I am thrilled to continue my photographic series, Locally Known: A Photographic Celebration of Our Local Farms. My column, and the Locally Known idea, grew from my own artistic desire to create a visual documentary of our local farmers, their farms, and to make a connection with our bounty of fresh local food.
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 fresh, natural and local food. Then, the next time you purchase locally raised grass-fed beef or a locally-grown organic vegetable (or two!), you will know exactly where it came from and who made it.
Come with me on my journey through our local farms ~ let’s make the choice to support the people who are genuinely taking care of our land and our dinner tables.
Eleven Thousand Taps…Pure Maple Syrup
Welcome to the first installment of Locally Known 2012! I am thrilled to continue documenting our local farms & farmers…My farm list is long this year, so please stay tuned for many more columns this season. And, I have a number of special projects going on with Locally Known ~ Can’t wait to share them all with you!
To say that Ben Fisk, owner of Ben’s Sugar Shack in Temple NH, is passionate about maple syrup would be a complete understatement. At the very young age of 5, Ben knew he wanted to make syrup; at the age of 5, I wanted to be Wonder Woman, so I really admire Ben’s dedication to living his dream. Today he proudly owns two sugar shacks, in Temple & Newbury NH, plus, he has 11,000 taps running. Yes, that’s 11,000. As mentioned in a recent post, I am pretty sure that during certain times of the year, I have maple syrup running through my veins…probably because I tend to drink it right out of the bottle. So, I was eager to visit Ben’s Sugar Shack during a boiling weekend, and to share the experience & process with my children. Needless to say, we were not disappointed. One of Ben’s awesome employees, Tom, was there to give us a tour, share information on the process, and kindly get in some of the images. The room smelled amazing and we were all delighted to have sticky shoes from walking around. Of course, we had to bring home some of Ben’s fabulous maple products, including the maple cotton candy, maple cream and, of course, maple syrup. If you have a chance to get out and about for the Maple Weekend Open House, stop by Ben’s Sugar Shack for a tour & delicious treats…you really won’t regret it (although, I can’t promise your head won’t be spinning from the sugar rush, but hey, that’s just part of the fun!)
