Reason One: THE FOOD Eat better, live better! The food is our main reason for farming. Once you begin to regularly cook meals at home and eat truly fresh produce, it is nearly impossible to settle for less. It does take time, but the return is grand! You’ll feel better physically and mentally, plus you’ll spend more time around a table with the people you love. Everything that we sell is grown by us on Snow’s Bend! We know everything that has happened from seed to your kitchen. It is all grown using organic practices, but more importantly we let our young children graze straight from the field with the full confidence of its clean and pure goodness! Join today and enjoy the benefits of eating well all year! Reason Two: A FARM TO CALL YOUR OWN Forming a strong connection between the people eating the produce grown on Snow’s Bend and the farmers growing it, as well as between eaters and the land the food is grown upon, is one of the most important (and enjoyable) aspects of our job! CSA members are invited to the farm for our annual Harvest Party, for occasional work days, discounted farm tours and tastings, as well as new events planned for this coming year. Last year we hosted multiple CSA events in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, including a Tomato Tasting and a Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest! When you join our CSA, you are joining a strong community of people that give thought to the food they are eating, the people that are doing the work, and the care of the land. Reason Three: GROWN WITH CARE We put a great deal of thought and effort into our growing practices, which include hand weeding, cover cropping, Integrated Pest Management, hoeing, soil science, and crop rotation to name a few. With confidence, we can answer any and all questions about the produce in your CSA box and how it was grown. Snow’s Bend is a little piece of the planet we strive to protect. We are strongly connected to this place, so take seriously our responsibility to leave it better than we found it. Wendell Berry ends his poem Prayers and Sayings of a Mad Farmer with the words “Make the world a better piece of ground.” That is what we strive for everyday! Reason Four: SHARE IN AN AGRICULTURAL HISTORY We are not the first to farm Snow’s Bend and, hopefully, will not be the last. The first people that we know of were associated with Moundville and their time here dates back to sometime around the 1500s. There is a mound located on the farm (see the photo of our son standing on top of it) and many pieces of pottery were found here in the 1930s. Maize was their main crop, but there were others. Currently, more archeological research is being done on Snow’s Bend! This land has seen many iterations of agriculture; from sharecroppers and sugarcane to cattle and row crops. Once, in the 1970s, the entire acreage (almost 200 acres) was planted in turnip and mustard greens. Pictured is the conveyor used to harvest those greens and men packing them down into a container. And then there is us...we are still writing our story. I am on a personal journey to connect the dots and the people that have farmed this land. Follow along with us! Reason Five: PRESERVING THE SMALL FAMILY FARM Before we began our farming endeavor, David’s family land was leased to other farmers. In 2004, we took over the lease and were the first generation to be the ones actually working the land. We have two young children and feel all too well the struggle to balance farm and family, but realize the importance of raising the next generation with a knowledge of food and what it takes to produce it. This is our full-time, and only, job. If we do not succeed, we do not get paid. We could not do it without our incredible staff! They work harder than you can imagine, and they do so with care, for the land and for our customers. It is critical to us that every person working on Snow’s Bend is paid well, takes time off, and has a good life!
Feel good about the food you eat, not just the health benefits and deliciousness of it, but also the people behind it!
1 Comment
1/11/2020 07:54:06 am
Wonderful and powerful words. Your passion and committment to clean farm to table eating is so evident. Count me in! Wishing coninued success in your misdion..for it is nothing less.
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