I am so excited that I get to make special trips to connect with the farmers of our markets this year! Over the next month I will be visiting all the fruit, vegetable and meat farms we host at our markets and I couldn’t be more pleased with the opportunity to CONNECT. We all have different lenses that carry our physical and emotional selves through time and space. By engaging with this community of hard working, inspiring entrepreneurs in this intimate way opens space for dialogue and understanding. It is through empathy that we can develop real conversations about relation. These families show their passion and drive me to have an understanding of their lives through their actions!

It was 8pm on a Tuesday evening. I had experienced quite a long and hot day of driving around and visiting farms when I rolled into the circle drive of Brett and Barb Seabury. I felt a little drained and, although excited to see the two of them, honestly ready to call it a day. They greeted me with their sweet smiles and Brett informed me that I was going to be chauffeuring us around on his EV (electric vehicle) farm boy to look for calves and round up the cattle to the next pasture. I warned him that I was tuckered out and confirmed that he really trusted me to drive his whip…and off we went exploring, my spirits lifting as we drove down the two track to look for the herd.

Golden Fleece Farm is situated on over 100 acres in Grass Lake off of Sylvan road. It is gorgeous property with rolling hills and woodland – perfect for rotational grazing of cattle! They use a method called Mob Intensive Grazing to raise their cattle; essentially the cattle are moved to a new temporary paddock every single day which helps to reduce parasites. The Seabury’s integrate all sorts of management plans to keep flies at bay as well – such as bat and specific bird housing. The cattle have access to shelter during the winter months and eat hay; in the warmer months they are foraging the pasture and supplemented with organic minerals and kelp. They are never fed grain, antibiotics or growth hormones of any kind. Responsible stewardship is something that is very important to Brett and Barb.

We ended up finding the herd waiting for us! They were right up at the gate ready for new pasture. We had to round them up and move them back so that we could check for new calves before moving them to the next spot. We soon discovered that no new calves had been born since the night before and so we could help herd them back down the two track path to the next bit of rich grassy pasture under the windmill. They were quite excited to reach that new pasture – they were almost jumping with delight and mooing their pleasures. The calves were slower to follow, but we managed to seamlessly get them all up to the same place as the adults and close the gate behind us. It was a pretty magical experience for me and I also recognize the time and energy it takes to raise such large animals like that. Brett and Barb work hard to keep their herd and I value their efforts and stewardship and feel proud they are market vendors with us.