Zac Brown Band supports local farms

Yeah, yeah I'll get to the fun part of yesterday soon enough.  But stay with me for a moment while I give a few words of thanks to those who make it possible for my husband and I to make a living doing what we love.

There has been a lot written in the past couple of years about the local food movement.  For those of us who own and operate small farms, the attention being given to locally grown food is a good thing.  Big farms can fill orders for big companies and they have the employees to execute picking and packing and shipping.  All of that is much more difficult for the small produce grower.  But through outlets just as farmers markets, CSA programs, and selling to local restaurants and schools, the small farmer can eke out a living.  The customer benefits too by getting produce that is better quality (fresher) and has less fuel costs associated with it.  Plus buying local strengthens the local economy.  But while gaining some strength, I feel the local food movement is still in its infancy.  There are so many hurdles for us small farmers to jump over and perhaps getting our message out to the consumer is one of the biggest.  Fortunately there are quite a few really good people and organizations out there that have been willing to support local farms and to talk about it.  They are our voice.  They support what we do and they have the ability to connect with consumers in a way that we cannot.  I know I am speaking for most if not all small farmers when I say that we truly appreciate this support.  And so while this blog post is about a day of fun and adventure in the lives of two people who own a small vegetable farm, it is also about ALL the organizations that are willing to speak the message of the small farmer for nothing more than a "Thank You". 

The first time I met Chef Rusty Hamlin was in the summer of 2010 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  My girlfriend Valerie and I took a whirlwind one day road trip there to see the Zac Brown Band at a concert.  It's a 5-6 hour drive and we left at 10am the morning of the show and got home at 4am the next morning.  And I had to go to work that  same day after the show.  It was painful but worth every memory of that day.   The band was just starting to headline its own shows and Zac Brown had come up with the idea of doing "Eat and Greets" for the fans instead of the typical "Meet and Greet".  At these "Eat and Greets", fans and band members sit down and eat together before the show.  As a fan, it truly is a unique and amazing experience.  Zac, a chef himself, has a deep appreciation for really good food and so he teamed up with Chef Rusty Hamlin who provides the culinary magic so to speak at the eat and greets.  Through a newspaper article, I had read about how Chef Rusty had been supporting local farms by purchasing food for the eat and greets from farms near the venues where the band was playing.  For the show in Fort Wayne, I was able buy a couple of tickets to the eat and greet and Val and I had an amazing time meeting the band, sitting down for dinner at a table with Joey and Rory, and eating some REALLY good food.  After dinner I decided to introduce myself to Chef Rusty and he told me if the band was going to be playing near our farm to let him know and he would be willing to purchase produce from our farm.  A couple of months later, the Zac Brown Band came to Blossom Music Center and the rest is history as the saying goes.  You can read about that day in my blog post "Those Extraordinary Days".

I've seen the band many many more times since then, but all of the shows were out of town or at a time of year when we didn't have any produce to sell.  Eventually though the timing worked out for another chance for our farm to provide produce for a Zac Brown Band Eat and Greet.  And the timing couldn't have been more perfect.  The fields are finally starting to produce after the large set back of Drought 2012.  Add to that the show was going to be on a Saturday and that meant that Chef Rusty could pick up at the farmers market where we sell produce every Saturday morning.  The market is less than 10 minutes from the show venue.  As perfect as perfect could be.

For the past week, my computer and phone had been a hub of activity to set everything up with Chef Rusty.  Emails, phone calls, text messages galore to make all the plans.  On Friday the day before the show, I was not able to help in the fields like last year, but Mike along with a couple Amish girls that live down the road were able to pick and pack all the produce for Saturday's market plus for the the Eat and Greet.

Saturday morning, Mike and Steve left early for market with the truck and trailer.  I left later so I could tend to all the animals.  The farmers market opens at 9am and so when I got there around 9:15am, the guys were all set up and starting to sell to the early customers.  Those guys do such a great job of setting up the Peters Creek Farm / Covered Bridge Gardens produce stand at the market.

I love just looking at all the different colors of vegetables.

About 10am, Chef Rusty showed up to pick up the produce.  Cauliflower, golden zucchini, white sweet corn, garlic and cherry tomatoes would all be used in the chef's creations that evening.  Mike and I had fun chatting with Rusty and catching up.  And we had some fun posing for pictures at the market too.

