A Tale of Two Farms: Half Pint and Essex

The Local Food Project’s third annual conference is coming up on January 9, 2009 and the excitement is starting to build. It will be a full day, in-depth, knowledge-packed forum featuring two incredible farm projects from the Northeast. Speaking for the first time in Virginia, Essex Farm (Essex, NY) and Half Pint Farm (Burlington, VT) will present a complete and detailed picture of the innovative systems that have allowed their sustainable operations to flourish. Whether you’re a home gardener, a small farmer, a food policy expert, or a buyer and eater of local food, you’ll want to attend this unique event to learn about the key factors that make these farms so successful. Check back in the next few weeks for details on registration. We’ll also be posting background information on the speakers so you can begin thinking about the questions you want to ask them!

To register for "A Tale of Two Farms," send an email to localfoodproject@airlie.org.

View from a ladder: Four-square compost bin

Four-square compost bin
Originally uploaded by Local Food Project at Airlie

The Local Food Project at Airlie demonstrates the ins and outs of a small-scale food system. An important cog in that system is the compost we develop with garden waste and food scraps from the Airlie Center kitchen. We received almost 20,000 pounds of scraps last year—a valuable supply of nitrogen that, when combined with carbon-rich plant stalks and other brown matter from the garden, cooks down into moist, black, crumbly compost dense with nutrients that vegetables need to thrive. For more information on soil and compost, visit ATTRA, the National Sustainable Agricuture Information Service’s Sustainable Soil Management section.

We designed this four-square compost bin to effectively handle daily additions of food scraps from Airlie’s kitchen, provide a convenient place to store brown matter, and allow for a smooth transition between active and completed piles. From our view up on the ladder, this style of compost bin will do a lot to enhance our system, helping it become more sustainable and complete.

The simple joy of cleaning tools

Cleaning tools to store for winter
Originally uploaded by Local Food Project at Airlie

With garden production slowing down, the Local Food Project crew decided it was time to clean out our shed and get our favorite handtools ready for winter hibernation. Since we perform most of our garden work by hand, we’re devoted users of well-made tools like the broadfork, the English spade, and the digging fork. To keep these and other tools in good condition, we scrubbed any last clumps of soil from the tines and blades with metal-bristled brushes. Then we worked boiled linseed oil into the wooden handles, ensuring the wood stays smooth and supple. After the busy-ness of the summer, taking an hour or so to care for the tools that aid us so well in the garden felt like a very worthwhile task for a crisp November afternoon.

Exploring the Small Farm Dream

On November 6, the Local Food Project at Airlie hosted its first session of a unique decision-making course for potential farmers. “Exploring the Small Farm Dream: Is Starting an Agricultural Business Right for You?” was developed by the New England Small Farm Institute to bridge the gap between ideas and action.

We welcomed a diverse group of 26 small farm dreamers and launched right into a series of exercises assessing skills, knowledge, financial considerations, resources, and risks. Course participants were excited to share their ideas for farm businesses. Most have plans to market a varied product line including items like vegetables, berries, orchard fruits, grass-fed meats, dairy, and even mushrooms and nuts. The coming sessions will feature several local farmers who will provide a peek into their own farm business journeys. We hope to spend the next four weeks helping members of the class explore their dreams and come one step closer to launching their farms!

View from a sixteen foot ladder

View from a ladder
Originally uploaded by Local Food Project at Airlie

So what’s the story behind the name of our blog? It started with a food fight between two well-intentioned gardeners, a voice from the sky promoting compromise rather than strict adherence to any one philosophy, and a very tall, theatrically-inclined ladder that became the perfect centerpiece for an outdoor performance.

This summer, my co-intern Lauren and I read two books with some contradictory messages about the best way to run a sustainable garden—How to Grow More Vegetables, by John Jeavons, and Gardening When It Counts, by Steve Solomon.

We created a skit about two warring disciples of these master gardeners and performed it at our July “Small Space, High Yield” workshop. “The Voice of Compromise” (played by Pablo) saved the day by descending from a sixteen foot ladder and explaining that we shouldn’t let sticking to one certain method get in the way of growing food and building community.

Since then, we’ve realized that climbing up on that sixteen foot ladder allows us to get a refreshing perspective on all of the tasks and chores and projects we’re working on. From sixteen feet up we get a sense of the whole system working as one. And it’s exhilarating to stand high above the ground, a little shaky as the breeze sweeps in from the fields, feeling both proud and ridiculous on such a bold set piece in a little garden full of food.

Winter salad bar

Jericho Lettuce
Originally uploaded by Local Food Project at Airlie

This fall marks the Local Food Project’s first season growing veggies in our new passive solar hoophouse. The structure was built with assistance from members of the community during a workshop led by biodynamic farming guru Steve Moore. We laid out the beds and aisles to allow easy access for visitors, setting aside a gathering space in the middle for wine tastings or warming up with hot cocoa. We’re still putting the finishing touches on the hoophouse—installing solar-powered vents, constructing doors from sustainably logged wood—but the cool-season crops we’ve planted are already making great progress.

Here’s what we’re growing:

Green Lettuce—Jericho
Red lettuce—Red Cross, Yugoslavian, and Sweet Valentine
Kale—Laci Nato, Vates
Bok Choy—Mei Ping
Swiss Chard—Rainbow
Basil—Lettuce Leaf, Lemon, Red Rubin, Italian Large Leaf
Dill
Fennel

Once we get the hoophouse completely sealed up, I’m thinking it’s going to be our favorite place to escape the winter cold. And I can’t wait for next spring when it will help launch our spring and summer garden.

Cover crops for new growing space

Spreading straw over cover crop seeds
Originally uploaded by Local Food Project at Airlie

We’re expanding the current layout of the Local Food Project garden to include at least two new sections on the west side. This area is currently outside the fence, but we’ll be replacing the fence line this winter to include our new sections (along with extra room for future growth).

To begin preparing the soil for next spring, we made one pass with the tiller about four weeks ago. Last week, we tilled again, then direct sowed field peas and oats by scooping them out in handfuls and letting them scatter over the freshly turned soil. These cover crops, also known as "green manures," do great things for the soil. According to Eliot Coleman's The New Organic Grower, "Green manure crops help protect against erosion, retain nutrients that might otherwise be leached from the soil, suppress the germination and growth of weeds, cycle nutrients from the lower to the upper layers of the soil, and--in the case of legumes--leave to the following crop a considerable quantity of nitrogen."

The little seeds that ran through our fingers will bring enormous benefits to our garden! To keep them protected, we fought high winds and covered each section with a light layer of straw. When we’re ready to put seedlings in the ground next season, we’ll plant directly through the cover crops, then watch as the plants thrive in the enriched soil.