Peaceful Way to Spend a Sunday

Yesterday, a friend and I brought our kids to two farms on the 4th Annual Eastern Triangle Fall Farm Tour—what a great day we had! We started at Mae Farm in Louisburg, where more than 400 animals (pigs, cows, goats and chickens) are happily roaming about. We met 3 of the Jones’ five kids, who help out with the animals, and we were lucky enough to see a new calf born this past week! Its mama, Rosa, stopped by to see what we were doing near her baby. Mike Jones, who owns the farm with his wife Suzanne, took us on a hayride around the farm to see the animals and shared with us how these animals are raised. The Jones’ whole focus is to provide the best meats possible, and they do that by treating the animals ethically and humanely. He also talked about how the number of farmers across the country is dwindling, and how important it is to reverse this trend. The Jones are much like all the local farmers in Wake and surrounding counties who are farming in humane, sustainable ways to provide healthy, locally grown food.

Then we headed over to Melvin’s Gardens, where hosts Bobby and Linda Melvin live and farm. Their beautiful shady yard, home to plenty of chickens and kittens, was the perfect place to enjoy storyteller Ron Jones’ colorful stories and songs and an ice cream sundae. Melvin’s Gardens, a vendor at the Western Wake Farmers' Market, grows herbs, vegetables and perennials, and is a supplier to some 70 area restaurants Linda took us on a tour of the greenhouses and talked with us about how they capitalize on the sun to heat the greenhouses as much as possible and minimize use of fossil fuels. They used their kerosene heater only 4 nights last winter to protect their entire crop.

It was great to see to see first-hand how the food that reaches our table is so meticulously cared for by farmers using sustainable techniques that are rare in today's world. Now we're looking forward to the spring tour.

Photos and News Story
There are additional photos from these two farms posted at the Western Wake Farmers’ Market Facebook page. Plus WRAL featured a story on the tour as well. Check out the video!