Tour De Farm - November 15 (Ocala, Memphis: for sale, 2015, home)

[Robyn55]

Information here:

Tour De Farm 2015 | Slow Food First Coast

We've gone a couple of times and had fun. I think the proposed itineraries are unrealistic. It would be hard/impossible to hit 6 or 7 of these places between noon and 5 pm and do them justice. I think 3 stops is more realistic. Wear comfortable shoes that you don't mind getting dirty.

I picked up a hard copy of the event brochure in the PVB Library. Nice brochure - and it's better than having to print out dozens of pages of information.

There are tour stops scattered all over the metro area. So - no matter where you live - you should be able to find something in your neck of the woods. Enjoy! Robyn

[fsquid]

WE do 2 or 3. It is a fun time especially if the weather cooperates.

[Robyn55]

Are there any "stops" in this year's tour that you've been to in the past that you can recommend? The 2 that I liked the best aren't on this year's tour. Robyn

[Robyn55]

Just a follow up. We went to the Tour de Farm today. My husband's favorite part of any activity is lunch . So I tried hard to find a good place. And succeeded. This place:

Woodpecker

It's at the corner of 210 and 13. Convenient for people who live in the 210 corridor and people in NW St. Johns County too. It's a small family owned and operated place - and very family friendly (I think we were the only people there not accompanied by kids under 10). Looks like a dump from the outside (the building is old) - but is modern and cheery inside.

FWIW - I kept scratching my head about how I never noticed the place before. Then found out it has only been open for about 9 months. It has apparently already been discovered - and seems to be *very* popular. We shared a big table with a couple from the area and their daughter. He's a high school teacher in a private school in JAX. His wife works for a JAX construction firm. Interesting discussion about area schools.

Was it the BBQ the best I ever had in my life? No. But it is certainly pretty good for this part of the world. Give it a try if you're in the area.

As for the tour - we went to 3 places. Two farms in the Elkton area and the UF-IFAS facility down in Hastings. The programs at the farms were a bit more commercial than those at our last Tour de Farm (lots of stuff for sale). But - especially at the first - the Spuds Farm - we learned a fair amount talking to the owners/operators about the state of farming in SJC today (and enjoyed the tractor drive "hayride" around the fields which stopped to show us some of the crops that are grown there). The UF-IFAS facility - like a couple of others we have seen - was impressive in terms of what it's doing at the local level in terms of helping people grow stuff. Whether its hundreds of acres of potatoes - or backyard tomatoes.

There were lots of families with kids out for the day. If your kids don't know where their food comes from - this is a good way to start teaching them.

Overall - it was a very pleasant day. An especially pleasant part was the drive south on 13. Which is not officially part of the "Bartram Trail" - but I suspect "Bartram was there" (or should have been). It's a scenic uncrowded road that runs for the most part along the St. Johns River. And it's apparently very popular with people on motorcycles (we saw a lot of them). We met 2 women at Woodpeckers who had driven up from Ocala (!) to tour the area on their Harleys today (one a 3-wheeler - never saw one of those before).

I can recommend this (almost) annual event with enthusiasm. If anyone else here went - what part of the metro area did you go to - and what did you think? And - if you didn't go to this event - what did you do on this beautiful fall weekend (heck - the Jaguars even won ). Robyn

P.S. I don't want people to think everything is "peaches and cream" in rural SJC. There is a lot of rural poverty. And some of it is very ugly (we're not talking about going to cute little towns in Connecticut in the fall kind of stuff). Even this has an upside IMO. We should all know what is going on where we live. And - since I live in SJC - I like to know what's going on - more or less - even on a cursory basis. Curiously - SR 207 in the Elkton area has a separate paved bike path that would make people in Ponte Vedra Beach drool. Sometimes I look at little things - and wonder why.

[fsquid]

Hey Robyn, we tried Woodpeckers on SAturday. It isn't bad. I'm a Memphis guy so my standard of BBQ is a bit high but it was certainly adequate to get my BBQ fix. We took it to go and then drove over to the Riverstown park. Found out the hard way, no picnic tables there!! Sides were good. I found the datil BBQ beans to be really good as well as the datil corn. Green Beans were a bit bland and the kids really liked the Mac and Cheese. I'll certainly go back.

[Robyn55]

"Not bad" - said with a knowing eye - is a good way to describe it. FWIW - we are a bit spoiled when it comes to Texas style BBQ (beef - especially fatty brisket - yum) because of our travels in Texas. But places like this will do until we return to Texas. Memphis style BBQ (I've never been in Memphis) is mostly pork - yes?

We ordered the "3 meats/4 sides" platter - which is ginormous - so we could try a lot of different things. We had enough left over to make 3 dinners in the following days (things like scrambled eggs with peppers and sausage). I liked the way they served the sides in those little microwave containers. You just put a lid on them - take them home - and reheat. Will have to try the BBQ beans next time. Agree that the datil corn is good.

It's always nice to find a good local place to support. Wish someone would open an old fashioned "meat and three" place. They have pretty much all but disappeared - everywhere. About the only places you can find that serve that kind of food these days are buffet style restaurants. We like Golden Corral once in a while for a piece of fried chicken and a lot of southern style veggies. Again - "not bad" . Robyn

P.S. If you make dry rub ribs at home - I like this rub recipe (although I use less cayenne pepper):

Backyard Baby Back Ribs Recipe : Alton Brown : Food Network

Also - I use St. Louis style ribs - not baby backs (more meat). Publix actually had 2 bogos on these ribs this past summer. Great time to stock up!

[fsquid]

3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup paprika

1/4 cup garlic powder

2 tablespoons ground black pepper

2 tablespoons ground ginger powder

2 tablespoons onion powder

2 teaspoons rosemary powder

[Robyn55]

Will give that one a try too .

I am afraid I am not much of a purist when it comes to this kind of stuff - at least in terms of cooking it myself. Because it is so much easier to cook things in the oven than outside on the grill. I braise the ribs for a few hours (in foil - with a little OJ). Could and I sometimes do finish them off the grill. But often get too lazy to do so. They still taste pretty good - as does a Boston butt that is braised properly with appropriate seasonings (for shredded pork).

The hardest thing about those St. Louis ribs is getting the darn silverskin off. I found a good hint on Youtube. To use a paper towel to get a good grip and a good start - and then just to rip the sucker off. Doesn't work 100% all of the time - but it is extremely gratifying when it does work . Robyn