VASADP http://www.vasadp.org Virginia Sustainable Agriculture Documentary Project Mon, 02 Jan 2012 02:00:04 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 Exhibition opening at First Fridays http://www.vasadp.org/exhibition-opening/ http://www.vasadp.org/exhibition-opening/#comments Thu, 19 May 2011 10:41:26 +0000 admin http://www.vasadp.org/?p=451 I’m happy to announce that “Groundwork,” an exhibition of photographs from VASADP, will open on Friday, June 3, as part of Richmond’s First Fridays Art Walk. The gallery is at Corporate & Museum Frame, 301 W. Broad Street.

Come see a selection of photographs from farms I’ve documented through this project, learn about their sustainable techniques, and read about what motivates these farmers.

The opening reception runs from 7-10 p.m.

The show will be on display throughout June, but you’ll need to make an appointment with the gallery to see it.

]]> http://www.vasadp.org/exhibition-opening/feed/ 0 BOOM BOOM Burgers 03.04.11 http://www.vasadp.org/boom-boom-burgers-03-04-11/ http://www.vasadp.org/boom-boom-burgers-03-04-11/#comments Tue, 08 Mar 2011 17:10:15 +0000 admin http://www.vasadp.org/?p=444 BOOM BOOM Burgers is a new restaurant in Shockoe Bottom (in Richmond) serving locally sourced burgers. There is a list on the ordering counter sharing where all the burger ingredients come from; the beef comes from Polyface, cheese from Mountain View, mushrooms from Dave and Dee’s(also see VASADP posts here and here), sweet potatoes from [...]]]> BOOM BOOM Burgers is a new restaurant in Shockoe Bottom (in Richmond) serving locally sourced burgers. There is a list on the ordering counter sharing where all the burger ingredients come from; the beef comes from Polyface, cheese from Mountain View, mushrooms from Dave and Dee’s(also see VASADP posts here and here), sweet potatoes from Kirby Farms, and buns from Flour Garden.

]]> http://www.vasadp.org/boom-boom-burgers-03-04-11/feed/ 0 VASADP Multimedia http://www.vasadp.org/vasadp-multimedia/ http://www.vasadp.org/vasadp-multimedia/#comments Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:50:12 +0000 admin http://www.vasadp.org/?p=439

VASADP-multimedia-teaser from Gordon Stillman on Vimeo.

This multimedia teaser provides a sneak peek at more photographs from the project and introduces you to some of the growers I photographed for VASADP:

Lisa Taranto, executive director of Tricycle Gardens, an urban-agriculture nonprofit in Richmond
Dave of Dave and Dee’s Homegrown Mushrooms in southeast Virginia
Adam Bresa of Fertile Crescent Farm in Green Bay, Virginia

Look out for more multimedia pieces after the book is published.

]]> http://www.vasadp.org/vasadp-multimedia/feed/ 0 Help publish VASADP photographs in a book! http://www.vasadp.org/help-publish-vasadp-photographs-in-a-book/ http://www.vasadp.org/help-publish-vasadp-photographs-in-a-book/#comments Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:38:25 +0000 admin http://www.vasadp.org/?p=416 I just began a fundraising campaign over at Kickstarter to help fund the publishing of the photographs and stories of VASADP. Each monetary pledge reserves a reward, and some pledge levels reserve you a copy of the book, head over the VASADP page on Kickstarter to learn more and make a pledge! And please help spread the word.

Below is a video also found on youtube and the kickstarter page about the fundraising effort and VASADP.

You can also check out a gallery of 70 VASADP images at my archive.

Video update from Oct. 27:

Why sustainable agriculture from Gordon Stillman on Vimeo.

]]> http://www.vasadp.org/help-publish-vasadp-photographs-in-a-book/feed/ 0 University of Richmond community garden 06.23.10 http://www.vasadp.org/university-of-richmond-community-garden/ http://www.vasadp.org/university-of-richmond-community-garden/#comments Mon, 28 Jun 2010 23:38:13 +0000 admin http://www.vasadp.org/?p=389 The University of Richmond is in its second year of offering community garden plots to faculty and staff. This year students are allowed to share a plot with other gardeners. There are approximately twenty 10×15 plots in different states, from many well-manicured vegetable plots to a few with weeds and forgotten plants. The garden allows [...]]]> The University of Richmond is in its second year of offering community garden plots to faculty and staff. This year students are allowed to share a plot with other gardeners. There are approximately twenty 10×15 plots in different states, from many well-manicured vegetable plots to a few with weeds and forgotten plants.

