My Last Day at Sunnyside

I spent the past day and a few hours today learning about Organic Farming at the Farm at Sunnyside in Washington, Virginia. It was hot and exhausting and exhilarating and inspiring and enjoyable all at the same time. I am sure I'll forget a ton of what I did, but I'll jot down as much as I can. A special Thank You to Stacey and Casey, the Farm Managers (in the pic on the right) for their hospitality.

The harvesting was being done for the Farmer's Market. And people, let me tell you- there are no giant machines that roll through these fields and pick things. It is all people. HUMAN BEINGS that sit in the rich, delicious soil, pick each fruit or vegetable or root or herb or flower BY HAND. EVERY time. So the next time you go to the Farmer's Market instead of the Grocery Store, you are supporting some really amazing work and completely amazing people. So consider buying local at a market before a chain grocery store.

I am a member of a CSA, I do support local farmers, but this was even a step further. I have never seen so much absolutely, complete perfect and beautiful produce in my life. The "seconds" bin and the "eat me" bins are supposed to be what doesn't go to retail, but it's still more gorgeous than anything at the grocery store. And the flavors and Juice. HOLY MOLY. I'll just stop here.

Everyone was so great and would teach me little tidbits about their specialties or their love for farming. It was really interesting to hear where some of these employees have come from and their various other jobs or past careers- nutrition, accounting, clothes designer, one woman sailed from Hawaii to Washington with two other people and also taught English in Thailand-

Here's what I learned about and did in 14 hours.

- 5 of the 9 employees live in a bunk house together on the farm.
- harvested rainbow chard for the farmer's market
- switched 2 giant coolers, one was warm and one was cold, we moved all of the goodies from each into the other to make room for the market goods being harvested.
- harvested lots and lots of green onions and cleaned them
- cleaned previously pulled garlic
- moved trays and trays of seedlings of various types of kale and cauliflower from the greenhouse to the "hardening table". this is where the plants get thrown into nature for 2 weeks to learn how to survive and then they are planted in the fields.
- took lots and lots of photos
- met the three pigs- the were so cute and little and shorty
- weeded turmeric beds
- weeded garlic beds
- harvested okra
- dug up red potatoes and white potatoes from the soil
- looked and observed so many variations of insects, worms, butterflies, flying creatures... they are all over the farm but it feels like you've died and gone to Heaven with all of these beautiful, colorful things flying all over
- learned about the compost, the correct way to trim collards and okra to help them to grow and get more sun and nutrients
- learned that my knees don't like to be sat upon for hours at a time. walking was a little painful today, but whatever- I'll get over it
- deer are everywhere. the first morning a deer was running parallel to my car but only about 20 feet from it.
- bunnies.      @LesDamesdescoffier #LDEI

My Birthday Dinner

I had the unbelievable opportunity to have dinner at the Inn at Little Washington. For those of you who don't know about this place, here is a tidbit from wikipedia-

"It repeated this feat by becoming the first restaurant/inn to receive five diamonds from the AAA for both its food and accommodations in 1989. The inn and restaurant maintains that distinction through 2014.^[4][5] The restaurant received five James Beard Foundation awards including those for Best Service, Best Wine List, Restaurant of the Year, Best Chef in the Mid–Atlantic and Chef of the Year.^[6] The International Herald Tribune rated it as one of the Top Ten Best Restaurants in the World. Additionally, the Zagat Survey for Washington, D.C., has rated it as number one in all categories for the past 14 years.^[7] Travel & Leisure Magazine has ranked the Inn as the number one hotel in the world for food,^[8] the number in the world for service, and the number eight in world and number 2 in North America overall."

So, needless to say, I just had the most amazing experience. I went to dinner alone and everyone that knew seemed disappointed that I was going by myself. I told them that is exactly what I wanted to do- I didn't feel like making small talk or having to engage. I wanted to sit and focus on the food, the service and how it made me feel, and that is exactly what I did. I won't tell all of the details, but there are a LOT of details that Chef Patrick O'Connell has though of and taken care of. They knew who I was and greeted me by name in the parking lot and again at the front desk. (I'm guessing NOBODY goes there alone.) They seated me in a corner booth that was a squishy seat with lots of soft pillows so I was able to reach the table. :) They also sat me with one of Patrick's books- a very large book- and I looked through it in between each course. It taught me a lot about the Inn, the Chef and the surroundings, and I never, for a second, felt awkward that I was sitting alone. 


The food was so good and the servers were so fabulous and I'm out of good describing words. You just have to go yourself. @LesDamesdescoffier #LDEI

My Birthday!!

