Manna, from Heaven - and local farms
Roger Williams, 12/6/24
The Israelites, complaining and upset from their wandering in the desert for 40 years, were still fed by the manna they found daily, a food gift from Heaven that they did not understand. Today, one could be just as mystified and appreciative of the gifts from Manna Ministry of the Culpeper Presbyterian Church, which offers a free lunch Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, to anyone in need. And as productive as Manna Ministry is, that food started somewhere else, on the farms that supply them. Only then does it pass through the caring hands in Manna Ministry’s kitchen to a needy person’s plate. The original growing of some of that food is the passion of Farmer D’s Organic Vegetables, owned and run by Don Haight Jr. of Stevensburg VA.
Farmer D has been growing food since he was 10 years old, and has been wandering not in the desert but in his gardens for over 40 years. Among his crops are organic garlic, blueberries, strawberries, kale, and other heirloom vegetables, with his hives of honeybees doing the pollination. As well, he makes salsa and his chef’s specialty, black garlic, extending his value-added product line. He tends his 2 acre intensively managed garden with care, making his own compost, compost tea, and biochar soil amendments. Some of the fruits of his labors end up at Manna Ministries, local food banks, and on the tables of his elderly neighbors and members of the Culpeper community. He has given hundreds of pints of cherry tomatoes, baskets of yellow squash and cucumbers during the summer, and baskets of greens and turnips over the holiday season. Farming is not just a business for Don Haight Jr., it is his calling.
Listening to Don talk about food, you come to realize that good, nutrient-dense produce is both his objective and his gift. He believes that good health must be supported by nutritious, healthy, organic food. That good food comes only from well-prepared organic soil. From this belief has sprung not only the foods he produces, but also the educational offerings he is sharing on his farm. This past October, his Farm-to-Table Health & Wellness Culinary Experience included chefs Katharine Laboy and Stephanie Miller, each demonstrating how wholesome foods can be prepared for maximum nutritional benefit. This was followed by a tasty meal of those same foods, served fresh only hours after being picked fully ripe, as participants sat outdoors in the pine grove beside his fields. These educational gardening and culinary experiences will be expanding in 2025. To keep in touch with his coming offerings, or to find out more about Farmer D, get in touch via his website, Farmer-D.com.