Grocery chains and shopping online may be convenient and at times necessary, but supporting local farms has many benefits to explore that are not only delicious but invaluable to the local community and environment.  They play a crucial role in the sustainability of our food systems by contributing to local economies, food quality, environmental stewardship, and community well-being.

Small farms are the backbones of local economies as they circulate money within the community by producing and supplying local goods in their stores.  This boosts agricultural activity as it creates a demand for nearby farms to support each other.  They also foster economic resilience by creating employment opportunities for local residents.  

Frequenting small farm stores not only gives access to high-quality, nutritious food but also fosters a sense of community between consumers and farmers.  By cutting out the middleman, consumers have the opportunity to gain insight into cultivation practices, animal welfare, and overall quality, which allows them to participate in maintaining the integrity of their local food systems for the whole community. 

Mass-produced fruit and vegetable varieties in supermarkets are often very limited as they are commonly shipped from afar, so flavor is often sacrificed for shelf life and hardiness in transport.  Meat varieties are also sometimes relegated to breeds that grow quickly, produce the most offspring and/or yield the largest carcasses. Small farms often grow more heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables and heritage or hybrid breeds that have distinct flavor profiles that you won’t find in your every-day supermarket.   Utilizing local farms as a resource for seeds and starters can also help ensure your home garden is more likely to be a success as well.     

Many small farms take pride in environmental stewardship by encouraging biodiversity with polyculture, crop rotations, integrated pest management and soil conservation techniques to keep their land productive.  By choosing to shop locally, you are helping to mitigate climate change by reducing the carbon footprint — minimizing the need for long-distance transportation of goods, preserving natural resources and promoting sustainable land use.

Small farms can also serve as community hubs that bring people together through fostering social connections at workshops, educational events and markets.  Taking a class taught by experts who produce these items is a great way to bring the farm home with you and learn some homesteading skills to practice  at home.  Furthermore, they often support local charities, schools and community initiatives creating a sense of shared responsibility and well-being.

If you don’t have enough room in the car to bring home half a hog or some frozen chickens or you are visiting from out of state, shopping online is sometimes your only alternative.  Many small farms have adapted to the times and created e-commerce stores so you can still shop small at home.   

Farm stores are not all about food though — they often also feature handmade items from local artists and craftsman.  Many stock pelts, yarn and other fiber arts from their sheep, leather goods from cattle as well as furniture, folk art, and other wares to bring home with you.

While staying on a farm can be a fun and memorable experience, it is important to remember the vitality of a farm rests in your support of their farm stores.  Spending your dollars locally is so much more than buying food or trinkets; you are supporting your friends and neighbors.  From raw milk and artisan cheeses to homemade baked goods, wine and local art – these specialty items are unique only to small farms and are often more affordable than generic or large-scale suppliers. Let us recognize and celebrate the vital role they play through creativity, hard work and collaboration to create a sustainable and resilient food system and community.  

To see all of the Farmstay farms with farm stores, click here.

The post The Farm Store: The Vitality of a Small Farm appeared first on Farmstay.

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My Stay at A Vermont Farm Bed & Breakfast: Liberty Hill Farm & Inn in Rochester, VT

Originally posted on SVADORE in November, 2022.
Excerpt reposted with permission.

Beth and Bob from Liberty Hill Farm & Inn provide a public service that big agricultural farms cannot provide. An experience for the public that creates memories and forms gratitude around the table. That’s why a stay at Liberty Hill Farm is not just a stay at a Vermont arm bed & breakfast – it’s a life-changing experience.

As we near Thanksgiving, I thought it would be fitting for me to write this article that touches on the matter of food, gratitude, and connecting with people. Food is what brings community to the table. There is no greater way to nourish the body and the soul than through the communal and universal act of eating and sharing a meal with others. That’s what the Vermont Farm Bed & Breakfast Liberty Hill Farm & Inn, owned by Beth and Bob Kennett, brings to people. It endeavors to nurture relationships among people from different walks of life who are looking to further educate themselves on the farming industry.

