Living in the city, it’s easy to be taken in by the idea of “getting out of the city for a little while.” Once, we actually drove to the Ikea in Long Island rather than the one in Brooklyn because that constituted “getting out of the city.” That one may not have been totally worth it–a parking lot is pretty much a parking lot and the meatballs taste the same wherever you go.
But this past weekend, we went to the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture for the third time (once for our dinner at Blue Hill, and a farm trip last spring), and it was definitely a trip out of the city we’ll be making again. The occasion this time was Harvest Fest, Stone Barns’ end of season festival. The countryside around Tarrytown is so bucolic and peaceful that it’s easy to forget that you are only 25 miles north of Manhattan. Although it’s technically autumn, the leaves on the trees still hadn’t turned (they hang on a lot longer in the city, so it’s always a surprise when you get out in the country and see that the trees are bare), and the fields were still lush, especially after all the rain we’ve had.
As we walked in, we saw a pig on a spit, and there was a market with various vendors of local food set up, but for us, the highlight was definitely the hay ride, something I’d lived this long without ever doing. We were also able to check out their mobile hen units, and our daughter helped with egg collecting. Finally, we stopped by their door yard garden for a glimpse of the last hangers-on from the summer growing season.
What a great day, I love the hen house.