D.C. Food Bloggers Take on Montgomery County Farm Tour, GM Style!
By: Michele Lucarelli
July 30, 2012 10:17 am ET
On Saturday, July 30, we gathered with five D.C.-area food bloggers for a day of food, farming and fun as we completed a three-stop tour of Montgomery County, Maryland farms. Each food blogger was loaned a GM vehicle for the week and on Saturday they drove up to Montgomery County to caravan between farm stops.
We had Cecilia Stoute from One Vanilla Bean, Stacey Viera from Every Food Fits, Olga Berman from Mango & Tomato, Ashley Lusk from Metro(poetry)lis, and Sylvie Nguyen from Thrifty DC Cook, join us for the day as we toured Rock Hill Orchard, Button Farm Living History Center, and Butler’s Orchard. With use of the Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet Sonic and GMC Terrain, these food bloggers had a week long experience to remember.
Our first stop brought us to the charming Rock Hill Orchard where we met the bee keeper and got an up close and personal look at the worker bees (all female by the way!). We spent the rest of our time picking blackberries, strawberries and fresh herbs like basil and thyme. We capped off our first farm with ice cream and peaches, yum!
The Button Farm Living History Center was our second stop where we received much more than a garden tour. The farm is set on 60 acres and depicts 19th century slave plantation life. The grounds include a Civil War-era Barn, historic outbuildings, livestock pens, museum gardens and even a slave cemetery. We only had time to tour the farm house, gardens and livestock pens, but with a little commentary from the resident historian, we certainly got our fill of a true farm tour. Anthony Cohen, President and historian with The Menare Foundation, Inc., spent some time with us describing the history of the farm and his amazing experience researching the Underground Railroads and walking old escape routes from Montgomery County to Canada. Definitely worth a second visit!
The third and final stop took us to Butler’s Orchard, where we took a guided tour from the Orchard’s original owner’s grandson. Behind the pull of a tractor, we taste-tested raspberries straight from the field, dug for potatoes (well we didn’t actually dig, but we helped collect!), and strolled among butterflies in the rows of flowers. We rounded out the Montgomery County Farm Tour at Butler’s Orchard with freshly grilled peaches filled with jam; amazing.
We’d like to give a big “thank you” to the food bloggers who joined us and the farms for their hospitality, giving us a wonderful and unique foodie-agriculture experience. No farmer’s market will ever look the same!
Click HERE to see more photos from the farm tour!
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