The garden allows space for new gardeners and old hands and also holds an informal competition for most unique vegetable, most aesthetically pleasing plot, best overall organic plot and more. Below is a view of the garden with the campus’ smokestack and Boatwright Tower barely visible.

ur-garden-all

I followed two UR staff members as they tended to their plot–one of them has appeared before on vasadp, here and here, and the other is my girlfriend.

Here Kim is weeding the plot in 100 degree heat after work.
ur-garden-weeding
Neah spreading compost on the plot. UR provides water and compost for the plots.
ur-garden-composting
Kim spreading straw to keep the weeds out!
ur-garden-straw
After they finished weeding, fertilizing and mulching, Kim watered all the plants (and the camera).
ur-garden-watering
The bounty!
ur-garden-cuke
Pretty labels from another plot:
ur-garden-labeling

Find out more on the UR sustainability web page.

]]> http://www.vasadp.org/university-of-richmond-community-garden/feed/ 0 Farm to Family 09.25.09 http://www.vasadp.org/farm-to-family-09-25-09/ http://www.vasadp.org/farm-to-family-09-25-09/#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:50:31 +0000 admin http://www.vasadp.org/?p=377 Farm to Family, operated by Mark Lilly, is a bus that stops all over Richmond so that you can pick up fresh produce from local farmers any day of the week. The goal of Farm to Family is to provide local, sustainable and affordable produce to the Richmond metro area and to provide small farms [...]]]> Farm to Family, operated by Mark Lilly, is a bus that stops all over Richmond so that you can pick up fresh produce from local farmers any day of the week. The goal of Farm to Family is to provide local, sustainable and affordable produce to the Richmond metro area and to provide small farms with a means of distribution year round. Mark also hopes that it will foster a community of healthy eaters and growers and lead towards a more sustainable food system.

Farm to Family is currently running a meat, dairy and grain CSA through the winter along with its regular lineup of Virginia grown and produced food. Farm to Family has sourced meat from Polyface, dairy (butter, yogurt, cheese and milk) from Mountain View and grain from Judy’s Bread and more.

It is interesting to note that Good Magazine recently held a competition to “redesign your farmers’ market” for L.A. county and the winning entry was titled Farm on Wheels. The concept involved “mobile markets” like Farm to Family to distribute local food throughout the city. Read about the competition here. It is good to know that Mark, and consequently, Richmond is ahead of the curve and already has some parts of a more local and mobile food delivery system in place (at least as far as Good Magazine is concerned). New York City has also begun to introduce mobile food stands.

The bus in Carytown in front of Mezzanine, now it can be found near Ellwood Thompson’s on Thursday and any other day it is in Carytown:
bus-carytown

It was fun to look and buy produce and see cars whiz by outside the window:
inside-bus-01
Completing a purchase:
purchasing
and potatoes:
potatoes

To learn more, visit Farm to Family’s website.

]]> http://www.vasadp.org/farm-to-family-09-25-09/feed/ 0 Sub Rosa Bread @ Byrd House Market 09.15.09 http://www.vasadp.org/sub-rosa-bread-byrd-house-market-09-15-09/ http://www.vasadp.org/sub-rosa-bread-byrd-house-market-09-15-09/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:23:38 +0000 admin http://www.vasadp.org/?p=369 Sub Rosa is a community supported bakery, meaning that customers pay a subscription fee and then receive a loaf (or two) of bread each week during the subscription period–currently this period is a month long. Sub Rosa is operated by Evrim and Rick; they both bake at a wood fired oven in Northern Virginia and [...]]]> Sub Rosa is a community supported bakery, meaning that customers pay a subscription fee and then receive a loaf (or two) of bread each week during the subscription period–currently this period is a month long. Sub Rosa is operated by Evrim and Rick; they both bake at a wood fired oven in Northern Virginia and Evrim delivers bread to Richmond, while Rick delivers bread to Charlottesville (other delivery spots include D.C. and Centreville, VA).

