Jax, Mr.M, Mr.M's mom, my friend B, and I spent Saturday at Full Belly Farm's 20th Annual Hoes Down, locavore heaven! We had a great time! Jax and Mr.M spent most of the day climbing through the straw fort, with occasional breaks to pet the goats and climb on tractors. The childrens' area also had quite a few workshops and activities for bigger kids, like making acorn bread, painting gourds, making clay creatures or corn husk dolls, story time in the tipi, ice cream churning, felt making, an obstacle course called "Peas and Chaos," and pumpkin carving. Next year, perhaps Jax will appreciate more than the straw fort, but he had a great time just climbing!
Meanwhile, I went to a few of the workshops with my friend B., including sheep sheering, a tour of the farm led by farmer Andrew Brait, and "What's Your Beef?" with Jim and Mary Rickert of Prather Ranch explaining what it means to be grassfed, natural, and organic when it comes to beef. The tour was especially interesting to me, learning about where the food in my CSA box comes from each week and talking to one of the men who puts it there. Here's a picture of the brand new broccoli, which we'll be enjoying later this winter.
Other workshops offered were a tour of a straw bale house (we arrived too late for that one,) blacksmithing (Mr.M caught that while I was learning about beef), cow milking, composting, a native plant walk, olives and olive oil, organic strawberries, fruit trees, chickens and eggs, bees, grapes, farm insects and diseases, and farm equipment. Old fashioned games like sack races, apple bobbing, a watermelon eating contest, and a manure pitch-off were held. Live music could be enjoyed at either of two stages, and a large group was learning to square dance as we were getting ready to leave. The Herb Yurt offered a variety of activities learning about herbs, and a wagon ride led by draft horses continually circled the farm for those wanting a bit of a break from all the activity. The California Indian Culture and Arts area offered demonstrations of basket weaving and how to make pine nut bracelets.
Additionally, a farmer's market was set up in the center square so we could enjoy the many seasonal fruits and vegetables, along with stands offering Prather Ranch organic hamburgers, chicken dinners with Rosie organic chickens, Drakes bay oysters, grilled veggies, baked goods, organic ice cream and popsicles. Our burgers were excellent, as was the grilled sweet corn and vanilla ice cream. It was not a Core meal, but it was worth it! WERC (Whole Earth Reusable Cooperative) provided reusable plates and flatware for all of the food, and composting was readily available for anything left uneaten. For an event this large (5,000 people were estimated to attend) you can just imagine how much garbage was kept from the landfill by reusing, recycling, and composting.
I had a chance to meet Jessica Prentice, author of Full Moon Feast, the local foods wheel, and one of the Locavore founders. Of course, I gushed that finding the locavore movement changed my life - I'm happier, healthier, and lighter since starting the journey.
One could spend the entire day and not see everything. Had we stayed overnight, we could have spent Sunday river rafting trip, learned about biodiesel, or taken a more extensive tour of walking tour of the farm. Next year we're camping overnight so we can enjoy more of the festivities!
A reporter from Woodland's Daily Democrat heard me compliment Andrew Brait, the Full Belly Farmer who led our tour, and interviewed me for the paper. You can read her story about the Hoes Down here.
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