Good eats

I was ecstatic when I looked on the Eat Wild directory and found River Run Farm just 15 minutes from us in Vance.  I contacted the farmer and set up an appointment for this afternoon.  This knowledgeable soon-to-be retired dentist owns a home that abuts Lake Marion (the bass were jumping out of the water to get the mayflies) and 400 acres on which cows graze on a variety of native grasses, in addition to grass hay and mineral salt. 

When I saw these gorgeous, shiny, meaty Angus cows, I fell in love.  God has created a perfect system - cows convert solar energy (grass, etc) into milk and meat for human consumption.  Not only do the cows not receive hormones or antibiotics, but the land is also free from chemicals...good soil produces good grass which subsequently yields good meat.  These animals don't even get fly repellent ointment; if they did, then the decomposers (dung beetles, etc) wouldn't survive to complete the cycle.  Capitalist motivations have caused us to intervene in this system and God only knows what the ultimate ramifications of this will be.  There's absolutely no reason that cows should be subjected to a feed lot when they could be out to pasture.

As we left the farm, I longed for 1-5 acres on which we could do some subsistence farming and keep a dairy cow so that we truly can connect with the land.  Our next stop was the Vance Farmer's Market; at the clamoring of the kids I bought tomatoes, and then swung by a roadside orchard for some peaches for a pie.

I got started peeling and slicing peaches; squeezed a lemon over the slices and mixed up the flavoring - flour, sugar (brown and white), apple pie spice (didn't want to buy separate nutmeg and cinnamon); tossed that with the peaches then covered that with another crust.  Then I got to work on the tomato casserole (this time I cooked it in a square glass dish instead of a pie crust).  The boys were swimming so I had my daughter peel and devein the shrimp while I started the grits.  We had a wonderful dinner followed by an excellent dessert.

I'm sure gonna miss South Carolina.