All posts by shlei

Enjoy Spring in the Vassar Farm

May 10, 2014Independent field tripsshlei

On May 8, I have gone to Vassar farm which is located near the Vassar college.

Vassar Farm has a long history. The 200 acres vassar farm land was purchased by Vassar Brother hospital to create a settling field and filter beds to approach the waste in 1895. In 1911, the land was incorporate with another southern 300 acres of the current preserve to become single tract. According to the 1918-19 Vassar College Catalogue, the farm included “a model dairy and poultry farm, greenhouses, stables, storage barns and farm houses….[It] produces vegetables for the college table, and grain and fodder for the cattle and poultry. The dairy supplies milk and cream for the college from a tested herd of Holstein cattle.” The Vassar girls worked firstly in World War I and II when the extra help during the summer months was in short supply, which build a spacial relationship between the land and College.After a short term closed off, the farm has been utilized again as an ecological preserve for conservation and research in 1976.

There is a multiple use area in the northeastern portion of vassar farm. A small piece was used as a part of Poughkeepsie Farm project. Vassar Rugby and Cross Country team can also play games here. Vassar members conduct research on the ecological preserve. And the Field Station also contribute to the teaching and research of natural history, ecology, botany, environmental education, and earth science. There are many modern facilities in the field station. You can imagine how cool when you study in the field station where outside there is a vast farm land!

The Vassar farm is so beautiful. There is a diversity of habitats such as streams, wetlands, forest in the surrounding area. you can do so many things in your vacation day. Walking, hiking and biking in the land you can discover a world different from the New York City.

The food production is still a part of Vassar farm. There are many gardeners in the farm who are industrious and interesting. I can learn much about the life and agriculture when I talked with them. I believe the most part of the food in deece are from Vassar Farm. That is why the food in Vassar college is so delicious!

There are many kinds of animals in the Vassar farm. You can observe field sparrows, bluebirds, red-tailed hawks, rabbits, and even migrating bobolinks amongst the grasses and goldenrod. Because the fields and forests combined with the surrounding urban yard provide food supplies, there are many deer here. The deer management plan has been adopted to protect and preserve the ecological diversity of the land.

The field trip to the Vassar farm was amazing. Walk outside to enjoy spring in the Vassar Farm and Ecological Preserve!

Field trip to the Farm to Table Co-Packers

May 9, 2014Uncategorizedshlei

After five times field trip to various farms in the New York state, we knew much about agriculture and rural life in American society. As an international exchange student from China, I never know much about the life in the farm and never thought I have the chance to get into the other way of living in America. But the field trip give me the chance to experience it and it is so interesting and attractive! Yes, I was so looking forward to this visit!

This Friday, we went to the Farm to Table Co-Packers, which located 1 hour from Vassar College. Kingston-based Farm to Table Co-Packers is a full-service contract packaging company. The building of this company is the former office of IBM. It was founded by Jim Hyland, who has an ambitious idea to provide the healthy , local food in winter.Because some food cannot be sold in harvest season, it will be wasted. However, the company absorb it and package this food into add- value food in food market so that the food can be sold all round the year, not the short harvest season. Because of it, we can eat healthy food in winter and the surplus food will not be wasted.

This the product of this company.

Now the company has so many kitchens that includes a processing line, a full bakery, an incubator/test kitchen, a cutting-edge “Individually Quick Frozen” system, storage for refrigerated, frozen and dry goods, and multiple loading docks.

This is the machine of product line. It seems so complicated that I do not know how to use it.

The history of farm to Table Co-Packers shakes me. Not like the traditional farms, This company only make the fresh food into value-added product. Now it has become the food- hub in this region. From this trip, I learned that a good idea can create a good company, and the combination of modern and tradition can make our daily life better.

After finished our visit to Table Co-Packers, we came to a beautiful small town- Kingston, which has so many beautiful buildings . there are many interesting stores in the town. The weather is nice, I am so happy when I was looking around to take some beautiful pictures.

I have six field trips in this class from traditional farms to modern company. I have went to many beautiful places . It is so different from the city.