The drive out to Berryville, VA was on a gorgeous blue sky day with fluffy white clouds dabbed here and there. Perfect fall weather. (I do realize I am driving while taking this pic, but I was watching the road and just put the camera right on top of my steering wheel to steady and snapped a few random pics. I didn't take my eyes off the road, so no need to send the fuzz to cart me away to the clink.)
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| It took a nice picture anyway. Random as it was. Seriously! Put the phone down. |
First stop in Berryville was a neighbor's farm. We caught the owners as they were leaving for the day, but when you live this far out, I guess you're very trusting and just allow people to roam your property unmonitored. (To city dwellers = panic!!) Time to check out the animals.
Introducing Glory the goat. (Apparently it was dinnertime for the old gal.)
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| It was sadly not milking time. Super bummer! I am so definitely coming back for that. |
Behind the house was the chicken coop. Which had a hen house attached. That makes sense as you gotta keep the ladies warm. We went inside and my coworker reached in the cubbies (like summer camp bunk beds only for birds) that normally hold the chickens (who were actually roaming about freely) and picked out fresh eggs. Thank you generous, and unaware, chickens!
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| Affordable chicken housing. With a good view of the wood shed. |
Now for a little current application of time gone by values. As I mentioned before, the neighbors all know each other. Some of their families have owned these farms for tens of dozens of years. There is something to be said for long histories. I'm all for it. Some of the good people of this area have created what they call "The Shack." It's a little, wooden shed with a screen door, shelving and a refrigerator.
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| Looks unassuming, perhaps. |
What these local friends do is this... Each person has their own speciality. Since they often have more than they need, they take a bunch of their products and put them in the fridge, freezer and on the shelves. There was pasta sauce and beef in the freezer, goat cheese and eggs and in the fridge, and on the shelves - freshly baked bread! (I know, was this something out of a movie?) This way, they can offer their excess to their neighbors and get something they don't have in exchange.
On the wall was a board with prices (all very reasonable) for the various goods. And a log book, with an honor system, that each person writes down what they take and what they owe. The next time they see their friend, they pay them. I LOVED this idea!!! I am trying to find a way to do this in the condo atmosphere I'm a part of. So far it's been me making too much food and running out of freezer room, so I have to offload it to my friends to make space. (They are more than willing to "help me out," by the way.) But swapping and variety sounds like great fun to me.
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| Fresh, made that morning, crusty, sourdough bread. For the love! This is exciting. |
Seeing as it was a farm, I feel the need to show you a piece of industrial size equipment. Here is a tractor. How can anyone drive this thing?!! (Think they'd let me? If only they had left the keys in it.)
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| I did suppress the urge to hop on it and give it a whirl. For now. |
And of course, what is a farm without cows. This one was pretty rotund. Likely a happy cow. I loved it! The whole place was quite scenic. Stone walls, pastures, trees...
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| Darling cow having a snack. An animal after my own heart. Well, stomach. |
My coworker also keeps her horse at her friend's place. The larger horse below is Ginger and oh yes, I was told I could ride her sometime when I come back out again. (Yippee!) She was so sweet. Got to pet her and introduce myself properly. And now, I want a horse. I loved Ginger! (Think she'll fit in my condo? I knew I should have bought a garage.)
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| Sun was starting to lower and I liked the way the light hit the lens. Cute, little, white horse saying, "Hey! Come pet me." |
You know there will be food involved, so be patient. But for now, history to work up an appetite. Another reason to love the town of Berryville? They protect farmland like nobody's business. I took a picture of a sign and was told that much of the land in this area is fully protected against commercial development, for all time. Now that's a cause I can get behind!
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| "Forever protected" - do you love that or what? I'm a fan of this easement. |
Well, what's a trip to a small area in the country without a trip to the country store. Locke Modern Country Store in Millwood, VA.
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| Exterior is rugged and natural. |
Whoa, when I went inside there was a HUMONGOUS wine selection. I couldn't believe this tiny facade held such a magnificent bounty! There was more wine there than in some of my local wine shops. And they were having a wine tasting that day. I bought a fantastic Rosé that I featured at the wine tasting I blogged about recently.
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| Country folks like their wine, that's obvious. |
And what is a delightful store without a delightful person at the helm. Peggie Simon. Lover of all that is nature and all around smart lady. She gave me a brief personal history and I learned that local, sustainable foods supporting isn't new for her. No sirree-bob. What preprocessed, refined sugar rock have we been living under for the past thirty years? Peggie caught the health train way early on and has spent many years getting us misinformed, lazybones up to speed. She recommended a book, "The Omnivores Dilemma," and said that book really will open your eyes to so much. I'll have to check it out.
