Archive for the 'Farm and Food Program' Category

With the cold late autumn days and the bountiful fall harvest, it’s now the perfect time to roast a chicken or make chicken soup!

We have frozen chickens for sale, all raised on the beautiful pasture behind the Monitor Barn here in Richmond by VYCC Farm interns.  Also, as we head into the holiday season, consider purchasing a local frozen chicken to donate to the food shelf.  Food shelves struggle with acquiring enough protein rich foods to distribute to their clients and this is a great way to help! Chickens are $4.50/lb

We also have eggs for sale for $4.00/dozen.  If you pass the Monitor Barns on a regular basis this is an easy stop to make.

If you are interested, please contact Amanda Payne, VYCC Farm Coordinator at 434-3969 x145 or amanda.payne@vycc.org

Thank you for your support!

Chickens on pasture behind the Monitor Barn.

Last Friday we had about 20 gleaners from Richmond Elementary School (both students and their parents) out to the farm, organized by RES school chef, Karyl Kent.  They gleaned a total of 240 lbs of produce, including paste and slicing tomatoes, broccoli shoots, cabbages, kale and chard.  Karyl’s plans were to make “macaroni and trees” with the broccoli, sauce with the tomatoes and freeze the kale/chard for winter soups.  It was wonderful to see kids trying kale for the first time and others simply enjoying themselves on a rather warm fall day at the farm.  CSA member Wendy Gagliardi was out with her children who made a great big dent in the paste tomatoes.  A great big shout out to Karyl who is doing amazing work at the school, working tirelessly to get as much farm fresh produce to the students as possible given her limited budget.  Gleans such as these are creative ways that help her financially and get kids out on farms!  This week her crew of gleaners will be heading to Jericho Settlers Farm to glean potatoes…

The Farm Crew has been enjoying the cool Autumn weather as the heavy harvest season continues!  While the plants look as if they’re starting to go by, they are still putting out a steady bounty—especially those tomatoes!  The zukes, cukes, and summer squash seem to have quit after a seriously good run, those plants were heavy producers!  Still lots of exciting vegetables to come though(Roots! Brussel sprouts! Hearty greens! Winter squash!).

Delicata Squash

Since we’ve had such a fortunate growing season, we have had the opportunity to share our bounty with some of our area food shelves.  We’ve been bombarding the Richmond Food Shelf with as much fresh produce as they can handle, and taking boxes upon boxes to the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf in Burlington.  To date, the following produce has been donated:

• 1,046  lbs to Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf
• 50 lbs to Our Community Cares Camp
• 40 lbs to Richmond Friday Night Food Affair (community supper free and open to the public)
• 150 lbs to Richmond Food Shelf (on top of the 20 lbs of produce they buy weekly at a much reduced cost)

On top of that, now that school is back in session, we have been making weekly deliveries to schools in Richmond, Jericho, and Bolton.  For the Farm Crew, every delivery we make to a food shelf or school is an important act.  We were all drawn to this farm for the purpose of expanding access to fresh food—getting fresh food to Vermonters who are food insecure, and feeding the growing bodies and minds of our youth has been an excellent way to keep us motivated as the season starts to wind down.

Last week was the conclusion of the Monitor Barns Farm’s pastured poultry season. Since April, 900 chickens have passed though our hands and its a bittersweet feeling to see them go… The three hours dedicated daily to their chores and maintenance can now be focused elsewhere on our bountiful harvest of the coming autumn, but we all enjoyed the daily rhythms and interactions with our little avian friends.

Our main goal with the chickens was to allow them to live out their lives with as many natural instincts and inherent chicken traits as possible. In short, we want to raise happy, healthy chickens which in turn provide us with tasty, nutritious poultry. To keep our birds happy and clean, we kept them on pasture and moved their little homes (we call them tractors) twice a day and let them out of their tractors whenever weather permitted.

For anyone who doesn't believe Cornish Cross actually graze, take a look at this picture.

