VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE # 244
AIR DATE: 09 16 2022
TRANSCRIPT

OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Sheep
((SOT))
((Cory Suter
Co-owner, LambMower.com))
So, this is your grazing area today. We've got lots of work to do.
They are independent contractors of sorts.
((NATS: Sheep))
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Snails
((SOT))
((Taylor Knapp
Owner, Peconic Escargot))
The kitchen is a stressful, hot, chaotic place. To kind of go from that to a very quiet greenhouse in the country with, you know, just me and the snails, that’s been wonderful.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Sky
((NATS: Drones))
((SOT))
((Thomas Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
I think that the drones and other technology, they take nothing away from the human side of farming. I think it adds to it.
((Open Animation))

BLOCK A


((PKG)) LAMBS MOWING LAWNS
((TRT: 5:11))
((Topic Banner: Lambs Mowing Lawns))
((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry))
((Camera/Editor: Adam Greenbaum))
((Map: Burke, Virginia; Fairfax, Virginia))
((Main character: 1 male))
((Sub character: 1 female))
((NATS: Cory))
All right, sheep. You guys ready to come out? Good morning, sheep. Baa, sheep! Baa, sheep!
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
I'm Corey Suter. I'm the owner of LambMowers.com and also the half owner with my wife of Suters Glen Permaculture Farm. We’re a five-acre [2 hectares] organic homestead. I bought the domain before we ever signed on the farm. It was something that I had envisioned. I had a number of different business ideas. I'm always been someone who's very entrepreneurial.
((NATS: Cory))
So, this is your grazing area today. We've got lots of work to do.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
So, I am a shepherd. I've been caring for this flock and helping breed this flock for, since 2016. They are independent contractors of sorts.
((NATS: Cory))
It looks like the young ones are ready to go.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
I had been practicing working with the sheep for five years here on my farm before I ever started bringing them out to other places.
((NATS: Cory))
Cinnamon, you're saying hi?
This is Cinnamon, the sheep. My kids name all the sheep.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
If you have less than two acres [0.8 hectares], we come out for a two-hour grazing appointment.
((NATS: Cory))
Ho, there is a lot of poison ivy in here. I think I might want to wait for the sheep to work through there.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
And the sheep tend to like tree seedlings, poison ivy, herbaceous weeds, even more than the grass. So, the mowing is very imperfect. This is a supplemental service to like an existing lawn care service. It might replace the spray, but it's not going to replace completely the lawn mower mowing of grass.
((NATS: Cory and Susan))
Cory: What would you like me to work on while the sheep are here? I see that there's a tulip poplar that's growing really close to the house. Would you like me to take that out for you?
Susan: That would be great.
Corey: Okay. Awesome.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
When someone hires LambMowers.com, not only do they get a flock of sheep in the yard, they get a gardener to come and help pull invasive weeds out of trees or make sure the mulch isn't covering over the root flare of a tree which can promote disease in the tree and cause it to die.
((Susan Glasby
Client))
I hired sheep to come help take care of some of the overgrowth in my backyard. I was actually researching goats because I knew that goats would eat poison ivy and it doesn't bother them. And so, while I was researching goats, I found Cory and LambMowers.com.
((NATS: Cory))
Susan, you're creating some wonderful habitat back here for wildlife with these rotting logs and sheltered areas. You did the right thing by leaving all these logs to rot, though. That's what's keeping all these trees so happy.
((Susan Glasby
Client))
Cory's been great to educate me too. A lot of what I have here is not natural. It's invasive. And so, removing that and then be able to replace it with something that's native to this area, you know, is definitely one of the goals as well. And I had recently done the solar panels in January and just looking to create a more friendly environment for my kids and for me and for our neighbors.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
I like that they stay together. They care about each other. They are very sociable. If you try to separate one from the flock, they'll die of loneliness. They realize that we're dependent on each other in a way that maybe sometimes we people like to think we're not.
((NATS: Sheep))
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))

