The coastal fog had rolled in overnight, giving the day a somber, wintry feel. Should we change our plans and spend a lazy Sunday at home? Definitely not! We were determined that nothing would dampen the fun we planned to have at Blue House Farm’s Harvest Festival.
Blue House Farm – nestled off the beaten track (Highway 1) in a protected valley across from redwood-forested Butano State Park in San Mateo County – was prepared for bunches of high-spirited visitors. The wood-burning oven was hot, hay bale “seats” had been arranged in a semi-circle alongside dried flowers for wreath-making, pumpkins were lined up for carving, and the outside kitchen was busy with activity.
The farm interns, who live on the land spring-summer-fall in small yurts, had been baking peach-pear and pumpkin pies and breads, brewing aromatic tea and strong coffee, kneading pizza dough, and harvesting an impressive variety of garden produce ~ onions, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, beets, garlic, broccoli, zucchini, eggplant, paddy-pan squash, greens, cabbage, potatoes, cucumbers, lettuce ~ all of which added up to an exuberant, so-glad-you-could-come WELCOME !
Far from being a quaint throwback to an earlier time, organic agriculture is proving to be a serious contender in modern farming and a more environmentally sustainable system over the long term. ~ David Suzuki
Without a care, kids wandered the grounds eating strawberries straight from the field, giggling when they saw their face paintings, and enjoying Farmer Ned Conwell’s tour. He sure was proud of the new water system and grateful to co-farmer Ryan Casey, the apprentices, and farm crew. It takes coordinated teamwork ~ dawn in to dusk out ~ to run a successful farm. Notwithstanding all the hard work, this team radiated good-humored contentment.
Last month, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative “to begin a national conversation to help develop local and regional food systems and spur economic opportunity.”
At the grassroots level down on Blue House Farm, this conversation started four years ago and is still going strong.
Weekly Image ~ top rt ~ Autumn Vine, Blue House Farm, Pescadero CA.
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A lovely fall cornucopia of harvest delights. Thanksgiving is just around the corner.