Green Eats

This upcoming Sunday, March 27th from 2pm-5pm Durham Central Market will team up with Elodie Farms and Benjamin Vineyards for a Family Farm Day at Elodie Farms in Rougemont. Bring the kids, a picnic lunch, and try out some of Elodie’s goat cheese and sip on wine while you tour the farm and play with the goats. Locopops and Dolly Mama Chocolates will be on hand to sell some tasty treats, and there will be games for the kids. The cost is $10 for those 21+, $5 for under 21, and children 3 and under are free.

For more information and directions to Elodie Farms check out the Facebook page for the event.

Please take a moment and fill out the survey for the Piedmont Local Food Community Visioning Process – at stake is upwards of $30,000 to invest in our local food community and the greater sustainable agriculture movement in the area! You have until March 10th to take the survey, and I’ll be sure to post the results when they are published.

One April 24 and 25 the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association will host its 15th annual Piedmont Farm Tour. A great way to meet your local farmers and see how they work, CFSA’s Farm Tour has grown over the years to become the largest farm tour in the nation. They even created a Google map of farms on this year’s tour! Check out the CFSA website for more information and to buy tickets. See you on the farm!

From the lovely folks at the Rodale Institute comes this gem of an article describing five ways in which you can scratch your farm itch without investing in some serious acreage. Tips include starting or joining a Crop Mob (like our nationally recognized one right here in the Triangle), becoming a WWOOFer (travel + organic farming? Sign me up!), and getting some backyard chickens.

Read the whole article here, and check out the other amazing resources at the Rodale Institute website.

When we talk about making sustainable food choices we often think of organic veggies or pastured livestock, not seafood. The truth is, however, than our oceans are just as integral to overall sustainability as our farmland. Most people would not even begin to be able to make a conscientious choice when presented with a menu at a seafood restaurant, which is why many organizations have devised lists of best choices when it comes to seafood. My favorite list is published by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and can be tweaked depending on what region of the United States you live in. Some of the best choices for the southeast include tilapia, oysters, barramundi, and catfish (all US farmed, not wild caught). There are even farmers in the Triangle region experimenting with farm-raised, sustainable fish (more to come on that in a later post). Some popular menu items to avoid include grouper, yellowfin tuna, and farmed salmon. Don’t hesitate to ask your server about your meal’s provenance, and if he or she is unable to provide a suitable answer, go with something else. Sustainability doesn’t end at the shoreline, and by making a point with your food dollars you can help impact a fishery system that in many places is ravaging the seas.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Pocket Guides

Alex & Betsy Hitt of Peregrine Farm profiled on UNCTV

Follow the link for a video that provides great insight into the sort of farmers, businesses, and consumers that have made the Triangle a national leader in the local and sustainable food movement.

Learn more about the people and places featured in this video:

• Peregrine Farm, Alex & Betsy Hitt
• Castlemaine Farm, Joann & Brian Gallagher
• Magnolia Grill, Ben & Karen Barker
• Carrboro Farmers’ Market, Carrboro, NC

A Dorking hen - an ALBC threatened species

Central Carolina Community College, where I am currently enrolled in the Sustainable Agriculture program, has a student farm on it’s Pittsboro Campus that serves as a hands-on learning tool for the Sustainable Agriculture students. Monday my Sustainable Livestock Management class went out for little lesson chickens. We learned some basics about breeds, housing, feed, and also got to clip their flight feathers after their recent yearly molt.

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Located in central North Carolina (20 miles south of Burlington), Castlemaine Farm is the pride and joy of husband-wife team Brian and Joann Gallagher. They have a two acre market garden but are perhaps best known for their pasture-raised chicken operation. I visited Castlemaine today as part of my Sustainable Livestock Production class at Central Carolina Community College’s Sustainable Agriculture Program, and it was great to finally see a pastured poultry operation up close!

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(excerpted from Sustainable Grub)

Before moving to Moncure about two years ago, Jason and Haruka Oatis lived and farmed in Japan, where they also ate rice daily.   After moving to North Carolina, they established their Edible Earthscapes CSA farm, a dream come true. It seemed to have just about everything — fertile soil, a hoop house, a cistern and deer fence, plentiful herbs, sunflowers, vegetables and greens, good neighbors, and a growing market of consumers hungry for sustainably grown food.

But there was one thing missing: a rice paddy.  Come on, in the Piedmont?

Right.

Continue reading about Edible Earthscapes and their North Carolina rice paddy

In my previous post I mentioned how I was planning on leveraging some of the good relationships I’ve built with farmers at my local farmers’ market to buy produce in bulk this year. In fact I’ve already had commitments to provide produce ranging from onions to tomatoes. ConsciouslyFrugal asked for tips on how to cultivate better relationships with your local farmers, so I thought I would provide some insight into how I managed to become friends with the people who grow my food.

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