well. A long camera lens allowed me, from a distance, to photograph people literally "connecting with their food"...

O.k., so maybe this wasn't food. Not sure what it was, really.

These ladies were fun to watch.

They handled these squash and gourds for for quite a while.

I was far enough away that I could not hear what they were saying, but I imagined their conversation at this point might have been a little on the dirty side. lol!

I really loved watching the children take delight in fruits and vegetables.

Maybe they were less excited about the farmers' market than they would have been in the cereal aisle at a supermarket, but they were certainly more curious.

This little girl had just been scolded by her parents for touching the raw seafood in the cooler. If only they noticed the hand-to-mouth action that followed. lol!

  

  GrowNYC is more than just a market; it's a community. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, GrowNYC customers purchased 10,000 pounds of fresh produce via their Donate-A-Bag program to feed hungry New Yorkers and relief workers. GrowNYC has also organized volunteers to provide assistance to school and community gardens damaged by the storm.

If you're interested in learning more, check out the GrowNYC Greenmarket website for information and inspiration!

goat cheese, please!

The Tidewater Crop Mob's latest assignment was to work at Shady Goat Farm in Virginia Beach for the day. 

Shady Goat Farm is Hampton Road's first licensed cheesemaking farm, and it was started back in April of this year by Shannon and Tim Rice. Shannon got her start as a hobby farmer after taking a goat farming class back in 2010. Two years later with much encouragement from friends to sell her delicious chevre to the public, she quit career in non-profit fundraising and marketing and began goat farming full time.

 

While it is always fun to help out our local produce farmers, it's at least twice as fun when animals are involved...

 

 

 



that's me with the goats:)

These goats were just the sweetest little things. I instantly fell in love with them.

 

 

Here's Shannon having a sweet moment with one of her goats.
 

 

  

Each of Shannon's 28 goats have cute names, ranging from Wendy Wattles to Andy Airplane to Uma Thurman. Her breeds include Saanens, Alpines, LaMancha Crosses and Nubians. The different breeds' milks provide different percentages of butter fat, and together these blend for the highest quality and best tasting goat cheese. Shannon does all her own milking (starting at 5am every morning) and cheesemaking. She even does all of her own sales at local farm markets including Old Beach Farmers' Market and Shop Farmers' Fare.

Shannon is one busy lady, and she needed all the help she could get! The Crop Mob's task was to help clean out the goats' barn, expand their current fenced-in space and spread sand in that area for moisture control.

I was really excited this particular morning, because for the first time in the Tidewater Crop Mob's history, my husband, John, came out to assist!

John proved to be a Crop Mob superstar that day:)
He teamed up with Eric, the guy driving the tractor - I knew that John would naturally be drawn to the heavy machinery aspects of the farming tasks:) I was so happy to have him there, and he made me so proud. I only wish that he could have driven the tractor himself:)

Lara Haner, the Crop Mob Boss, was there working hard, as always.



 As usual, Ava didn't help much. But she always tends to find her own thing. That day, she was pretty interested in Shady Goat Farm's loyal and vigilant (if not a little nervous) watchdog, Bruce the Goose.

Bruce did allow Ava to feed him - with Shannon at her side.



 

Ava also had fun climbing the goats' cinder block "pyramid".

At first, she remained unnoticed and unchallenged.

 

 

 

But not for long...

 

 

Oops! Guess there could only be one queen of that "hill."

 

Everyone worked hard...

 

 

 

...but it was so rewarding.

 

As we found out, Shannon has been running the farm on her own since she started it as a business. Her husband has been working in Afghanistan for over six months. 

 

You could tell how much Shanon appreciated all of the help. I think it almost brought her to tears. 

There is not much that impresses me more than a woman running a farm on her own!

 

She gave each of the Crop Mobbers some goat cheese to take home:)

 

 

 

 The sweet, sweet goats even seemed to share the appreciation.

 

 

They seemed to really like their newly cleaned barn and their expanded space to in which to roam.

 

I think this one showed her gratitude with a little smile:)

 

Check out Shady Goat Farm and support a Hampton Roads goat farm!

http://shadygoatfarm.com/

Shady Goat Farm on Facebook!