Reflections on Farm Day

Hey Friends,

We have a whole network for farms that we work with and I talk to all of them throughout the year. I place orders, check how the season is going and they reach out with questions and cool things they’re growing. But my crew mostly knows the farms by name only. They know the quality of the ingredients that go into our hot sauces, caramel, and baked goods, but rarely interact with our farmers. 

A few years ago I realized that my crew was missing out. The way that we purchase produce and milk is different and cool and my crew should know about that. Also, the way that we purchase our core ingredients wouldn’t be possible if my hard working crew weren’t willing to put in the extra elbow grease and process it all. It’s a lot of extra work to start with whole ingredients and I wanted my crew to understand why it’s important.

So we came up with the idea of a Farm Day! Where the BBVT staff goes out to one of our farms and works alongside their crew for a day. We weren’t sure who would want to go, what we would do or how it would go, but we knew that it would provide an opportunity for connection and community building. It was interesting to try to choose which farm to go to, since most of our farms are so small that having 8-15 people showing up to work would be more of a hinderance than a help. Honey Field Farm, in Norwich VT, turned out to be the perfect size. 

I am so glad that we took a chance at it. It has been simply wonderful. About 1/2 of our staff goes down (farm work isn’t everyone’s favorite). We weed, plant, pot wash and share lunch under the magical tree. Honey Field Farm has these amazing gigantic trees that are the trees that dreams are made of. This year we brought Red Hen bread, a cheese board and (of course), hot sauce and caramel. HHF made a salad, Eli’s incredible hummus with toasted fresh coriander seeds from a field gone to seed and pulled heirloom tomatoes and basil right out of their green house. We get to play in the dirt and make new friends. They get some chores done with those new friends. And we all get to see firsthand why a pepper isn’t just a pepper. A pepper (or an onion or a tomato or a gallon of milk) purchased from a small farm does more than just feed people. It can build community, increase foodshed resiliency, improve the local economy and make your meal taste SO MUCH better (did I tell you about the tomatoes with basil, fresh mozzarella and garlic olive oil on the fresh Red Hen bread?). 

Are you tasting what a difference a small farm makes? Check out our hot sauces, caramel, mustards and maple baked goods - all made with small farm ingredients!