Open Farm Day

Lola, the baby alpaca

The trouble is, I can't decide if I am a Laura Ingalls Wilder wanna-be (see my last post, Yes I Can), or a Farmer stalker.

Well, just to clarify I don't actually stalk farmers (or anyone for that matter). But I happen to have moved into a town with a lot of small farms in it and I find myself fascinated. Last weekend my town held its annual Open Farm Day, where many of the town's farms allow visitors and have various activities going on. Most of these farms aren't open on a regular basis, so I was really looking forward to it. (Hey, I can't afford to be that picky about my good times, here in the wilds of Northern Connecticut...)

I have no illusions about my ability to actually be a farmer. It's hard work, no doubt about it. I just finished reading a fantastic book, The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball, which I highly recommend. It is the true story account of a East Village journalist who interviews a young organic farmer, becomes completely fascinated by his life and ends up falling in love with him. They move together to upstate New York and start a very cool farm together.

What's so cool about their farm it is that they decide to sell their products only to year-long subscribers, and their goal is to grow/raise everything that their members need to eat, from soup to nuts (well maybe not nuts, and they don't actually sell soup, but you could make soup from all the stuff they sell).

This was one of those rare non-fiction books that reads like a novel. I couldn't put it down and I think it is because it actually mixes romance (and I mean the romance of agrarian living--not hearts and kisses romance) and high ideals with real-life grueling, back-breaking work--which is the truth about farming.

So, as I was saying before I digressed into a book review, I know I couldn't hack the farmer's life. I'd give up and go to Whole Foods, I have no doubt. But I am drawn to it for reasons I'm not entirely clear about. Certainly there is a desire to simplify and slow down, but I think it is more than that. Somewhere in me is the wish to create more, in all aspects of my life.

So I visited a bunch of the farms. One of my favorites was the alpaca farm, Schoolhouse Farm, down on East Street. I drive by it several times a week, and I always crane my neck to catch glimpses of the alpacas over the little hill by the side of the road. One time I saw one of them stretching itself just the way my dog stretches when she first wakes up. It was a perfect downward alpaca yoga position. Who knew?

On Open Farm Day the owners had a 3-month old alpaca named Lola on a harness and were walking her around. You could pet her, and one stroke made is completely clear why alpaca is one of the most expensive yarns you can buy. She was soft beyond description, and completely adorable.

I then made a quick pit stop at Lost Acres Apple Orchard, where you can buy very juicy peaches and pick your own apples (unfortunately they are not organic, but they told me they spray minimally). I make a mean peach crisp and a really good Portuguese dessert, Pêssagos Assados com Vinho Tinto (Peaches Roasted in Red Wine).

I also visited my favorite farm around here, The Garlic Farm, which I go to at least once a week for organic produce at their farm stand. This is where I buy the tomatoes I use for my Portuguese Tomato Sauce and the eggplants for ratatouille, among other things. The farmer, Gary, gave a tour and told us about losing entire fields due to rot from heavy rains.

I don't know if I have a metaphor in my own life for something like that--losing a whole field worth of potentially money-making produce. At least not on a regular basis. My car got driven into a tree last spring (not by me) and wasn't worth fixing. Maybe it's like that?

At any rate, since moving here I have so much more admiration for real farmers--ones that actually live and work on their farms and who care about making them successful.