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Real. Virginia is proudly produced by the Virginia, Farm Bureau Federation since. 1926. Farm Bureau has been working to preserve Virginia, farms and our rural heritage visit. Our website at vaf, b.com. Always. Be. Hello. Everyone and welcome to real Virginia a show about Virginia, agriculture, and the people who produce all the wonderful products, we enjoy brought, to you by the Virginia, Farm Bureau want. To get the truth about how your food was raised ask a farmer, we've, had rough weather mark, Viette shows us how to repair damage, in the garden and we visit the very center, of Virginia, to, learn more about the farm economy in Buckingham. County welcome, back everyone we're coming to you from, Mountain. Home County. And this. Is a county, where, agriculture. Is a major, player, in the local, economy and, we're going to have more on that story later, on in the show but first norm, high tells us that, farmers, are very eager to connect with consumers. Today's. Farmer has to deal with more than just bad weather low, prices, and trade tariffs, some, news media and social influence leaders continue to push an agenda against, modern agricultural. Practices, and since, the vast majority of American, consumers are more than three generations off, the farm they have no farming, experience and, are easily swayed however. Farmers themselves continue. To be well respected by the public, so, they have an opportunity to change minds if, they can make a connection with a consumer, I would just encourage you to reach out and have a conversation with, farmers, to understand. Why they. Are having, the practices, that they have it. Is most often in the best interest of your food last, year author and food policy speaker Michelle Payne told members of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation at their annual convention that, social media is where the next generation of consumers, is searching. For information, farmers, naturally, don't. Necessarily, want to be public figures we want to take care of our land and our animals, but, if you're looking to connect with the farmer what I always suggest to people is, an, obvious, place to start is at the farmers market the next most logical, place is to go on and try to find somebody with Virginia, Farm Bureau. There's any number of Facebook, groups. What not social, media is convenient, and reaches many people easily but sometimes, the consumer wants to visit with a real farmer, how do you find a farmer to talk to when less than 2% of our population, actively. Raises food in many, areas you can start at your local school district here in our County we, have a 4-h, program, where we have a livestock, Club an environment. On, Club, and, various. Other different clubs that younger, kids can be involved in until they're 19 we.
Also Have an FFA chapter here in our high school where we touch on livestock. We have a livestock judging team we have a forestry, judging team we. Have a greenhouse where we operate and grow our own plants. Mackenzie. Wills is a high school senior already focused on finding a career in agriculture her friend Erin small is studying to be a middle school agriculture, teacher small, says there are several great opportunities, to meet farmers in Fluvanna County like, their County Fair and the annual old farm Days celebration at Pleasant Grove Park old farm Dre brings, in I think a lot of the farmers. In the community, Fluvanna, has a lot of agritourism, also. And, we got a lot of vineyards and orchards and. We've got a ranch down the road that does a lot of like, weddings and. So I think going, to places like that you can also get in touch with the farming community, our extension, program here in the county is. Really effective, with connecting. The public to farmers they've. Got different workshops, at the community, garden and at the schools we've. Got a great Master Gardeners program, here so even, getting in touch with those people you never know who you'll connect with today's. Consumers, have questions about organic, versus, conventional, farm production how producers, care for the animals, and even, whether chocolate, milk comes from brown cows it, doesn't payne, says more producers, are ready to talk than ever before but both sides have to make the effort to have a conversation we. All realized in agriculture, today that we have to talk because the reality is people don't understand, how their food is being raised and I know for example I happen to think that a Holstein cow is the most beautiful thing on the face of the earth those, black and white cows that give us milk are just gorgeous to me but, I also know that, 99.9%. Of the population doesn't share that theory, but I will gladly talk, with people about what it means to take care of these animals you just got to get up and go, there's. A lot of places where you can get involved, vineyards. And orchards and, the master gardeners have classes. Reaching. Out with extension, farmers, markets, and there's a lot of opportunities, out there if you go and look for them you can connect with the Fluvanna County young farmers on Facebook but to really talk to a farmer about your food take a few minutes to learn where local farmers work or sell their products or join them at a public event in your own community, in Fluvanna. County Virginia, I'm norm, Hyde. Facebook. Is by far the most popular social, media platform, among farmers with YouTube running close second, those, are followed by Twitter Linkedin, Instagram and. Pinterest, depending. On what you're looking for you can watch the crop progress at your favorite, farm or check to see what's in season at the local pick your own operation. Just, search for local farms, on the apps commentators.
