The Agri-Tourist, My Journey Back to Agriculture

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Have you ever heard of the New River Gorge or the Gauley River?  Well, if you’ve ever been into the white water rafting scene, you have heard one of these West Virginia rivers and probably rafted it!  The New River Gorge is amazing in the spring, but there is nothing that compares to the fall dam releases of the Gauley River, entering into class 5 rapids right from the very start of your rafting adventure!  Speaking of a natural high….

So when I saw an agritourism farm and campground that was located on the Gauley River pop up on my instagram I had to reach out!  It brought back so many of my white water rafting adventure memories!

Susan Tawney and her husband James own Tawney Farm, a small-scale wool sheep farm in the Mountain Lakes region of central West Virginia. Their sheep farm property offers a unique alternative to the overcrowded commercial campgrounds. Adjacent to the beautiful Gauley River National Recreation Area and just a short drive to the New River Gorge National Park, their 129 acre farm lies nestled in between two beautiful mountains--one of them named Panther Mountain--in the Gauley River gorge.  You can even learn how to felt wool while staying there! 

In addition to all the river adventures that await visitors, Tawney Farm is also full of civil war history and is the perfect spot for nature lovers, hikers, and bird watchers.  
Let’s take you on an adventure to the white water and majestic gorges of West Virginia.  Enjoy my conversation with Susan Tawney. 

Tawney Farm
Gauley River Wild & Woolly Primitive Campground
New River Gorge National Park
HipCamp

Thank you for taking the time to listen to The Agri-Tourist Podcast, for supporting our inspirational guests, and for sharing my personal journey back to agriculture.  

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Did you know that there are about 1.8 million tea growers around the world? The leading tea-producing countries include Argentina, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Taiwan. The U.S. trails behind the 6 million tons of global tea production,  producing only about 90 to 100 tons a year. And there are about 80 to 90 tea farms spread across 17 states in the U.S., with most of the tea growers located in Hawaii. 

Meet Lori Baker …a farmer and artist. Lori is one of the owners of Heron’s Meadow Farm located in Woodbine Maryland.  Lori and her husband Bob grow tea under the company name BLTeas.  Growing tea in Maryland is not an easy feat mainly due to the cold temperatures.  Knowing the statistics around growing teas in the US and growing teas on the East Coast of the US, Lori and her husband knew what they were up against,  but they took on the challenge anyway.  

The couple had been contemplating an agricultural venture. Lori, an electrical engineer for 30 years, had sold her company and knew one thing for certain: She wanted to focus on farming for the next chapter of her life. She has always loved growing things, and loved watching nature do its miraculous thing. SheI feels at peace when she’s digging in the dirt or planting seeds and just feels a connection with nature. 

During the winter months Lori focuses on her art…specifically her pottery…her teapots and mugs are the perfect compliment to her home grown teas. Lori’s story is not an easy one.  As you will learn, Lori has survived 2 kidney transplants and now has a renewed energy and focus for her farm. An amazing story and a truly amazing woman - enjoy my conversation with Lori  Baker. 

BLTeas Store
MudPi Studios (Lori's Pottery Business)
Heron's Meadow Farm Facebook
Email Lori to Join their Newsletter @ [email protected]

Thank you for taking the time to listen to The Agri-Tourist Podcast, for supporting our inspirational guests, and for sharing my personal journey back to agriculture.  

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I’ve taken leaps of faith in the past, but nothing like Giany Guedjo, the Executive Director at Carolina Human Reinvestment.  Giany was an accountant at an orphanage in Benin, West Africa.  But Giany wanted more for himself and his expanding family.  He entered an immigration lottery to come to the US….and he was selected.  And that’s when the leap of faith really began…showing up in New York, not proficient in English, with no real home and job to go to, a one and a half year old child, and a pregnant wife. And now, many years later, a 2nd Master degree later, Giany is heading up a non profit organization in Georgetown County, South Carolina that is having a significant impact on the children of incarcerated parents through various programs, mainly centered around growing food.  

And the impact is not only on these families, but the food his organization grows is having a significant impact on the greater community who is struggling to put nutritious food on their tables.  Yes, it was a leap of faith that Giany took and continued to take over the years….and still continues to take to this day.  He also said that his journey also required some real patience along the way. 