As with any system in its first season, this was definitely a learning process. Through the first two batches we refined our systems to become more efficient and profitable. In this final and last batch of 300 birds, we felt we had finally gotten all of our bumps out and ended up producing a great batch of birds (even with a small incident with a hungry raccoon). One of the crew leaders, Angie, was able to create a holistic budget for the birds that tracked every cent it took to produce them… results will follow. The interns here at MBF were able to learn every part of raising these birds- from raising the chicks in the brooder, to maintaining them on pasture, to processing the birds and finding a market for their sale.

We raised a breed called Cornish Cross or Cornish Rock. This is the generic white breed that commercial poultry producers use and has been hybridized and bred to put on weight quickly with an efficient conversion of grain and produces large breasts and legs. Generally, this is the breed that American consumers want. However, many people in the world of sustainable agriculture look down upon these super-hybrids as lazy and weak. And, while there is definitely more health issues with these birds than more-hardy, heritage breeds we saw excellent results. Our day old chicks were very active and healthy- we got them from Mt. Healthy Hatchery in Ohio. We kept a pretty low mortality rate and tried to get them out on pasture as early as possible (around 2 weeks). It was blatant to us that the earlier we got them out on pasture, the better they were at foraging and utilizing those chicken instincts we were hoping to foster.

We hope you’ll enjoy feeding these chickens to your friends and family knowing how well they were cared for!  Please inquire with Amanda Payne, VYCC Farm Coordinator if you are interested in buying a chicken.  802.434.3969 x145

Raised with care and dedication,

Ben, Angie, Kelly and Melissa (The Monitor Barns/VYCC Farm Crew)

It is hard to believe that is the middle of July already, even though the weeds and the heat can attest to it every day.  Here’s a brief (well, as brief as I can make it) synopsis of what is happening out back on the farm.  If you haven’t had a chance to look around, it’s a great walk during lunch.  I promise you won’t be disappointed!  And thank you for reading…

Field

Everything has taken off, especially the weeds, so it will be a busy few weeks playing catch up. However with our stellar, hard-working farm team, no doubt those weeds will be tackled sooner than later.  Zucchinis and summer squash are coming in strong, with cucumbers soon to follow.  Corn is waist high, potatoes are flowering, beets and carrots are getting bigger and we even have some winter squash the size of footballs!  And those are just a few examples of what’s out there.  We have, unfortunately, found traces of an unwelcome visitor to the fields: deer.  So far they’ve only eaten some beet greens but we’re starting to devise a plan to keep them at bay.

PYO

The pick your own garden is growing and flowers are blooming.  It is quite a beautiful spot back there and I highly encourage anyone in need of a break from their computer to stroll up and enjoy the flowers. We have sunflowers, calendula, snapdragons and zinnias blooming, just to name a few.

Greenhouse

The greenhouse is full, and I mean FULL, of beautiful looking green tomatoes.  We’re hoping they’ll begin to ripen any day now.  The plants are growing so fast it is almost as if you can watch them grow.  We’ve got full size peppers and basil plants in there as well.  Think tomato, basil, and mozzarella. Ahhh, that is summer.

CSA and Markets

We’re heading into our 5^th week of CSA pick-ups and so far they have been a great success.  Folks are enjoying the pick your own garden and our new composting system.  With the help of Chittenden Solid Waste District we’ve given all interested CSA members 4-gallon buckets to fill with their food waste and bring to the farm to compost.  Farmers markets are going well, although a bit slow to develop in Waterbury.  If you live close to Waterbury, or know anyone who does, please send them our way on Thursdays between 3-7 on the green.  You can also visit us at the Richmond market on Fridays from 3 – 6:30.

Broilers

We just processed close to 300 (our second batch) of our broiler chickens this past Monday.  They’re a bit smaller this time around (between 3 -4 lbs) which I think will be good for markets, considering our last batch averaged around 6 lbs. We’re selling them fresh all week so if you’ve always been curious to try one out, now is your chance!  Email or call me. Our third batch of broilers is almost one week old and all are doing well in their brooder.  They’ll be ready for pasture in another week.