Like Farm, babe on YouTube, and Twitter strive, to explain why producers, do what they do on a modern farm the, Virginia, Farm Bureau's, and real, Virginia's, Facebook pages are a great place to start but, there is also the ploughs and politics, blog another, good place to reach farmers. I'm. Mark, Viette coming, up on in the garden I'm gonna talk about winter. Storm. Damage, stay. With us Farm. Bureau is the insurance, provider of choice for, farmers but did you know all Virginians, can benefit in fact most of our members are not farmers members, may take advantage of discounts on, selected, autos trucks mowers, and tractors on, top of the many insurance offers your $40 membership, will easily pay for itself with their many savings, options, as well Farm Bureau is, made, for Virginians, to learn more about the membership advantage. Go to VA f be calm, or visit, your local Farm, Bureau. This, winter has been tough on gardeners, mark, Viette has some tips on repairing, those damages, in the garden. Winter. Storm damage, can occur in. Most places anytime, from. October. Latter part of October all. The, way through, late, spring, depending, on where you live. It. Could be from ice the. Build-up or accumulation, of ice on branches, or it, could be heavy wet snow on. It. Could be deciduous, trees these the trees that lose their leaves or, it could be evergreen, things, like Fox woods or Hollies. Sometimes. The damage can, be worsened. If your. Trees, still. Have leaves, I'm. In. A. Little, grove of, pin oaks that my grandfather. Planted. And, my dad planted, here, and pin. Oaks are known to, retain, the leaves late in the season but. Other trees, can, hold their leaves crape, myrtle, Bradford. Pears, with. The leaves the. Isis, snow can accumulate, and sometimes. Your branches, can weigh. 50. Hundred. 200. Even 300, pounds. I guess. The first thing to always, consider, is, safety, you, do not want to get out in a garden if it's icy, you, do not want, to work underneath. Broken. Branches, which, is quite a few behind me you, really need to hire someone, who can do that a, lot. Of people make mistakes. When. They are thinking. Of pruning. Sometimes. The, leaves, especially. Evergreens. They. Obscure. Or hide. Powerlines. And when, these limbs, broke, right. Above I looked I said oh wow, those, power, lines are. 23. Feet above the ground so. If you're on a ladder and you've got a pole saw you, have to be very careful, so always remember safety. Is number, one, this. Is a viburnum, it held its leaves late. Into. The season, and then, it was laden with ice and as you can see, quite, a few areas, snapped. With. The heavy load, of ice probably, each branch, had maybe. 300, pounds of ice. So.
After. The damage you can prune it throughout the winter this, is a plant that will start. New shoots from the base so. You just come in and you want to get the weight off some of the branches so I'm going to come right in here and. Remove. The weight. Always. Be careful. That's. The key. Wear. Gloves where, I wear, if needed. And. Once. The, weight is removed. Then. The larger, branches. Can. Be removed, and. Needs a really good handy, sauce so. What do you do if you have the damage like this with this gumball, tree well, in this case we're, gonna remove it too much damage, do. Not replace. Trees. With, trees that are fast-growing. Like. A weeping. Willow, even. Bradford, pears are fast growing they're. Subject, to breakage, some. Of your naples they'll, have multiple leaders, at the top and one, day you'll go out and they'll, be split, so, make sure you're playing a good tree but again safety. Is important, and when you're dealing with this kind of damage you do need to start over you, know that's, what gardening, is all about starting. Over with, a new garden, I'm mark, Viette join, me, next time in the garden for, more garden tips go to in the garden radio.com. Chef. Maxwell takes a virginia favorite, country style ham and creates a delicious, recipe up next, in the heart of the home and now, a sneak peek, into, a day in the life of a Virginia dairy cow they. Get their day started. They. Have some lunch. Get. Some exercise. Spend, time with their friends. And then. End their day with dairy. Sweet dreams. Real, life. Delicious. Look. Those guys. Are, you good to try. How. Many did you harm I should, be fine, we should be go and step out of the vehicle for me. See. Ya buddy, good. Luck so. Turns out buzzed driving and drunk driving they're the same thing in a cost around, $10,000. So, not working. Country-style, ham is a Virginia, favorite, in many dishes today. Chef John Maxwell uses, ham in a recipe, for, a breakfast, dish that's, good any time of the day in the heart of the home. Hi, welcome, to heart of the home, we're here at middle, hall in meadow event park in Doswell Virginia where.
