Sequatchie Cove Farm
This past weekend April & I drove out to Sequatchie Cove Farm, an organic & sustainable farm tucked away in the incredibly beautiful Sequatchie/Coppinger Cove in Sequatchie Valley (the next valley over on the other side of Signal/Walden Ridge). The farm is run by Bill & Miriam Keener, along with Nathan Arnold, his wife, and a handful of other people.
The farm provides meat & produce for a number of individuals and businesses around town, such as St. Johns Restaurant / The Meeting Place, Green Life Grocery, and Table 2 Bar & Grille. April and I were having dinner that night at St. John's, so it was a unique opportunity to see where our food came from before we ate it.
The picture above was taken of where/how they grow the shittake mushrooms (which we enjoyed later that night at St. Johns). Oak logs are taken from trees on the farm, which are then soaked in spring water (from the farm) for 24 hours. Mushroom spore is then placed on/inside the logs, which are then placed in mini pyramids in a well shaded & cool oak grove. The logs can produce mushrooms for up to three years.
We ended up wandering around for nearly three hours. Bill, Miriam, & Nathan were quick with a story about everything that the farm produces. They love having visitors so by all means plan a trip sometime while the weather is still amazing (just give them a call ahead of time).
Daniel & Sequatchie should do a "A Better Way To Eat" tour/dinner, wherein you go to Sequatchie and see the where/how of the food you later eat in an All-Sequatchie meal that Daniel/St. Johns prepares.
Also, the most beautiful picture of bacon you've ever seen.
Chattanooga News | By Josiah Roe | 10:52 AM
Comments
Its places like this that makes Chattanooga such a nice place to live.
I went to Highschool with Nathan, it's great to hear what he's doing.
Posted by: katiek at July 23, 2007 03:36 PM
While I personally find organic food quite tasty (though the term is entirely meaningless), I object to the use of the term "sustainable", for instead of meaning "methods by which we can feed the whole world indefinitely" it winds up meaning "methods by which we can make very small amounts of food that 75% of the country and 99% of the world can't possibly afford". Case in point: the food grown on this farm goes to two of the nicest restaurants in Chattanooga. Nothing wrong with that, but face it: this is a luxury. I mean, I'll buy the stuff--once I have a real job--but I recognize that this is a luxury. I fail to see what's sustainable about that.
Posted by: ryan at July 24, 2007 02:36 PM
Ryan, the food we purchased was cheaper than the equivalent at our local supermarket. In other words, it's not a luxury in the brute economic sense. It is in the sense that it's available to us, but not elsewhere (do note that I'm not talking about shopping at Greenlife / Whole Foods).
Further, it goes to the nicest restaurants in town because they appreciate the quality. As market demand increases, more restaurants will do the same. Currently it's simply easier (marginally so) to simply place an order with Sisco.
In terms of profitability, I have my concerns also. It's why ventures like Crabtree Farms & Sequatchie Farm are very interesting to me: these projects are how we'll find out whether or not it's economically viable.
Posted by: josiah at July 25, 2007 12:55 AM
Well that's good to hear. Still, small farmers across the country are finding that it's really hard to make money without aiming for the premium market and charging premium prices. Competing with agribusiness is like competing with Wal-Mart--you've got to go high end. I hope they make it.
Posted by: ryan at July 25, 2007 08:55 AM
The word sustainable in the context of SCF has less to do with feeding the whole world indefinitely and more to do with honoring the relationships of the different parts of the farm. Choices are made that help the farm as a whole continue growing and producing.
As for the affordability of the food. That is a long discussion. Judging by the stats on average American debt, what is affordable is very subjective. Factor in government subsidies to factory farms etc and the actual cost of our food gets hazy.
Posted by: bill at July 25, 2007 04:15 PM
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