The Albany Era

A scenario: you are an aspiring farmer and you just finished your first “growing season” as an apprentice. You have a second apprenticeship set up for the next grow season in a different state. You have a romantic partner who you met on the first farm and will also be an apprentice with you on the second farm. You traveled with this partner across the country on a road trip after the first apprenticeship ended and you spent a month apart from this partner during the holiday season. There are still three months before your next apprenticeship begins and you decide to move across the country (to Albany, NY, to be exact) for that time in order to find a temporary job and be with your partner who is having sinus surgery while you are there. Plot twist: you have sent out over 60 resumes and applications – via company websites, job hunting websites, temp agencies, in-person visits, and Craigslist. You work hard to find a job for weeks. You hear back from no one. No. One. You’re living in an unfamiliar place with few acquaintances and a new foot of snow falls every week. You’re feeling defeated and anxious for your next apprenticeship to begin – but it’s still two months away and you can’t spend the next two months on “vacation” because you’re a little tight on funds, you’re going stir crazy, and it’s never above 20°F.

What do you do?

My answer to this question took a while to form in the midst of mounting pressure to find a job and looming feelings of worthlessness and fear of the unknown. A job was important to me, yes, but sanity was also a priority. Brian, my partner, while also interested in finding employment, was scheduled to have surgery in February and knew a job was probably not on the horizon for him. So, he began to look in other directions for purpose and fulfillment – and if nothing else, to occupy time. After about a month of defeat, we decided that the job hunt should take a back seat while we looked for places to volunteer and/or get involved. We wanted to keep our eyes on farming – discussing things we wouldn’t have time for once we started our apprenticeship. With support and encouragement from the “adults” around us, we made a list of people we wanted to talk to, organizations we wanted to learn about, books we wanted to read, and places we wanted to visit. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, most people don’t have the time or means to really figure out what they’re passionate about. Well in Brian and my case, we had a gift of three months to sink our teeth into what we are passionate about – to really explore and discuss different paths of food distribution and social justice. It was said to us that we would never get a time like this in our lives again – so we decided to make the most of it!

I’ll admit the prospect of learning-intensive activity for a few months sounded a bit more charming and romantic than it ended up being. But nonetheless, Brian and I have accomplished and learned a great deal while we resided in upstate New York.

At home, Brian and I talked about and wrote up our ideal farm plan. It didn’t include numbers and dollar signs; rather, it included our values and philosophies, ideal location and size, ideal crop and animal ratio, infrastructure, events (like public picnics and sponsored concerts), side projects and goals, and potential farm names – just for fun. We’ve had umpteen conversations about how to reduce wasted food throughout the farm-to-market process and how to make good food accessible to everyone. We’ve been reading books by Michael Pollan, Joel Salatin, and Elliot Coleman. Additionally, we’re reading on marketing strategies at farmers markets, different farming techniques, and how best to create change in one’s community.

Brian and I have attended some pretty awesome northeast events and have visited some unique farms. First, we traveled to Vermont in January for a weekend of exploration and to spend time with Brian’s family. The Central Vermont Food Systems Council was hosting their winter forum in Montpelier on the Thursday we drove up and Brian had seen a flyer that it was open to the public. After walking around the quaint capital, we found our way to the forum where a speaker from the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism gave a presentation about the use of medicinal herbs as food – to be ingested regularly and with intention. Growing up in Suburbia where Ibuprofen and Benadryl are cure-alls, the presentation was intriguing and challenging. I was challenged because I grew up learning that Western medicine is infallible and herbs are dangerous because they come from the “wild.” However, I was intrigued enough to do more research and have since become fond of the herbalist philosophies – reasoning that most herbs are extremely safe and come from a natural source; whereas most Western medicine is artificially manufactured by the hands of monetary interest and skewed research. Maybe I’ll write a blog post on this later – but for now, let me say I am deeply interested in the power of medicinal herbs…and let’s continue with the Vermont trip.

On Friday, Brian and I toured two farms in the Burlington area. First, we visited Bread and Butter Farms. It was January – so there wasn’t going to be a lot of farm activity happening, but after two and a half months of being away from the dirt, we were anxious to see some barns and tractors. Bread and Butter has a farm store that operates on an honor system. We were hoping to talk to someone but there was no such luck. We stuck our nose in the store full of root vegetables and homemade bread and then were on our way to the Intervale.

In Burlington, the Intervale means three different things. First, the word “intervale” is a term used in the northeast for rich, fertile soil (usually in a floodplain) along a river or stream. In such an intervale outside Burlington, the Intervale Center exists. The Intervale Center is a farm incubator, of sorts, that provides for and encourages young farmers by giving them access to reduced-cost land, tractors and infrastructure, and connected community members who may become customers. The idea behind the Intervale Center is to promote communal values among young farmers who may not have the funds or access to land to start a farm on their own. After a few years in the intervale, young farmers are expected to have enough knowledge and funds to move on in their farming pursuits. Other farm incubators exist around the country and can be a great way for young farmers to develop and act on a business plan without the enormous risk of financially failing in the first year (a risk that keeps many farmers out of the game). The Intervale Center also runs other programs that aim to develop the northern Vermont food system and steward the land of the greater intervale. Check them out at www.intervale.org.