One of Sub Rosa’s loafs is made with wheat sourced from Virginia (a rarity) because Rick and Evrim believe in supporting local farms, and more importantly believe that we should be able to source the staples of our diet from our local environment. Below is the bread:thebread
The bread tasting station, with extra virgin olive oil and Evrim sorting out the bread and bags in the background:
subrosa2
And lastly, Evrim points out the differences between the two loaves of bread:
bread-difference The slice on the right is the Virginia stone ground wheat loaf, on the left is their “flagship” loaf which is in the pain au levain style.

Visit Sub Rosa’s blog for more information (and photographs).

]]> http://www.vasadp.org/sub-rosa-bread-byrd-house-market-09-15-09/feed/ 0 Dayspring Farm 09.15.09 http://www.vasadp.org/dayspring-farm-09-15-09/ http://www.vasadp.org/dayspring-farm-09-15-09/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:57:29 +0000 admin http://www.vasadp.org/?p=361 On the 15th of September I visited Dayspring Farm on a very busy. Extension agents and other farmers were visiting to learn more about sustainable farming and share their knowledge. Below, Charlie explains techniques for successful crop cultivation and cover crops: Dayspring Farm had just planted many of its fall crops, including varieties of Kale [...]]]> On the 15th of September I visited Dayspring Farm on a very busy. Extension agents and other farmers were visiting to learn more about sustainable farming and share their knowledge. Below, Charlie explains techniques for successful crop cultivation and cover crops:
extensiontraining
Dayspring Farm had just planted many of its fall crops, including varieties of Kale and other greens:
fall-field-01
Other fields seemed to be overflowing with produce:
eggplants
herbs-truck

Visit Dayspring Farm or learn more about agriculture extensions through VSUand VA-Tech.

]]> http://www.vasadp.org/dayspring-farm-09-15-09/feed/ 0 New Garden at Chimborazo Park, finished 09.15.09 http://www.vasadp.org/new-garden-at-chimborazo-park-finished-09-15-09/ http://www.vasadp.org/new-garden-at-chimborazo-park-finished-09-15-09/#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:32:46 +0000 admin http://www.vasadp.org/?p=353 In the beginning of September, Chimborazo Playground Park saw a bustle of activity, with up to 300 volunteers helping to build garden plots and a new playground. The garden plots are organized by Tricycle Gardens, and there are currently 18 plots. The first work day was 09.03.09, and involved preliminary work to prepare the materials [...]]]> In the beginning of September, Chimborazo Playground Park saw a bustle of activity, with up to 300 volunteers helping to build garden plots and a new playground. The garden plots are organized by Tricycle Gardens, and there are currently 18 plots. The first work day was 09.03.09, and involved preliminary work to prepare the materials for the big work day on the 15th. The workers (mostly from Home Depot) prepared the railroad ties below by cutting off all of the metal rebar and cutting them to appropriate lengths:
rr-ties-day1
cutting-day1

On the second work day, 300 plus people showed up and completed the garden and playground. Below, workers fill the raised beds with a combination of soil and organic matter:
aisle-day2
dumping-day2
bucketthrow-day2
While it was hard work, most people there fully enjoyed themselves and had at least a little fun (notice the shark hat on one of the workers).

For more information, please visit Tricycle Gardens and Friends of Chimborazo Playground.

]]> http://www.vasadp.org/new-garden-at-chimborazo-park-finished-09-15-09/feed/ 0 Byrd House Market 09.08.09 http://www.vasadp.org/byrd-house-market-09-08-09/ http://www.vasadp.org/byrd-house-market-09-08-09/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:30:25 +0000 admin http://www.vasadp.org/?p=349 The Byrd House Market is one of two farmers markets happening in Richmond on Tuesdays. The Byrd House Market, is quite expectedly, located at the Byrd community center in Oregon Hill and runs throughout the year. On this day, I visited Fertile Crescent’s Booth and captured some CSA members picking up their veggie shares. Below [...]]]> The Byrd House Market is one of two farmers markets happening in Richmond on Tuesdays. The Byrd House Market, is quite expectedly, located at the Byrd community center in Oregon Hill and runs throughout the year. On this day, I visited Fertile Crescent’s Booth and captured some CSA members picking up their veggie shares.
Below is an image looking out from Fertile Crescent’s stand, the market was relatively quiet as it was threatening to rain:
BHM-01
And below is one of the CSA members picking up her share and catching up with Adam:
BHM-02
To learn more about the Byrd House Market visit their blog!
And if you also want to check out Fertile Crescent, visit their site!

]]> http://www.vasadp.org/byrd-house-market-09-08-09/feed/ 0