Last week our class had the opportunity to visit two family farms with very different operations. Sawkill Farm produces meat and associated value-added products, while Starling Yards is devoted mostly to vegetable cultivation. Both of these farms were great examples of scenic, functional Hudson Valley agriculture.

Sawkill Farm is owned and operated by Kallie and Michael Robertson, a pair with degrees in completely different fields who never intended to begin farming, but now couldn’t imagine life without it. They keep cows, pigs, chickens, and sheep, and two large friendly Maremma guardian dogs. Kallie walked us through the farm, explaining that they also intended to do vegetable farming, but the meat was so successful and the extra work would be so intense that they have decided to keep to meat products and the value-added items they sell in their farm store. The vegetable market is also well covered in the area. She noted that they sell about one pig and half a cow per week; their animals are slaughtered off-site in the only local slaughterhouse. The fruits of their labor are evident as soon as we stepped into the farm store, housed in a picturesque red barn: laid out in neat arrangements were tallow soaps, honey, sheepskins, and more, and several freezers in the back offered up a variety of fresh frozen meat. Sawkill clearly offers quality products that the Hudson Valley eats right up.  

At Starling Yards, Kimberly told us that she was once an apprentice to Michael from Sawkill, reiterating the connections between these local farms. Starling Yards is successful thanks to the hard work and elbow grease of Kimberly Hart and Thad Simerly, who cultivate the land owned by the Klose family. Starling Yards grows vegetables for CSA shares, restaurants and wholesale distributors. Although it’s still early in the season and not much was growing, Kimberly was happy to talk to us about how the farm runs. She guided us through several greenhouses where green shoots were happily sprouting, explaining that some of the baby plants will be cut off for early harvesting. We then walked outside to where several workers were preparing the fields for planting and arranging an irrigation system for the first brave seedlings poking out of the earth. As we toured the farm, Kimberly talked about the market for these vegetables, emphasizing that they try to sell as much as they can locally before turning to wholesalers.

Our last stop on the tour was a future tomato greenhouse and a glimpse of the chickens. They do produce some meats and eggs. The sheep are raised there for a dual purpose–their manure is used to fertilize the soil for vegetable growth, and when the time comes, they are slaughtered for meat. One thing that both farms clearly had in common was the careful consideration of their animals’ welfare.

In addition to animal welfare, the farms also exercised consciousness through their business practices. At Starling Yards, they stressed that they are an equal opportunity employer and emphasized that they pay their workers a living wage, something that would likely be less common at a larger operation. As we have seen throughout the semester, owning and operating a small farm presents the opportunity to implement programs, like apprenticeships and educational outreach, that benefit the community around them. In a region so saturated with farms that seek to become a part of the “amenity economy,” it is interesting to see how they balance that practical financial necessity with their own vision for the community around them, especially when many of the farmers are not native to the area. That recalls one of our major questions this semester: why are so many people moving to the Hudson Valley to farm? Perhaps the chance to build and engage with a new community is one, especially for potentially disillusioned ex-urbanites.

This also recalls Kallie from Sawkill Farm’s point about how the demand for meat at farmers’ markets is huge, yet so few want to become butchers and open a slaughterhouse, which is critical for livestock farmers like the Robertsons. Perhaps due to the sheer quantity of farms just 100 miles north of New York City, getting in to farmers’ markets and tapping into that unparalleled urban consumer base is competitive. Kallie noted that the farmers’ market just next door in Rhinebeck was difficult to get into, raising the question of how else farmers can sell their goods. In the Sawkill Farm Store, they mentioned that the added value products, such as salsa and hot sauce, were from other farms, making a statement about the potential for collaboration among these innovative young farmers. Although they may be located in more remote areas, farm stores can open up more opportunities for profit and exposing different farms’ products to different local markets.

We were glad to have the chance to make connections between these diverse but similar operations. Both of the farms we visited were beautifully kept, the animals were charming, and the plants thriving. For more about Sawkill Farm, visit: http://sawkillfarm.squarespace.com/. For more about Starling Yards: http://www.starlingyards.com/.

This past Sunday, I traveled to the Beacon Farmer’s Market to see what is in season and stock up on some goodies for my house. The Market is at the Beacon train station, across the parking lot from the tracks right on the edge of the Hudson River. I arrived to the Market a few minutes before it opened at 10AM, and to kill some time wandered into the Pete & Toshi Seeger waterfront park.

It was cold and drizzly, and a cold wind was whipping off of the water so after taking a few pictures at the edge of the water I quickly turned back to the Market. Due to the weather, the Market was almost completely devoid of visitors, which meant that I was able to strike up many in-depth conversations with vendors.