Layers

Our laying hens are amazing.  They are growing, happy birds and we think they’re getting ready to lay very soon.  We’ve all placed bets on when the first egg will arrive.  We think sometime between now and mid-August.  We’ll keep you posted because soon you’ll be able to purchase eggs when you come to work!

New and Updates

Every Wednesday for the month of July we’ll be hosting the Our Community Cares campers.  Led by farm interns Kelly McQuade and Melissa McNell, the campers are learning about different aspects of farming, playing games, harvesting vegetables, holding chickens and having fun.  The camp, along with the Richmond Food Shelf, receives produce from the farm every week.  Last week, the camp made pesto with our basil for pizza.

I’m sure there is a lot more to add to the list of accomplishments on the farm but I’ll leave it here.  A special thank you to the VYCC Farm Crew: Ben, Angela, Melissa and Kelly who bring their hard work, dedication, knowledge and patience to the farm every day.  The farm program, in its first year, would not be as successful without them.

Until next time, when we’ll surely have tomatoes to brag about…

Amanda

On June 27 the VYCC hosted Herbie and Henry, two (huge!) draft horses who work at Maple Wind Farm. Owner Bruce Hennessey presented a workshop on using draft horses in the field, after which folks big and small had the opportunity to give it a go. Check out the slideshow to see the fun!

It’s been a while since we’ve last given an update on the happenings here at the farm!  We’ve been busy!  One of the more exciting happenings around here was the much anticipated processing of our 290 broiler chickens.  We didn’t just raise pastured chickens, we raised ENORMOUS pastured chickens.  These birds were some of the best eaters I have ever met, and it definitely showed.  Towards the end of their 8 week lives, we were all anxious for the broilers to become someone’s dinner.

We began our day at the early hour of 5 AM and began rounding up the birds.

Sunrise

Cornish Cross at 8 weeks

We moved them down the street to the Andrew’s Farm where we began the very long process of processing!  We had a veritable team helping us, including all the folks from Maple Wind Farm, the VYCC farm crew,  Harold, the man who made the processing facility, and Bee, the master gizzard woman!  We also had some help from Ry, one of the HQ staff from VYCC.  We formed an assembly line, starting with the slaughter, which was followed by the scalding tank and de-feathering machine.   While a few of us had the privilege of participating in the actual slaughter, most of us were kept busy with the more time- consuming task of evisceration (otherwise known as taking the insides out).  With the help of some upbeat bluegrass music we stayed busy all morning and into the early afternoon with the first part of the processing.  After a much needed lunch break, we returned for part two, which entailed taking a second and final look at the birds to make sure they were good and clean, stuffing necks and bags of organs into the cavity, and then cryovac-ing  and weighing.  Our largest bird ended up weighing in at 7.9 lbs!  Some (large) family will be enjoying a lot of chicken soon!

The day was incredibly long and exhausting, but there was an undeniable sense of accomplishment in the air after we were done.  We had raised those birds from second day of their lives, given them a good life, lots of green grass and sunshine, and now they will provide nourishment for a lot of people.  I have never been so excited to sell someone a chicken!

In other news, we’ve had our first two CSA pick-ups.  While we were all nervous that the shares would seem too small, in the end everything looked great and the members seemed genuinely pumped about their veggies.  It’s quite a feeling to know that there are 80+ households in this area who are being nourished by the food that we have grown here.

Kelly harvesting radishes

We are now busy trying to stay ahead of the weeds and pests, thinning our root crops, and seeding some of the crops that we’re planting in successions.  The vegetables are really starting to take off—lettuces, cabbages, squash, tomatoes in the greenhouse—you can almost watch them grow.  And flowers are blooming daily in our pick your own garden.  Soon there will be a wealth of color out in the field to complement all the green and folks will be able to take home a freshly picked bouquet.

Lastly, our newest batch of broiler chickens are happily running around the pasture.  They seem to be more active than the last, and definitely more interested in foraging.  There’s nothing like seeing happy animals living the way they were meant to.

We’ll be starting a new compost pile on the far side of the field with food waste generated, not only on the farm, but by CSA share holders as well.  Members will receive a 4 gallon bucket where they can put their food scraps and return to the barn to be composted each week.  This is truly closing the loop!

