This is our youngest, Freyja, who was just so excited about that tiny egg, and the full moon, I had to share the photo. She brought the egg to her sister, and they bundled it up in some of Travis' old silk ties; hoping to hatch it, and refused to believe me when I told them that a small egg like that probably wouldn't hatch. In their young creative minds anything is possible, and if a massive pumpkin can grow from a tiny seed, a bullfrog come of little slimy egg, why not a chicken from an abnormally small egg? If only everyone could have such imaginations; a sense of hope and knowing that with just a little loving care and warmth, anything can grow, including their dreams to reality. It is they, our children, our future, who have inspired and taught us how to build our dream of farming and sharing great food into being. We farm for them.
As we head into the calm coldness of winter, a time for family and reflection, planning, and dreaming, I wanted to share some of our reflections.
We farm, not just for today, but for tomorrow. For the health of the soil we till to continue providing sustenance, not just for our bodies, but the whole ecosystem; we choose organic practices, not as a mere business model, but as a labor of love and understanding for the circle of life.
We choose to be a CSA farm for the future as well. CSA's provide money for future returns, a secure deposit on your season of local food. Peering further into the future, however, the CSA model will enable us to to create a symbiotic ASC, or Agriculture Supported Community. By inviting neighbors to be members of our farm, we are inviting you to be part of a community. While people have differing reasons for choosing to eat healthy by way of CSA rather than farmer's markets, or grocery stores, the majority see it as a way of building a stronger local economy, a buffer from the national and global economy at large. Prepaying for your share allows a unique opportunity to avoid the stresses of ever increasing food prices.
However we realize that many factors deter people from choosing a CSA, the most prevalent being selection and up front price. These are two factors we considered when building our CSA plans. We have decided to offer a build your own box option at a couple of our pick up sites, so that members can choose the produce that their family likes best, and less food is wasted. Also we are willing to work out payment arrangements for folks who want to join our CSA, but it is not financially feasible to pay everything up front. While this doesn't allow people to get the early full payment discount, they can disperse their food bill over the growing season as their budgets allow. We are also working on getting set up to accept EBT payments which we feel is an important step in making healthy food available to everyone. With these harsh economic times, and increasing food and health care costs, and something like 1/4 of the U.S. population on some sort of public assistance, and many more on the brink of needing it, being flexible and keeping local is very important for the the success of any small business. While many have told us that it is counterproductive to offer payment options for a CSA, which is supposed to be money in our bank to start the season, I see it as a way to disperse income throughout the season in a manageable way, and allow us to market to a previously unmarketable demographic. While last year Grindstone Farm worked with CSA-CNY to develop a "subsidized" share offering,we hope that offering payment options will offset the need to subsidize shares. We haven't given up on this idea however, and if you'd like to donate to CSA-CNY to help offset the cost of a share for low income families, please go to their website- www.csacny.org Donations are tax deductible, and can give folks a chance to eat healthy in our many local food desserts.
So as we reflect and plan, anxiously awaiting spring, we look to the future with hope, as more and more CSA's appear on the market, and more and more new farmers are going organic, and the national rhetoric for healthy food is increasing despite the push from every direction to further industrialize our food system. By choosing to support a CSA, you are voting with your wallet, saying that clean food is a human right, and it's being eroded by our present food system of GMO's and deadly chemicals. We feel it is not just a right, but an obligation to future generations. The more people choose to support local organic farms, the less we are part of the destruction of our delicate ecosystems. The less we are dependent upon fossil fuels, expensive, sometimes harmful medicines, and large corporate food giants who abuse human rights across the globe. The more connected we are to the Earth, and our fellow humans. The more freedom we have to choose to know where our food is coming from, the more empowered we become to make further conscious choices in our daily lives that will affect future generations. The choices we make now can be our grandchildren's blessing or bane.
I think about this farm and all it's seen since it was built in the late 1800's. Looking around at all the former farms that are now something else just in my lifetime, it is a miracle that it still stands, intact, as if untouched by industrial "progress". Sitting along I81 where former farms are now Walmarts and gas stations, it contains 89 of the original deed of 109 acres. The farm records that we were lucky enough to acquire with the property indicate that it has been a farm since the land was settled and cleared. The house and barn constructed from tree cleared for grazing and planting. There is a bit of nostalgia in our timber framed barn, and the plans to restore it to original beauty and functionality. The past meets the future with us in between. Growing on acreage up the road at Grindstone Farm, named after the creek that runs through it, we are doing our small part to protect our watershed, as it runs through both farms.
