Article and photography by Fitz
(Lead photo of Bobby Brothers at Brothers Farm)
(Bobby Brothers in April at Brothers Farm)
Blister hickeys most assuredly await my fair skin later tonight as the sun continues to kiss my neck. I’m on a small farm, Brothers Farm, a few minutes across the Virginia border into Carolina. I squat down in pig poo and nudge closer to the bull pig than I was told to, trying to get a good shot. Full disclosure before I go any further: this isn’t my scene. I’ve never been the outdoors type, as the visual of my birkenstock clogs getting stuck in the feces and mud catch Bobby Brothers stare―I attempt to stand back up, having got a close in shot of the fat backs chewing teeth.
(American Guinea hogs at Brothers Farm)
While I am not the outdoorsy type, I most certainly am a foodie. And if there ever was a reason to get a little down and dirty, getting to know more about the man at the root, literally, of many of my favorite dishes in Hampton Roads is reason enough for me. You see if you have eaten at Nouvelle Restaurant, HomeGrown Restaurant or LeGrand Restaurant, odds are you’ve been served vegetables grown by the man over my shoulder right now.
(Rina Estero of Nouvelle Restaurant at Brothers Farm in April)
While it was Chef Rina at Nouvelle, off in the distance picking Russian Kale, who first put Bobby on my radar when she served his asparagus―the best I have had in years, as Southern Grit met with more and more chefs―Bobby’s name kept coming up. Quotes like Nick Hagen’s, Chef at Homegrown, highlights this: “It’s the best shit around and he takes care of us like family. We know where our food is coming from, he even cooks with us sometimes. Bobby is more than a farmer at this point, he’s family.” These are often echoed as we eat our way across the 7 cities.
I don’t yet know Bobby on that level. However, the man is responsible for regularly making my urine smell rancid, because if his asparagus is on a menu around Hampton Roads you can bet your ass I’m ordering it. Sun be damned, I got a photo shoot to finish.
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Brothers Farms is best described as a “small garden farm,” as Bobby is quick to say. To date, Brothers Farm has 26 active restaurants that buy from them in the VA area―from Suffolk to Virginia Beach―which they deliver to every Thursday. Being a small garden farmer always comes with a myriad of potential problems and last year was no exception; due to severe weather, Brothers Farms had some difficult times, as expenses were mounting, equipment needed to be replaced, and, most concerning, the crop yield had also suffered. To combat this, Bobby, along with wife Lisa, took to the internet by running a gofundme in order to aid in building a new roadside market and funding other repairs on the farm. This campaign was active when we first visited the farm in early April. At 12pm on June 15th, as a result of the funds that were raised, they opened a brand new market on their farm―one day after Bobby’s 50th birthday.
Though, as Lisa explained on her social media recently, they “do not quite have everything 100% completely like [they] want,” Lisa seemed extremely enthusiastic about the progress with the farm and market, writing: “we would like to thank all of our CSA customers (in Elizabeth City & Portsmouth), our customers at the Portsmouth Olde Towne Farmers Market, the contributions that have been made through customers and friends and the contributions made through our gofundme page both through the generosity of people that we do know as well as so many that we don’t! Please know that you ALL are appreciated! Without all of the help and support, this would not have been possible right now and not something we had even envisioned just a few months ago! So thank you, thank you, thank you!”
You can often find Bobby, Lisa, and their veggies at the Portsmouth Olde Towne Farmers Market. Should you stop into Nouvelle Restaurant in Norfolk, currently the braised greens as part of the Chicken Provençal dish are from Brothers. And if you hit up HomeGrown in Oldetown the “Home Grown Saute” features an assortment of Brothers veggies.
For more on Brothers Farm visit:
www.brothersfarmmarket.com & www.facebook.com/lisa.s.brothers
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