Free Range Hens
Do you know where your food comes from? This is where we’re getting our produce and our eggs. http://www.rocklandsfarmmd.com/. Thanks, Shawn and Greg.
Tagged With: Rocklands Farm
Free Range Hens
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Chickens, Eggs, Free Range, Free Range Hens, Poultry, Rocklands, Rocklands Farm
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Greg and Anna Joy
Greg and Anna Joy
I know I’m running behind. I’ve been so busy taking pictures that I haven’t had enough time to go through them. Also, picking one picture out of 465 is never easy.
We were privileged to spend the evening with Greg and Anna Joy’s families as they prepared to join in marriage tomorrow. The highlight, I think, was the time of story-telling in the barn. In this picture, Clay is telling a bit about how he and Greg met and became such good friends.
Any guesses what tomorrow’s picture will be of?
Greg and Anna
Greg and Anna
So if it was hard yesterday to pick a single picture from 465, how much harder today. But since the main event was the wedding, here is the happy couple, officially husband and wife.
Although I’m posting this on Tuesday, don’t worry, I have pictures taken Sunday and Monday to share, as soon as I can get to them. It won’t be long.
Bumble Bee on Sunflower
Bumble Bee on Sunflower
We were out at Rocklands Farm to pick up our weekly share of produce and I enjoyed photographing crops. There are sunflowers growing in various places, mostly not yet fully in bloom. These, however, were beautiful. They are only about foot and a half tall but four or five inches across. The bumble bees (and many others) really seem to be happy about them. (Bombus griseocollis)
Categories: Creatures, Flowers and Plants
Tags: Bee, Bombus, Bombus griseocollis, Bumble Bee, Bumblebee, Hemiptera, Rocklands, Rocklands Farm, Sunflower
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Lissie
Lissie
We picked up our weekly share of vegetables at Rocklands Farm this morning and enjoyed a visit with the folks there, including Lissie, Anna’s sister, who posed for me with a small basket of produce.
Rocklands Farm Produce
Rocklands Farm Produce
Purple and orange eggplant, potatoes, a cucumber, various peppers, zucchini and yellow squash, assorted tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, green and purple basil, and a leek — most of my vegetable share from Rocklands Farm this morning. Now, doesn’t that look good?
Categories: Flowers and Plants, Food/Drink
Tags: Produce, Rocklands, Rocklands Farm, Vegetables
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Bridge Washed Out
Bridge Washed Out
The farm where we get our weekly CSA share and where our good friends the Glenns live is on the north side of this one-lane bridge. In fact, their driveway is not far behind me where I took this picture of the washed out road. It went out Thursday afternoon when the level of the water was over the top of the bridge iron-work! Actually, the bridge itself seems to be fine.
Categories: Miscellaneous
Tags: Bridge, Dry Seneca Creek, Montevideo Road, Rocklands Farm, Wash Out
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Rocklands Farm
Rocklands Farm
We had pretty rotten weather—cold and rainy—for the 2nd annual Old Seneca Artisans Festival at Rocklands Farm today but that’s something none of us can control. I enjoyed meeting the few brave souls who did venture out and it’s always nice to be with the farmers. This is the farm’s “class of 2011”.
Pressing Grapes
Pressing Grapes
Well, the grapes arrived after 11:00 PM last night, long after we had gone home. We went back today and helped for a little while. Cathy and Dorothy both jumped in with both feet. I fished out stems and took pictures. We were only there a relatively short while but they were nearly done with all 5,000 pounds when we left.
In this picture, Cathy and Dorothy are crushing grapes while Anna, Greg, and Greg remove stems before carrying the bins to the basement.
Categories: Food/Drink, People
Tags: Agriculture, Grapes, Pressing Grapes, Rocklands Farm, Wine
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Lonicera sempervirens
Lonicera sempervirens
Dorothy went to camp this morning so I gave Jonathan a ride to the farm. He plans to stay there for the week and Dorothy will pick him up on Friday. While I was there I took a few pictures of this trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) growing on a post in front of their garage. This is a native honeysuckle to the southeastern United States. The flowers are not fragrant but are quite pretty, with scarlet to orangish red on the outside and yellowish inside. They are attractive to hummingbirds, butterflies and bees.
Categories: Flowers and Plants
Tags: Blooms, Honeysuckle, Lonicera, Pink, Rocklands Farm
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Nobody Here But Us Chickens
John, Cathy, and Grace (with Chickens)
As I mentioned yesterday, Dorothy is home for spring break and brought four friends with her. Today we drove out to our friends farm in the outskirts of Poolesville. The chicken’s are not really a featured attraction and visitors are not supposed to wander out into the field with the animals. One advantage of being friends with the owners, however, is a little more latitude when it comes to where we are allowed. The kids (and I’m counting Cathy among them) enjoyed catching chickens and putting them back inside the enclosure. Here are John, Cathy, and Grace, each with a chicken.
Rocklands Meat Photo Shoot
Fresh Eggs
Dorothy is working on the web site for Rocklands Lifestock Company, the meat and egg business of Rocklands Farm. One thing she needed was product photos. I took the day off work and met her at the farm and we took a nice assortment of photographs. Food photography isn’t necessarily my thing, but I’m reasonably pleased with how they turned out. We’ll have to do some more, but it was a good start. And I love any chance to be out at the farm. It’s beautiful even in winter and of course, being in the country is almost always better than being in suburbia.
