On Tuesday, November 19th, Daily took a trip out to Ladybird Farm. Here’s a short write up of our trip. 

You can find Ladybird produce stocked on co-op shelves all year round!

LADYBIRD FARM

Sydney and Derek, Farmers & Owners

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Driving out to Ladybird Farm is an easy twist of dirt roads. Pulling in and parking by the towering magnolia tree makes arriving at the farm feel particular, sturdy and steady. 

We’re greeted by a quick barked hello from Ladybird, the namesake of Ladybird Farms, a Bluetick Coonhound with a spark of mischief. She ambles up as the official mascot, joined by her sibling, Gus, while we take stock of the farm.

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It’s a textbook fall day with crisp air and copper leaves. The farm winds around itself, every corner revealing another row of color; green and red climbing up from the ground in true fall spirit. It’s a big operation of seemingly endless produce packed into a small slice of land. 

Cabbage. Kale. Turnips. Chard. Cauliflower. Carrots. Broccoli. Beets. Garlic. Fennel. Lettuce.

And then you turn to see another field of well-spaced rows, leaning out between trees. 

Sydney and Derek, the purveyors of Landbird Farm, are just as charming as you would expect them to be. They’re the type of folks you can imagine building a really fantastic campfire. And the chances of that are good since fire-pits are tucked here and there around the property, telling stories about stories between tractors and greenhouses. 

Our produce team, Jim and Shelley, look like kids in a candy shop as we’re stepping through the rows of greens. We talk about choosing crops according to the land, according to the shapes of shade trees, where summer lettuce can thrive but potatoes will get leggy. Shelley gives the word covet fresh meaning when she catches sight of the deer fence outlining the property. 

Poking our heads through the seeding greenhouse marks a change in temperature, and just as quickly Sydney and Derek are out again jogging around the side after a small cat (“Oh! There she is!” “The one from earlier?” “Yes! I knew I saw one out here!” “OH! A SIAMESE!”).

Then we’re back to it, gathered around drying okra propped at a 45° angle, looking more like a found-item sculpture than a means to an end. 

Moving back out under a giant magnolia, we find the processing station. An old tub on a metal stand, a washing machine that’s been converted into a salad-tosser. The whole farm is filled up with touches of elbow-grease, coming together to lead us through a collected parcel of ingenuity and cohesion - no small feat for a farm that’s only a little over a year in. 

Then there’s more talk between the farmers of the group about drainage, compost, and soil health, jokes about the stools folks use when harvesting strawberries, and questions about metal vs plastic trellises (plastic’s easier to store and easier to work with; metal is more frustrating - “We get angry!” “Mhm! ..Quickly!”)

As we start making our way back toward Sydney and Derek’s home, we start to wonder after Penne, one of many beloved farm cats. And so the search begins: Where in the World is Penne? Pear tree? Magnolia tree? Barn? Then an ah-ha! And here she is. Once again, all is well; all is in its place. Penne scrambles around Sydney’s shoulders and is holstered in Derek’s overalls.

The rest of the cats, Linguine, Pasta Salad, Macaroni, the Siamese from earlier now tentatively named Udon, napping in the distance. 

So we trek back to the co-op, talking about fences and cauliflower. Thinking fondly of our farmers, ready to await Derek’s upcoming delivery of kale.

by Jen Oliver-Provost

Collective Harvest is a collaboration of local family farms that includes Diamond Hill Farm, Front Field Farm, Full Moon Farm, Hickory Hill Farm, Fry Farm, Lazy Willow Farm, Sundance Farm, and Cedar Grove Farm. I get a wide variety of my produce from Collective Harvest and this month that includes greens, lettuce, radishes, turnips, potatoes, and cabbage. These farms use sustainable and organic practices and all are either Certified Naturally Grown or certified USDA Organic

You will find fresh (and delicious) turmeric and ginger that comes from Flyinghorse Farm. They are located in Newborn, GA and use sustainable agriculture practices and grow everything organically at their farm.

The Foster Brady Farm land has been in operation since 1860 and has Certified Naturally Grown produce. You can find their produce on our shelf in the form of bok choy and greens.

If you saw our seasonal wreaths and succulent plants in the store then you know about R&R Secret farm. They are a small family owned farm in the heart of Athens and we also love their flowers during the summer. Flowers and plants aren’t the only thing they do though, check back in other seasons for their produce.

We love having local mushrooms and right now we have shiitake and lion’s mane that comes from Sparta Mushrooms. Follow the link above to find out more about them.

Back in Time is new to our produce department (we already buy chickens from them) and you can find them in the form of kale. We hope to build this relationship and get more from them soon.

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Thanks for checking it out! Check back for other produce blogs and more in-depth looks at these farmers and products.

Written by Bloodroot Collective

Our goal is to cycle nutrients as best as possible on our property. We aren’t perfect but we work very hard to cycle nutrients better through our system. Originally we called our eggs Daily Up-cycled Eggs because we were getting all the chop from the local Co-op called Daily Grocery and we were primarily feeding the birds this chop and allowing them to forage in the woods. Now our flock has grown and we have increased the number of businesses we collect chop from to continue to support the healthy diet for our birds. We also supplement with GMO free/hormone free chicken feed, fermented scratch grains and apple cider vinegar in their water.

We feed the chop to the chickens in what we call the compost run where they devour what they want and leave the rest to compost in a deep bed of wood shavings we get from a local furniture builder. We also keep a black soldier fly larvae bin during the warm months and feed them everything the chickens don’t want, or shouldn’t have too much of, like breads and citrus and onions. These larvae devour EVERYTHING and turn it into small protein packets in the form of themselves: larvae, which we then scoop out and feed to the chickens! It is truly a wriggly delight for the gals.

We put the scratching tendencies of the chickens to good use and they do a lot of the heavy lifting in the compost run. Their natural need to scratch is an effective way to turn the deep bedding and bury the chop they chose not to eat. We do, however, periodically turn the compost run to keep it aerated and move fresh material deeper into the wood chips to further decompose. This process greatly reduces smell, as it better combines the hot litter and fresh leftover chop with the wood chips, and through the process of decomposition, makes really beautiful compost. Our compost is not an exact science presently so we are trialing it on our gardens but maybe in the future we will be able to share it with customers.

We also wild forage chanterelle, oyster, lions main and hen of the woods mushrooms. We plan to add more mushroom cultivation to our business soon. We also make the most of other wild edible flushes as the season allows.

The Chicken Barn was recently completed and now the gals have a larger, safe space to sleep, eat and get out of the rain, as well as a safe outdoor enclosure (the compost run) where they can spread out, eat, scratch and sun themselves. We allow the gals to rotate through runs in the woods and we use their insatiable apatite for green plants, to help keep the muscadine and tree stump sprouts at bay. This fall they will be helping to keep the future veggie garden from growing up in muscadine, black cherry, oak and sweetgum as well as taking care of the brier, dog fennel and other opportunistic weeds that we don’t welcome in the garden proper.

Future goals - stay tuned

1. Rainwater harvesting from the chicken barn to water the veggies and perennials down hill

2. Development of perennial food gardens for market and direct sale to businesses

3. Milking goats...? for continued forest understory maintenance and goat cheese!