The main focus of my discussion with Giany is around his journey and the mission and evolution of Carolina Human Reinvestment. You will also see that in order to sustain and grow all the good that Carolina Human Reinvestment is doing, Giany is now using a bit of agritourism through a successful farm to table dinner fundraiser.  And I think that if he carefully expands those farm to table, agritourism opportunities and shows off all the amazing and highly effective farming and hydroponic systems that they created, he has a unique opportunity to help sustain and grow his impactful programs.

Thank you to Giany, Kathy and his whole team of workers and volunteers….you are doing such impactful and meaningful work for your community and to make this world a better and healthier place.  Enjoy my conversation with Giany Guedjo!

Carolina Human Reinvestment (CHRSC)
Watch Video Tour of CHRSC Greenhouse & Hydroponic Setup

Thank you for taking the time to listen to The Agri-Tourist Podcast, for supporting our inspirational guests, and for sharing my personal journey back to agriculture.  

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They believe that great craft chocolate is “true to the bean,” – that the flavors apparent in the bar reflect the flavors hidden in the cacao bean. Like coffee beans and wine grapes, different cacao beans have different flavors. Discovering those flavors is one of the joys Tom & Monica feel when making (and eating) single-origin craft chocolate!

Tom and Monica are the owners of Goodnow Farms Chocolate. They enjoyed working together and wanted to have a shared vision and adventure while raising their two children.  And that shared vision and adventure was through connecting people to where their chocolate comes from.  Goodnow Farms chocolate is made in their 225-year old farm factory in Sudbury, MA. They offer scheduled factory tours in the spring and fall - you can check out their website to sign up.  Originally, they started making chocolate in their Los Angeles apartment out of a desire to eat more high quality chocolate. They couldn’t find reliable, local chocolate sources so they figured they would make it themselves. It took them a few years to perfect their chocolate recipes… but when they did,  they decided to move to MA to build their chocolate factory. 

Tom and Monica’s bars have a unique appeal for many reasons but one being that they produce their own cocoa butter, something that many bean to bar chocolate makers do not do. I’ve had the opportunity to savor several GoodNow Farms single origin chocolate bars. Tom will reveal his and Monica’s favorites as well! I will tempt you with two of their intriguing bar names….Passion Fruit & Cream & Caramelized Onion….mmmmmm!

Enjoy my chat with Tom and Monica from Goodnow Farms Chocolate.

Goodnow Farms Chocolate
Goodnow Farms Chocolate Gifts
Goodnow Farms Hot Cocoa

Thank you for taking the time to listen to The Agri-Tourist Podcast, for supporting our inspirational guests, and for sharing my personal journey back to agriculture.  

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As I speak to farmers from around the US and beyond, I am always interested in where they are garnering support from.  Farmers enter into farming from all different backgrounds. Some need help securing land, some need financial support, some need marketing and accounting support, and some need help with farming skills.  And we would assume that those support systems would be available.  Well that is not always the case.  However, in some areas, that is definitely the case and the level of support for farmers and the agricultural industry is very present, active and constantly innovating ways to support and help the farming community.

Berkshire Agricultural Ventures is one of those non profit companies that is doing just that. They are on a mission to support the development and viability of local farms and food businesses in order to build a thriving and equitable local food economy in the Berkshire-Taconic region in MA, CT, and NY. And they do this by providing flexible and innovative financial and technical resources to farmers and local food businesses. In this podcast episode you will meet the Executive Director of Berkshire Ag Ventures, Rebecca Busansky and Ben Crockett, Program Manager for their Climate Smart Ag Program. 

Rebecca’s past work focused on helping local farms thrive and increasing food access. Before leading Berkshire Ag Ventures, Rebecca led efforts to build an innovative community investment vehicle that provided financing and technical assistance to farm and local food entrepreneurs in Western MA. She also managed the Mass Food Trust Program since its inception in 2018 which provides financing to increase the availability of affordable healthy food in underserved communities across the Commonwealth. Rebecca works hard to understand the needs of today’s farmers and leads her non profit to deliver products and services to meet and exceed those needs.

