See Things Made

Charlie and I have realized we have several YEARS of programming ideas based on “See Things Made” i.e. demonstrations of local food production. A beginning list includes: molasses (we can go to HartRich Farm, a farm north of Winston – Salem that makes Molasses with horses!), apple butter (our family makes apple butter every fall outside over the fire in a big copper kettle), cider making, vegetable canning (tomatoes, etc.), fruit canning (peaches, etc.) winemaking, hoophouse vegetable growing, grass fed meats (beef, pork, poultry, etc.)

We need to figure out a way we can take our “show” on the road to farms that do not have the public facilities like we have here at Goat Lady Dairy. Perhaps we could go out in a bus (solving the parking problem and saving fossil fuels and having a fellowship time on the ride out to the farm), taking our pot-luck with us, maybe even a tent we could set up at each farm, or more simply take blankets for a pot-luck picnic. This allows the farmer to focus only on the demonstration. We realized after Sunday that a much easier way to do the potluck would be to have everyone bring their own plates, cutlery, cups etc. and then take it home to wash. This solves the dishwashing problem without creating massive paper waste for the landfill!

If we do something like this, we could have a photographer document the demo to add to our “See Things Made” section on the website. We have already planned to turn our cheesemaking slideshow into a stand alone presentation with captions. It IS amazing what can be done with digital cameras and photo software! I’m sure offering this on the web-site would generate lots of interest in future farm visits for demonstrations. To me this is among the best Slow Food activities we can offer because we bring ‘eaters” out to the farmers and make it easy for the farmer to share their craft and philosophy. This is the kind of interaction which inspires slow food loving urban folks to really care about their local farms!

Steve
Goat Lady Dairy