So, their most important role here on our farm is not to provide fiber, not to provide food for us. It's to provide nutrients for our garden.
((NATS: Cory))
You know food is good when there's insects wanting to eat it. This is why I farm. Food is way better than what you can buy in stores.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
Sheep’s little fertilizer pellets or manure is 30 percent carbon. And so, not only do we make the grass a lot healthier but we're also helping bring carbon back into the soil, which has been greatly depleted. That's why I'm so passionate about protecting soil because we need that soil to sustain life for future generations.
((NATS: Sheep))
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
There's always an interesting problem when you're working with animals that are independent thinkers and some kind of headstrong. We've learned a lot of solutions. So, we use this temporary fencing to help contain them and helps direct them towards the plants that we want them to eat and the ones we don't want them to eat.
((NATS: Cory))
Sheep! Hey, Sheep! Come on over here. Yeah, come on over. No? Not today? Okay, I'll get some more vines over here.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
Overall, the customers are very happy with the service we're providing.
((Susan Glasby, Client))
Oh, it's been very fun. They're a pleasure to have.
((NATS: Cory))
Baa, sheep!
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
I'm excited about the potential. We have a bright future ahead as humans if we can continue to learn to work with nature instead of just trying to dominate nature.
((NATS: Cory))
Baa, sheep!
((NATS))

TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…
((Banner))
A Snail Tale

((SOT))
((Taylor Knapp
Owner, Peconic Escargot))
There’s very low information already on just raising snails in general. So, there’s really no one here in the US doing it. So, we kind of had to figure it out as we went.

BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))

