10/6/11Pig Roast 2011, A story by Jim Pfitzer
Pig Roast 2011
Or, Free Beer For the Children
(No, the children don’t get the beer, the children just get the benefits of the beer.)
Okay, I can see that this headline is not going well… just read the article!
In his book Ravens In Winter Bernd Heinrich wrote, “There is no greater pleasure than eating roasted moose while sitting under a spruce and contemplating ravens.” I often quote Heinrich to express my delight in the simple, quiet, solo times, and to remind myself how important those experiences are. But my friends will tell you that I also often repeat my own words: “There is a reason there are more than one of us on the planet,” and let’s face it, sometimes we need to be out in the open, eating our meat in public, conversing with old friends, meeting new ones, and scaring away the ravens with great music. I can think of no greater reason for there being more than one of us on the planet than The Crabtree Farms Pig Roast 2011.
This year’s roast promises to be loads of fun and delicious with music from The Dismembered Tennesseans and The New Binkley Brothers, healthy local food prepared by Greenlife Grocery, and of course mounds of slow-roasted BBQ! To wash it all down and help get your feet shuffling to all that great music, Chattanooga Brewing Company is throwing in Free Beer! And of course for the vegetarians, vegans, pigaphobes, Californians, and Martians there will be plenty of non-pig food on hand as well.
And for those who fancy themselves to be BBQ chefs, there will be a Hittin’ the Sauce Contest! Amateurs and professionals, backyard saucers, restaurateurs, individuals, and teams will be competing to win fabulous prizes including a feature in the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Sauces will be judged in a blind taste test by those in attendance at the Pig Roast. In other words, you get to decide the winners! The deadline for entering your sauce has passed, but now is the time to scope the competition and begin working on your own recipe for next year!
As easy as you may be enticed by music, food, beer, and sauce to buy a dozen tickets to the roast for you and all your cousins, there is a more important reason to come out to the farm next weekend: your ticket purchase supports Crabtree’s much-needed Community Education Programs and Services. Throughout the school year, children visit the farm, often getting their first 
ever, genuine farm experience. At Crabtree they might learn where their food comes from or how to make a salad. They may get to see how mushrooms grow or hear an inspiring farm story. Or make a farm journal. Or do a farm-related craft project. They might even get to pick their own blackberries! And none of that can happen without raising some funds, so buy your ticket now!
The Pig Roast kicks off at 6pm on October 8th.
Supper is from 7:15-8:30pm
The Roast will Rock ’til Dark!