Ben Crockett works diligently with local farmers to help them understand and manage their soil, which is the most important ingredient in farming.  He is also focused on helping them manage and plan for changing climate demands which is top of mind for many farmers today. 

Berkshire Ag Ventures should be a model employed by every US county.  First we need to understand, recognize and appreciate the importance of farmers to our local and regional food systems…and then we need to figure out how to best support their success.  It’s in all of our best interests to do that.

My conversation with Rebecca and Ben took place a few weeks prior to the inauguration. Just a note that some of the programs that we discussed may be impacted by the government changes that are taking place. 

Berkshire Agriculture Ventures
Land for Good
American Farmland Trust

Thank you for taking the time to listen to The Agri-Tourist Podcast, for supporting our inspirational guests, and for sharing my personal journey back to agriculture.  

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Ever wonder how to creatively bridge art and agriculture together…Donna Neuwirth and Jay Salinas have mastered this creative bridge.. And they not only have mastered integrating art and agriculture, they have also set the stage for lifelong connections to form, way beyond their company’s many inspiring projects.

After many years working in art and theater in Chicago, Donna Neuwirth and Jay Salinas moved to a farm in the Driftless Region of southwest Wisconsin and learned to grow vegetables.  Don’t worry, I asked about what the Driftless Region is and Jay did a great job of describing it to me!  Stay tuned for that.

Seduced by life in the soil (I loved this phrase written by Donna & Jay and couldn’t wait to repeat it!!)  and struck by parallels between farming and art making, Jay and Donna formed Wormfarm Institute and created an Artist Residency Program in the year 2000. They slowly transformed a dairy barn into a studio space and initiated a CSA farm-share program. Each year, resident artists of all disciplines are carefully selected to come to the farm from across the country to grow food, eat well, and make art. Out of these seasonal infusions of creative energy, grounded in the most fundamental activity—farming—Wormfarm’s public-facing programs such as the biennial Farm/Art DTour emerged.  DTour is spelled DTour. It started out as a real Detour from another art tour. A little story that Jay explains in our interview! This Farm/Art DTour is probably not what you are thinking it is.  It is actual art (pretty big art) built onto farmland that can be viewed via a vehicle tour.  Jay also tells us about their Fermentation Festival and how that helped set the stage for the Art DTour.

I interviewed Jay while he and Donna were on hiatus from the Wisconsin Farm, spending time in their second home, Mexico City.  Jay describes the energy he feels at the Wisconsin Farm and the energy he derives from being in Mexico City. He hopes to create more connections from his Wisconsin home to his home away from home in Mexico City. 

Enjoy my conversation with Jay Salinas from Wormfarm Institute. 

Wormfarm Institute
Farm/Art DTour
Art Residency Program
Smithsonian Museum on Main Street

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When I was a kid I did not like history class, or as we called it, social studies.  For me, it felt like the classes were about memorizing textbook material and dates.  I was not lucky enough to have teachers that made it more exciting to learn about history and its importance, relevance, and connection to the now.  However, as an adult, I have a whole new appreciation for history, learning about history and even teaching history.  I am on the Board of my local historical society, have developed classes for our 1850 one room schoolhouse and actually teach some of those classes.  I love watching kids experience history vs. just reading about it and memorizing facts. 

Well what is better than tourism coupled with learning about history.  To me, it creates an amazing experience for any age!  And that is what Susan Meredith from Blackwater Adventures has created in Dorchester County, Maryland.

In 2002, husband and wife team, Jay and Susan Meredith, decided to start Blackwater Paddle and Pedal Adventures. The Hyatt Chesapeake Bay Resort had just been built and Blackwater Refuge was becoming a frequent destination for people searching for a weekend nature fix.

And, as you will learn, the properties that Susan and Jay own, hold some significant history around the Underground Railroad. One of the sites is where abolitionist Harriet Tubman was hit in the head with a counter weight as a young girl which altered the course of her life.

Jay and Susan used entrepreneurial vision and strong work ethic to help develop Blackwater Adventures into a successful tourism enterprise.  And, although they are focused on delivering extraordinary  kayaking, biking, fishing and other outdoor adventures, their adventures are coupled with a passion for teaching the stories about the past…and this certainly differentiates their outdoor adventures, and helps them stand out from the rest.

