Meet Luis and Stacia, owners and farmers at La Caridad Farm in Parksley. La Caridad will be providing meat and eggs for the Serving up the Shore dinner on August 19. 

Stacia – a “from’ere” who grew up in Parksley – and Luis – a “come’ere” originally from Cuba – started their farm in 2013. “I come from a background where we basically raised all the meat that we eat,” said Luis, “and that’s something I strongly believe in.”

Luis and Stacia find time out of their busy schedules – which include full-time jobs – to raise chickens, pigs, ducks and rabbits. They also have a personal garden, which they use to feed themselves as well as their animals.

For more information about La Caridad, you can watch the video above or visit the La Caridad website. Be sure to visit our Serving up the Shore webpage, and stay updated with the Facebook event page.

Meet Cricket and Carol, owners and operators of Copper Cricket Farm in Machipongo. They will be providing produce for the Serving up the Shore dinner on August 19. 

Copper Cricket is a sustainable farm that uses a variety of methods to grow healthy plants will high nutritional value. This includes not tilling and using mulches harvested from the farm itself. "We do sheet composting, and our compost is all sourced locally," said Carol. "It provides our fertilizer for our crops and also suppresses our weeds."

Cricket and Carol grow around 130 different varieties of vegetables, and they provide a selection of these vegetables biweekly to members of their CSA. These same vegetables will be fresh ingredients for the Serving up the Shore chefs.

For more about Copper Cricket, you can listen to Cricket and Carol in the video above or visit the Copper Cricket website. Be sure to visit our Serving up the Shore webpage, and stay updated with the Facebook event page.

Say hello to Laura Davis, the salad chef for our Serving Up the Shore dinner on August 19.

Laura runs tideandthyme.com, a popular food blog about life on the Eastern Shore. As a native of the area and a resident of Chincoteague Island, Laura creates and shares recipes have a unique seaside flair. She recently shared an iced coffee tonic recipe, courtesy of local business Eastern Shore Coastal Roasting Co. which is providing coffee products for Serving Up the Shore.

“We are so fortunate to have such an abundance of fresh seafood and produce here on the Eastern Shore,” Laura says on her blog. “I love to take advantage of it every chance I get. I love to try new recipes, learn about food history, and just talk to folks about food in general.”

Laura will be sharing her passion for local products and innovative recipes in her salad course - using Perennial Roots heirloom tomatoes and smoked mulefoot hog ham, and Terrapin Farms lettuces. For more of Laura’s awesome recipes, you can visit her website, tideandthyme.com. Be sure to visit our Serving up the Shore webpage to get your tickets, and stay updated with the Facebook event page.

Serving Up the Shore chefs got the grand tour of Ballard Fish & Oyster Company's Chincoteague operation this spring. For the second year, Ballard will be providing clams and oysters for our Serving up the Shore dinner on August 19. 

Ballard Fish and Oyster Co. is an institution on the Eastern Shore, as the family has been producing clams and oysters for nearly 115 years!  They use a sustainable method of aquaculture, or shellfish farming, that involves raising clams and oysters to maturity in monitored locations in the Chincoteague Bay.

“They’re thriving,” said Cody Metcalf, a field manager with Ballard Fish and Oyster Co. “Even thirty years ago, there’s more of them now than there was back then, because so much of the pressure is being taken off by sustainable ‘put-and-take.’ They filter the water and help the whole ecosystem.”

Chincoteague Bay Field Station has a close connection with the organization, as Tim Rapine, the Managing Director of the company, is an alumni of East Stroudsburg University and took college summer courses here at the Field Station. Years later he's made the Shore his permanent home and has brought an extensive knowledge of hatcheries and research to Ballard. 

For more information about Ballard Fish and Oyster Co., you can visit their website. Be sure to visit our Serving up the Shore webpage, and stay updated with the Facebook event page

Meet Johnny of Terrapin Farms located in Berlin, MD. Terrapin Farms will be providing greens for Serving up the Shore dinner on August 19. 

Terrapin farms is a sustainable, organic farm that uses hydroponics--or farming without soil--for many of its plants. The farm specializes in different types of greens, such as kale and microgreens.

Terrapin also makes the extra effort to use sustainable farming methods. "We're entirely fired by solar panels, and we use rainwater for our irrigation," said Johnny. 

For more information about Terrapin Farms, you can listen to Johnny in the video above or visit the Terrapin Farms website. Be sure to visit our Serving up the Shore webpage, and stay updated with the Facebook event page

Meet Kristin and Jamie of Eastern Shore Coastal Roasting Co. in Eastville, VA. ESCR is an amazing local business which will be providing coffee beverages for our Serving up the Shore dinner on August 19. 

ECSR is a wholsesale coffee roasting company that uses sustainably sourced beans to make custom coffee blends for restaurants across the Eastern Shore. Local-themed blends include Machipongo Morning, Oyster Roast, and Marsh Mud.

When we visited ESCR this spring, Kristin whipped up her latest creation: a spritzer-style drink using her cold-brewed Marsh Mud.  This coffee tonic is the perfect blend of refreshing and caffeine, and guest chef Laura Davis couldn't agree more!  You can see the full recipe and get a little preview of Serving Up the Shore on her blog, Tide and Thyme. 

For more information about Eastern Shore Coastal Roasting Co.,  you can listen to Kristin in the video above or visit the ECSR Facebook page. Be sure to visit our Serving up the Shore webpage, and stay updated with the Facebook event page.

Meet Wally and Dao Qun, owners and operators of Locustsville's Big Otter Farm which will be providing produce for the Serving up the Shore dinner on August 19. 

Contrary to its name, Big Otter is a small garden farm that lies on half an acre. In addition to growing both western and Chinese vegetables, Wally and Dao Qun also make homemade Chinese dishes such as dumplings and spring rolls that they sell at the Onancock farmer's market.

For more about Big Otter Farm, you can listen to Wally and Dao Qun in the video above. Be sure to visit our Serving up the Shore webpage, and stay updated with the Facebook event page.

Meet Stewart and Natalie, owners and operators of Perennial Roots Farm in Accomac. They will be providing produce and meats for Serving up the Shore dinner on August 19. 

Perennial Roots is a biodynamic farm, which means it uses interconnected methods to get the most of the land. For example: they ferment weeds and use the mixture to add nutrients back into the soil. "Certain weeds are really good at unlocking nutrients that you'd never imagine were there," said Stewart. "So if you take them, ferment them into a tea, and spray that out, all of that is available to the plants."

Stewart and Natalie have chose species specifically because they grow well on the Eastern Shore, and their pork, berries, and heirloom veggies are bound to make superb ingredients for the Serving up the Shore chefs.

For more about Perennial Roots, you can listen to Stewart and Natalie in the video above or visit the Perennial Roots website. Be sure to visit our Serving up the Shore webpage, and stay updated with the Facebook event page.