Traveling east, then north out of Cullman, through the blinking yellow light that marks the town of Fairview, Al., down the hill and left before the bridge, and we came upon the home and farm of Joshua and Beth Haynes. We turned into the drive and were greeted by a large hand-painted sign that welcomed Red Mountain Community School.
Joshua grew up farming this property with his parents, and he and Beth, who met at Wheaton College, decided to move back three years ago to experiment with organic and sustainable farming. (You can read more about them at www.birdsongcommunityfarm.com. <http://www.birdsongcommunityfarm.com>
This was the first year that Joshua and Beth were growing and harvesting mushrooms, and because of our Head of School’s deep affection for all things “fungi”, we jumped at the chance to participate.
The entire school walked down into the woods for a lesson in how several varieties of shiitake mushrooms are cultivated. We divided into teams to pitch in with the work. One group harvested a basket of ripe mushrooms and helped soak and stack a number of logs that had been implanted with spores. These will start producing in the next few weeks. The other group followed Beth up to the garden to pick a bucket of cherry tomatoes. All of the day’s harvest was being readied for the Cullman Farmer’s Market this weekend.
Following a hay ride through the woods, we were introduced to over 100 “happy chickens”. The Haynes lovingly tend these chickens who freely roam a three acre patch and generously provide large quantities of wonderful eggs for the farm to sell. We were invited to sow oats for the chickens in one of the pastures by grabbing handfuls of oat seed from a bucket and casting them all around. The scattering was a chaotic and fun chore for the children and will provide plenty of food for the birds this fall.
We are thankful to Joshua and Beth for a rich and full outdoor day. Look for them on Saturdays at the Cullman Farmer’s Market.
