2013 Hudson Valley CRAFT schedules

Farm interns are farmers-in-training. A good internship program is as committed to education as it is to hands-on experience in the field, so that interns can learn all of the skills necessary for good farm management.

The Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training (CRAFT) is a model for sharing supplemental farm training in cooperation with a number of participating farms.  The Lower Hudson Craft program is based on the Western Massachusetts/Eastern New York CRAFT program that was formed in 1994.  Participants visit a host farm for a tour, a talk or demonstration on a specific topic. These visits to other farms offer farmers-in-training a chance to see how different operations work, to develop practical skills and to network with other farmers and farm interns.  Interns at Lower-Hudson farms are also invite to attend the meetings of the Mid-Hudson CRAFT group, greatly increasing the opportunities for learning!  The MH schedule is below LH.

This is a professional development program for farmers-in-training!  
If you are a gardener or would like to learn gardening skills but are not an aspiring farmer, we encourage you to check out Crop Mob NYC and Lower Hudson Crop Mob for opportunities to work with farmers.


Lower-Hudson CRAFT 2013  *see Mid-Hudson schedule at bottom of page*

May 9 – Worksong Workshop @ Common Ground Farm


May 23 – Landowner Relationships @ I&Me
205 Wood Road in Bedford Hills, NY
Enter the shared driveway and at the crest of the hill bear right into the open fields. Drive slowly up the dirt road and park at the entrance of the fenced garden/hoop.

Join Slow Food Metro North Board Member Eileen Hochberg and Mimi Edelman, owner of I&Me Farm, to explore land opportunities with private landowners from the perspective of landowner and farmer how to build a sustainable, fair relationship in leasing farmland. In addition to this topic, an introduction to planning, installing and utilizing a hoop house for extending the growing season.


June 6 – Small Scale Integrated Farming – Millstone Farm
www.millstonefarm.org
(203) 834-2605  180 Millstone Road Wilton, CT 06897

Join us for a tour of the farm's pastured Shetland sheep,poultry, meat & laying chickens, turkeys, and pigs.  We will also look at  our year-round hoop houses, intensively planted gardens, greens production, and seedling house as we do an overview of the  Farm. Millstone also does many educational workshops, events, and farm to fork dinners with their Chefs. We can talk about that too.


June 20 -- Pfeiffer Center -- Biodynamics
www.pfeiffercenter.org
(845) 352-5020 x20   260 Hungry Hollow Rd, Chestnut Ridge, NY 10977

We will do a ‘walk-talk’ description of the biodynamic approach as we tour our greenhouse, small orchard, garden, compost yard, and apiary. If there is time we will visit our draft Haflingers—Captain and Eva.


July 4th – Glynwood Farm -- Tour, Pizza and Swim
www.glynwood.org
(845) 265-3338  362 Glynwood Road, Cold Spring, NY 10516, off Route 301


July 18  -- Cabbage Hill Farm -- Aquaponics
www.cabbagehillfarm.org
115 Crow Hill Road  Mt Kisco, NY  10549


August 1 – Ryder Farm – Flower Production
POTLUCK starts at 5:00 
www.RyderFarmOrganic.com  
(203) 300-6230  400 Starr Ridge Rd  Brewster, NY 10509

This CRAFT visit will feature the cultivation, harvest, and bouquet of mixed flowers with host Betsey Ryder, who has been an organic grower on her family’s 1795 homestead since 1978. Initially Betsey was the flower and herb sidekick to a larger vegetable operation marketing at NYC Union Sq Greenmarket. During these early years that her business developed the niche marketing of the mixed flower bouquet, growing to serve wholesale clients including Dean and Deluca, Hay Day and Sutton Place along with a variety of grocers, florists and farm stands. This line called “Flowers from my Garden” was so named such that clients, who wished that the flowers were from their own garden, could take claim for them. Her bouquet arrangements are constructed of her cultivated annual and perennial flowers and include a wild streak of flowers harvested from her farm meadows. This CRAFT event also provides the opportunity to visit the 4-5 acres of Certified Organic growing of vegetables and herbs that Ryder Farm Cottage Industries has grown to become, serving farmers markets, CSA, wholesale and custom orders and the roadside farm stand that is located on the farm.

