Women in Agriculture Workshop

What a great turnout we had for this event. It was a rather cold day, as it should be being March after all, everyone took turns feeding wood to the potbelly stove and warming up with hot apple cider and nibblers prepared by Chef Patti, her lavender shortbread cookies were a big hit. We began with a session on organizing offered by Lisa Montanaro then broke out into groups Jerry Sommer taught the session on electric and Pat Brown handled the plumbing. A wonderful lunch was served by our chef Heather and then on to welding taught by Nancy Colgan and small engine trouble shooting taught by Audrey Wright. The day ended with a talk by Amy Jolin of the Ringwood Farmers Market on of course marketing! The opportunities for networking and learning were fantastic and we have requests for many more such workshops not just at our farm but at other farms as well. We were also blessed with the presence of Cherie Fortis and her husband of Cherie Fortis Productions, Inc, who filmed the day as part of a documentary on Women in Agriculture that she has been working on. A special thank you goes to the Orange County Dairy Court who graced us with their presence. I think one of the participants JJ Murphy summed up the day quite nicely when she wrote:

"Each presenter used their 45-minute time slot to share basic vocabulary, identify tools and supplies, and demonstrate a simple task. I now have an idea of how splice electric wire, solder copper wire without making a mess, and replace an air filter on a lawnmower. Am I an expert? No, but I know how to begin and ways I can practice safely until I learn."

What is it about this region

What is it about this region that I love so much? The black dirt just seems to reach out and like the fine wispy dust that filters off the soil it infiltrates your very being. We had received about 8 inches of snow the light feathery kind you can clean away with a broom and are feeling like we're right in the midst of a typical north-eastern winter. I personally was most grateful for this weather even though I will most happily welcome spring when it arrives. This return to deep winter conditions has given us a respite before we begin the work in earnest for the '09 growing season. I had gone to my Mother's house to shovel and clear snow and visited with my Mom and Sister for a bit. After I left their home I went for a ride to take pictures. The sky had shades of steely blues and greys, the blues were almost like the bluing on a gun. In the distance Mt Adam and Eve sleep like gentle giants, they too await the warm breath of spring. As I traveled around the valley you could see the windswept fields, some almost stripped bare of their white fur coat which just hours before laid so thickly over the entire region. Various sections of road lay covered with drifts that no matter how freqently the plow trucks come through remain as a challenge to the inattentive driver. It seems to me that this is how the desert must appear when the wind blows and the tmbleweeds fly. No matter when I look across the vistas of this region I always feel a sense of place and peace. It is who I am, it defines me.

End of the season or is it

Finally the end of October is near the pumpkins are almost all gone but we still have plenty of squashes, gourds and indian corn around. Some of our markets finish this weekend but most will continue on until Thanksgiving. The frantic pace will change to a slow frenzy as we get ready for winter and much needed rest. The field crew has begun to get more downtime and with the arrival of autumn rains the entire tempo of the farm changes. The autumn leaves have put on their fiery show of color and are the perfect backdrop for the stunning colors of the autumn squashes, pumpkins and mums. It is a time when most think that all the work comes to a halt on the farm and in a certain sense it does. Now we are preparing the fields for winters rest and springtime planting, the hitunnels are being planted for late winter early spring harvest, crop plans being prepared, assessments of the prior years work being done and the planning begins for the spring work. We start choosing what conferences to attend and perhaps a quick fun trip tucked in somewhere.

What about that word "Organic"

For those of you who live around my farm there was a great article about the black dirt region in the Sunday Times Herald Record, our local daily paper . The article included the statement that my farm is the only certified organic farm in the area. At this point in time my farm is not certified organic. We are Certified Naturally Grown and are applying for organic certification for our farm. We have signed the farmers pledge. We held open house on our farm on June 16th for the members of the public to inspect our farm as to our growing practices.

So what separates us from an organic farmer? Why do we not yet have organic certification on our farm?

We do everything an organic farmer does and more. Thanks to our farming practices our farm has come into a balance that is amazing. Natural predators like lady bugs thrive on our farm and we didn't introduce any to the environment. For our sweet corn we use a predator wasp called trychograma to eat the bugs that none of us like to see in our corn. Our colorado potato beetles and larva are removed by hand - here are pictures of the volunteers who came out to help with this project.

We have struggled with the question of certifying organic for many years now. Customers have begged us not to certify if the cost of the produce will go up. Personally I question how can I certify my farm when I have no clue what is in the water that so frequently floods my land? There is no provision for this as far as I am aware in any of the organic guidelines. Anyone who certifies their farm organic in a region that is composed of wetlands must seriously ponder the ethics in this regard. Anyone who certifies organic, has no buffer zones and farms next to conventional farmer neighbors who arial spray must also seriously ponder the ethics in this issue. Anyone who uses materials from nonorganic sources as a basis for their compost should consider what the consequences of their actions are.

I have given this long consideration and have come to realize that I cannot control the flood waters any more than I can control the acid rain. I can however control what I do and do not do on my farm. Being the only farmer in an area 75% surrounded by land that is either not farmed or owned by farmers who believe in the same philosphies I do makes it easier to carry on the land stewardship practices my family has become known for and is proud to carry on.

Why I farm

I had the distinct honor and pleasure of speaking at Stone Barns over in Westchester today. I was part of a panel of 4 farmers, all of us women, our topic was "Why we Farm". In preparing for this I thought about it quite a bit. I grew up on my farm, my parents, their parents, their parents and their parents were farmers so I guess you could say I was born to do this. I am totally in love with my farm, to me she possesses a magical beauty that in many ways can't be explained. When I make my daily rounds of the fields I am always amazed at the living spirit that thrives here. The landscape is always changing as only a living creature can, early in the morning on these hot summer days there is a misty fog in the air that is so primeval. I can almost see the mastodons munching away on the vegetation that sustained them here when the region was a glacial lake. And even when we are experiencing horrific flood conditions as we did this past April her fierce beauty shines through, keeping alive the promise of a thriving growing season.

Greetings from the farm

July 5th already, hard to believe that half the year is gone by. We're busy harvesting all sorts of summer squashes, sugar snap peas, greens, beets, garlic, herbs and all other sorts of goodies. The cucumbers are in full blossom and we've been picking squash blossoms as well. Recipes are starting to come in from all around the area for all of those great goodies we're bringing in from the fields. At this time of year it seems that the news is all about scapes - I didn't realize just how much garlic we had planted last fall until the scape harvest came in - 3 bin box fulls!!!!!! So we're trying to most anything we can with them. One of my favorites so far has been to fry them in tempura batter and then serve them with garlic jelly for a dipping sauce!!! They make an awesome pesto and we've been enjoying them roasted in the oven with olive oil and sea salt. We've also roasted them with balsamic vinegar - YUMMY!!!!!!