So nice to pay a visit to an old friend and welcome a new addition to the personal art collection. Many thanks to Leonard Greco for this visceral still life. Note the Andreas Gursky poster in the background and possible meaning implications of the objects.
Still Life in Brooklyn.
Nice to see so many folks from Barnard, Vermont at Fable Farm CSA again this year.
Beekeepers harvesting honeycomb near Fair Haven, Vermont. 2009
Tristan Winpenny (left) of Pawlet, VT uses a bee smoker to calm a hive of honey bees while he works with the bee keepers of Old Mill Apiaries to harvest honeycomb which will later be extracted into raw honey. These particular hives are destined to be shipped to Georgia in the Fall, then across country to California for the Winter season, before they will make a return voyage by tractor-trailer truck to Vermont in Spring. The bee hives will be rented out to farms in California’s Central Valley where local apiaries (bee colonies) continue to suffer from a dramatic and yet unexplained die-off in bee populations known as Colony Collapse Disorder. The Honey Bee is the official Vermont State Insect and is not only responsible for producing thousands of gallons of honey each year but is also a vital source of pollination to most flowering plants and agricultural crops.
A commissioned portrait of Green Blooded filmmakers Teo Erik Zagar and Christopher Piana recently published in Issue #41 of Vermont Commons. (Click here to read the interview: Page 26).
Community Supported Agriculture Farmers. Barnard, Vermont (VT). 2009.
© Seth Butler for the 50 States Project.
Jon and Christopher Piana pose for portrait in their greenhouse at Fable Farm in Barnard, VT. Fable Farm is a community supported agriculture (CSA) project started in 2008 on the site of the first homestead in the town on land leased from Joe Ladoucer, an organic beef farmer and the owner of the Bowman Road Farm. At a 2008 legislative hearing on the future of agriculture at the Vermont State House, Jon Piana stated “The average farmer in this state is 56 years old. Clearly, we need more young farmers to sustain us now and into the future. This means that some how we must make farming more profitable, and land more affordable and accessible. Young folks should be encouraged to take up the trade and art of farming, not discouraged. During this period of economic meltdown and job loss, there is lots of work to be done on farms. It is critical that we, as a state, begin taking charge in the local production of food, energy, and other raw materials that are used day to day.” Historically, Vermont has been a primarily agrarian economy but with the current economic crisis, many farms are now folding under the added financial pressure of this economic downturn. Community supported agriculture projects may present a very plausible solution for supporting farms and helping to stabilize the diverse local economies of Vermont.
