Farmer Tilly

As you may remember, we participate in a weekly CSA from Kretschmann Farm.  Last weekend Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) hosted a farm open house, and our CSA farm participated.  We spent the day traipsing the acres with our mini farmer.

overalls, obviously

the barn

aubergine!

checking out rows of peppers

tomatoes in the hoop house

rosemary!  Jeopardy fact for you- Anne of Cleves (one of Henry's many wives) wore rosemary in her wedding crown. Too bad that marriage was annulled basically before it began for lack of consumation. Oops!

beets, kale, and parsely

row of sunflowers facing the hoop house

check out all of those CSA boxes!

taking a break in the barn- a bit wide eyed

walking to the pond

cabbage

tickling Tilly in the orchard

love her

hee hee

mmmm apples

way better than rice cereal, I'm sure!

walking to the back fields

Dad! Stop taking my picture!

Across the street is Lewis Family Farm.  They are a "part time" farm with about 50 head of cattle.  We recently bought 1/8 of a cow from them along with our neighbors, and the meat is fantastic.  We spent time with one of the Lewis sons who told us all about their farming philosophy and gave us a tour.  They raise their cows from birth, and they live 100% outside, grazing on a smorgasboard of grasses.  The family grow hay in the summer to supplement the grasses in the winter if snow or ice make grazing impossible.  The cows are grass-finished, which means they eat only grass. We learned that many "grass-fed" beef are actually corn finished, which means that for the last 9 months of a cow's life, it is tied up and corn fed.  Corn finishing fattens the cow faster and gives more fatty marbling to the meat.  However, that is not how cows were meant to live- they are actually not designed to eat corn at all.  The Lewis family also raise chickens and rent out their gorgeous barn and property for events.  I'm ready to throw a party there!  

cattle in the fields

Lews family farm property

farmhouse

I was totally inspired at the Lewis Family Farm.  I always say I couldn't live so far from the city, but I could totally see myself living in this beautiful house (there is a pool built into the side of the sloping hill not visible in these photos).  Could someone else just keep it in shape and I could drink great wine on the porch each evening?  Country house!