by Hilary Crowell, Assistant Farm Manager Usually about now some people start to ask me, as a farmer, what I do. I sense that it is a bit of mystery that there is work to do when the ground is frozen and days are short. This is actually a really exciting time to be …
This winter has been many things, but above all it has been snowy. We have weathered blizzards that have buried barn doors behind seven foot tall drifts to the point that we’ve had to seek alternate exits to the barn and house and then dig our way back in. There are ten-foot tall snow plow …
Winter Woodlot Work at Chewonki: The Production of Firewood and Humility Read More »
When I think about the intersection of community and food, my mind goes to bountiful places: I reflect on the richness of directly growing food for the Chewonki community, and I picture the local farms that we support through our food purchasing in the dining hall. Though more difficult to attach images to, there are …
What a season this is. We went from deep snow to summery temperatures on the farm in a matter of moments it seems. These days there are so many more things to do in a day than there are hours to do them. On the “To Do” list this week (a truncated version): Transplant collards, …
As Chewonki’s fiscal year draws to a close, I take some time to total up the poundage and value of food grown on the farm this year. Some highlights: 16,000 pounds of vegetables (including more than 2100 pounds of onions and 1700 pounds of potatoes harvested in just one two-hour work program by Semester 55 …
Recently, Hannah Ryde (Semester 48) returned to the farm to capture these images of daily moments around the barn. So lovely! While in Maine, she also visited Common Ground Country Fair, where Sal and I spent the weekend doing demonstrations in the round pen and working woodlot. Here, Hannah photographed me stretching Sal as part …
During our final Farm and Food Systems class of the semester, students gathered in my house to share their “This I Believe” statements about their approach to eating. Avery, one of our brilliant and passionate student farmers, shared the following: I believe that each person should have equal access to food. Good food. Food that …
Oftentimes at Chewonki, we speak to the connection between the head, heart, and hands. Here are a few excerpts from stories shared with family and friends of Semester 55 students during Family Weekend just before Thanksgiving: That head-heart-hand connection has been seen so many times on the farm this semester, through heavy harvests and chicken …
Giving Thanks for the Head, Heart, and Hands of Semester 55 Read More »
The fall is a season of bountiful harvests and waning light, taking animals to the slaughterhouse and long lists of food from the farm read off at every meal. It is also – happily – the season to start to imagine starting the cycle all over again. This week the farm and kitchen crew met …
Every year about this time, I start to watch the pasture closely, paying particular attention to the clover. When each clover leaf is the size of a dime, we know from historical experience that the pasture is just about ready for cows and sheep to start grazing. At that time, the extra-verdant spring grass will …
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