Saturday, October 15, 2011

Fall Farm Days - Loudoun County 2011

Image may contain: people smiling, one or more people, sunglasses, closeup and outdoor

Mr. B and I have spent two days on the visiting the breathtaking Ayrshire Farm in Upperville during their Fall Harvest Days. It's a mansion, sustainable farm, and owned by the founder of Cisco. Ayrshire Farms is comprised of more than 800 acres of farmland and produces organic and certified humane heritage beef, pork, poultry, and veal.  It is also well-known for horse and carriage show riding.  It was an amazing day!  The weather was beautiful and the tour of the farm was nothing short of spectacular.
Though the owner does not live on the farm, the main house (i.e. mansion) was built in the 1900’s and apparently is home to an incredible kitchen that is fully stocked with an antique wood stove and copper cookware.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get to go in the main house, so I’ll just have to leave it up to my imagination…
Can you believe that the building below was the stables?!  It resembled a French chateau and actually had chandeliers inside it and were filled with beautiful antique horse carriages.
These horses are definitely living a good life…
Ayrshire_Farm3
Check out these guys! They raise Glouchestire Old Spots pigs, which is a very rare breed of pig known for its spots, docility, and massive ears! 
ayrshire_farm5
Once we finished admiring all the pigs, we headed down to the farm’s compost system, which is huge and very impressive.  The farm is almost completely sustainable and composts everything, including animals that have died from old age, manure, and everything used in the kitchens.
Ayrshire Farm also has a store in downtown Upperville –which we visited later—that sells all their meat, as well as fresh eggs.  I ended up buying a carton on the way home ($6.99/dozen—yes, expensive).  Even though it’s a lot of money, I felt particularly good about spending more given how wonderful the farm was and how well their animals are treated.  It was the most informed food purchase I’ve probably ever made! 
And the eggs were very delicious…
It also produces all of the food for their restaurant/pub, Hunter’s Head Tavern, at the farm as well.  Hunter's Head is probably my all time favorite place to eat in the county and mainly offers Scottish and English classic dishes, such as Shepherd’s Pie, Bangers & Mash, and Chicken Pot Pie—all using meat and produce from the farm.  Luckily, we went there for lunch right after our tour. Farm to table!
hunters_head_tavern2
I love visiting the Upperville area. It's so quaint and lovely.
hunters_head_tavern5

Image may contain: tree
A beautiful church in Upperville

No comments: