Lady Farmers Rock

We arrived late in the afternoon at Everett Family Farm yesterday, only to find the farmstand closed. I had two little boys and Logan's mother with me, and we wanted to get some eggs. So we went down to the fields below, and found Teresa Kurtak walking towards her car with a 5-gallon bucket of larkspur balanced on her head, looking for all the world like a young woman going to wash her family's clothes in the river. We moved into the shade so I could photograph her, but before she had time to pose, I took a few practice shots for the light. This is a "practice" shot.

It's my new favorite photo. Isn't she beautiful?

I had already planned to use this photograph as soon as I could, when I received an e-mail from Sherry Brooks Vinton, author of The Real Food Revival. It said:

Dear friends and fellow eaters,

Tomorrow Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture will kick off a new program, "Women in Food and Farming."  This month-long series will celebrate female farmers and their unique contribution to the sustainable food movement.

I have the great honor to participate--I'm hosting a panel of female animal "husbands" on July 8th and doing a canning demo on July 22nd.  You can visit the Stone Barns website  or click on the links below to find out more or reserve your space. 

Hope to see you there.

Tasty summer,
Sherri

Since you can't actually click any links here, you can view the programmed events on the calendar at Stone Barns. (I wish Stone Barns put prices on events on their website before you click "enroll." I hate surprise prices...especially when the prices are so reasonable.)

I, of course, am perishing with envy at you people who will get to go see these ladies. I was in the Hudson Valley just two years ago, and visited Stone Barns on the very first delivery day for their brand-new CSA. I blogged about farmer Cheryl Rogowski, who was written up in the New York Times right about then, for winning the McArthur Genius Grant.

Two months ago, I got an e-mail from Cheryl, which simply said:

"I was playing around on the internet and discovered your site - I love it - you have an absolute treasure trove of information there!  Keep up the good work - if you're ever back out this way stop in -
Cheryl Rogowski"

Well, it totally made my day, and I wish I could be at Stone Barns when she's speaking.

To read a really wonderful article on women farmers, please go to the Christian Women's Leadership Center's website for this Julia Moskin piece: Women Find Their Place in the Field. (That's where I originally found out about Cheryl Rogowski.) You'll love it.

• • • • • • • • • • •

How's this for serendipity? I Googled Cheryl's name today, and two clicks later, landed on an article in the Hudson Valley's Times-Herald about blogging farmers. The article links to two farms with blogs: Jeff Bialas of Bialas Farms, and Dressel Farms. Both are very worth checking out, especially the "Our Story" page on Bialas Farms.

"Our story begins in 1939 with Sophie and Francis Bialas (our grandparents). Francis (or Frank, as he was known) and his family had farmed for years, not mass quantities, but just enough to get by. It was The Depression after all. He and Sophie purchased a few acres of prized Orange County Black Dirt on Celery Avenue, where Sophie had lived as a young girl. They farmed the few acres with their young and ever-growing family."

Guess what they grew? Celery!

Okay, no more spoilers.

• • • • • • • • • • •

Calendars should be in by the first of September, and I'll have a link to the publisher's website with a Paypal link. I haven't worked out a final price, but first class postage is nearly $5, and media mail is $2.13. We're working on distribution, and it's looking very good indeed.

And that's all for now.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: [People] of genius do not excel in any profession because they labor in it, but they labor in it because they excel. —William Hazlitt (1778 - 1830)

Thanks for visiting.

P.S. I should have mentioned this before, but Teresa's not available. Her boyfriend, Michael Irving, is as beautiful as she is, and they run the farm together.

P.S.S. I had to implement comment verification on my blog, sorry. Over the past week, I got dozens of horrid spam comments, promoting the vilest websites imaginable. As soon as I switched to the authentication, they stopped. I hate stupid people.

Comments

[George Pasley]

she certainly is beautiful, and so are your pictures. George, former sheep shearer now preaching in Alaska. I miss the sheep- and the women farmers who raised them!

[Katherine at Apifera Farm]

Beautiful!!!!! Both colors, her face, and spirit comes through.
Your calender looks wonderful -

[Krystle, TasteTheSeasons.com]

Thanks for your support of women farmers!

I lived and worked in NY in the same county as Stone Barns before coming to New Mexico and know at least two of the women who are speaking there. In fact, one of them helped me get my first farm job right in that area when I was just peddling my "I don't have any experience but I work damn hard and I'm willing to get dirty" spiel up and down the Hudson Valley, and the rest is history!

[Katie]

Hey, Tana...It's fixed! :) I can see all the text without having to do anything special. Don't know if you made any changes - just thought I'd send an update. I love your blog - thanks for what you do.

-Katie

[rhondajean]

she is lovely. I also love your strawberry photo below.

[Dawn]

Inspiring!

[veron]

That is a lovely photo...it's very candid.