Today is my Birthday!!! I never really care about my birthday. It's just another day. But this year it feels different. I'm nowhere close to home. My family is at home. My girl is not here to surprise me with coffee. I'm a little sad. I miss those buggers at home. But today will be great. I'm about to leave to go work on the Farm at Sunnyside. I drove around it yesterday and it's really peaceful. I've got my water and bandana ready. Here's to hoping the sun and heat don't wear me out too much. 

Nora has made me dinner reservations at the Inn at Little Washington. I had never heard of it and the more I look into it and the more I talk to people about it the more excited I've become. I'm sure I'll have lots of photos and lots of stories to post tomorrow. 

So here's to a GREAT DAY. Happy Birthday, ME!!! 
@LesDamesdescoffier #LDEI

My Heart is Happy

My Heart is Happy and Pounding with Excitement! 

This morning I woke up with a little clarity. I have met a lot of people this week who have asked me why I'm here. "Are you looking for a job?" "Do you live here?" "Are you going to be a farmer?" And my answer was always NO. But I wasn't sure where I was fitting in with the high-end restaurant and the organic farming. I haven't yet been to the farm, but here are my thoughts today.

I was going to have to leave DC at 5 am tomorrow (my Birthday!) to get to the farm in Virginia at 7am. This morning I found a B&B- (and for those of you who know me, some day I will have one and my husband and I always prefer to stay in people's homes when we travel- which is not that often.) The B&B is on a farm 2 miles from the farm I will be working at Thursday and Friday. It is called the Farm at Sunnyside- if you want to check it out. I will leave DC around lunch time and make the drive to Virginia. It's a beautiful day and I am looking forward to it. I will be off the grid until Friday night because there is no phone service and I'm guessing internet may be spotty, so I will just assume that I will be off electronics for a few days. (which, by the way, sounds like something we should all do, doesn't it?)

So... here is what clarified in my head this morning. I am pretty sure (never say never) that I will not be moving towards working in a restaurant. I am pretty sure that I will not become an organic farmer, or at least not for making a living. But I do see myself somewhere in between. I am educating myself more on the Farming side of things and I know about the restaurant side. So maybe my place is somewhere in between, like a liaison? hmm. Something else to think about. But I am by myself (I am never alone) and I am thinking a lot and resting and eating amazingly fresh food and so there is room for clarity and meditation. 

So here's to a great next 2 days. I'll be back in DC on Friday night to be at the Restaurant and then back home Saturday. 

I just hope there are some animals available for snuggling at the Farms. :)

The Temne Proverb is something I found at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum yesterday. Very appropriate for today. 

Unless you know the road you've come down, you cannot know where you are going. 
Temne proverb, Sierra Leon

This trip would not be possible for me without the support and funding of #LDEI and @lesdamesdescoffier and the Legacy Awards 2016     Thank you!!! www.ldei.org

Three Days in One

Today was so full! So Fun!! SO MUCH FUN! It started out a little "rocky" but it was all for the best. I was able to have a lovely lunch with a really old friend of mine and it felt so great to catch up in person. The photo was part of my lunch and not only was it beautiful but super light and delicious! I was at Restaurant Nora for a little bit and talked about how the menus get created each day. Then I put on my Big Girl Pants and found the Metro and took it to the Smithsonian. I spent a bit of time in the Natural History Museum and that was really beautiful. Then I walked towards the White House, saw a little meditteranean place and got some organic hummus to fuel up for the rest of my walk. I got in front of the White House- (on my way back to Restaurant Nora) and Nora calls. She tells me to meet her on the corner and not to walk any more. She is picking me up. (I was only a mile or so from the restaurant but she insisted. So I listened.) So I hop in the car and Nora says we're going to drive around and she'll show me some of the great places to eat. I'm thinking this is a car tour, right? Nope. We pull up to the first place, MomoFuku's and we park, get out, get in, get a seat, get a cocktail, get a "snack" and then three more "snacks". And then we're off to another restaurant. I said, "Nora, aren't we headed home?" She said, "No, we have a few more places to eat at.". WHAT???? This was so much fun and so great. So we walked in to a few restaurants, looked around, took some photos and menus, ate at some and then came home. What a day!!! I have never eaten three meals in a row that were so dang beautiful. And ridiculously tasty!! Nora is non-stop, people. She's a tough one to keep up with. We came home, had a little chat, laughed, drank and on to tomorrow! @LesDamesdescoffier #LDEI

What a Fantastic Meal

Today I walked to Whole Foods, bought some sustenance, participated in a Synergy Energy Class with Nora, prepped some organic goodies at Restaurant Nora, watched a horrible black sky drop lots of rain and disappear quickly, met a bunch of kitchen people and had some really nice conversations, took lots of photos, and the best part- I had dinner with Nora and a good friend of hers at the restaurant. The meal was really fantastic, the dirty gin martini was ridiculously smooth and amazing and then we sat and tossed around dessert ideas for a contest Nora is applying to. 