Oh yes, there were more traditional posed pictures too.

Then I took the chef over to meet Bob the owner of Seville Berry Farm and to purchase some raspberries that would be used on the dessert that evening.  (I also placed my order for Bob to bring me several quarts of raspberries to next week's market so I can make some jam.  Oh yeah!)

After Chef Rusty left, I finished helping the guys at the market which is something I really don't ever do.  Thankfully the people I waited on were very patient with me since I was really clueless, but I managed to muddle my way through.

After a small lunch and a quick nap and some visiting with my brother-in-law and my niece, Mike and I made our way over to Blossom Music Center for the show.  Through Chef Rusty's generosity, we were able to attend the Eat and Greet, say hi to the band members and enjoy some beyond describable good food.  Both Zac Brown and Chef Rusty always give a little speech about the food before dinner.  They thank the local farms where they bought the food and they encourage everyone at the eat and greets to support their local farmers.  I can tell you it is very rare for us small farmers to feel a bit like celebrities, but for a brief moment in time these guys make it happen.  Mike and I got to tour Chef Rusty's new custom built semi trailer where he and his staff cook all the food.  It was AMAZING.  No, beyond AMAZING.  What a change from 2 years ago when everything was carted around in a basic small trailer pulled behind a regular sized truck. 

There is a tent that comes off the side of the trailer and that is where the tables for the guests at the eat and greet are set up.  This is a little farther back view of the tent that comes off the semi trailer.

We then made our way over to our seats which we didn't hardly use as the entire crowd stood for the entire Zac Brown Band show. As a fan of country music, I can tell you is not very often that the ENTIRE crowd stands for the ENTIRE show at a country music concert, but Zac Brown Band is far from a typical country music concert.

And so once again, I find my self sending out a HUGE thank you to Chef Rusty Hamlin and the Zac Brown Band organization.  Their support for local farmers is just amazing.  I encourage everyone to go visit Chef Rusty's web site at www.chefrusty.com.  There are some recipes as well as links to his restaurant that is down near Atlanta, Georgia.  

And now it is back to normal farm life, but yesterday's memories will last forever. 

Those extraordinary days

There is not one day that goes by that I don't count my blessings for what I have. Most days are very ordinary. They are filled with tasks that get repeated over and over. You see the same people you see every day. I treasure those days. My life is blessed with good times and good people. But on the opposite side of all that, there are life's extraordinary days. These are days filled with new things. New people. New adventures. And Mike and I had one of those days last Friday.

I am a huge fan of the Zac Brown Band. It all started when I saw them play a live show a little over a year ago and I was dragged under hook, line and sinker. I love their music of course, but being a fan of theirs has opened doors to meeting so many wonderful people. One of those people is Chef Rusty Hamlin who travels with the band on the road and prepares their food. Well, not only does he prepare food for the band, but he also creates exquisite meals for a fan experience known as an "eat and greet". Zac Brown (who is also a chef himself) is always thinking outside the box and thinking of great new ways to interact with the fans. So he started these eat and greets where fans can have dinner before the show and the entire band eats and mingles along with them. It is a very cool experience. Zac and Chef Rusty are also big supporters of local farmers and try to buy as much of their food from the local farmers as they can. The menu is adjusted as to what is in season at the time. I first met Chef Rusty when I attended an eat and greet at a show in Fort Wayne, IN last month. It was there I talked to him about having Peters Creek Farm provide produce for the tour stop in Cleveland on August 20th. So a couple weeks before last Friday's show, we traded some emails and phone calls and finalized the details.

The adventure actually began on Thursday. I got home from work around 6pm. The boys had already picked the golden zucchini and cherry tomatoes that had been ordered. Mike had picked some cucumbers and green bell peppers. After chicken chores, we headed out to the field around 7:30pm to finish. I picked all the Swiss chard and Mike picked the sweet corn and cabbage and we finished at 9pm as it was getting dark. We drove everything over to Covered Bridge Gardens to sort, pack and store in their walk-in cooler. We then picked up few things in town and made it home in time for our customary work late on the farm 10pm dinner. I made 2 dozen blueberry muffins from berries from our farm and finally made it to bed at 1am.