I’ve always been fascinated by farming. It may sound strange, but there is something about returning to the simplicity and traditional way of life that charmed me. I had stayed at farm stays in Norway, Italy and other places around the world, but none of them actually took it to the level of education of farming on a day-to-day basis in that area. It wasn’t until I watched Clarkson’s Farm, featuring one of my favorite reality stars Jeremy Clarkson from The Grand Tour and previously Top Gear, that I realized the time, money, and effort that went into maintaining this traditional practice that feeds us all. That’s when a sense of gratitude first sparked within me for this unthought of industry.

Here is a stat that will give you pause: If 12% of farmers are producing 90% of the food, you can bet the other 88%, like Beth and Bob, are not profitable. That’s why it’s important for you to stay on the farm. Small farms like Liberty Hill Farm & Inn support an American heritage, the small family farm, without raising taxes or food prices. They also provide an experience for the public that creates memories. This is not a hotel–it’s a farm. Beth and Bob are just letting guests visit their lives for a little while. These farm stays offer home cooked meals, community and real farm life experiences.

If you’re looking to escape your iPhones, Androids, TVs to a more organic world, than a Vermont Farm bed & breakfast stay is for you. It brings you back to a much simpler time and connects you with people you otherwise may not have met. My experience at Liberty Hill Farm & Inn will be recounted in the form of short chapters. Each chapter revolves around Beth’s homemade (and renowned) meals we shared with her and other guests at Liberty Hill Farm & Inn, each with a lesson and moment of reflection.

Chapter 1: A Dane, A Frenchman, A Latina, An Italian, and An American Go To Dinner

Meal: Almond maple chicken, wild rice, carrot souffle (a big hit and super soft and creamy), swiss chard (the last of the harvest), broccoli and brussel sprouts, and warm, soft and buttery cheddar biscuits topped with a layer of Cabot butter.

Liberty Hill Farm & Inn’s historic farm is located in the heart of Rochester in the White River Valley of Vermont. It’s October when I visit and the color of the trees are slowly dimming as winter approaches, but the farm is still very much alive. Cows graze the fields with the Green Mountains in the background. This 240-acre farm has an undeniable charm. The property’s buildings, including a main house and various farm houses, all have a Vermont country feel of days gone by. We pull up to the front of the main house and get out just in time for dinner.

We sat down at the table seated for 8 at 6PM sharp. Ok…we were a couple of minutes late, but gosh did we feel bad about it! The owners and our hosts, Beth and Bob Kennett, led us in grace and the experience and conversation commenced. We weren’t the only guests at Liberty Hill Farm. Tonight there were 2 other couples staying at the property. One couple was from LA – he was Danish and she was Latina. She worked with special ed kids, he owned his own environmental sustainability tech company. How did they end up here? They took a van trip across the US last summer and fell in love with the beauty of Vermont. They decided to come back and ended up at this Vermont Farm bed & breakfast.

The other couple was older and lived in New Hampshire, but were originally from Maine. They were reoccurring guests who had visited the farm on multiple occasions and were close friends of the owners and our hosts Beth and Bob Kennett. He was the man who invented Hannaford’s Guiding Stars for Health program. What I learned most from them though was about Vermont’s huge French influence. I had never put the pieces together, but it all made sense now. The French town names, the amazing food, the even more amazing French food I’ve experienced in the State. But why?

The conversation came about as we were talking about genealogy and where each of us came from. The man from New Hampshire, originally Maine, went onto explain that his last name was originally French, but his ancestors had changed it to sound American because the French were being persecuted (specifically the Acadians or Canadian French) back in the early 1900s. Beth’s family had a similar experience. Her family who lived in Nova Scotia was also French, but was kicked out and had to change their name so they wouldn’t be banished. It was a common occurrence for French people to change their last names while in America to evade being kicked out.

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To finish reading the rest of the story, please visit: My Stay at A Vermont Farm Bed & Breakfast: Liberty Hill Farm & Inn in Rochester, VT (it’s totally worth the click!)

Thank you, Sveva, for letting us share!

The post My Stay at a Vermont Farm Bed & Breakfast by Sveva Marcangeli appeared first on Farmstay.

The last of the tomatoes are rolling in here in the Pacific NW and this tomato coconut milk curry (makhani curry) is divine!

This sauce is so delicious and can be used with/on any manner of vegetable, protein, grain or bean even–it’s delicious with chickpeas. Here I served it first (above) with rice and salmon and lots of cilantro and scallions and then (below), thinned out with a bit of cream and water with the black “forbidden” rice, some scallions and an egg.

