Food for a Year: July 17-August 1

On Cairncest Farm in Plainfield, two brothers, Edmund and Garth Brown, have resolved to eat only what they raise/grow/forage/hunt themselves for an entire year. Edible Finger Lakes is carrying biweekly updates from the Brown brothers as they embark on this food journey.

Food for a Year: July 17-August 1

Eating only things that I grow, hunt, forage and harvest myself for a whole year has thrown into stark relief how odd it is to consume fruit during much of the year, at least in New York State. With a freezer many things are possible and I did eat berries and applesauce during the winter by freezing them for storage.

But fresh fruits–berries to be specific–have only become a part of my diet over the course of the last month or so. Strawberries were a bust this year because a deer hopped the fence and ate all my neighbor’s plants and I didn’t grow any. Wild raspberries have come and gone on my farm. Right now I’m awash in blueberries. I’ve been mildly taken aback by the sheer volume of blueberries I’ve gobbled in the last two weeks. I’d guess in the neighborhood of 25 pounds. The fresh berries I picked are about gone now, but I have 100 more pounds waiting in the freezer. I think I”ll have enough to get through to next year. –Edmund

Brothers Edmund and Garth Brown are owner-operators of Cairncrest Farm in Plainfield, New York. They produce and sell grass-fed beef and pastured pork. They blog about their 2015 homegrown challenge here.

Read the last Food for a Year post here.

Photos by Normandy Alden