Touring A Grass-Fed Beef Farm

My weekend happened in three really big chunks: visiting a new friend’s farm, the same old fun, and a bridal shower hosted at my house. I have so many photos to share I’m breaking it down in 3 posts! I don’t know yet when they’ll be up, but I’m doing my best to sort through them 🙂

Friday morning Mazen and I put on our matching Hunter boots and drove out to Troy, Virginia for a visit to Oliver Creek Farm. Laura, a fellow Davidson grad, introduced me to Justine, who owns the farm with her husband and daughter. We had a great time getting to know one another!

Justine served us tea and then we took Mazen for a walking tour of the farm, which focuses on grass-fed beef.

M loved seeing the cows so close, and they were the friendliest cows I’ve ever enCOWntered. They wanted to give us kisses and came right up to say hi!

Justine told us all about the farm practices – they are committed to raising the healthiest beef possible for their own family, friends and customers who appreciate knowing that the beef they buy is raised locally, sustainably, humanely and responsibly. They sell their beef locally in shares, and if you might be interested you can contact Justine through her Facebook page.

In addition to raising beef, Justine impressed me with her dedication to DIYing everything – from kombucha to yogurt to her extensive vegetable garden. Everything that can be done at home is. She’s one impressive woman! They also have a cottage on the property which they rent out to Air B&B, if you’re ever looking for bucolic place to stay in Virginia.

We romped around in the hay and took a climb up gravel mountain too!

After working up an appetite, we headed back in for lunch. So much of our lunch was locally made – bread from the bakery, beef from the farm, kraut from Gathered Threads and Justine (some of the best I’ve ever had!) and homemade kombucha.

Our sandwiches were filled with leftover T-bone steak, melted cheese, arugula and a smidge of mayo, heated on the panini press.

We had lots to talk about over lunch. Laura is a blogger as well and shares her work at BaltimOregon to Maine. She’s also a journalist and writes pieces about food and healthy lifestyle. Justine would like to get into blogging about farm life, so we gave her tips on first steps!

After lunch we headed to nearby Forrest Green Farm, which has a store full of herbs, teas, tinctures and more plus lots of plants for spring.

They also offer classes on Whole Living that sounded really cool –

Mazen and I started the trek back to Cville in the afternoon and enjoyed some burgers from Justine’s beef the following night for dinner. Served over cheddar garlic bread with avocado smash and tomato! We were feeling lazy so we skipped the side salad : )

this !

Thanks to Justine and Laura for the fun afternoon and connections!