Every, Week we get a chance to play with great Virginia, food and, today we get some specials, we got a country. Ham we got sweet potatoes, it's. Just marvelous, we got Virginia. In. A pancake. All. Right so I've got some eggs cracked into here and I'm gonna add. A little bit of flour. So. I'm gonna mix that up. Really. Looking for a kind of bear pancake, consistency. I'm. Gonna add some sweet. Potato into there to. Help pull some of that stuff off the, side. And. This, is one. Of those kinds of recipes where you can be off a little bit on pretty much any part of it and still, have a really excellent product. So. I. Got. These. Now. I'm going to throw in a little bit of country ham. Because. Virginia is famous, for its country hands. And. I'm going to add some. Green. Onion tops I. Think. This might be able to use another egg but we'll see. All. Right so I got some green. Onion tops I'm. Gonna add that extra egg. Yeah. That's about right. That's. About right. What. We're looking for something that I can spoon. Just. Take, a spoonful, out no, that's, that's. There that's ready I'm going to move over to this side. And. I'm going to turn on the. Skillet. I'm. Going to add. Some, of the olive oil and depending. On what you're going to cook sometimes it's best to heat, the pan and then add the oil all the time is it's best to add, the oil and then heat the pan in this one I want, the oil to go down into the like the pores of the metal so I wanted to start it cold and as the pores, expand, it'll pull that oil. Down into it. Now. I've got this all mixed in I can see if it'll take any more of the solids I think I can put a little bit more of the ham in here and. And if I had anything else that I wanted to put in here I could this is pretty flexible, recipe. This isn't one that lends itself well to cheese, I wouldn't, put cheese in it because. Of the saltiness, of the ham, you'd. Probably want to stay away from that, and. Anything else that might be salty, a hand is got. All the salt this recipe, is going to need yeah. So. Okay. We're gonna let them cook for a minute or. So on one side turn them over and cook, them a little bit on the other side all, right. So. I'm going to turn these over now. Okay. Beautiful. Absolutely. Beautiful. Now. I'm gonna get the plate. And. Give these a couple of minutes to get hot all the way through. Since. They're so thin they're. Going to be already cooked pretty much so they've risen up with as far as they're going to rise the, eggs have cooked in the center so now all we're worried about now is making sure that they're. Brown. On the other side. Here. We come. Okay. There we are, country. Ham and, sweet, potato pancakes, that, sounds, like. Breakfast. It. Sounds, like whatever, I'm hungry so join, us next week on heart. Of the home where we get to play with great Virginia, food recipes. From the heart of the home can be found on the Virginia, Farm Bureau website at VAF, b.com, as well, as on chef Maxwell's, website at Chef John Maxwell calm. Salt, cured ham has been around since Roman times here, in the Old Dominion the Jamestown, colonists, combined, European, and Native American, techniques to begin curing ham in the early 1600s. Country. Hams were good trade items during the colonial period because, they didn't spoil by. The beginning of the 20th century most Americans, lived off the farm and country style ham became a holiday, treat to be called a Smithfield, ham it must be cured and processed, inside the city limits of Smithfield Virginia. Today, a one hundred and sixteen, year old Smithfield, ham remains, on display at, the Isle of Wight County Museum. Buckingham. County is the geographical. Center, of Virginia. As Dave, Miller reports, it's also the center of a thriving farm, economy that's serving, its surrounding, urban areas, Buckingham. County is roughly located, in the center of a triangle formed, by Charlottesville. Farmville, in Richmond, formed. In 1761. From, the southeast, part of Albemarle, County this, rural community had. Only one stoplight for years but. That remoteness may be its strength because, it allowed agriculture. To thrive here we. Have quite a bit of equine in the county horses.
