On Friday night Aby and I went to a party. The entire menu was built around local food. The wine was from a local grower- who was there doing a wine tasting of the entire line. The beef was from a local grass fed beef producer and was absolutely fantastic. The vegetables came from the farm where the party was being held and the potatoes came from a farm across the road. It was amazing. But the really amazing thing was that it was quite easy to get a meal together for 150 people all from local sources. They didn't have to go to the co-op or whole foods to get it, they just made a couple calls and all the food came directly from the farmers themselves. It was totally inspiring. Local food is a reality. Small farms can feed their own communities. It takes a little more work than just running to Safeway but the returns are unimaginable.
Also inspiring for us was an evening with local farmers. We had the opportunity to tell people, who do this successfully for a living, what we are trying to do at Siren Song and they were all nothing but positive. I sat and talked to some of my personal hero's in the farming world and they were excited about what we were doing. They listened and gave us some of there thoughts and opinions and they think we can do it! The people who actually know what we are talking about were impressed by us and can't wait to come out and see us in action. We really, really needed to hear that. Next time we all get together for a local food dinner hopefully some of that food will have come straight from the soil at Siren Song.
Also- the Small Farmer Conference was fantastic this year! I can't wait to get out there put my new ideas into play. Especially informative was Ron Godin from Colorado State. His insights into cover cropping and smart water management were invaluable. Some of his research is posted at
http://www.soilcrop.colostate.edu/godin/index.html#presentations
if anyone is interested.
Also inspiring for us was an evening with local farmers. We had the opportunity to tell people, who do this successfully for a living, what we are trying to do at Siren Song and they were all nothing but positive. I sat and talked to some of my personal hero's in the farming world and they were excited about what we were doing. They listened and gave us some of there thoughts and opinions and they think we can do it! The people who actually know what we are talking about were impressed by us and can't wait to come out and see us in action. We really, really needed to hear that. Next time we all get together for a local food dinner hopefully some of that food will have come straight from the soil at Siren Song.
Also- the Small Farmer Conference was fantastic this year! I can't wait to get out there put my new ideas into play. Especially informative was Ron Godin from Colorado State. His insights into cover cropping and smart water management were invaluable. Some of his research is posted at
http://www.soilcrop.colostate.edu/godin/index.html#presentations
if anyone is interested.