Until next time, wish for sun!

~written by Kelly McQuade, VYCC Farm Intern

Join the VYCC for a discussion led by Bruce Hennessey of Maple Wind Farm about “Grass, the Animals that Eat it, and the Vegetables they Help Grow: An Integrated Approach to Conserving the Working Landscape.” The walk and talk will be held at the VYCC’s Monitor Barns Farm (off Rte 2, two miles east of Richmond, VT) on Sunday June 6, from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Free and open to the public, the interactive workshop will explore how diversified farmers at Maple Wind Farm and the VYCC use cover cropping, legume seeding, and high density grazing to add organic matter and fertility to conventional corn ground in preparation for high quality organic (after transition) vegetable production.

Participants will meet at the VYCC Headquarters Monitor Barn Parking Lot and proceed to the field from there.

VYCC and Maple Wind entered into a cooperative partnership to form the Monitor Barns Farm CSA in 2009 and are in their second season of vegetable and poultry production this spring. For more information, visit our Farm and Food Program website.

Join Beth and Bruce of Maple Wind Farm for their 11th annual Farm Open House this Sunday, May 23rd from 10am – 2pm. During the event, you can visit with the farm’s animals (cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, and horses), take horse-drawn wagon rides, play farm trivia, or just stroll around! Tasty farm hamburgers and sausages will be available from the grill and frozen and maple products will be for sale. The event is free and family friendly!

1340 Carse Rd in Huntington.

Please keep dogs at home. Rain or shine. Appropriate footwear suggested.

For more information: http://www.maplewindfarm.com

The VYCC and Maple Wind Farm joined together to form the Monitor Barns Farm. Together, the partners combine the conservation and education mission of the VYCC with the experience and high-quality food production of MWF. Through this dynamic collaboration, we offer CSA shares in vegetables and meat.

To learn more about the Monitor Barns Farm CSA, view our CSA brochure.

The VYCC is one of five VT nonprofits in the running for a $100,000 grant from Wal-Mart! Here’s some information about our mission, who the VYCC hires, and the conservation projects that we complete.

Mission: The VYCC’s mission is to teach individuals to take responsibility for all of their actions.

Conservation Program: Our summer Conservation Program hires Corps Members (ages 16 – 24) and Crew Leaders (ages 22+) to complete conservation work throughout Vermont. During work projects, we teach Corps Members leadership, communication, and practical work skills to help prepare them for future educational and professional opportunities.

School Program: Our year-round school program offers a work-based educational curriculum to high school students who are not doing well in the traditional classroom setting. Students earn academic credit towards graduation while learning technical skills in forestry, agriculture, carpentry, and other hands-on trades.

Farm and Food Program: The Farm and Food Program seeks to teach youth about the source of their food, how it is grown, the value in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and the importance of providing fresh produce to those who are food insecure. In partnership with Maple Wind Farm of Huntington, the VYCC offers CSA shares and also provides food to area schools and local food shelves. For more information, read our CSA Brochure.

VYCC by the numbers:
• – In 2009, we hired for 540 crew positions
• – Ran 30 summer and fall crews
• – Fielded 9 School Crews (Center of Technology – Essex, Mount Mansfield Union High School, Champlain Valley Union High School, Woodstock Union High School, Lamoille Union High School, Harwood High School, Twinfield & Cabot High School, U-32 High School & Montpelier High School, Spaulding High School)
• – Completed 61 major work projects
• – Built 48,544 feet of trails (for hiking, mountain biking, snowmobiling, etc.)
• – Harvested 640 pounds of food for our crews and local food shelves

To learn about our crews and projects, read our 2009 Annual Report.

More information:

- Wilderness Crews

- Roving Crews

- Community Crews: Non-residential crews, located in Rutland, Richmond, Montpelier, Burlington, and Woodstock

- Leadership Development Crews

- Park Crews

- U.S. Forest Service Crews

- Learn, Earn & Prosper Crews: Crews for individuals with visual impairments