I am thrilled to present my new photographic series, Locally Known: A Photographic Celebration of Our Local Food and Folk. You can find my column every Tuesday in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript, with an expanded column posted here on my website. My hope is that you will start a new relationship with your food, to know where it comes from and to connect with the people who provide it. I believe it strengthens our community when we have a connection with the hard-working people that provide us with a bounty of local food. And then, the next time you buy that locally baked bread, or purchase locally raised grass-fed beef or locally-grown organic vegetable, you will know exactly where it came from and who made it – how exciting is that! Come with me on my culinary journey through the foods and farms of the Monadnock Region – let’s make the choice to support the people who are genuinely taking care of our land and our dinner tables. Join me in celebrating the amazing food folk of the Monadnock Region!
All in the (Dairy) Family
With June being National Dairy Month, it’s only fitting to find Chris & Patrick Connolly, of Connolly Brothers Dairy Farm in Temple, in getting ready to milk their herd of 45 dairy cows. Along with their brother Michael, their parents and their wives, they operate the dairy farm, their busy farm store and their popular ice cream stand. Started in 1983, the Connolly Brothers offer their own grass-fed beef, homemade ice cream, fresh raw milk and daily eggs. Their farm is a New Hampshire destination spot, with over 40 customers a day to the store and a parking lot full of families enjoying their 34 flavors of ice cream made right there at the farm.
My most exciting moment on the farm (besides when a cow stepped on my foot to get a better look at me) was photographing the cows coming down the path to the milking barn (big picture below). These ladies know when it’s milking time, and they hoofed it down to the barn in wonderful dust-kicking fashion…and each one gave me the eye, knowing that I was not part of their usual routine. I am always excited to see the different personalities of each cow, while some are playful, some are shy, some are nosy. Being in the field with them is almost like being outside during school recess, if the children weighed a few hundred pounds – lots of personalities and cow politics going on between the ladies!
I was thrilled to learn that Connolly Brothers are the largest raw milk sellers in New Hampshire! If you haven’t tried fresh raw milk, definitely put it on your to-do list (and get a jar for your fridge!) as it’s the most delicious milk you will ever taste – so full of flavor, vitamins and healthy goodness. And, I have to mention the Connolly Brothers delicious ice cream of course! Although, I only got a small bite, as my dear husband devoured the rest before I could even blink….and, in his book, that means that it’s very very good! Hope you get to try some this summer!!
Peterborough photographer Kimberly Peck is delighted to present her new series, Locally Known, a photographic celebration of our local food folk. Peck found her artistic roots in organic free-range photography and she always has at least two vegetables on her dinner plate. Follow her journey here every Tuesday, and find more images on her website: kimberlypeckphotography.com.
