ever growing family farm

Somehow October came and went and I didn't post a thing.  It's been busy around here!  Here are some pictures from the Ever Growing Family Farm that I shot in August for Edible Hudson Valley Magazine.  Ever Growing is run by Dawn Hoyte and her husband Nfamara Badjie.  They grow most of the same veggies you see at small organic farms around here, but the thing that sets them apart is that they are also making a go at growing rice.  As are most people, I was shocked when they told me about their adventures in rice, but after speaking with Nfamara more, it made sense.  I happened to have been in the middle of reading Alex Haley's Roots and his depiction of life in Gambia, before Kunte Kinte is made a slave, talks a lot about growing rice.  When I asked Nfamara about this (he is from Gambia as well) he lit up, saying, "the water in the Bolongo River in Gambia is very sweet!  It's perfect for growing rice!"  Whether the water in the Hudson Valley matches the sweetness of the Bolongo River in West Africa is not for me to judge but there were lots of signs of success here.  See the evidence below.