BLOCK B


((PKG)) SNAIL FARMING
((TRT: 08:29))
((Topic Banner: Snail Farming))
((Reporter/Camera: Aaron Fedor))
((Producer: Kathleen McLaughlin))
((Editor: Kyle Dubiel))
((Map: Cutchogue, New York; New York City, New York))
((Main characters: 2 female; 2 male))
((NATS))
((Angela Zeny
Executive Sous Chef, Frenchette))
So, in the eggs themselves are just 50/50, butter, cream and two farm eggs. The sauce itself is just very simple. So, we do a simply seasoned seven to eight escargots out of shell, a little bit of salt and pepper. Just throw them right in the pan with a little bit of garlic, parsley and butter.
((NATS))
((Angela Zeny
Executive Sous Chef, Frenchette))
This dish is pretty popular. We pretty much get almost, almost every table gets one.
((MUSIC))
((Taylor Knapp
Owner, Peconic Escargot))
The snail farming came about, just a realization that there was a gap in the market.
((Taylor Knapp
Owner, Peconic Escargot))
I was a chef full time back in 2013 and wanted to put snails on my menu. And at the time, I was taking a lot of care to source my ingredients locally and ethically and responsibly and make sure they were, you know, the best that they could possibly be. And I wanted to do a snail dish, an escargot dish. And so, I started looking to see if I could find some snails for this dish and all I could find were canned or frozen snails. All of it, canned and frozen were both coming from Europe or Asia. So, I couldn't even find a canned product from the US. And I said, “That can't be right.” So, the search kind of took me, you know, I reached out to a bunch of chef friends. Do you guys know of anyone, you know, doing this, raising snails in the US where, you know, where can I get fresh escargot? I don't want to use a canned product. I don't want to use a frozen product. That doesn't make any sense. And I exhausted all my sources and realized there was no one doing this here in this country.
And so, I had asked another chef friend, you know, “Do you know of anyone in the US raising, you know, raising these snails?” And he jokingly said, “No you should, you should do it yourself. You should, you know, build a snail farm”.
((NATS: Taylor Knapp))
So, this is our Peconic escargot. All right, it's a Peconic escargot raised in Cutchogue, served with a little bit of the snail caviar. There’s a little bit of bourguignon butter, parsnip puree, onion jam and some brioche. And I would just recommend, kind of, squeezing that lemon over the top. All right? Enjoy.
((Taylor Knapp
Owner, Peconic Escargot))
We are the only USDA [US Department of Agriculture] certified snail farm in the country. We got our approval from them in 2015 and we work closely with them on all the things that keep the local agriculture safe because they are an invasive pest that can do a lot of damage to, you know, the surrounding agriculture.
And once we had the snails, it was a whole new process of figuring out how to raise them inside of a greenhouse. There's very little information already on just raising snails in general. A lot of the farms in Europe aren't interested in talking necessarily about their techniques and methods. There's really no one here in the US doing it. So, we kind of had to figure it out as we went.
((NATS: Taylor Knapp))
Nice.
((Taylor Knapp
Owner, Peconic Escargot))
The greenhouse, right now we probably have about 70,000 snails in there. It kind of maxes out around 100,000. These are the petit gris escargot, Cornu aspersum, little grey snail. This is what we raise here at Peconic Escargot. The flavor of the snails is affected depending on what you feed them. And for that reason, we're very careful with what we're finishing them on because we know it's going to become a prominent flavor profile in the finished product. So, we're literally, kind of, the last two weeks of their life, seasoning them from the inside out. But more often than not, it's herbs that would be more palatable to a human, you know, interest. So, things like basil, parsley, tarragon, mint.
((NATS))
((Taylor Knapp
Owner, Peconic Escargot))
So, they'll eat this entire, you know, pan of greenery until it's gone. And they only eat. They don't drink water.
((Photos Courtesy: Taylor Knapp))
((Taylor Knapp
Owner, Peconic Escargot))
So, all the water that they bring in is just absorbed through their skin, which is why it's really important
((end courtesy))
to keep them misted with water. So, the humidity inside the greenhouse is very important. Almost on a daily basis,
((Taylor Knapp
Owner, Peconic Escargot))
certainly through the summer, we're coming in here and we're spraying them down with water. They’re voracious eaters, which is why, you know, if they got out into the wild, they can be so dangerous. They'll, you know, eat entire fields of plants in a matter of days.
((Taylor Knapp
Owner, Peconic Escargot))
So, this would be an example of our, of what we'd call like a nursery pen. These are smaller snails. These are like one to two months old. And they just kind of need a different sort of feed. So, instead of all the greens, we supplement with greens, but they really just need more protein and more calcium than a snail that's a little bit farther along in the development process. A lot of this was, you know, a shot in the dark for a while.
((NATS))
((Adam Shepard
Executive Chef, Gage & Tollner))
This dish we’re preparing today is Peconic snails. We’re making with a garlic cream, parsley puree, parsley oil, pea shoots and the snail caviar. It’s like that they’re local and fresh. I mean, our only really option is the canned, industrial-produced, French imported snails. It’s the same as it is everywhere.
((NATS))
((Taylor Knapp
Owner, Peconic Escargot))
So, these white little pearls is snail eggs, and then, or roe. We would then take these, pull them out, rinse them off very well, and then cure them in salt, and that would be what we'd pack as our snail caviar.
((Taylor Knapp
Owner, Peconic Escargot))
It's a really unique product. They're bright white pearls and you can kind of roll them around your mouth a little bit like tapioca. And when they do burst and pop, they're salty because we've cured them. But they also have the most amazing flavor of mushroom and earth, carrots. You get a lot of herbs. So, it's kind of almost the exact opposite of seafood caviar.
((MUSIC))
((NATS: Woman)
Wow. Wow.
((Taylor Knapp
Owner, Peconic Escargot))
Getting people to try snails for the first time is a big, you know, part of our business because we are living in America and it's not something that people have been eating here for years and years like they have in other countries.
((Taylor Knapp
Owner, Peconic Escargot))
I have made the switch from full time chef to full time farmer. I still do some cooking at our pop-up, PAWPAW. But most of my time is spent with the snails and it has been very relaxing. The kitchen is a stressful, hot, chaotic place. And so, to kind of go from that to a very quiet greenhouse in the country with, you know, just me and the snails that aren't making any noises, it's been, it's been wonderful.
((MUSIC))
((Taylor Knapp
Owner, Peconic Escargot))
What I love about snail farming, I think, is seeing the entire process. Being full time chef, I was only kind of catching the product and its end-stage, the very end of it where, you know, it was coming to me, maybe, from a farmer. And I was, you know, preparing it and sending it out to be eaten. With this, you know, you're literally seeing life, you know, being born. You're seeing these snails hatching and growing and getting bigger. You're taking care of them. You're making sure they're healthy and they're happy. And then you're creating a product, you know, really quality, something that you can, you know, that I'm proud of. And then, kind of, passing it off along to the chef.
((MUSIC))

TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up
((Banner))
The Evolving Farm

((SOT))
((Anita Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
My great-grandfather would be proud of our embracing the new technologies because they couldn’t afford that type of technology back then even if that was present.

BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))



BLOCK C


((PKG)) DRONE FARMING
((TRT: 04:56))
((Topic Banner: Drone Farming))
((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry))
((Camera/Editor: Adam Greenbaum))
((Map: Fredericksburg, Virginia))
((Main character: 1 female; 1 male))
((NATS))
((Thomas Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
I'm Thomas Robertson and my wife is Anita Robertson. The name of our farm is Botanical Bites & Provisions. We started this farm before we left the military and it became a growing industry for us.
((NATS))
((Anita Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
We had invested time and energy in attending new and beginning farmer courses. So, we knew what we were up against. We had made connections with other farmers.
((NATS))
((Thomas Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
And we use the drones in our facility now.
((Anita Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
The drone came into picture probably about five years ago when they first became reasonably priced, you know, for the general public.
We are very conservative, at least I am, in my spending. Him not so much. Boys like to have their toys. And, you know, once he convinced me that this was something that had a useful value, you know, I kind of got on board.
((NATS))
((Thomas Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
The drones can show us that there may be a problem in one specific area. So now, we don't have to go out and do the whole perusing of the fields. We can go out and address that one area.
((NATS))
((Anita Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
He’ll use the drone to find out if we find out that our crops are dying in a certain area. That usually means that the water line has been either chewed on by a ground hog or some other rodent. And, you know, he'll go out there and can quickly replace it before the whole row of crops dies.
((Thomas Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
I grew up on a farm and it was about a 20, about a 30-acre [12 hectares] farm in Amherst County, Virginia. And after I turned 17, I decided I am never, ever, ever going to farm again.
((Photo Courtesy: Thomas Robertson))
And I joined the military, thinking that this would be the last time that I would ever see a farm.
((Anita Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
I happen to be a fourth-generation farmer. I can trace back to the 1800s.
((Photo Courtesy: Anita Robertson))
My great-grandfather, who lived in the [nearby] Lake Anna region, was a farmer.
((NATS))
((Thomas Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
And this portion is the portion that we're going to plant in. This portion back here, we'll save for next year.
((Anita Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
Starting a farm after retirement had produced a lot of challenges for us. But we're big planners and I think that comes from our military experience, that you make sure you have a plan in place before you execute.
((NATS/SOT: Thomas))
Yeah, a lot of worms in the soil, which is a really good sign that the soil is healthy.
((Thomas Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
When I was farming as a young man at 15, 16, 17 years old, things were really different. And we farmed using very, very old techniques. And we didn't have a tractor. We had a horse.
((NATS))
((Thomas Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
But now, we have tractors. We have farm implements. Right now, we use everything from solar energy. We use advanced irrigation techniques. And as you can see, it's not spraying the water. It's just dripping it just one drop at a time. And by not spraying it, that means that we're not creating dust and dirt flying up and getting into the plants, which can usually cause problems after you eat it.
((NATS))
((Thomas Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
Yeah, they’re coming out through the bottom.
((Anita Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
And we also raise honeybees. And then, I added to the honeybees value-added products. So, I use the beeswax and honey to develop lip balms, lotions, salves and soaps.
((NATS))
((Anita Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions)
It has our little farm logo.
((NATS))
((Thomas Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
I think that the drones and other technology, they take nothing away from the human side of farming. I think it adds to it because it frees up your time, your labor to do more and better things on your farm.
((NATS))
((Anita Robertson
Co-owner, Botanical Bites & Provisions))
My great-grandfather would be proud of our use of the, embracing the new technologies because they couldn't afford that type of technology back then, even if it was present. I also think that he would be proud of us for just continuing the tradition of farming.
((NATS))