So. Much. Fun. Last night we had conversations at dinner about so many topics, but two of the friends have worked with Deepak Chopra and were talking about him by first name, and then, you know, Andrew (Weil) came up a bit as well. Where am I? How did this all come to be? 

SO GRATEFUL FOR THIS EXPERIENCE. Thank you, @NancyWaldeck!!!

@LesDamesdescoffier #LDEI

Good Morning, D.C.!!

GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE! In true SNAPE fashion, I woke up, had a coffee and went walking. Hey- you can walk places here. Everywhere. Or ride a bike. Rush hour. Yup. I walked to a little grocer that turned out to be closed until 11. When SNAPES travel, we don't eat out, really, but we do find local grocery stores and we buy food that we know will be good, good for us and handy. So where did I go? Whole Foods. I sat and had a Greek Yogurt for breakfast (and I'm getting the whole milk vanilla from now on, people) and bought a few things. I don't know where these next few days will lead me or where I'll be when and what "meals" will be available, so I bought some things to take with me so I don't fall down. This is how we do it.

And by the way, you can buy quail eggs at Whole Foods here, just in case you were wondering. And HoneyCrisp apples are $1.99 a lb. WHAT ???? I'm staying here just for the HoneyCrisps.

I've walked 5,000 steps already and I'm about to go to an Exercise Class with Nora.
@LesDamesdescoffier #LDEI

Dinner at Nora's House

Is this really happening? I've read all but the last 5 pages of Nora's book and I CANNOT BELIEVE I AM SPENDING THIS TIME WITH HER! She truly lives and breathes the organic lifestyle- all down to the chemical-free pool in her yard. I had the privilege of having dinner with her and a few friends tonight. We sat and ate and talked and ate and then Nora gave me a driving and walking tour of the Capitol lights at night. Beautiful. @LesDamesdescoffier #LDEI

ON MY WAY TO D.C.!!!

ON MY WAY!! Leaving for D.C. today. So many mixed emotions- excitement and lots of uncertainty. Honestly- a little scared about traveling with all the weirdness going on in the world. My wonderful family drove me directly to the curbside and drove off. I went in my jeans pocket to get out my ticket and there it was. A God Stone. I give others these awesome little tokens and today my AMAZING HUSBAND gave me one. And I didn't even know it. LOVE YOU, Snape's Ridiculorum. 

P.S. A God Stone is a simple little glass bead that we hold in our pockets or put somewhere so that when we come across it (unexpectedly) we are reminded we are never alone. :)

Going to Washington, D.C!!!

Good Morning! 

I will be leaving for Washington, D.C. in just a few days to spend a week learning, working, sweating, sharing, eating, harvesting, resting, thinking, meditating, sharing and lots of other lovely things. I will be spending two days working alongside Nora Pouillon in her restaurant, Restaurant Nora- the first certified all organic restaurant. I will spend one day walking around D.C. and experiencing a place I haven't visited since Elementary School. (a long time ago, people.) For the last two days I will drive out to Washington, VA and will work on the Organic Farm called The Farm at Sunnyside. I will spend my birthday there and will then treat myself to a very nice dinner. I will spend the night at the farm and get up on Friday and work it again! I plan to take lots of notes, photographs and make lots of lasting memories. 

My mission on this trip is to take in as much information as I can and bring it back to Atlanta where I can share it with many, many people- children and adults. 

I will be blogging, posting on Facebook and posting to my Instagram account, so please feel free to follow this next Journey. Rumor has it that phone service at the farm is non-existent, so if there is a delay in my postings, know that I will be catching up once I've taken an electronic break. 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Leaf-and-Loaf-llc-1658230804416831/
Blog: http://suesnape.blogspot.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Sue.Snape.Leaf.and.Loaf/
@LesDamesdescoffier #LDEI

Official on the LDEI web site!

LDEI Award Winners!!

I've earned an amazing Mentoring Award!!! (Click the image below to read about it.)

For the full press release, contact me directly and I will send it to you!

Restarting My Blog!

So many amazing things have happened in the past threeyears. So many things. Some of these great things will benefit others if I restart my blog, so here goes!!! Look for more posts coming soon!