Enjoy my conversation with adventurer and history story teller Susan Meredith.

Blackwater Adventures
Freedom Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
Delmarva
Anna Ella Carroll

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The farmer - Jamie.  And the chef- Madison.  A few years ago, they were both in Rome, Italy, independently pursuing a Masters of Arts in Food Studies and Policies for Sustainable Production and Consumption. During their time in Italy and while hiking through olive trees in Tuscany, they became friends and contrived this farm plan that involved creating a space to grow food, partnering with those they admired, and sharing good vibes and education. A few years later, actually sooner than they had originally planned for, Jamie was given an opportunity to farm some family land in MA.  And their concept was suddenly manifesting…Dancing Greens Farm was born. 

You are going to love Jamie and Madison and their serendipitous stories.  Even the business name Dancing Greens has a fun story. I absolutely love what they are creating in the Berkshires….a true sustainable, no till, women-owned farm that grows veggies, herbs and flowers.  AND also hosts authentic farm to table dinners and immersive educational experiences.  And what’s so great is that Jamie and Madison have just begun their journey and I am really excited to see how their journey unfolds this coming year and beyond.

Enjoy my exciting conversation with Jamie and Madison. By the end you just might want to get your hands in the soil and you will definitely be savoring some of Madison’s farm to table creations. 

Dancing Greens Farm
M.A. Food Studies: Policies for sustainable production and consumption
Berkshire Grown
Berkshire Grown Podcast Interview

Thank you for taking the time to listen to The Agri-Tourist Podcast, for supporting our inspirational guests, and for sharing my personal journey back to agriculture.  

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I had the pleasure of speaking with a mother daughter team…well actually, in real life,  they are a mother daughter father team, but dad likes to stay behind the scenes.  Thea Hall is the Owner, Vintner, and Farm Caretaker of Broken Spoke, a boutique winery and vineyard on Maryland’s Eastern Shore with a unique focus on animals and communication or conversation styles- you will understand more about what that means when you listen to the podcast!  Maggie Hall, Thea’s daughter, is the social media, events, and wine club management guru for Broken Spoke. 

Thea describes Broken Spoke as three separate businesses - the first business is growing the wine, the second is making the wine and the third is marketing the wine.  And she is very right about these three being very distinct businesses that require very different skill sets, experience, and know how.

When I asked about the relationships with a mother, daughter…and father team running a business…I loved how Thea and Maggie responded.  Thea describes her husband as the doer who gets the cart rolling and Maggie describes her mom as the person who steers and puts all the road signs up to tell her father where to go. And Maggie - well she  fixes all the flats!!!  I think that is a pretty impressive and collaborative team who have each found their strengths and figured out how to most effectively manage all three businesses that make up Broken Spoke Vineyard and Winery.

Enjoy my conversation with Thea and Maggie Hall.

Broken Spoke Winery
Current Wine Selections - Check out the Labels 

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Today we are speaking with Margaret Moulton, Executive Director at Berkshire Grown.  Berkshire Grown, based in Great Barrington, MA,  works toward an equitable and resilient local food system by supporting and promoting farmers, connecting people to local food, and building community partnerships around local food security.  

Margaret and I explore the impact of Berkshire Grown on the community and how the organization, its members, and its partners demonstrated, especially during COVID, the need of relying on regional food sources and that you actually can rely on those regional food sources.  Many foods can be sourced locally and being conscious of what is growing during the current season is very important in order to support local farmers and the local economy.

Margaret’s grant writing background has significantly contributed to her success in her Executive Director role at Berkshire Grown. She mines for Federal, state, regional, and local grant opportunities in order for Berkshire Grown to properly and effectively serve the needs of the local community.  Projects like their mobile farmers markets which reach into underserved communities, is a growing model of how Berkshire Grown is meeting the needs of its farmers and the community surrounding these farmers. 

Enjoy my conversation with Margaret Moulton and we hope you get inspired to shop your local farmers market or farmstand on a weekly basis.

Berkshire Grown
USDA Grants & Loans
Winter Farmers Markets
Local Food Access
Food & Farm Map

Thank you for taking the time to listen to The Agri-Tourist Podcast, for supporting our inspirational guests, and for sharing my personal journey back to agriculture.  

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