Categories: Miscellaneous
Tags: Eggs, Meat, Photo Shoot, Rocklands, Rocklands Farm
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Glen With A Duckling
Glen With A Duckling
It was duckling rental pick-up day where Dorothy works and we went out to help. Mostly I took pictures but I did help with the actual process for a bit. Cathy did more than I did. But having pictures is nice, of course. This is Luke, nephew of the farmer, and all around cute kid. He and his sister posed for me a few times with ducklings.
The weather was beautiful and we had a great time being out on the farm. It was well organized and went very smoothly, although the place got a little busier when the winery opened. We really enjoyed visiting with folks, especially Glen’s parents and grandparents, and while we were tired by the end of the day, it was a day well spent. Chick rental is coming up, followed by turkey rental. It’s amazing to see how much they grow in a week. Educational and fun. And the kids enjoy it, too!
Categories: Creatures, People
Tags: Duck, Duckling, Duckling Rental, Glen, Happy Kids, Informal Portraits, Kids, Rocklands Farm
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Rocklands Garden and House
Rocklands Garden and House
It was a hot and humid day today. After church, we were home for a while but then decided to drive to Rocklands Winery for the late afternoon. I’ve been asked to take some photos for them, so we wandered around a bit and I took a few of the back of the sandstone house. We enjoyed a beautiful, if somewhat sticky evening before returning home. It’s supposed to cool off in a few days, so we may go back next week. If you’ve never been, I can recommend it. https://www.rocklandsfarmmd.com/
Categories: Miscellaneous
Tags: Garden, House, Rocklands, Rocklands Farm, Stone
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Cathy and Maureen at Rocklands
Cathy and Maureen
Cathy and I spent the evening at Rocklands Winery). I was there to take pictures for them, so we invited our good friend Maureen so that Cathy would have a companion when I went off to take pictures. We had burgers from Boxcar Burgers, a food truck that is often there (and if you think you don’t like pickled beets, you really should try a Boxcar Burger. Really good. We also had a glass each of Rocklands’ new Montevideo vintage, a very nice red wine. I’m not really a great person to recommend a wine to anyone, but this was very nice. It was an absolutely lovely evening, not too hot, and everyone there seemed to be having a really nice time. If you’re looking for something to do, you could do worse.
Categories: People
Tags: Friends, Informal Portraits, Portraits, Rocklands, Rocklands Farm, Rocklands Winery
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Chardonel Grapes
Chardonel Grapes
I spent some time in the Rocklands Farm vineyard this morning, as well as having a meat photo shoot with Dorothy for their livestock business. Harvest is underway and it appears it will be a good one. These are Chardonel Grapes, which are the result of the cross, ‘Seyval’ x ‘Chardonnay’, made in 1953. It is “distinguished by its superior wine quality combined with high productivity and cold hardiness superior to its acclaimed parent” (i.e. ‘Chardonnay’).
I came early in the day hoping to get pictures with the sun as a low angle. Sadly it was cloudy when I got here. Also, if I had come about a half hour earlier I would have been treated to a wonderful sunrise but I was too late for that. After the meat photo shoot the clouds were gone. The sun was much higher in the sky but the light on the grapes was good and I spent another hour or so in the vineyard. If you haven’t been to Rocklands, I recommend it, both for the wine and for the atmosphere. Tell ‘em Henry sent you.
Categories: Miscellaneous
Tags: Chardonel, Chardonel Grapes, Grapes, Rocklands, Rocklands Farm, Vineyard, Wine
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Euptoieta claudia (Variegated Fritillary)
Euptoieta claudia (Variegated Fritillary)
I spent the morning at Rocklands Farm today, taking pictures of some wine-making activities as well as quite a few of Greg’s cattle. I helped him separating the cattle into two groups and then herd one group to the upper end of the pasture. I took quite a few photos of ripe grapes, as well, although the anticipated harvest activities was put off so I didn’t get that. As is common, I also took pictures in Janis’ garden and got this pretty nice photo of a variegated fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) on the zinnias. All in all, it was a lovely morning.
Categories: Creatures
Tags: Butterfly, Euptoieta, Euptoieta claudia, Fritillary, Insecta, Lepidoptera, Rocklands Farm, Rocklands Winery, Variegated Fritillary
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Darius
Darius at Rocklands
David, Darius, and Maggie drove out from New Mexico, covering nearly 1,900 miles in two long days. It was a surprise for Cathy, who didn’t know they were coming until they called yesterday afternoon. Darius said he’d like to come visit us again and Cathy said that would be great. He asked, “How about tonight?” She was thrilled. So, they arrived late last evening.
This afternoon we went out to Rocklands for a while. It’s a bit chilly out but with their many fire pits and circles, it’s really not too bad. Darius was not so cold that he didn’t want a pop-cicle. Darius also enjoyed seeing the chickens and ducks, and one of the cats climbed up into David’s lap and sat there quite happily for a good while. I also took some pictures of Darius jumping between the huge tires they have in a kids play area.
When we got home we ordered carry-out from the Big Greek Cafe. Good times.
Categories: People
Tags: Darius, Family, Fire, Fire Pit, Informal Portraits, Rocklands Farm, Rocklands Winery
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Pigs
Josh, Abba, Dorothy, and Friends
Abba and Josh flew down today to spend a long weekend here. Sadly Cathy had to work late this evening but Dorothy, Josh, Abba, and I drove out to Rocklands. Abba’s been there before but Josh had not. They were closed but since Dorothy is on the payroll (and is almost family) we went to see the animals. Dorothy isn’t crazy about the pigs, at least not when there isn’t a fence between her and them, but I’m a little more bold, as you can see from where I’m taking this photo. We also enjoyed a beautiful Poolesville sunset before heading back home.