Harvest vegetables. Photo: Brent Ridge, Beekman 1802.

Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell are the farmers and innovators behind Beekman 1802, a 200-year-old estate and farm in upstate New York. We'll be running recipes, photos and tales from the farm as their crops come into season.

When we first moved to the Beekman Farm, we knew really nothing about farming. Most of what we now know we learned from talking to our neighbors, local farmers with years worth of experience. We felt it was time to say "thank you," so the Beekman Farm is hosting a Harvest Festival in historic Sharon Springs, N.Y., to celebrate local farmers. The festivities will conclude with a five-course meal at the American Hotel , with primary ingredients (from the butter to the bourbon) that are all locally sourced.

While the festival was a year in the planning, there are some very worthwhile things that you can do to say "thanks" to your own local farmers. Here are a few ways to get started:

• Didn't even know there were farmers in your neck of the woods? Then a good place to start is at localharvest.org. Plug in your ZIP code and in an instant see what's growing near you.
• If you haven't frequented your local farmer's market, plan a trip. Find the nearest one by contacting your local agricultural extension office.

• If you do hit the farm stands, ramp it up a notch. Plan one whole meal for your family sourced only from the farmer's market. Feeling more ambitious? Invite friends over for a dinner party and introduce them to all of your great finds. Check out the Beekman Farm blog on Slashfood for some simple, tasty recipes.

• Have a favorite local restaurant? Encourage the proprietors to use a few local ingredients on their menu. This will likely be a bit more costly for the restaurant owner than ordering supplies from a big food distributor, but let them know that this is an important issue to you and that you are willing to pay a little extra to support local farmers.

• Teach your children well. Children love animals and playing in the dirt. There's no better way to teach them where their food comes from than with a field trip to a local farm.

For more information about the Harvest Festival and to see the menu we have planned for the Harvest Feast, visit us at www.beekman1802.com. In the coming weeks, we'll be sharing some of the recipes developed for the celebration.