Not arrested and still standing after another devilish Mischief Night, (anyone?)…we’re a bit shaken and barely stirring after one too many spirits of a mind blowing sort.  But, it is halloween and we love dressing in disguise so we’ll persevere and rally this eve.  Although, right now, desperately in need of some fresh air, I’m focused on a few of my favorite, fairly local, green haunts -  jump in with yours…

Central Park, especially the terraced garden and sitting area by Belvedere Castle

Hawthorn Valley Farm, Harlemville, NY

Jacob’s Pillow, the Berkshires, MA

Kaaterskill Falls, the Catskills

Montauk – The End

This the second post in Theresa Gould’s series on her organic farming experience.

We attended our first Stateline Farm Beginnings class last Saturday.  It was like a date for us since we rarely go out as a couple. Imagine driving over an hour each way and having a conversation without multiple interruptions! Heaven!  The class is the largest class yet in the five years since the program began. There were exactly 30 of us, if my quick count was right.  It was exciting to be with other aspiring farmers who were there to find out whether or not farming is the next step for them in their journey in life, just like us.

The Farm Beginnings program is a part of CRAFT – Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training – which creates learning opportunities for future farmers through diverse talents of our regional community of organic, biodynamic and sustainable farms.  There are actually only 7 known CRAFT organizations across North America – Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Ontario, Canada.

Stateline Farm Beginnings is only 12-13 years old.  We also learned that there are only 6 other Farm Beginning programs across the U.S. which doesn’t seem like a lot considering the fact that farming is where our food source begins.  There are two SFB programs in Minnesota, one in North Dakota, one in New York, one in Nebraska and two here in Illinois.

The first class gave us a better idea of exactly what we would be learning through Farm Beginnings. This is the definition that our facilitator gave us:  Stateline Farm Beginnings is a strategic business planning course that has four parts:  (more…)