Up at 5am to do poultry chores. Every once in awhile Mike will take extra produce to sell over at the Geauga Growers Produce Auction in Middlefield and since the auction is pretty much on the way to Blossom Music Center where the concert was being held, it seemed a good idea to stop there too.

The auction is right in the heart of Geauga County and serves lots of local farmers including the large local Amish community. It is very cool to see all the boxes of produce being lined up and delivered. When Giant Eagle or the other grocery stores advertise "locally grown", this is where they get some of their produce. The smells in the air from all the fresh vegetables are wonderful.

Then off we drove to Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. We actually beat the tour buses there by about a half hour, but soon they were there and we were able to drive our truck to the back stage parking area.  Here is a picture of Mike standing next to our truck with 2 (out of 4) of the Zac Brown Band's tour buses in the background.  Chef Rusty and his sous chef Josh Prichard met us in the parking lot and then they hopped in a golf cart and we followed them over to the area where the eat and greet was being set up.

From left to right:

Mike Hiener, Josh Prichard, Chef Rusty Hamlin, Diane Hiener

It was quite the cool experience for me to be driving around Blossom Music Center in the middle of the day in the farm truck.  I spent quite a few nights watching concerts at Blossom in my teens and early 20's.  I couldn't help but reminisce back to the days when you could take coolers packed with dinner and drinks and sit on the lawn and enjoy.  Those days are gone, but the mystique is still there for me.

Mike and I finished our produce delivery and headed home.  I only had 45 minutes to change clothes, hop in my car and pick up my friend Sue and head back to Blossom for the eat and greet and then the show.  Unfortunately Mike could not make the show because he had to get ready for the Peninsula Farmers Market on Saturday morning.  Sue and I met up with my niece Sarah and her friend Kevin at the gate area.  The eat and greet started at 5pm and when we got there, all the food was beautifully laid out on a buffet style table.  Here a few more shots of the magic that Chef Rusty created with the Peters Creek Farm produce.

The four of us had a great time at the eat and greet.  The food was gourmet and so very very delicious.  We got to shake hands with half of the band members who were there right at the beginning (the others showed up later) and Zac came over to our table toward the end to thank me for the produce and say hi.  But our adventure did not end there.  After dinner, we spent two hours working for the Soldier's Angels booth by walking the crowd and collecting postcards written to soldiers who are overseas serving our country.  The campaign is called Letters for Lyrics and is also sponsored by Dodge Ram Trucks.  When someone would write a postcard to a soldier, we would give them a free Zac Brown Band CD.  That was fun!

But the adventure was still not over.  I had purchased tickets through the fan club and to help cut down on scalping, the tickets had to be picked up by the purchaser at the will call window the day of the show.  I had no idea where our seats were until we got to Blossom.  Turns out we had front row seats.  How awesome is that!  I had never sat front row for a concert ever.  We missed the opening acts because of the Letters for Lyrics work, but no matter, Zac Brown Band played for nearly 3 hours.  I have seen these guys play a few times before and each time they just seem to get better and better.  If you missed the show review in the Cleveland Plain Dealer you can find it here.

So here ends my extraordinarily long blog about my extraordinary day last Friday.  There are so many other great details that I left out.  This really could go on forever.  Let's just say that lots of great memories were made that day.

Of concerts and rain and things that break

Time to catch up on the happenings of the past three days. First up is Saturday. I was fortunate enough to be able to go have fun at the Zac Brown Band/Dave Matthews Band concert in Pittsburgh. I am a huge Zac Brown Band fan so I was in total ecstasy watching them as the opening act. I enjoyed watching DMB, but I just don't get the excitement from them as I do from ZBB. Still, it was a fun trip to P'burgh with family. Live music is one of my favorite forms of entertainment and it was a perfect summer evening. Mike got to work at market Saturday morning. Ah, such is the life of a farmer. He did have something kind of funny happen later in the evening. He went out to feed the laying hens and found a baby possum curled up sleeping in the pen. It must have wandered into the pen in search of food on Friday evening when the doors were open and got trapped inside when I locked the chickens up after dark. So it had been in the pen all night Friday and all day Saturday. Good thing it wasn't an adult because they have been known to kill chickens.

