A day for learning at Airlie

Early yesterday morning, Rowan, Judith, and Emily (our new friend from the Buford City Schoolyard Garden) packed up and headed out to the beautiful Airlie Center in Warrenton, VA for a food conference on "The Roles of Institutions in the Future of Food" - and my goodness did we learn a lot!

This was Airlie's 5th annual local food conference, which is spearheaded by the fearless and wonderful leader of Airlie's Local Food Project, Pablo Elliot. Pablo and his team put together a full day of engaging speakers, break-out sessions, discussions, and mingling. Did I mention the lunch was SPECTACULAR?

We loved hearing the different perspectives of each of the guest speakers, especially the folks from Stone Barns, located just outside New York City, and the crew from UC Santa Cruz. Hearing about the agricultural and educational programs offered in NY and California was incredibly inspiring - and left each of us plotting visits to both locales!It was quite humbling just listening to all of the knowledge about farming that each speaker brought to the table. All I could think about throughout the whole day were all of the ideas and projects that are yet to begin at Morven... moveable chicken coops, an orchard, berries, honey bees, a bamboo shade structure, hoophouses, oh my! Don't get me started.In other news, the garden is absolutely BURSTING with produce these days - okra, eggplant, zucchini, squash, patti pan, tomatoes, peppers, beans, carrots, beets, chard, kale... seeing all the bounty does make me proud of all that we have accomplished in this first year of growing, and excites me for all that is to come.