August 15 -- Cropsey Community Farm – Undersowing
www.rocklandfarm.org 
(845) 634-3167  220 South Little Tor Road  New City, NY 10956

Undersowing! Our plan this season is to plant white clover under our vegetable crops to act as a living mulch. Our hope is that it will be well established when our vegetable crop is finished. Please join us to see how our experiment works. We'll share our successes and challenges, seek your advice, and give you a tour of our farm, which is a unique partnership with Rockland County and the town of Clarkstown. 


August 29 -- Hilltop Hanover Farm – Winter Season Extension Simplified
www.hilltophanoverfarm.org
(914) 962-2368 1271 Hanover Street
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598

Overcome the fear of winter season extension.  Hilltop Hanover Farm is in the midst of its second year of passive winter hoophouse production for local restaurant markets. Come and find out about our do's and don'ts from the past two seasons in the winter hoophouse.  Learn about our seeding dates, variety selections, soil fertility management, and the integration of our winter and summer hoophouse growing plans.  


September 12 -- Seedswell Vegetable Farm -- Farm Infrastructure: Fencing, Irrigation, Buildings & Equipment
www.seedswell.com
284 Guard Hill Road, Mount Kisco, NY 10549

We are a small owner-operated vegetable farm, farm stand and CSA located in Bedford, NY in our third year of business.  We focus highly on cover cropping and crop rotation to build soil life and structure.  Though we are small, we are fortunate to have the use of a number of buildings and many pieces of equipment (cultivating tractors, many cultivators, seeders, mulch layer etc.) that help make our business successful.  We have installed irrigation in each garden plot to help reduce our losses due to transplant shock & drought, and we have deer fencing to minimize damage from pests like deer, ground hogs and turkeys.

Since the land and buildings we use are in various places on the property, we will take you on a walking tour of our greenhouses as well as our gardens as we talk about our infrastructure.  Please come prepared to walk on dirt roads and up hills! 

We will meet at our farm stand (284 Guard Hill Road, Mt. Kisco).  There is parking by the road as well as in front of the stand.  Ashley & Josh will be there to greet you!


September 26 -- Youth Farm at High School for Public Service


October 10 -- Brooklyn Grange


October 24 – Social Closer  **location to be determined*

Mid Hudson CRAFT – 2013 Schedule

If potluck is indicated, then the potluck will go from 5-6pm and the farm tour/visit always goes from 6-8pm.

May 16 – Opening – Welcome, Commercial Compost, Grain – McEnroe Organic Farm

May 30 – Herbs and Value-Added Production and potluck at 5pm! – Twee Fontaine

June 13 – Greenhouse Management – Stone Barns

June 27 – Permaculture – Clove Valley Farm

July 4 – Tour, Pizza & Swim – Glynwood

July 8th – (note: Monday at 2pm!) Mechanical Cultivation  -  Sister’s Hill Farm

July 11 – No-Till Veggie Production  -  Four Winds Farm

July 25 – Small-Scale Livestock & Diversity – Old Ford Farm

Aug 8 – Organic and IPM Orcharding – Fishkill Farms

Aug 22 – Community Building and Arts on Farm – Brook Farm

Sept 5 – Under Cropping and Cover Cropping – Phillies Bridge Farm

Sept 19 – Biodynamics/Draft Horse Workshop – Great Song Farm

Oct 3  - Seed Saving – Hudson Valley Seed Library

Oct 17 – Starting a CSA – Hearty Roots Community Farm

Oct 31 – Tractor Basics – Poughkeepsie Farm Project

If potluck is indicated, then the potluck will go from 5-6pm and the farm tour/visit always goes from 6-8pm.