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Holistic Management International is presenting the results from its first year program working with Rappahannock County farms at a Town Meeting on May 31st. Cliff Miller (owner) and Mike Peterson (Farm Manager) discuss how HMI’s Future Farms Program has improved the productivity of one of their pastures.

David and Wooz Schumacher raise Devon cattle on their pastures. David tells how the methods for planning, managing and measuring results taught by Holistic Management International has helped he and Wooz run their farm.

Mike Biniak talks about how his participation in the first year of the HMI Future Farms Program Holistic Management Intl has helped him increase the productivity of Belle Meade Farm, Sperryville, VA a multi-species farm.

Erin Pearson raises horses, cattle, and goats on her beautiful farm. After a year she explains how the HMI Future Farms Program Holistic Management Intl. has taught her better ways to manage her pastures and animals, cut costs, and plan for the future.

Found in the text of Ian Fleming’s “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” is James Bond’s only recipe – for an at-table salad dressing. Brian Lichorowic shows how to whip this up and put it on some salad greens and The Home Farm Store’s Turkey Kiev.

This quick spot is online and looping on a TV in the Home Farm Store in Middleburg, VA. The organic seedling boxes come in three sizes for small, medium and large-sized gardens.

Brian Lichorowic and I finished this video in time for St. Patrick’s Day 2012, and I’m a little slow in posting it here. At the end of the shoot, we sampled the corned beef (and it was very good) but the corned veal is amazing – tender, subtle, and delicious. Ayrshire Farm raises veal calves they get from dairy farms (the calves normally go to feedlots) and puts them out on grass. Not your father’s veal, you can get it at the Home Farm Store in Middleburg, Va.

Local Flavor TV met up with Dawn Story, maker of natural ferments in Charlottesville, VA. A passionate advocate of healthful food from local producers, Dawn makes to-die-for krauts and fermented beverages, using only fresh fruits and vegetables, water and salt. She pointed out that many foods we eat every day are fermented – like tea, beer, wine, cheese, olives, bread, and yes, even chocolate! For more about Farmstead Ferments and ferments in general, go to www.farmsteadferments.com

Filmed the Hazzard Homecoming festival held last August in Sperryville, VA – the DVD is released and is on sale at Cooter’s Place. Lots of great people, cars, music, food and Dukes of Hazzard fans! Yeehaw!

I remember the stunning weather that day two summers ago. Old Rag mountain in the background, Jimmy and Robin Rider’s cattle looked like cow centerfolds. Their beef is delicious and tender, I can attest from personal experience. Contact them at www.ridersbackfieldfarmbeef.com.

Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School of Business Dick Brownlee explains why it’s important for businesses to recycle their trash. And, the easiest way to do this in Charlottesville is to make sure your trash hauler takes your waste to van der Linde Recycling in Troy, VA.

At the foot of some of the Blue Ridge’s most spectacular mountains lies Mt. Vernon Farm where owner Cliff Miller and manager Mike Peterson raise grass-fed beef, pork and lamb. The farm practices intensive pasture rotation and the herd of cattle (the “mob”) periodically needs to cross Rt. 231 in the middle of the day. Patient (mostly) motorists wait to let the cows, calves and steers walk from one side of the road to fresh pastures on the other.

Jim Epstein isn’t the only person who’s excited about the future of locally produced food. He and his partner Mark Seale and everyone at Blue Ridge Produce in Elkwood, VA are stoked. “We are an aggregator of local produce, which means we collect produce from local farmers and deliver to distributors that put the produce onto grocery store shelves,” said Jim, Founder and CEO.

That’s gotta be good news both to consumers who want to know where their food comes from (local stores can track back their produce to the source via BRP’s sophisticated tracking system) and local producers will soon have direct access to retail outlets for their products. Not to mention the new farmers and businesses that will grow and contribute to our regional food economy as a result of this exciting new business.

Invited to see what an Animal Welfare Approved dairy farm looks like, Angelique Chao and I met Beth Hauptle from AWA at Hedgebrook Farm in Winchester, VA. Dairy farmers Kitty and Shannon hosted our tour and we tasted the best raw milk ever. Angelique’s questions and a bunch of seriously photogenic dairy cows combined to make an article in the summer edition of The Piedmont Virginian magazine.

One of the farmers for the PEC’s “Meet the Farmer” dinner, Jesse Straight’s Pastured Poultry of Warrenton, VA is gaining a reputation for sustainably-raised chickens that also happen to be delicious.

This video was made for the Piedmont Environmental Council’s “Meet the Farmer” dinner hosted by Luciana and Robert Duvall in The Plains, Va on April 4th, 2011.

Local Flavor TV, while making the Piedmont Environmental Council’s Meet the Farmer dinner video last fall, caught Veritas Vineyards’ Head Chef in the kitchen. Using local apples, Jonathan shows us how it’s done. And it was truly delicious!

Local Flavor TV made the video to show the guests at the Piedmont Environmental Council’s “Meet the Farmer” dinner hosted at Veritas Vineyard, sponsored by Relay Foods and Piedmont Virginian magazine. Thanks to PEC and the farmers! Oh yeah, the dinner was delicious.

Local Flavor TV: cook and food writer Brian Lichorowic demonstrates how to preserve fresh herbs and tomatoes as “Tomato Squares.” Brian is the 4th of six generations of restaurateurs and grew up in a restaurant that seated 1,500 people. He thought it was normal to clean and debone 500 chickens every Wednesday after school. He was the first to leave the family business and took a different road to success as a technology entrepreneur. Read his articles on cooking in Piedmont Virginian magazine.

Joe, Judy and Joey Sparks raise grass fed beef on their Triple J Ranch in Stuart, VA. No hormones, no antibiotic, no grains – call 276-694-6147 or go to www.grassfedbeefs.com. Certified humane by Animal Welfare Approved.