I first stopped by the “New Confectioner” tent that was advertising vegan sorbet but was selling peanut butter. (And my love of peanut butter took over – I couldn’t help myself, I bought a tub.) I chatted with the vendor, J. Spica, for a while about Vassar (he has a radio program on WVKR!) and my plans post-graduation. He shared with me that he was a lineman and retired to start this business, but that his real dream is to go to the CIA and take his cooking “to the next level.” I wished I had the opportunity to try his frozen desserts, but I guess I’ll just have to come back on a sunnier day.

Next I sauntered over to the “Common Ground Farm” tent and bought a bag of mixed salad greens, including some baby kale and a new green that I had never tried before, called “mizuna.” An Asian green, it has a mild peppery taste similar but milder than arugula. Common Ground also had “microgreens” for sale, which are essentially the harvested shoots of salad greens. The vendor that I talked to noted how they have a high density of nutrients for their small size and are extra crunchy, making them a great addition in salads, or on soup or sandwiches. She reiterated what we’ve heard from other vegetable farms recently: that at this point in the season, not much is growing besides early greens.

Next, I stopped by “All you Knead,” which offered pastries and loaves of freshly baked bread. I grabbed a cherry-cheese pastry (apparently the most popular pastry at the Farmer’s Market) and a loaf of sourdough bread. Both were delicious (despite my best intentions, once I brought the loaf of bread home it was gone by Monday morning!).

I finally visited the “Fishkill Farms” tent. Similar to “Common Ground,” they were offering mustard greens and kale, but also had potatoes and apples. I picked up a bunch of mustard greens (I really should describe it as a bouquet  since the presentation of various strains of mustard greens bunched together was so beautiful!), and asked about how Fishkill can be offering fresh apples to its customers in late April. The vendor explained that the apples he was selling had been picked in September or October like the rest of the apples, and kept in cold storage (at a temperature lower than fridge, but not frozen) to be sold throughout the year. He noted that some apples actually improve with time in cold storage as this long-term storage can allow sugars in some of the apples to develop.

I left the Market chilled and pretty damp, but with some greens and baked goodies that I was excited to bring back to my house. I can’t wait for another chance to venture down again (and hopefully not in the rain this time!).

This Friday, April 22nd, our class took a trip to another wonderful sustainable farm in the Hudson Valley: Hudson Valley Kinders & Kritters. When we arrived at the farm we were greeted by Stephanie, who is one of the farm’s two owners. She explained how she had grown up raising chickens; she and her partner became interested in goat farming after first acquiring a couple of goats for their own personal use in their backyard. Once they decided to begin goat farming, they realized they needed land for their goats—so, they turned to the Farmer Landowner Match Program, which is run through the Columbia Land Conservancy and the Dutchess Land Conservancy.

The Farmer Landowner Match Program matches landowners with prospective farmers who need land for their work. It is a mutually beneficial system that helps promote sustainable farming: the landowners get tax breaks because their land is being used for agricultural purposes, and the farmers get to use the land for much less than it would cost to buy.

Terrance, one of the people who helped found the Match Program five years ago, is from the CLC; he also came to Kinders & Kritters to talk to us about the philosophy behind the program. He said that the landowners are mostly people of retirement age who don’t farm, or farmers who don’t use all their land and want to rent out the extra. The farmers are often young people looking for a chance to farm without buying land. Terrance was excited that the program is working for young people and explained that the current U.S. farming population is on average 59-years-old. He said programs like this one are popping up all over the country, and are a way to allow a younger generation to farm.

Hudson Valley Kinders & Kritters is a perfect example of the Match Program at work. Stephanie’s farm is on a piece of property in Red Hook owned by a couple and their children. The family is actively engaged in the farm and the kids especially like to help out. 

After we met Stephanie and Terrance, it was time to pet the goats. First, we dipped our boots in antibacterial cleanser and signed wavers just in case of any goat accidents. Stephanie explained that they had two kinds of goats, which they raised for both meat and dairy. The Kinders were her favorite and she explained how she had become attached to them and they would come sit in her lap. She also told a story of “kidding”—helping to birth baby goats—in forty degree weather, and how she took the baby goats and put them in her sleeping bag with her to keep them warm. In fact, when we arrived, a baby goat had just been born about forty minutes earlier! Stephanie did not seem phased and happily talked to us about her goats for a while.

The goats were incredibly fun to play with and we even got to pick them up! There were plenty of babies passed around and it was sad to say goodbye.