Makhani curry (a North Indian dish) is classically made with butter and cream. I use olive oil and coconut milk here but substitute butter and cream if you’d like. I often stretch the sauce on the second day with cream and a little water.

If you have a few extra minutes you can toast spices and grind them for the garam masala. The flavor is fabulous but a store-bought version will be just fine.

–Inspired by Cook Republic

Yields 2 1/2 cups sauce (enough for 2 meals of 4 servings each)

2 tablespoons olive oil (or butter, see headnote)

1 fresh jalapeno or serrano chili, minced (remove seeds if you want to keep it milder)

3 bay leaves

1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated, fresh ginger

5 cloves garlic, finely grated or minced

1 tablespoon garam masala (homemade or store-bought, see headnote)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder (or more, to taste)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups tomato puree or crushed tomatoes or chopped fresh tomatoes

1 cup coconut milk (or heavy cream, see headnote) or the whole can of coconut milk, which I often do so I have even more sauce!

Juice of 1 lime

To prepare with salmon (for 4 servings):

1 lb salmon fillet

2 teaspoons oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Black pepper

Cooked forbidden (black) rice or other rice

3/4 cup fresh cilantro, leaves and stems, chopped

2 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced

To make the sauce:

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add bay leaves and fresh chili and cook for about a minute. Add ginger and garlic, stir well and cook for another 30 seconds or so until fragrant but take care not to burn the garlic. Add the garam masala, cayenne, sugar, salt and tomato and stir well. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered for about 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Whisk in the coconut milk and simmer for another 10 minutes or until slightly thickened again. Taste and adjust for salt. Add lime juice.

This quantity should be enough for 2 meals of 4 servings each. Freeze half the sauce, for the second meal, if you’d like. It will keep for several months in the freezer.

For salmon:

Pat the fish dry and put on a plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cut the fish in half to fit the pan you’ll be cooking it in, if needed, and then cover the fish in a thin layer of the curry sauce–it will just take about 1/3 cup at most–you don’t want it dripping down the sides, really.

Heat a large, heavy skillet with just a little olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the salmon, skin-side down and cook for a 2-3 minutes, uncovered, then cover, turn heat down to medium-low and cook for another 4-7 minutes, depending on thickness of fillet and how you like your salmon cooked. Serve with rice, more sauce, the fresh herbs and scallions and another squeeze of lime juice, if you’d like.

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Recipe Collection from Cook With What You Have

Do you ever find yourself with an abundance of produce from your CSA subscription and are not totally sure what to do with it all? Or, if you’re a farmer — maybe especially because you’re a farmer — you’re more than set with a particular ingredient but short on ideas for how to prepare it in interesting ways again and again? We all have our favorites, but variety is always good and reducing waste is a big plus! The USDA estimates that 21% of the available food supply is wasted in homes, but we know that supporters of working farms and ranches want to make a difference in this regard.

Enter… Cook With What You Have! Farm Stay USA has teamed up with Katherine Deumling of CWWYH to bring her searchable, seasonal collection of 900+ recipes to our readers and our farm members alike.

I have always loved food and cooking and all that food is, beyond the requisite calories. My childhood in West Germany and my creative, efficient, cook-with-what-you-have mother with a sprawling vegetable garden, shaped my early years. A Thomas J. Watson Fellowship in 1996 took me to rural Italy and Mexico to deepen my understanding of how and why people cook the way they do. More than a decade of involvement with Slow Food, locally, nationally and internationally brought together my interest in food systems, regenerative agriculture and the combination of joy and justice. — Katherine Deumling

Users of the Farm Stay USA website may sign up for an individual membership on Cook With What You Have with a 20% discount using the code farmstayusa at checkout. For $4.99 per month, subscribers will have access to the entire searchable archive of recipes, tips, and techniques, plus a weekly newsletter with seasonal highlights and inspiration for the week.

Our dues-paying US Farm Stay Association members may subscribe to the Farm Stay USA organizational level and use CWWYH content (as applicable) in their day-to-day business of serving meals to guests, teaching cooking classes, or sharing recipes with their guests.

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED!