The third use of the word “intervale” refers to the Intervale Community Farm. One of the larger farms in the Burlington intervale (not directly associated with the Intervale Center), the Community Farm shares barn space, cooler spaces, washing space, and tractor implements with other farms in the area. The Community Farm serves 500 households in the Burlington area through their CSA* program. Brian and I had the chance to meet with one of the farmers and she took us on a tour through their facilities and explained all the different variations of “intervale.”  

*What is a CSA program? Most small farms operate a CSA program, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Before the growing season starts, members of the community will sign up to become part of the program by buying a “share.” This share (usually between $400 and $800) guarantees about 20 weeks of produce throughout the summer and fall – enough to feed an average-sized family. As a member, one is supporting the local economy, investing in the farm’s wellbeing, and committing to eat seasonally and sustainably. If you’re interested, I’m sure there is a CSA program in your area (findable by a Google search)!

 While in Burlington, Brian and I also visited the local farmers market. This was an abundant market with dozens of vendors – even in the dead of winter. It was encouraging to see the bustling community, but we learned from talking with one of the farmers that the area is saturated with organic farms, resulting in plummeted prices and low profits for all farms involved.

A week after our Vermont trip, we attended the Northeast Organic Farmers Association Winter Conference (New York chapter) in Saratoga Springs. I’ll spare you all the details, but all in all it was an incredible experience where we encountered hundreds of organic farmers (old and young) from New York and were exposed to countless new resources. Like any conference, there were “breakout” sessions with different topics. Brian and I attended sessions on composting, utilizing greenhouse space, cover cropping, accessing farm insurance, small-scale dairy production, and growing potatoes. There was also a tradeshow in the main hall where seed companies, bookstores, farmers’ coalitions, farm incubators, and toolmakers had set up booths. Needless to say, we left with tons of pamphlets, knowledge, and new friends!

Back in Albany, we found a few organizations to become involved in during the weekdays to occupy the stifling unemployed time. These all ended up being extremely fulfilling and enriching experiences! First, Brian and I volunteered for a non-profit called Capital District Community Gardens (CDCG) on their “Veggie Mobile.” Twice a week, we would arrive at the org’s headquarters and sort through vegetables, organize new shipments, and load the Veggie Mobile. At 11:00am, we’d hop in the moving-van-style ‘mobile and ride along to our first stop.

The idea behind the Veggie Mobile is to bring produce into “food deserts” – or areas that don’t have close access to fresh produce. Food deserts exist in most cities around the country and are usually defined as places where fresh produce is out of walking distance and most residents of the area do not have an easy way to access the nearest market or grocery store (i.e. a car, reliable public transportation). Most of the time, these are low-income neighborhoods, neighborhoods with limited-mobility populations (senior housing facilities), or rural areas.

At each stop, we would hop out of the cab, open the doors, set up a food sampling station outside, and welcome customers. We would be at each stop for about an hour and serve dozens of residents – selling produce at wholesale price. For the sake of space, I won’t delve into some of the challenges Brian and I ran into, morally, with the Veggie Mobile, but overall it was a great way to meet people, be around vegetables, and serve our community.

The second group we were involved with is called People of Albany United for Safe Energy (PAUSE). This is a very new group to the area and was created out of concern about multiple oil tankers (carrying crude oil from North Dakota) coming through Albany daily. Additionally, the group is concerned about an oil company building boilers at the Port of Albany in order to heat up oil before loading it onto ships and sending it down the Hudson River. Again, for the sake of space, I’ll spare all the details – but this is important stuff! These tankers are the same ones (with the same crude oil) that have been derailing and exploding all over the continent. This crude oil is very volatile, leaks into the air at toxic gas, and has the potential to be devastating for any city or town it passes through. For mort information, you can visit www.facebook.com/pausenergy.

With this group, Brian and I attended weekly meetings to plan for public forums discussing the boiler construction and tanker traffic in Albany. Our main objective was (and is) to make people aware of this issue and educate the public on real and potential risks of crude oil, tanker derailments, boiler construction, and oil transportation by land and water. We attended one of the public forums and were extremely impressed by the public’s rise to action, accompanied by local, county, and state elected officials. The issues are real and the conversation is now happening!

We also volunteered at the Troy Farmers Market with a group called Troy Compost (Troy is a town near Albany). This group sets up at the farmers market every week and collects peoples’ personal food scraps at no charge, and then takes the scraps to a local community garden to be made into compost. This is a great system that Brian and I have talked about implementing in any community we end up in.

Additionally, I did some work for the Delmar Farmers Market (another close-by town) by giving suggestions for website improvement and creating a volunteer packet and PowerPoint for future outreach.

We also visited a beef ranch/grain farm near Albany run by a family friend of Brian’s. Brian helped spread manure by tractor while I observed the cows and read through some of the qualifications and applications for organic certification by the Organic Farmers Association.

Overall, Albany was an educational experience that could have never been planned for – on a farming front, emotional front, and community front. I learned about “rolling with the punches” and taking charge of my personal reaction to unforeseen circumstances. I learned about some great organizations and community efforts existing in Albany and was involved in local politics in a way I have never been. I learned about the northeast farming landscape and the many resources available to me there (and everywhere). I learned about myself, my partner and his family, and my tolerance for cold weather (it is not very high); and I took advantage of an otherwise daunting situation. Brian and I are off to Montana as I post this blog entry and look forward to beginning a new farming adventure at Two Bear Farm in Whitefish starting April 1!