The Against the Grain Farm family prides itself on a culture that anything is possible. Their members will try anything - at least once. They are not afraid of failure. The farm has made molasses before, which is a very similar process. Start with the juice and reduce it with even heat until it thickens. A test run on the stovetop gave these adventurers all the confidence that they needed. Full steam ahead! Literally!
We are generously supporting the Visual Legacy Project which is designed to empower a younger generation to critically interpret and use responsibly documentary media to explore and understand themselves, their communities, and the issues that matter most in today’s world. This program builds on the well-established work and reputation of the Social Documentary Network (SDN), an organization that brings together a global community of documentary photographers who believe in the power of visual storytelling to…
For nearly 30 years, I have driven by this lone abandoned farmhouse, amazed at its resilience, always still standing and always with its roofline intact. Maybe it was the contrast with the snow, or the sun reflecting from the roof that caught my eye. I was immediately alarmed. Oh my, we are about to lose it. I first became familiar with this structure as it is very prominent (Sam Brown Lane) in the hayfield across…
https://www.filmphotoaward.com/ I believe a successful storytelling photographer needs to be passionately engaged in a time-rich long-term project with a well-defined goal. Film by normal constraints slows time. Time allows the photographer to be responsive to the unexpected and unknown which will inevitably occur. Rapid firing digital shooters do not have that luxury and only a hope that they have captured the moment in a thousand rapidly acquired images. Film shooters on the other hand can…
In my photography practice, I attempt to celebrate what is right with the world. This post is no exception. Against the Grain Farm is USDA certified organic. One of the provisions of certified credentialing is that farming organic inputs cannot contain hormones or contraband chemicals. The process is very much like anti-doping standards established for competing athletes. There is a long list of banned products. One of the best accelerating starters for compost piles is…
Holly Whitesides of Against the Grain Farm loves to teach. She teaches not only for the joy it brings her but also for the outcome. The closer her young and younger apprentices get to the mark, the more predictable the outcome. Case in point. The subject for this morning’s class is “how to plant ginger” and the mark is “how to plant it right.” Rich compost has been appended to the planting zone – Check.…
"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.'" Genesis 8:22 The Lord promised us that that the seasons would never cease to exist; but also, there was never any promise of variance within those seasons. He left it to farmers to manage the in-betweens – the extremes of temperature and moisture. Crop covers help mitigate these changes and add a measure…
Spring! The man pulling radishes pointed my way with a radish. --Kobayashi Issa A lowly regarded but highly cherished root crop of the spring garden shouts out “It’s Spring!” This vegetable is a mainstream product of Against the Grain Farm for a few short weeks in the spring and a few short weeks in the fall. Andy Bryant tells us, “it germinates quickly and we can have a crop in short order. With good weather…
The indoor winter version of the Boone (N.C.) Winter Farmers Market has decided to reopen - outdoors. Boone, N.C. and it's summer Watauga Farmers Market has grown in popularity each year as a destination for locals and others to shop for fresh produce and locally made crafts. To balance the uncomfortableness of cold weather, the market was reinvented as the Boone Winters Farmers Market by moving indoors December through April into the cramped exhibition hall…
I visited our farm family friends Andy Bryant and Holly Whitesides at Against the Grain Farm last week well in advance of our North Carolina governors "Stay at Home" order. On arriving, I noticed immediately a sign that had been scotch-taped to their front storm door. I was not surprised that there would be a sign given our challenging times but this is the first farm of all those that we follow that even had…