The post Tomato Coconut Milk Curry (Makhani Curry) from Cook with What You Have appeared first on Farmstay.

This is such a bright, sweet and crunchy salad for mid-summer. Use any blue cheese  you like or substitute feta or fresh goat cheese.

Variation

Substitute a handful of croutons or torn, toasted bread for the toasted seeds or nuts

Serves 4

• 1 large peach, peeled and sliced
• 3 cups arugula, washed, dried and torn, if large
• 3 cups lettuce (more or less), washed, dried and torn or cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 tablespoons red onion (wonderful with torpedo onions), thinly sliced
• Handful of basil leaves, torn or chopped
• 1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds or almonds or hazelnuts, roughly chopped if using nuts
• 1.5 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (or feta or fresh goat cheese)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons wine vinegar
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil oil

Put the greens, peaches, herbs, onion, seeds and cheese in a salad bowl. Drizzle with vinegar, oil and add salt and pepper. Toss gently and taste and adjust as needed.

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Recipe Collection from Cook With What You Have

Do you ever find yourself with an abundance of produce from your CSA subscription and are not totally sure what to do with it all? Or, if you’re a farmer — maybe especially because you’re a farmer — you’re more than set with a particular ingredient but short on ideas for how to prepare it in interesting ways again and again? We all have our favorites, but variety is always good and reducing waste is a big plus! The USDA estimates that 21% of the available food supply is wasted in homes, but we know that supporters of working farms and ranches want to make a difference in this regard.

Enter… Cook With What You Have! Farm Stay USA has teamed up with Katherine Deumling of CWWYH to bring her searchable, seasonal collection of 900+ recipes to our readers and our farm members alike.

I have always loved food and cooking and all that food is, beyond the requisite calories. My childhood in West Germany and my creative, efficient, cook-with-what-you-have mother with a sprawling vegetable garden, shaped my early years. A Thomas J. Watson Fellowship in 1996 took me to rural Italy and Mexico to deepen my understanding of how and why people cook the way they do. More than a decade of involvement with Slow Food, locally, nationally and internationally brought together my interest in food systems, regenerative agriculture and the combination of joy and justice. — Katherine Deumling

Users of the Farm Stay USA website may sign up for an individual membership on Cook With What You Have with a 20% discount using the code farmstayusa at checkout. For $4.99 per month, subscribers will have access to the entire searchable archive of recipes, tips, and techniques, plus a weekly newsletter with seasonal highlights and inspiration for the week.

Our dues-paying US Farm Stay Association members may subscribe to the Farm Stay USA organizational level and use CWWYH content (as applicable) in their day-to-day business of serving meals to guests, teaching cooking classes, or sharing recipes with their guests.

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED!

The post Seasonal Recipe: Arugula, Peach and Blue Cheese Salad appeared first on Farmstay.

Thomas and Ruth Pepler moved to their farm in 2009 from their hobby farm in New Jersey. In tow was their daughter, Gracie, with her 4-H meat goats and chickens. The property they bought had a little house in the woods on a steep slope surrounded by ‘hollers’ (we had to ask, “What exactly is a holler?” A holler is a steep valley with slopes that go straight up. It may have water in the bottom like a creek but not necessarily. It makes farming difficult.) Thomas had been recruited and hired for a job in a neighboring community. Ruth, a registered nurse, would stay home to home school Gracie. As it turned out, the farm was the perfect classroom.

Having arrived at the farm with a few animals, Thomas pointed out to Gracie that her animals needed a purpose on the farm and meat goats weren’t necessarily paying the bills. She sold the meat goats and purchased dairy goats. At 12 she applied for and received a youth loan from the FSA (Farm Service Agency) to buy a milk cow. She was the youngest to ever win such a loan. Because the farm was so hilly and not suited for pasture, Gracie researched and started to grow hydroponic barley for sprouts, aka fodder feed, for her dairy cow. She paid off her loan, bought a better show cow to take to the county fair, and purchased a 48’ trailer so she could sprout enough fodder feed for her growing herd, 300 pounds per day!

As with most farmers, the concern was how to make the farm profitable on many levels. Ruth, in her schooling for Gracie, discovered her propensity for learning new things and sharing what she had learned with others. Having bought the adjoining lot for their own family home, the little farm house seemed to offer a perfect opportunity as a farm stay. As a former suburbanite, she knew just what might inspire families to trek out into the countryside for a hands-on experience at farm life.

