Entries tagged with 'Meet Your Farmers'
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"I quit my job and we moved to a battered, neglected farm in Vermont to start from the ground up." Jennifer (center) with her son Bradford and husband Kyle. [Photographs: Geoff Hansen] Name: Jennifer Megyesi (pronounced Ma-jess-sea) Farm: Fat Rooster Farm, named after a pet rooster that was intended as a meatbird, but I didn't have the heart to do him in. How many acres? We (my husband Kyle and I) own 20 acres and use another 165 for haying and pasturing sheep and cows. Two barred silver cockerels. Your crew: We are the full-time farmers, though we each have part-time jobs off the farm. During the growing season (March through November) we have two or sometimes up to four...
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"Boiled peanuts are considered the caviar of the south." Wes Shannon. [All photographs: Herb Pilcher] A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of spending some time with Wes Shannon, a peanut farmer in Tifton, Georgia. My company Peanut Butter & Co. only uses peanuts grown in the United States, and we try to maintain a tight connection with these farmers. While I had met Shannon before, this was my first visit to his farm. He took a break from the harvest to talk to me about peanuts and peanut farming. He even let me drive the tractor and dig up some of the peanuts! How are peanuts grown? Well, we usually plant peanuts in mid-May. The soil is good...
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Note: This week in Meet Your Farmers, we get to know Greg Massa, a fourth-generation California rice farmer. Each week he brings delicious brown rice to nine Bay Area farmers' markets and is working toward building a sustainable farm model. [Photographs: Massa Organics] Name: Greg Massa Farm: Massa Organics What do you grow? Organic brown rice, wheat, almonds and now ducks. Ducks? We are selling our first 100 ducks at farmers' markets this weekend. The ducks live in the rice field and can help us with weed management. Ideally, the ducks should be able to feed themselves on the weeds and the bugs in the field. Weed management is no small feat when it comes to rice—it's our biggest production...
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Or, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cranberries But Were Afraid to Ask. [Flickr: clarkbw] Adrienne sporting her waders in the bog. Name: Adrienne Kravitz Profession: Cranberry farmer Location: Our farm is in Southeastern Massachusetts spread out over a few towns—Bridgewater, Middleboro, East Bridgewater and Hanson. How many acres? 150 acres this year How exactly do bogs work? Beyond knowing that cranberries don't grow on trees, my knowledge is pretty limited. Cranberries grow on long-running vines in sandy bogs and marshes, usually near wetlands. Since they are perennials, they return year after year. In the spring the vine blossoms which matures and ripens over the summer. During the harvest—typically at the end of September through early November, so right...
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"We realized we had to do something with the land and settled on pigs...This year, we'll finish somewhere between 500 and 600 pigs, along with 2,500 meat chickens and 1,500 laying hens." [Photograph: Craig McCord] Names: Jen Small and Mike Yezzi Farm: Flying Pigs Farm How many acres? 200 acres [Photographs: Erin Zimmer] Your crew: Blake, Andrew, and Erin work with us on the farm. Peter, Daniel, and Jonathan work with us at the Greenmarkets in New York City. What you grow: Rare breed pork on pasture and in the woods as well as chickens and laying hens raised on pasture. We raise rare breed pigs (Tamworths, Gloucestershire Old Spots, and Large Blacks) because they are more moist and have...
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Note: Meet Your Farmers is a weekly series where we profile the farmers that mean so much to serious eaters everywhere. This week we introduce you to DeLea Sod Farms, a family-owned business based on the North Fork of Long Island. These folks may be in the sod business, but they also grow amazing produce at rock-bottom prices for the community. They have been my exclusive source for vegetables all summer long. I've never eaten sweeter corn and tomatoes, or more flavorful squash and zucchini. --Chichi [Photographs: Chichi Wang, unless otherwise noted] [Photograph: Frank Beyrodt, Jr.] Names: Vincent Sasso, Rick DeLea, Frank Beyrodt Farm: DeLea Sod Farms How many acres? 40 acres devoted to vegetables and 3,500 to 4,000 acres...
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Note: Meet Your Farmers is a weekly series where we profile the farmers that mean so much to serious eaters everywhere. This week we catch up with Nancy Prebilich, a California farmer who's also earned her MFA in International Theater and Performance Studies. [Photographs: Gleason Ranch] Name: Nancy Prebilich Farm: Gleason Ranch in Sonoma County, California. How many acres? 98 acres Your crew: Mother, father, sister, eleven year-old nephews, and five year-old niece. Hours: 24/7. I wish this was an overstatement, but it truly isn't. Every day we live and breath the ranch. We sleep in the barns at night if a sow is having trouble birthing, we leave a holiday dinner early to make sure everyone is watered and...
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Note: Meet Your Farmers is a weekly series where we profile the farmers that mean so much to serious eaters everywhere. This week we catch up with Joe Nicholson of Red Jacket Orchards, one of our favorite juice suppliers. [Photographs: Red Jacket Orchards] Previously Lisa and Ali Moussalli of Frog Bottom Farm, Virginia » Ron Binaghi of Stokes Farm, New Jersey » John Lee of Allandale Farm, Massachusetts » Name: Joe Nicholson Jr. Farm: Red Jacket Orchards How many acres? 600 acres Your crew: A seasonal crew of up to 75 people. That number is obviously highest during the harvest, starting in June. They are great people, hard-working, and really a community within the community of Geneva. There are a...
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Note: Meet Your Farmers is a weekly series where we profile the farmers that mean so much to serious eaters everywhere. This week we introduce you to a young couple in Virginia (with a little farmer of their own on the way) who met through farming and are now making a living out of it. [Photographs: Lisa Moussalli] Name: Lisa and Ali Moussalli Farm: Frog Bottom Farm in Pamplin, Virginia How many acres? 25 acres with eight to ten under cultivation Your crew: Every year we hire a small crew of seasonal workers to join us planting vegetables, harvesting them, sharing them with customers through the CSA program and farmers' markets, and tending to our farm animals. Most of them...
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Note: Meet Your Farmers is a weekly series where we profile the farmers that mean so much to serious eaters everywhere. This week we catch up with our pal Ron Binaghi. [Photographs: Erin Zimmer] Name: Ron Binaghi Farm: Stokes Farm How many acres? 17 Your crew: Four full-time and three part-time at the farm Hours: We work about 60 to 85 hours between Monday and Saturday, and rest on Sunday. What you grow: Tomatoes (nine kinds of heirloom), eggplant (eight kinds), peppers (mostly Hungarian yellow), Persian cukes, kirbies, zucchini (round zucchini, yellow long zucchini, and others), lettuce, asparagus, strawberries, onions, basil (five kinds), radish, cilantro, potato, and assorted herbs (five acres full)....
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