Notes from the Meet Yer Eats Farm Tour

Today was the 3rd annual Meet Yer Eats farm tour put together by Market Central. They are the organization that helps support the Charlottesville Farmer's Market. I thought it would be a great day to spend Labor Day with Sam and Josephine. Above is Josephine at Forrest Green Farm in Louisa County with miniature Herefords in the background.

One thing we learned at the beginning that there is manure everywhere. This is Josephine shortly after understanding exactly what the big black or brown splotches where.

Sam was also pretty interested, though he had found a stick that was kind of shaped like a sword, so that was his main interest. 

Josephine was fascinated by the chickens. We stood outside this pen for about 20 minutes. I've never seen her so captivated by something for so long. These chickens are raised as broilers and will end up going to market in a few weeks. Neither Josephine nor Sam eats chicken.

She looked at the chickens from every single angle and was trying to understand their behavior. 

This is Rob, who owns Forrest Green with his wife Krista. He's explaining to us the layer chickens and how they live. We learned so much about the choices he makes in order to bring eggs to market. It was great to be able to ask questions.

Sam and Josephine in one of the hoop houses at Forrest Green. I was more interested in they were, so we didn't stay too long.

Here's Josephine touching the comb of Lester, one of the roosters at Ted's Last Stand farm in Louisa County just up the road from Forrest Green. She was rapt with attention as Michael Levatino took on the tour of his farm. We actually went on the tour one and a half times. Sam was not quite as interested, but was very patient. He chose not to touch the rooster at this time. I can't blame him.

She paid full attention as we learned about how the soil is maintained at Ted's Last Stand without using any sort of pesticides or chemicals.

A group of grad students from UVA remarked that she was wearing a most appropriate dress to be at a farm that specializes in flowers. 

In all we had a fantastic day. For me, it was probably the best way I have spent Labor Day in my entire life.