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.

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.

Thank goodness for my Neti Pot

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to avoid the current cold ripping its way through the population of Durham. A terrible head cold this thing is. Today my head was miserably stuffy, despite dosing with cold meds and Advil. Then I remembered my Neti Pot, and foraged through the shelves in the pantry and found it there in its box from when I used it last--maybe 2 years ago when I had my last headcold.

If you haven't heard of one, just let me say I was a skeptic at first too. And let's face it, there's a bit of a 'yuck' factor too.

It's a little pot that looks like a genie's lamp. Mine looks like this, purchased from Whole Foods for less than $10:


Fill it with a quarter teaspoon of salt and warm water to make a saline solution. Then lean over the sink with your head turned, pour the warm saline through the top nostril (remember your head is turned)--miraculously (or more like gravity) the saline travels through to your bottom nostril and comes out. Do it with the other side, and then you can BREATHE again. No, it doesn't hurt. Not at all. Yes, you can easily breathe through your mouth for the few seconds it takes.

Here's sort of what it looks like in action:


Here's an online demonstration I found on youtube:



I only use it when I have a headcold and it's always been easy for me to use. It's supposed to be good for people with sinus trouble or allergies, but I'm not a doctor so you'd have to ask your doctor about that I suppose.

There are some drops of herbal medicines for sale you can put in it if you want, but mainly the saline and warm water do the trick for me. I do it several times a day when my nose is uncomfortably stuffy.

Pre-blowout.

I drove up to the mountains late last Thursday night. I was nearly at my destination when I decided my tire was feeling funny (the way it felt on the steering wheel, if that makes sense), but no I didn't have a flat--it didn't feel or sound like a flat. I even looked at the tires once parked in the driveway at the mountain house, but again, no flat tire. It was dark outside though, and only the light of the porch shone on the car.

Friday, in the daylight, before leaving to go do errands, I looked at my tires again. Holy Cow! My driver's side front tire had a huge pre-blowout bulgy spot on it (on the sidewall of the tire). I can't imagine why it didn't blow out on the Interstate while I was driving--doing 65+ barrelling down the highway in the dark at midnight. So scary. If it had blown who knows if I would've been able to keep the car under control. Pretty much scared me to death. I snapped a cell phone picture of it:

The tire still had fairly good tread and wasn't all that old (but it was beyond the warranty period). I guess I was lucky that this was visible on the outside sidewall, and not located on the inside sidewall.

Be careful out there.

An Electric Lawn Mower?

A few years ago, maybe 4 or 5, I bought an electric lawn mower. Lots of people said "okaaaay, but they don't have enough power to cut thick grass." Being the hardhead I am, I went ahead and bought it. I liked that it would be quiet (it is) and that I didn't have to fool with cans of gasoline and a persnickety lawn mower engine. I worried about the fact that I always wait until the grass is thick and high, so it might not be able to cut it properly with the electric mower.

I've been pleased with it, so I thought you might be pondering one. They do just fine. I took some pictures for the heck of it, just to show how well mine does, if you are thinking of trading in for an electric.

My Black & Deck Electric Mower:

My backyard a few weeks ago, needing a cut:

Cutting through just fine (the grass was damp):

All done!

The cord is never a problem because when I plug it in, I cut away from where I have the cord plugged in so it's always on the cut side of the lawn, seldom in the way. I'd like to try a cordless lawn mower, but this one has lots of good years left in it. It's never given me one bit of trouble.

Never failed to start, never balked at all. Easy.

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We are "America's Foodiest Small Town "

Or at least "Durham-Chapel Hill" is, according to Bon Appetit :

Imagine a place where foodies not only have a favorite chef, but also a favorite farmer; a place where the distance between the organic farm and the award-winning restaurant is mere miles; a place where a sustainable future is foreseeable. It's all a reality in Durham-Chapel Hill.

The article include recipes, such as North Carolina Peanut Pie and great shout-outs to all our favorite places such as Parker & Otis, Chapel Hill Creamery, Fickle Creek Farm, and much more.


Check it out: America's Foodiest Small Town


Thanks RR!

Encouraging, but will it ever happen?

Contrary to conventional wisdom, most US doctors now support universal health care per this Reuters report from earlier today. Doctors now realizing the system is horribly broken? This is one of the things I'd very much like to see dealt with in the next few years . . . or immediately.

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - More than half of U.S. doctors now favor switching to a national health care plan and fewer than a third oppose the idea, according to a survey published on Monday.

The survey suggests that opinions have changed substantially since the last survey in 2002 and as the country debates serious changes to the health care system.

Of more than 2,000 doctors surveyed, 59 percent said they support legislation to establish a national health insurance program, while 32 percent said they opposed it, researchers reported in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

The 2002 survey found that 49 percent of physicians supported national health insurance and 40 percent opposed it.

"Many claim to speak for physicians and represent their views. We asked doctors directly and found that, contrary to conventional wisdom, most doctors support national health insurance," said Dr. Aaron Carroll of the Indiana University School of Medicine, who led the study.

I've been so disappointed in the past when I thought we'd get an issue like this solved that I'm afraid to believe that it might be possible. I'd like to be less cynical, but there you go. My dad keeps encouraging me to watch "Sicko" but I think it might make me too sad and/or mad.