01 November 2008

visit to Muddy Fingers Farm

One of the great things about being back in the northeast is that we're in closer proximity to some of our good friends. Last weekend we took advantage of that close-ish-ness to visit our friends Liz and Matthew at their farm in Hector, NY. For those of you who don't know Liz and Matthew (or who haven't heard us talking about them a lot), they own and operate an organic farm and CSA. It's not an easy thing, but they're living their dream and doing their share (or probably more than their share) to preserve our earth for future generations.

We went up on Sunday afternoon, and after catching up a little bit, we walked around the farm with their enthusiastic and energetic dog Gemini. Because it's getting to be late in the year, the cold is slowing things down. While it's not as green as it was earlier in the growing season, you can still see that they have a beautiful place.


We spent an enjoyable evening together, eating well (as we always do at their home), playing Settlers of Catan, and listening to records (yes, the vinyl kind).

Monday morning, they kindly let us sleep in while they started in on their work. Then we layered up against the cold and went out to do some harvesting to prepare for the farmers market on Tuesday. Like I mentioned earlier, it's late in the season, so there isn't as much to harvest. We helped dig up some potatoes, and then we helped to clean them and the parsnips and leeks and onions that they had already harvested.

With the harvesting done, we decided that we should go for a hike. We made a stop to see a friend who works at Wagner Vineyards, and then we headed to the Finger Lakes National Forest. It was perfect weather for hiking: chilly but good once you got moving. Here are some snapshots from our hike:

That last one there is going to have to go on my list of most favorite pictures ever.

When I was transferring pictures from my camera last night, I found this picture that Liz must've taken while we were sleeping:

Thanks for having us, Liz and Matthew--we had so much fun, too!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Looks like loads of fun. I agree the picture of the four of you is perfect! Yea for living the dream!

Penny Reid said...

I think the girls look good in this shot but the guys look rather goofy. Is that why you like it so much??

Lori said...

Some of those expressions/gestures on the hike look vaguely familiar! What fun!

Anonymous said...

that picture is great! I think what they're doing is amazing, and I'm so glad you were able to go up and have a good time. (by the way, it's crystal.)