Farm~School~Life

Showing posts with label SC Grown. Show all posts

In many parts of the country spring is still thawing and you might not yet be enjoying fresh produce. Here in South Carolina we are blessed with a long growing season and can produce lots of vegetables and fruits throughout the year. Yearly we plant a large family garden but still rely on local farms for some of the freshest produce around until ours is ready or for those items we don't grow.

It's important to our family to support local farmers however we know that at times throughout the year that might not be possible. It also might not be within your budget since at times this can be more expensive. I was amazed to learn that more and more farm stands are not accepting EBT and SNAP cards than ever before. That is the great thing about America we have choices for our food. You can purchase food at a grocery store, farmers market, or local farm and know that you are getting a product that is safe and nutritious for your family.

Photo Courtesy of Cotton Hill's Farm Facebook Page

We personally love to purchase locally grown strawberries from our two favorite farms Bush-N-Vine & Cotton Hills Farm. The strawberries are sweeter and fresher than the ones I can get at the grocery store plus it doesn't hurt that we know the farmers. The Hall Family (Bush-N-Vine) is actually part of my husband's extended family and the Wilson's (Cotton Hills) are close friends. I feel privileged to be able to treat our family to such wonderful local fruits. Both of these farms do their best to ensure they provide my family and yours with the safest most affordable produce!

Many times I am asked if local food is better for you...well if you are asking is a strawberry grown in South Carolina any healthier for you than one grown in California.....NO...the nutrition value of fruit is basically the same no matter where it is grown.

Photo Courtesy of Bush-N-Vine's Facebook Page

Now if you ask about the taste..yes there is a difference. A strawberry purchased at the grocery store must be harvested, packaged, shipped, and purchased prior to going bad. To accommodate for this most fresh fruits and veggies sold in the grocery store are pick prior to being fully ripe. If you are purchasing fruits and veggies at a local farmer's market or on-farm the items were probably picked early that morning and are perfectly ripe.

Now for my first giveaway!

I am giving away a 1 $25 gift certificate to Cotton Hills Farm and a visor from Bush-N-Vine.

To enter please be sure to complete the entries below!!

Until Next Time--

Caci

Today was the South Carolina Agriculture Conference in Ridge Spring, SC. We started the day with a Keynote address titled "Successful Marketing on the Family Farm". Diane Green from Greentree Naturals in Idaho told us how she and her husband have made a living off 2 acres.

Diane's tips included:
Direct Market to consumers

Use talking points about what you are selling

How you like the product prepared
How to store the product

Include recipe cards with farm logo and contact info
Educate consumers using brochures, newsletters, articles and more
If you sell at a farmer's market take photos of the farm
Label everything...product, handouts, cars, tent, yourself
Give gifts to repeat customers
Sponsor community events to raise farm awareness

Selling to Resturants

take a basket of samples when "courting" new establishments
have a set time to contact about and/or deliver products
be sure to put products in proper places
be polite and socialable but don't overstay your welcome

We continued our day with SC examples of Successful family farms
Jason Rodgers, Farm Manager with Titan Farms the largest peach producer east of the Mississippi, shared how a small family farm grew to over 4,000 acres.

Eric McClam, Farm Manager with City Roots shared how his family began a farm in July 2009 on 3 arces in Columbia, SC. The vision is to produce clean, healthy, sustainably grown products while enhancing and educating their community about the benefits of locally grown food, composting, vermicomposting and other environmentally friendly farming practices.

Lydia Yon, co-owner of Yon Family Farms shared how they produce seedstock Angus bulls, sweet corn and sell freezer beef. The farm host two sales each year along with hosting interns. They have made a name for themselves in the industry by providing high quality products.

Ansley Rast with SC Department of Ag spoke about all the SC Grown program has to offer during lunch which featured SC Grown products prepared by Juniper Resturant.

Keely Saye spoke about marketing in 2010 using Social Networking. You can check out her presentation at here. She also mentioned a You Tube video called Socionomics

We ended the day with three breakout sessions and a roundtable discussion. Overall it was a very educational day with a lot of resources. I encourage all farmers in SC to attend the next conference in 2012 in the Low Country.

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