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Sunday. Mike and I get up by at least 6:30-7am every Sunday morning. I do chicken chores and then make us a bacon and egg breakfast. It's a rare Sunday that we skip this routine. Then mid morning, if nothing else is going on, I go back to bed for a couple hours. I call this "sleeping in". I guess most people would call sleeping in getting up at 8 or 9am, but I have animals that need tended to so my sleep just gets interrupted by a few hours of being awake. The net result is the same. Mike went outside to use the tiller to get ground ready for planting more green beans and maybe one last planting of sweet corn. When he left the house after breakfast, the forecast was for zero chance of rain. So a few hours of field work later, he was surprised when he saw lightning in the sky. He was deciding if he should leave the field or not when the tiller made a loud bang and started smelling like something burning. Broken! Well, that made the decision for him. He got inside just before the thundershower hit and the sky dumped a half inch of rain on us. So much for no chance of rain. But we did need the rain and besides, I was happily napping in bed and listening to the gentle thundershower outside the window. Now that is a beautiful feeling.

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Monday. Mike took the broken tiller up to the guy that fixes those things. He brought back the string trimmer that broke a week ago and needed repair. My little lawn tractor that had broke for a second time a couple weeks ago came back to the farm today too. But because karma always seems to want to keep things in balance, the day could not end with one broken thing leaving to be fixed and two fixed things coming back to the farm. During afternoon chores, I walked out to the little out building where we keep our large upright freezer. The thing is older than dirt and we always knew the day would come when it would break, but the way it was found broken today was unexpected. I had not been in that room since sometime middle of last week. Sometime between then and now, the magnet on the door failed and the door swung wide open. Wish I could put scratch and sniff on this post. Just think rotting meat and flies. Yes, it was gross. So after supper, we threw out everything that was in the freezer and cleaned up the mess. We had fun talking about the grossest things we had ever done in our lives. This was not at the top of our lists, but it was up there. So tomorrow Mike gets to go buy us a new freezer. Oh, and we lost probably 200 pounds of meat. All of it was raised on the farm, i.e. nothing store bought. In fact, I buy meat at the store maybe once a month and that is just to buy some pork or other meat that we don't raise. So now I guess I'll be shopping the meat sales at the store. We lost some frozen vegetables too, but not as much. Although I did JUST freeze 3 quarts of blueberries 2 weeks ago. All gone. Such is life.

Everything is slow motion

The heat in the eastern US continues and everything is slowing down. Mike even commented the other day that the beagles were wrestling with each other in slow motion. I don't think the barn or porch cats even move all day. The chickens just lie around in the shade and pant. Only the 13 year old crazy Brittany seems happy to run around the yard, dash into the creek to cool off and repeat all day long. The lack of rain is just starting to make itself known. I haven't mowed grass in over a week and a half and it doesn't really need it. Well except for all the plantain spikes all over the yard, but they don't really count.

The theme for the farm this week is tomatoes. 2500 or so tomato plants waiting to be staked and tied. I wandered out the barn two nights ago to see how the stack of tomato stakes was shrinking. This picture was taken when the boys had staked about 1/3 of the plants so quite a few more to go at the time the photo was taken. Tuesday it was so hot that Mike sent them all home at noon. Too hot to be working in the fields in the afternoon sun. Tonight Mike reported that the boys were almost done with the staking whatever "almost done" means. Staking is a hard, hot job, but we sure do appreciate the work the boys do for us.

Mike also took a load of tomatoes over to the Middlefield produce auction today. First trip of the year and he said there was not much produce there, but the buyers seemed to be there. Fingers crossed that means a good price for the 'maters. You just never know at an auction.

As for me, this is live music week. My friend Val and I took a road trip to Fort Wayne, IN yesterday to see the Zac Brown Band. If you have never seen them live, you really need to. I can't even begin to describe the amazing show these boys put on. It was hot hot hot in Indiana. I think around 95 degrees in the afternoon. The show was at a very nice venue for a concert: the Parkview Field which is a minor league baseball stadium. Great acoustics from where we were sitting. Boy did the boys (and gals) on stage look like they were melting. Joey and Rory were with Zac Brown Band along with Levi Lowrey, Sonia Leigh, and Nic Cowan. 3 1/2 hours of NONSTOP music. They had to be whooped by the heat but their enthusiasm on the stage never dwindled even at the very end. Next up is Dave Matthews Band this Saturday.