Yellow Branch Farm in Robbinsville, NC

I spent a few hours on Bruce and Karen's cheese farm, working on the book assignment, and learning about cheese making. The cows were so docile and smart, each coming to the milking room at the call of their own name! Bruce was a gracious host, allowing me to photograph him at his home farm, and then Karen let me taste samples of their delicious labors before I left. I highly recommend the basil cheese they make; that stuff is amazing and probably more than a bit habit forming!

Jake's Farm in Candler, NC

I spent a couple of hours at Jake's Farm this morning, photographing Chris and Missy and their wonderful organic fruit and vegetables. These are some of the photos I captured while on assignment for an upcoming farm to table history book by an Asheville, NC author, Rick McDaniel, to be published by The History Press in April of 2013.

Harvest

Some days are just born bad, and there's not much you can do but muddle through and try to keep sane. Staying occupied with something halfway pleasant tends to help, if you have the option. Today was one of those, and I plugged in my mp3 player with some of my favorite music and went out to attack the garden. Barefoot, still pajama clad, wielding a pair of scissors, I set upon the sage. Thankfully there are no neighbors close by.



After cutting the sage down to size, I took thyme to task as the crisp, peppery smell of the leaves met my nose. The chives were mown down within an inch of their lives. Basil leaves and oregano leaves, just starting to show their pretty little flowers, were snipped off at random and without mercy. I ran my hands through the sticky, piney scent of rosemary and inhaled deeply before chopping off limbs that dared stray past the confines of the container. Mint met its match, or so I will let myself believe. Just for today. I gathered the blueberries and blackberries that the babes and the bugs left for me, as the sun hid and the clouds began to weep.



Some days are just born bad. But not for me; not today. Nope, today has been tasty. :)

Fly Away, Little Wishes

I hope everyone had a great, relaxing, sunshine-filled weekend and that you took time to stop and make a wish on a dandelion! Goodness knows they're currently the most prevalent "flower" in my yard!