Farm Fables – In Between Times

By Tony Forder

It’s the in between times.

The leaves have fallen, a we’re not yet in winter’s full grasp although Jack Frost has visited a few times. It’s Thanksgiving time already, but I haven’t yet had to winterize the Limetree Café, my trailer.

The hopfield is dormant, goji’s, the last of the berries are finished. November brought us sustained winds, gusts brought down many trees and branches. The grounds crew (the pair of them) cleared the disc golf fairways and had a burn barrel going for a few days, embers lasting well into the cold evenings. The shock of early darkness has been assimilated. It took a couple of weeks.

Last of the Goji berries

Years past the farm, The Oasis @ Warwick as it is known, would quietly put on its winter coat and slip into semi-hibernation (except for the disc golfers who play year round). Not any more, Fence Road Farm Brewery is alive and hopping. The opening rush and mayhem has dissipated somewhat but weekends are at capacity. The taproom is developing a nice vibe – 20 different-sized rustic tables accommodating family and friends, a lot of locals. When all 99 seats are full or close it feels like everyone is together in one room.

The draft system had to overcome some kinks, pouring fresher from serving tanks instead of kegs. I remember when a brewpub opened near me in NJ and ran out of beer after a couple of days, I thought it so stupid. Well, we did too, not all, but the popular IPAs. Brewmaster with help working long hours to catch up – he has the styles dialed in: three different IPAs, 4.2% Sesssion; 6.8% NEIPA with Kiwi hops; and 8.5% DIPA; Italian Pilsener, Ryan’s Wit, Helles Lager, Pink Pony Hard Seltzer; and Modi, an imperial stout named in memory of the farm dog.

Tacos with pickled hop shoots

My mead is finding a foothold – so far Hoptimead with our own Cascade hops; 3Ps, peach, pear, plum; and Gitchi Goumi Goji Goose Juice, with goumi, goji and gooseberries. (the Gitchi part is a reference to Gordon Lightfoot’s song about the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald which went down in Lake Superior, “the lake they call Gitchi Goumi.”).

The mead takes a bit of intro, I give out samples. This is not your traditional strong, sweet mead, I say, it is what we call Modern Mead or Session Mead, 6-7%, similar to cider, and served on tap, slightly carbonated.

In the kitchen Jumpin’ Zack Flash dashes about, the chefs have been stretched but are winning converts with what I guess would be called upscale brewpub cuisine. In addition to wood fired pizzas, there’s gourmet grilled cheeses, burgers, drunken mussels, salads and soups. The two main chefs lean on decades of culinary canny to evoke weekend specials – recently Korean specials – Pork Belly Bao Buns, Spicy Pork Noodles, Gochujang Shrimp Skewer. One weekend they featured my pickled hop shoots in a chorizo and shrimp taco dish.

In the pro shop the walls are lined with freshly minted discs, catnip to disc golfers, as well as Dan Doyle’s memorabilia of a lifetime devoted to the sport, he of World Disc Golf Hall of Fame. Right now, he’s just trying to keep afloat in a sea numbers.

Outside of our bubble the world churns, faster and faster it seems. I was able to watch much of the recent PBS series The American Revolution. I learned a lot. The architects of the Constitution created the three branches of government, “a delicate balance by which each was meant to ensure against overreach that could result in tyranny. They feared that a demigod might incite citizens into betraying the American experiment.”

It appears we are indeed in the in between times.