Slideshow of Piedmont Farm Tour - Day 1

I previously blogged about the Piedmont Farm Tour, which was held last weekend. I went both days, enjoyed myself thoroughly, and took some pictures. These farms sell flowers, produce, herbs, meat and eggs to our local farmers markets.

Below is the slideshow from the first day (last Saturday) and we visited several farms in northern Orange County: Maple Spring Gardens, Wild Hare Farms, Captain J.S. Pope Farm, Anatoth Community Garden, a farm not on the tour (a friend knew the farmers) and we saw llamas and alpacas there, and the last farm visited was Whitted Bowers Farm, a biodynamic farm.




Tomorrow I'll put up some pictures of the Day 2 of the Farm Tour.

If you'd like to see the captions of the pictures in the slideshow, detailing which farms the pictures are from just click here.

City slicker raccoons

I live close in to city center in Durham. Nevertheless we get plenty wildlife encounters. Bunnies eat my lettuce in my tiny garden down to a nub. Squirrels try to make a home in my attic. A hoot owl makes haunting owl calls far up in the trees late at night. But the raccoons! They practically ring the doorbell and ask for leftovers. Here's a picture my neighbor snapped early one morning of some raccoons near my garbage can:


Cute, yes. But up to something no doubt.

Last week one was banging around trying to--I guess--lift the top of the tall green rolling trash can. That's what it sounded like anyway.

When I came home from work day before yesterday, I found out one had been on my front porch. There are the raccoon tracks, right there in the yellow pollen on my front porch:



A friend suggested maybe with all the pollen, he was looking for Benadryl. Perhaps.

Hey, want to tour some local farms?

This upcoming Farm Tour definitely looks like something I'm going to participate in, and I'm surprised I didn't know about it before now. That's one big reason why I'm posting about it, to get the information out there in case you want to participate too.

If you've read books like Animal, Vegetable, Miracle or The Omnivore's Dilemma, you might be more interested than ever in being acquainted with exactly where your food comes from. I am. And if you shop at your local Farmer's Market whenever you can, do you sometimes wonder what these farms look like, or how they operate? You should consider taking part in the 14th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour on the weekend of April 25 & 26th from 1pm to 6pm. A pdf map with lots of useful information can be found here.

This year’s Piedmont Farm Tour will bring together consumers, farmers, and producers in one of the largest farm tours in the country. It is a great time to go exploring in the North Carolina countryside. With over forty farms to choose from, you and your family can craft an exciting day visiting and learning about farming and agriculture.

If you’re looking for some animal action you can pet goats, hold chickens or rabbits and get up close to cows and sheep. Plant lovers can learn about growing flowers, vegetables, fruits, and berries. See how farmers manage their land with hoop houses, traveling chicken coops, irrigation systems, and greenhouses. Learn how prawns are saving farmland at Stagg Creek Farm, new to the tour this year.

There will be lots of opportunities to buy meat, eggs, poultry, and prawns, so bring a cooler. One button buys a carload of people two days of touring.

The above from Weaver Street Market.

You can buy the button for admission (for a carload of folks) referenced above here.

A list of participating farms at the pdf above or here.

Hope there's good weather that weekend. Sounds like a fun time to me.

Thanks to my pal Jack for letting me know about this tour.