Little House by the Vineyard

A Blog Column by Jay Bryant

Little House by the Vineyard is a blog column reflecting on life on the farm, through the unique perspective of Jay Bryant, Union Grove Farm’s Poet Laureate.

Jay Bryant is a retired speechwriter, communications consultant for U.S. Senators, congressmen and governors, television producer, internet columnist, radio personality, poet and author who now lives in a little house by the vineyard at Union Grove Farm. He has been a commentator on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. He and Greg Bohlen collaborated on the novel The Sugar Rat, and the non-fiction work, Common Men. Jay also authored the novel Earth and Water.

Reach out to Jay: [email protected]

Roger That

Whenever anyone familiar with this general part of North Carolina asks me where it is I live in Orange County, I have learned to reply, “Do you know where the ice cream shop is?” They always do. The Maple View Farm Ice Cream Shop is a regional legend, a Nutter family enterprise that was… Continue reading

Cheerio!

Those of you who have been following these columns regularly (thank you) are aware that we have many and varied animals around the farm here at Union Grove: sheep, dogs, worms, bees, chickens, etc. But to date, I have barely mentioned another exotic species that can be found prowling the fields and vineyards. We… Continue reading

Plan Bee

Guy Fricks*, the Bee Guy, grew up in the South Carolina portion of Appalachia. There was no money to send him to college, so he moved on in search of employment and landed in New Orleans where he found work as a boat builder and carpenter. He took a few courses at Tulane and met… Continue reading

Choosing to Farm

When my father got back to Connecticut after serving in WWII, he had a good job waiting for him. But he had something else in mind. He chose to go to Maine and become a dairy farmer. Mother was willing, mainly because she had read there were no poisonous snakes in the whole state. I… Continue reading

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Katahdin Sheep

In 1957, three hair sheep boarded a ship at the dock in Christiansted, St. Croix bound for Boston. It was the exact same route taken by young Alexander Hamilton in 1772 when he first came to America. Hamilton is considered one of the founding fathers of the U.S of A. The three sheep are considered… Continue reading

Monoculture

Quick, what’s the definition of the word Monoculture? Is it: A. A country with only one ethnic group? B. A lab sample with only one pathogen, or C. A field planted in only one crop? If you said “C” you win the prize, at least for this column. “Mono” of course, means “one,” and the… Continue reading