For, Pleasure beef. Cattle operations. Probably. Take up most of the actual. Open land. And. We produce, hay for the horses and. Export. Market, to other areas in the state we. Have a very active beef cattle association, in the county that markets, in. To the north as well, as to the West. Poultry. Is a major producer in the county we have quite, a few poultry, operations. We. Have, a greenhouse. Nursery operations. In the county, most. Of the land in the county though is divided is devoted. To forestry. It, is a very, rural County, however we have access, to some, major cities. Charlottesville. Richmond, and. Then Lynchburg, and even farmville we, have access to all those places, for. Markets for what we do here in Buckingham. Is the fourth largest county, in the state we're, 391. Farms covering almost 84,000. Acres hay, and forage are the top farm sector worth 17 million dollars each year poultry. And eggs lead the way for livestock and almost, 16 million, forestry. Is an important, part of the rural economy here, as well with, an annual harvest, value of twelve point eight million hogs. And pigs bring, in almost, 11 million a year cattle. And calves generate, 5.2. Million horse, farms, are growing and there is a small amount of row crops like corn soybeans. And wheat most. Buckingham, County producers, have, a mix of farm operations, my. House is only four. Years old. Of mine. Are probably more up-to-date than a lot like. I have a computer. That pretty, much controls, everything. In the house from. Ventilation. The feeding, to watering a, lot of the older houses lie everything's a lot more manual, flipping, switches and stuff like that and. Tyson's. A lot of people are upgrading their houses we have about 140. Commercial. Brood, cows and. I've. Got a I just, recently bought, some registered. Cattle. So, that's something I was gonna play around with in the near future and then, I sell. Hay. Mixed. Grass round. Bales, we are contract, growers for Smithfield, Foods we. Finish, gilts, so we're on the multiplication. Side of things so our pigs the goal for our pigs, is to, leave here and go to South farms, where though there be bred, although. It is the livestock, intensive, production area a few Buckingham, County producers, are raising vegetables especially, the new Amish families, producers. Here have good, markets closeby for everything, they grow and the industry, is adapting, to growth we. Are still very rule out here and we're thankful for that but town, is coming closer but. We. We have seen a good trend here in Buckingham, with farmers holding on to their farmland young, farmers, get involved, and becoming the next generation, on the farm a big thing I've seen in my lifetime and, in the past 20 years is we've, gone away from tobacco we. Were a major tobacco producing. Area, we. Raised dark fire tobacco that's. That's all but gone is a little bit in the county I, think, towards the southern, end. But. That's that's very miniscule. Compared. To what we had at one time. The. I'd. Say that probably, the. Evolution. Of bringing, horses into the county pleasure, horses, and people raising those that's. Changed, things quite a bit. And, I. Believe. Our quality. Of a beef cattle has improved, drastically, in, the county Buckingham. County, like. I said it is. Has, a lot of pride in their agricultural. Community. We. See, anywhere from from. Large farms, with. You. Know a lot of cropland, to small, hobby farms, I was sustainable, farming. That. People like to come in here and with. A few acres and practice, in. Buckingham. County is very open, to that and does, support, agriculture. In in, this area and. It's a it's a great group of people everybody, likes. To work together. And. Likes to get together and enjoy. Each other's fellowship, Buckingham. County has remained a rural for years but, growth is slowly coming as nearby urban, areas spread the, farmers here are eager to show their new neighbors how they take good care of their land and how hard they work to produce a healthy food supply for, everyone in Buckingham. County I'm Dave, Miller. That's. Gonna do it for this edition, of real Virginia we are so glad you could join us to celebrate the bounty Virginia, has to offer whether, it's in your home your garden or your landscape, we are proud to say that this is real Virginia so, for everyone from the Virginia Farm Bureau thanks, for watching make it a good week. Oh. Between, the movies. Chesapeake. Bay. Oh. My heart.
2019-01-08 04:31