((PKG)) CONNECT WITH – HORSE TRAINER
((TRT: 01:52))
((Previously aired April, 2022))
((Topic Banner: Connect with Tomi Bova-Luke))
((Reporter/Camera: Deepak Dobhal))
((Map: Covington, Indiana))
((Main character: 1 female))
((NATS))
((Tami Bova-Luke
Horse Trainer))
My name is Tami Bova-Luke. We’re in Covington, Indiana and I am a horse trainer.
((NATS))
((Tami Bova-Luke
Horse Trainer))
When I was seven, my dad took me to a rodeo in Denver, Colorado, called the Denver Stock Show. And I watched all the rodeo events. And then they came in and here comes the women and the women barrel racing. And I said to my dad, “When I grow up, that's what I want to do. I want to be a professional barrel racer and train horses.” And that's what I became.
((NATS))
((Tami Bova-Luke
Horse Trainer))
I'm a horrible businesswoman in this because I have too much heart. When they come to us, they never leave. The horses that I generally have, I have till they say goodbye to us. Every once in a while, I may sell one but it's very rare.
((NATS))
((Tami Bova-Luke
Horse Trainer))
My future dream would be for my girls to keep being successful. Keep loving what they're doing in this horse industry and then eventually make it to the National Finals Rodeo if they so choose. And who knows, maybe be a world champion one day. But if you talk to any barrel racer, that's pretty much every barrel racer’s dream.
((NATS))
((Tami Bova-Luke
Horse Trainer))
I would like to be remembered as a nice person, as somebody that's helpful to others. I'm always trying to better myself. That can be tricky sometimes. It's always easier to help others than to help yourself.
((NATS))


CLOSING BUMPER ((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect


NEXT WEEK ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
In coming weeks….
Kid Entrepreneur
((SOT))
((Alejandro Buxton
CEO, Smell of Love Candles))
My name is Alejandro Buxton. I am the CEO of Smell of Love Candles and I am 11 years old and I am in sixth grade. Smell of Love Candles is a candle company that specializes in vegan candles and organic candles. We do not sell candles that have bad chemicals in them.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Alejandro Buxton
CEO, Smell of Love Candles))
I was nine years old when I started this idea. It was a little crazy idea to me because when you're a kid, you don't really expect to start a business.
((Banner))
In coming weeks….
Life Coach
((SOT))
Hello, hello my dear. How are you? How was your coffee this morning?
((Rajika Mahan
Life Coach))
A life coach really focuses on really asking on where you are and where you want to be? Tapping into what is your passion, what is your purpose, what are your dreams, what are your goals that you want to ignite for yourself. Because when you are in the frame of your life, you’re not able to see it for yourself.
((Rajika Mahan
Life Coach))
You recognized the thought that was coming up or the feeling that was coming up and you took a bolder step and you created that for your life.

CLOSING BUMPER ((ANIM))
voanews.com/connect


((PKG)) FREE PRESS MATTERS ((NATS/VIDEO/GFX))
((NATS))
((Popup captions over B Roll))
Near the Turkish Embassy
Washington, D.C.
May 16, 2017
President Erdogan’s bodyguard attacks peaceful protesters
“Those terrorists deserved to be beaten”
“They should not be protesting our president”
“They got what they asked for”
While some people may turn away from the news

We cover it
reliably
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BREAK THREE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))


SHOW ENDS