Valley Cottage School is so grateful to Cropsey Community Farm. When they found themselves with some extra seedlings a few weeks ago during their planting season, they donated them to our school garden! What perfect timing, too -- our classes were in the middle of their spring planting activities.
When I went to pick them up, their Community Coordinator, Tamika Adjemian, was able to take a break from the digging to give me tour of the property.
The land was originally owned by Jim and Pat Cropsey, whose family farmed the land for over 100 years.
When they retired, they sold it to Rockland County and the Town of Clarkstown through their open space programs. The town signed an agreement with Rockland Farm Alliance for a no-cost lease of 5 acres to be used for community farming and agricultural education.
Through the efforts of the Alliance and many dedicated volunteers, the farm is now up and running!
This year, they started a CSA, and only had a few shares left to sell at the time of my visit. (CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, a way of bringing fresh local produce to residents through sales of “shares,” usually consisting of weekly boxes of produce.)
Renovations of the big red barn are underway.
The Farm Alliance hopes to someday have a community farm in every town in Rockland County.
Thanks again, to Jessica Kesselman, Tamika Adjemian and everyone at the Farm Alliance and Cropsey Farm, for your committment to our community, healthy food, sustainability and the future of agriculture. You'll probably be seeing your seedlings in action in upcoming posts about the “Seed to Salad” and “Three Sisters” plots in the school garden.
230 South Little Tor Rd.
New City, NY 10956
845-634-3167
New City, NY 10956
845-634-3167
9 comments:
inspiring! We have a farmers' market up here again, after several years' hiatus, and we community gardeners are encouraged to offer any surplus for sale, to raise money for the community center.
Wow, that is so wonderful that they donated seedlings to your school. Sounds like a great farm!
How amazing and how neat about the CSA! It's truly inspiring what volunteerism can accomplish, isn't it? And wonderful about the seedlings for the school garden, JGH.
What a good community you are living in. They made the kid so happy I bet.
What a great post!! Thanks for sharing this info and for all of the wonderful photos. I love the red barn!! : )
~ Wendy
http://Crickleberrycottage.blogspot.com/
How awesome they made that donation! I love the farms that connect so intrinsically with the community; there's something so soul-satisfying in connecting farms and people.
Nice article, thanks for the information.
It's so nice to see farming in communities. A no cost lease is a win/win situation for all parties. Extra nice of them to donate their extra seedlings to you all.
This is fabulous. Perhaps it will inspire other community efforts.
Post a Comment