Designing Ecological Habitats - Gaia Education

inging tHe Harvest Home : csa farming anD farmer eDucation at itHaca 119
CSA: we’re all in this together
A CSA farm creates a wonderful
web of connection between people
and the land. By joining a CSA,
people can enjoy organic seasonal
food produced close to home at the
same time as they help sustainable
agriculture to flourish. Shareholders
pay a portion of the farm’s expenses
and in return receive a weekly
bounty of freshly picked vegetables,
herbs, and flowers all through the
growing season (from late May to
early November in upstate New
York). Farmers benefit by having a
guaranteed market for their produce,
and consumers have the satisfaction of eating well – a dynamic that is
both reciprocal and personal. As Jen told me, “The relationships we
develop with our members nourish us, just as the food we produce nourishes
our members.”
West Haven Farm is not only supported by its CSA members, however.
Although 60 percent of the farm’s crops do go to members, another 40
percent go to the Ithaca Farmer’s Market, and 1 percent goes wholesale to
EVI (for our community meals several times a week) and Greenstar (a local
natural foods cooperative). That adds up to 101 percent, which accurately
represents what the couple puts into the farm. All in all, West Haven Farm
feeds about 1,000 people a week during the growing season. As a casual
gardener, I find it astonishing that 10 acres can be so intensely productive.
Part of the secret of the farm’s success has to do with the way that our
farmers nurture the soil. John and his right-hand helper, farm manager Todd
McLane, literally feed the soil by applying green and composted manure,
planting nitrogen-fixing cover crops, and practicing crop rotation. Their
efforts are restoring land previously depleted by years of poor farming
practices. And healthy land produces healthy crops.
The land now produces veggies with exceptionally high nutrient values.
In fact, at EVI a popular folk remedy for colds calls for soup made from Jen
and John’s fresh produce. Eat the soup for dinner, the saying goes, and you’ll
feel better by morning. I’ve tried it and it’s true.
Today the farm is a very successful operation. The couple farms 8½
acres (3.4 hectares) of veggies, 1½ acres (0.6 hectares) of fruit, and a 1 acre
(0.4 hectare) apple orchard in a nearby town (which they work cooperatively
with another farmer). They grow 250 varieties of seed, including about 50
types of flowers and just about every type of vegetable you can grow in the
Northeast, except asparagus. They planted lots of fruit trees in 2001 – apple,
peach, apricot, pear and plums – which are now beginning to bear fruit.
Planting at West
Haven Farm.