Freedom Rains Farm was founded with a vision of a sustainable community. One in which we no longer have to fight for clean water, clean food, clean air. One which we are proud to pass onto future generations. One which knows no boarders. One in which the only rule is "love, and do what you love" While we know many want to become more independent, and we encourage folks to grow gardens, we know that people's passions and talents lie in different places, so let us do what we love so you can do what you love.
We grow for our members. We farm for the future.
As we head into the calm coldness of winter, a time for family and reflection, planning, and dreaming, I wanted to share some of our reflections.
We farm, not just for today, but for tomorrow. For the health of the soil we till to continue providing sustenance, not just for our bodies, but the whole ecosystem; we choose organic practices, not as a mere business model, but as a labor of love and understanding for the circle of life.
We choose to be a CSA farm for the future as well. CSA's provide money for future returns, a secure deposit on your season of local food. Peering further into the future, however, the CSA model will enable us to to create a symbiotic ASC, or Agriculture Supported Community. By inviting neighbors to be members of our farm, we are inviting you to be part of a community. While people have differing reasons for choosing to eat healthy by way of CSA rather than farmer's markets, or grocery stores, the majority see it as a way of building a stronger local economy, a buffer from the national and global economy at large. Prepaying for your share allows a unique opportunity to avoid the stresses of ever increasing food prices.
However we realize that many factors deter people from choosing a CSA, the most prevalent being selection and up front price. These are two factors we considered when building our CSA plans. We have decided to offer a build your own box option at a couple of our pick up sites, so that members can choose the produce that their family likes best, and less food is wasted. Also we are willing to work out payment arrangements for folks who want to join our CSA, but it is not financially feasible to pay everything up front. While this doesn't allow people to get the early full payment discount, they can disperse their food bill over the growing season as their budgets allow. We are also working on getting set up to accept EBT payments which we feel is an important step in making healthy food available to everyone. With these harsh economic times, and increasing food and health care costs, and something like 1/4 of the U.S. population on some sort of public assistance, and many more on the brink of needing it, being flexible and keeping local is very important for the the success of any small business. While many have told us that it is counterproductive to offer payment options for a CSA, which is supposed to be money in our bank to start the season, I see it as a way to disperse income throughout the season in a manageable way, and allow us to market to a previously unmarketable demographic. While last year Grindstone Farm worked with CSA-CNY to develop a "subsidized" share offering,we hope that offering payment options will offset the need to subsidize shares. We haven't given up on this idea however, and if you'd like to donate to CSA-CNY to help offset the cost of a share for low income families, please go to their website- www.csacny.org Donations are tax deductible, and can give folks a chance to eat healthy in our many local food desserts.
So as we reflect and plan, anxiously awaiting spring, we look to the future with hope, as more and more CSA's appear on the market, and more and more new farmers are going organic, and the national rhetoric for healthy food is increasing despite the push from every direction to further industrialize our food system. By choosing to support a CSA, you are voting with your wallet, saying that clean food is a human right, and it's being eroded by our present food system of GMO's and deadly chemicals. We feel it is not just a right, but an obligation to future generations. The more people choose to support local organic farms, the less we are part of the destruction of our delicate ecosystems. The less we are dependent upon fossil fuels, expensive, sometimes harmful medicines, and large corporate food giants who abuse human rights across the globe. The more connected we are to the Earth, and our fellow humans. The more freedom we have to choose to know where our food is coming from, the more empowered we become to make further conscious choices in our daily lives that will affect future generations. The choices we make now can be our grandchildren's blessing or bane.
I think about this farm and all it's seen since it was built in the late 1800's. Looking around at all the former farms that are now something else just in my lifetime, it is a miracle that it still stands, intact, as if untouched by industrial "progress". Sitting along I81 where former farms are now Walmarts and gas stations, it contains 89 of the original deed of 109 acres. The farm records that we were lucky enough to acquire with the property indicate that it has been a farm since the land was settled and cleared. The house and barn constructed from tree cleared for grazing and planting. There is a bit of nostalgia in our timber framed barn, and the plans to restore it to original beauty and functionality. The past meets the future with us in between. Growing on acreage up the road at Grindstone Farm, named after the creek that runs through it, we are doing our small part to protect our watershed, as it runs through both farms.
Freedom Rains Farm was founded with a vision of a sustainable community. One in which we no longer have to fight for clean water, clean food, clean air. One which we are proud to pass onto future generations. One which knows no boarders. One in which the only rule is "love, and do what you love" While we know many want to become more independent, and we encourage folks to grow gardens, we know that people's passions and talents lie in different places, so let us do what we love so you can do what you love.
We grow for our members. We farm for the future.
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