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| Peggie - Organic foods trail blazer. |
I won't rewrite history by going on and on about the store. You can read more about it in an article in the Washington Post. I'd like to focus on a few products. Like homemade granola. Is that not like so Mother Earth?
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| And you thought homemade granola went out with bell bottoms and shag carpets. Not so! |
They also had a couple double door fridges with all kinds of products too numerous to mention. Soups, meats, veggies, cheeses. Lot's of great local specialties. (I bought a fab dried sausage that I sliced up super thin for a party recently.)
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| Is it hard to exercise restraint? Oh yes it is. |
One thing I had to try was their own homemade pot pie. Anything that promises a flaky crust, yeah, I'm in! I'll show you an initial shot now and we'll revisit later when I actually bake it up. In the meantime, it went into the freezer and I went on to another local haunt.
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| Freshly made. It's a hot ticket at the store. |
The Berryville Farmer's Market. Held in a local parking lot. Not big in square feet, but big on yummies.
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| Fruit stand. It was apple season. |
I liked seeing the tents and the neighbors chatting. Reminded me of simpler days.
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| I bet they see each other nearly every Saturday morning. |
It was hard to walk and talk and eat and photograph, so this is a little blurry, but I wasn't going to miss out on showing you this wonderful, mini ham biscuit. Something I didn't grow up with in New England. Great walk around and shop food. Two or three bites and that's it.
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| Well, shopping for food does make you hungry. |
I don't know what kind of fertilizer they were using, but I took a picture of these zucchinis in relation to normal-sized peppers to show you they were as large as baseball bats! Oh my goodnight! You could feed a family of 10 on one! (I was tempted to buy one for myself, but really now, I wasn't sure it would fit through the front door of my place.)
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| How can vegetables grow this large? |
Did someone say barbecue? The pork as it came right out of the smoker to the right, shredded and ready to go to the left. My kind hostess bought a big container of beans and my only regret is that I didn't photograph it! I tasted them later and those beans were AMAZING. I'm going to make her bring me some next Spring when the market reopens. They were made with several kinds of beans, some creamy, large white ones, and had huge pieces of BBQ pork all through it. They sell by weight so you can get as little or as much as you want. (Honestly, the beans will knock your socks off and you'll want to buy a huge tub of them.)
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| I just made myself hungry. |
On to local projects. Another great thing about small towns is that they like to preserve their history instead of leveling it and building another generic strip mall. This old barn was being renovated into a new community center without altering the integrity of the original external structure. I'm glad there are preservationists around for just these reasons.
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| The convenience of the new cannot replace the beauty of saving the old. |
Wow, I had a big day! A super fun day. And I was pooped! My hostess doesn't know it, but I took a picture of the incredibly inviting guestroom I got to stay in. Seriously, who wouldn't want to stay here? The bed made me want to jump into it like a kid! (I didn't. That would have been rude on my first visit.)
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| Like a hotel. Green and white fresh color scheme. So very comfy. *yawn* |
I'm pretty sure I was out like a light within moments of snuggling into that downy softness. But wait! Back to the pot pie.
I brought it home to my mom's because this was something to share. Fresh out of the freezer.
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| Should serve about four to six people. |
Because it was frozen, the cook time increased. The package said 350 for an hour, but we put it in at 400 for an hour and 20 minutes. All stoves cook differently, so some guesswork is involved.
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| We used a thermometer to make sure the internal temperature was high enough. |
I tried my best to let it rest for just a bit, but, dangit, I was too hungry! A corner square was mine! (Okay, I did serve my mom first. I'm a good kid, really.) It had giant chunks of white meat chicken, hearty veggies, a flaky crust as promised and creamy gravy. I say, it was a hit! (This they already knew when they sold it to me. I can see why people are repeat customers.)
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| Flaky, creamy, veggie, meaty. |
I love adventures. Local road trips. Meeting regular people. Discovering new places. Tasting extraordinary things. My hope is that more city people hop in their cars on a Saturday morning and drive an hour out to the many small towns that dot our great country and patronize places like Locke's Modern Country Store. The treats and the people are wonderful and will brighten your day. You might even learn something new while you're out exploring.
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