Mill Road Farms- working hard to feed the masses

So the best part of doing farmers markets is the friends you meet along the way.  Sure, there are the customers that come back every week, and tell you about what they made with what you have grown, and are excited to see what each week brings.  We love those friends, and encourage them to keep coming back.  We would not be here without them.  But there is a unique friendship that forms along all the vendors.  Sometimes, it is just a simple hello each week, courteous, but not overt.   Sometimes, it may just be a nod.  Then other times, like one of the markets we are in, there is a true comrade.   We all might be selling the same stuff, but there is not a competition, but rather encouragement of each other.  And then there is the best benefit of it all- we are all going through the same thing.  So when the rain just won't stop, and our fields are covered in weeds, there is the farmer who was just doing the same thing the night before.  Or when talking about how our beehives are faring this year, there is the farmer who also had a mouse devour a hive (apparently they are Artisanal mice and need honeycomb with their cheese), and who informs you that there is actually a device specifically meant to prohibit this from happening again.  But to be careful of the wax moths, they can go undetected for weeks. Normally it would be a one upmanship going on in most industries, but in our community, it is all about helping one another.  Rather than tell a customer, we don't have this product this week, or we are out, we will send them to the next farmer if we know they have it, and they do the same for us.  It truly is a beautiful thing, and I know we will be sad once the winter hits and we don't get to see these awesome people all the time.  Until that time comes though, keep on visiting all of us at the markets, and keep on growing! 

With the growing trend of CSAs, farmers markets, and the idea of eating from where you live, it is important for the consumers to know why this is all going to make a huge difference in our lives.  Eating locally has so many benefits, not just for our health, but for our community as well.  With what Chef Dan is doing at the restaurant, this is not just the latest food trend, but hopefully a new way of living.   For those who have not been to a farm, or lived close to one, it can be an eye opening experience to see what really goes into growing all this produce & fruit, and how buying from your local farmer can make a world of a difference for both you & them.  Farms  need not only hard labor, but money as well. So for some farmers, the idea of selling to big chain grocers makes the most sense.  And these big chain grocers will buy in bulk, and continously throughout the year. The problem with that, is they want to spend as little as possible so their profits can be larger, so the farmer is not getting as much for his or her crop.  So how to make money that way?  You grow stuff that will last, and pesticides will be used to get the most yield, and you will be growing stuff to feed the masses, not just your community, so maybe you are getting produce from a "farmer" as some of these stores claim, but that farmer is 1500 miles away.  And that produce has been sitting in a warehouse for days and days, and then on a truck, for days & days, and then finally in the store.  How fresh is that?  As not growing up on a farm myself, it was quite the experience to pick a tomato, that has been organically grown, in local soil, and see that not only did it lack that "shine" that you are so used to from the store, but after a couple of days, it was starting to go soften.  And how I can buy one from the store, and it is still "fresh" a week & a half after purchasing it.  How is that possible, one might ask?  To really know what you are putting on your table every day, you should get to know your local farmer's markets.  Supporting the local farmer not only helps them, but you can help yourself as well. Aside from probably some of the freshest, tastiest foods you will be consuming, the fact that it is grown locally also is fantastic for your health.  And what can beat that!

Till next time, keep on growing!

So in the spirit of letting people get to know us, we decided to start a blog!  For those of you that are aware, you can just skip the next few lines. For those that are new, please read on!  Our farming life, as it currently is, started about 3 years ago.  But the seed ( no pun intended!) were planted decades ago.  You see, the farm is from my husband's family-  it was land purchased well over 65 years ago by his maternal family lineage, passed on for generations.  When I came into the picture, it was in his grandparent's name, and their home was right down the street.  By that point, only a small portion of it was being used, and the rest of the land was just providing to the landscape of Sheffield.  But my husband, being a chef, saw this land as a way to give more people who were not living right in the farmland, access to fresh, organic, locally grown fruit and vegetables.   So he, along with his brother & parents, decided to start reworking the land to make it a working farm again.  This was painstaking, back breaking work, but to see what it was to what it is now brings a smile to their faces.   Finally, last year, we put the icing on the cake, and built the green house, and were able to start our first growing season.  And as many of us in the farming community remember, last year was a you know what! Imagine it being your first year as we had! Seeds went in, plants died, seeds went back in, started to grow, and then died again.   The heat was so unbearable so early on, these little seedlings just couldn't take it.  And we watered.  And watered.  And watered.   And then we would look, and in a couple of hours, it was just dry as a bone again.   My in-laws & brother in-law would be out there every single day, and it just seemed like no end was in sight.  But we kept on.  And stuff started to grow, and we felt relieved.  Chalked everything up to a learning experience, and move forward was the motto. Flash forward to this February when we started to work on what we were planting.  We did a lot of work in the green house for this year- lights installed, heaters, new beds for the seeds. We said, let's get an early start so these babies are nice and strong when the heat hits, and started our season.  Only this year, we kept waiting for the heat to hit so we were prepared.  And then the rain came.  Field flooded.   Rain came again, field flooded again.  New learning experiences I have to keep saying.   But the nice thing is all of our seedlings had the time to grow & grow.  So when market time came, these plants were gorgeous.  And the fields are doing great.   Once the fields were able to dry, the plants were so strong once they were transplanted, and made the exchange well.   We are so elated to see the hard work pay off.  And when you come to the markets, you will literally see the fruit ( and veggies) of our labor, all ready for you to take home and eat.  Until next time, keep on growing!