The focus would be local, healthy food because both Ruth and Gracie had a keen and growing interest in food and food preparation, starting with their own health. Gracie appeared to be allergic to cow’s milk from the store, and Ruth had a predisposition to celiac disease in her family. So they drank raw milk (and learned to make cheese and yogurt) and perfected recipes for gluten-free meals. While their land was too hardscrabble to grow much more than herbs and strawberries, they bought veggies and meat from area farms within 25 miles of their home.

With a certified kitchen, they started offering farm-to-table meals both as private sittings and for their guests. Gracie studied with a bakery chef and worked side-by-side with her mother to prepare the meals. Now college-aged, Gracie actually helps in all aspects of what the farm has to offer in the agritourism arena – from tours to overnight stays to cooking to student internships and classes. It’s all part of small farm sustainability – that entrepreneurial spirit that inspired Ruth and Gracie to create a destination location out of a small house in a holler with poor soil and a stunning view.

While Dogwood Hills, located in the Ozarks Mountains of Arkansas, may serve as a jumping off point for many outdoor activities available in the area, guests will find the warmth and hospitality of this farm just as wonderful and possibly more memorable!

Check out Dogwood Hills Guest Farm here on Farm Stay USA and plan your Arkansas farm stay vacation!

Photos provided by Dogwood Hills Guest Farm and Dana Treat Photography

The post Small farm sustainability at Dogwood Hills in Harriet, Arkansas appeared first on Farmstay.

Enter… Cook With What You Have! Farm Stay USA has teamed up with Katherine Deumling of CWWYH to bring her searchable, seasonal collection of 900+ recipes to our readers and our farm members alike.

I have always loved food and cooking and all that food is, beyond the requisite calories. My childhood in West Germany and my creative, efficient, cook-with-what-you-have mother with a sprawling vegetable garden, shaped my early years. A Thomas J. Watson Fellowship in 1996 took me to rural Italy and Mexico to deepen my understanding of how and why people cook the way they do. More than a decade of involvement with Slow Food, locally, nationally and internationally brought together my interest in food systems, regenerative agriculture and the combination of joy and justice. — Katherine Deumling

Users of the Farm Stay USA website may sign up for an individual membership on Cook With What You Have with a 20% discount using the code farmstayusa at checkout. For $4.99 per month, subscribers will have access to the entire searchable archive of recipes, tips, and techniques, plus a weekly newsletter with seasonal highlights and inspiration for the week.

Our dues-paying US Farm Stay Association members may subscribe to the Farm Stay USA organizational level and use CWWYH content (as applicable) in their day-to-day business of serving meals to guests, teaching cooking classes, or sharing recipes with their guests.

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED!

Please enjoy one of CWWYH’s seasonal recipes below!

Collard Greens with Winter Squash and Bacon

I threw this dish together one night and it turned out to be a winner. You could fry or poach an egg to serve on top of this and call it dinner.

For this dish to work you need a large skillet and you need to cut the squash into really small pieces. I suggest 1-inch long little batons or some such. You want the vegetables to have enough room so they sauté/brown rather than steaming.

Serves 4+

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 smallish bunch collard greens, washed, any tough stems removed and leaves cut in half lengthwise and then cut crosswise thin ribbons
• 2 shallots or half an onion, thinly sliced
• 2 (or more) slices bacon, cut into dice
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes or other hot pepper (optional)
• 3-4 cups winter squash (Butternut, Hubbard, Delicata, etc.), cut into small pieces, see headnote
• Salt and pepper

Heat oil in the biggest skillet you have over medium-high heat. Add the onion or shallot and bacon and cook until the onions begin browning and the bacon renders most of its fat. Add the squash and the greens and several generous pinches of salt. Mix well and cook, covered, stirring often to prevent the veggies from burning, until the squash is tender, the greens have begun to caramelize a bit but still have a bite. If things get too dry you can add a little splash of water and cover to speed up the cooking. Taste, adjust seasoning and serve.

The post Introducing… Cook With What You Have, plus a recipe for collard greens with winter squash and bacon appeared first on Farmstay.