Few would know it, but just 15 minutes outside of Poughkeepsie, in a little suburban neighborhood in Pleasant Valley, NY there’s something quite interesting, something that all started when two parents decided to educate themselves and their children on raising and working with livestock.  The Millers started with just two alpacas, but by 2006, their venture had spread over a variety of farm animals (the original alpacas, then goats, chickens, and even a llama).  Before they knew it, they had a full-fledged operation on their hands, and they named it Creekside Acres Fiber Farm. Sitting on just an acre and a half of grazing land behind the Miller’s house, this full-fledged agricultural business hardly looks much bigger than a backyard.

Creekside Acres is a CSA fiber farm, which means at the start of every season, they have a group of friends, colleagues, and avid fiber workers invest in their herd. They take care of their animals with this investment over the winter, and come Spring-time, when the goats and alpacas are clipped, these investors get back a share of the season’s clippings, either in raw form, or as yarn. To get an understanding of scale, Creekside Acres sells the smallest share for $150, which amounts to 4% of their yearly harvest. They offer approximately 19 of these shares to the public.

If you’ve done the math for that, you can see it doesn’t amount to much, especially thinking of the labor costs in taking care of the animals and spinning the raw wool into yarn. However, the CSA element is only one of many business opportunities Candice Miller saw in their home farm.  Not only do they sell wool and yarn, both in the CSA, wholesale, and at county fairs (look for their stand at this year’s Sheep and Wool Festival in Rheinbeck), but in the off season, the Millers use their animals both for profit and for the good of the community.

The growing diversity of the farm means that they are always learning about new animals, and in turn, teaching about them. They open their farm up to the local 4H club for kids of all ages to learn about where and how cloth comes into existence. They frequently have 4H volunteers on their farm, working alongside them to take care of the animals. This diversity also opened them up to the opportunity to run what they call a travelling petting farm. Farm to You Revue might at first look like your average petting zoo, but the Millers have gone to great efforts to make it more approachable and educational. They do the traditional birthday parties and events, but they are also present in schools and summer camps. They travel with a group of animals that can range from ponies and llamas to baby ducks and reptiles. The goal of this venture is to create additional revenue to sustain the farm, while bringing a farm-like experience to children who would not normally have the opportunity. In their presentations, they teach their students about how the animals live, and why they are kept, with an interactive element – a lot of petting, some bottle-feeding of baby goats, leading of smaller animals, and gentle handling of fowl and reptiles.

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!

Yesterday, I visited Daisy Hill Farms in Mount Kisko, NY for the opening day of its twelfth season. As Siri informed me that my destination was “0.5 miles ahead, on the right,” the sight of a field of elegant creatures greeted my eyes – cows and goats, perhaps? (for these have been the animals we’ve seen at the other farms throughout the semester, most of which were involved in the dairy industry). Nay, they were horses! As I would find out later, owner and proprietor, Gwenn Brant, originally intended to turn the 74-acre horse-racing farm (known as Tanrackin Farm) into the humble abode of retired horses from the area. However, after her small (recreational) garden produced a yield of tomatoes and cucumbers SO bountiful that she was forced to sell the surplus to local restaurants, she used her hotel-management degree and executive experience, along with the help of the Cardona family (residents of the property during its purchase in 2001, and now), to convert the business into the farm, farmstand, and farmers market that it is today.

Daisy Hill Farm Stand

Since selling 67 acres in 2010, both Brant and the Cardonas (Natalia Perez, co-manager, and her parents Amador and Marta) have focused their energy into making the remaining 7 acres, all farm land, as efficient as possible. After a quick jaunt in the fields, (both grazing fields and crop fields) I traipsed to the store. It used to be just a bucket of produce sold off a table, but now it fills up a spacious 6-stable barn. Daisy Hill Farms offers a variety of products, all sold at this store, which is right on the farm itself. Their vegetables are all grown organically (although not certified, Brant affirms that they never need to spray their produce with pesticides or growing aids because of the rich soil), beginning in the hoop house made by Amador, and eventually ending up in the field where they are harvested. What they cannot grow on the farm, they source from local farmers weekly. During my visit, their only produce was leafy greens (lettuce, spinach, and swiss chard), but once deeper into the season, their harvest will encompass everything from onions and other root plants, to eggplants, to squash.  Their most successful product by far, is their tomatoes, of which they have eight varieties and over 1000 plants. Other than fresh produce, Daisy Hill Farms also offers eggs from the chickens of Brant’s 300-member flock, as well as value-added products, such as  salsa, empanadas, pies, cookies and other baked goods, all made by Marta’s expertise.

The Store!

Something about Daisy Hill Farms that is different from the other places we’ve visited this semester, is their overt generosity to other local farms and vendors. Besides selling their own produce to local restaurants and Food Banks, they sell meats from Hemlock Hill, honey pollen from Pine Hill Farm, maple sugar from Frasiers Sugar Shack, soda from Glens Falls, yogurts and butters from Cowbella, and even gluten free baked goods from Three Dog Bakery in Briarcliff, offering an outlet for each in an area extremely interested in local food, and where they might not otherwise be able to provide business.

Even if you are not interested in purchasing any of their products (although you should be), Daisy Hill Farms offers entertainment for young and old alike: you can feed, pet and frolic with any of the pigs, sheep and bunnies they have! And you can do this any time from May to November, on any Thursday from 9-2, Friday from 9-6, Saturday from 9-5 or Sunday from 10-4. Better than that (if possible), you can check out their full range of products by clicking on this link!