Work-Party Weekend Was Wonderful!

About sixty adults and several children came to the Germantown Community Farm last weekend, May 5th through 7th, for two days of ground breaking farm work and one night of amazing music.

One of the most striking scenes must have been looking up, around noon, to see the CSA acre growing field full of people all working by hand with hoes, rakes, planting potatoes and lifting rocks.

Kids and adults were working under the scatteredly sunny sky and people were laughing and working with smiles on their faces.



A lot of beds in the field were made really fast that day.




Large, plentiful and delicious meals were prepared all weekend by our astoundingly talented seasonal resident.







Some friends of ours from the city almost completely finished the chicken tractor.


The upstairs of the barn was organized, cleaned, patched and planned in the first big leap forward as a healing space, art studio and chill out and guest room.




We had friends who live nearby working hard to fix water damage and old floorboards. We can almost keep the barn swallows out!



One visitor went through all of our bikes and preformed vital triage, by separating what could not be used, from what could be used and what was already usable, as well as fixing up a few bikes.

Bikes are very important, it's hard to deny, and I love that our bike space is so visible alongside the stage. Also, a solid small group of volunteers helped all day to organize the larger contents of the barn upstairs and downstairs, as well as clean up and organize the space for the Saturday night's music event. By evening the popcorn bar was set up, the stage lights were lookin good, the stage was cleared and ready, and there was plenty of room and cushions for people to crowd together for some really great music.


Tucker Dalton played the first set, with a heavy heart in the words of his songs and a soothing country voice to ease the soul.

“Rusty Belle” performed next. With multiple singers, accordion, guitar, and lots of handmade percussion instruments they created a very alluring and imaginative sound.





“Dearest” followed next. Sean as “Dearest” was like someone given very limited magic powers properly used only by water gnomes. With allusions to intimacy with ducks that makes you disturbingly jealous and a voice people kept commenting on, “Hey wow, that’s a really great voice he has”, with clapping and stomping at inappropriate times, and an unwarranted inclusion instilled upon us by drawing us into his lyrical adventure, we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. Though we felt dirty.



Jolie Holland was last. She’s spiffy. A hard farm worker and a great musician. I wish had had a video camera, I would like to watch that performance again. She was covering Leonard Cohen and Will Oldham and then playing unique songs of her own that she brought up from the past or had just recently created. What a voice! What a gal!



More wonderful things happened that weekend, but only people that were here will ever know about them!

We will be having more volunteer weekends and music events. Sometimes concurrently and often not. We are inviting people up every Saturday this summer for volunteering on our farm. It is a necessity to call ahead for these regular weekend work days though.

If you have something to offer in the way of events, shows and community misc. please contact us. We love musicians (Without big egos) and we seek to have our community and events space grow over the summer in a vibrant and healthy way.

If you have carpentry skills you’d like to offer, materials to donate, money to donate, or an interest in the other myriad aspects of the growing of our Community Supported Agriculture project, don’t wait! Contact us now!

gtowncommuntiyfarm@riseup.net













See You Soon!

Farm Meeting Notes May 11th (Summarized)

{Attending: Sascha, Alicia, Erica, Bobby, Ben, Tyler, Courtney, Kaya, Ashley }

Agenda

- Roles, Revisiting Responsibilities:
- Last Weekend Work Party Check In{ How often do we want events? How Successful, Was it?}:
- Converting truck to vege-oil.
- Thank you cards:
- Season Calender { Reference}:
Working group members - Sascha, Ben, Kaya, and Courtney
- Committee needs to discuss:
- Grower delegation
- Timelines for planting/harvasting
- Brassica Garden
- Pump, Irrigation

- Non-Profit Possibilities:
- Grant accessible status.

- Scheduling:
- Calender Committee meeting
- Picnic
- Brassica Planting
- Basement
-Etc. :
- Volunteer work days on every Saturday.
- Bob Ryder wants to discuss fruit tree thinning & Pruning, needs to have us get in touch with him.

WORK PARTY AND CONCERT AT THE GERMANTOWN COMMUNITY FARM!!

This weekend we will be having guests to help us settle into spring.

Hey friends-

If you like to dig your hands in the soil and plant seeds, hammer and
nail, create community spaces, AND listen to music, we have got the
weekend for you!

WHO: THE GERMANTOWN COMMUNITY FARM is having a work party and concert.
YOU are the volunteer and after a hard days work, JOLIE HOLLAND and other
guests will play a show in our barn!

WHAT:
We will be fixing holes in walls of our two story barn, cleaning
the barn out to create a community space for art, events, classes, dance,
yoga, and massage, and planting seeds and potatoes to help start our CSA
(Community Supported Agriculture) field.

WHEN:
May 5th-7th for work (Fri. - Sun.), come when you can, leave when you must
May 6th, Saturday night concert for those who have volunteered

What to bring:

Bring a tent or sleeping bag if you have one and plan to stay overnight.
We will be cooking for the weekend, but bringing food would be GREATLY
appreciated.

"The Germantown Community Farm is a budding organic farm, a node in a
network of rural activists, sharing our land and visions with
travelers, family, friends, and neighbors. We aim to foster a
cross-pollination between urban and rural living and create a physical
space and a forum for community sustainability. Our vision is one of
creating a new agriculture in the Hudson Valley, one that’s based on
diversity of culture and biology rather than corporate mono-cropping of
our minds and our fields. We strive for the cultural diversity of the
cities mixed with the biological diversity of our wild gardens and
forests and we’re committed to feeding and teaching a whole lot of
people and taking really good care of each other in the process."

Right now as a collective we are at a crucial time. Starting an organic
farm is huge, in both economics and time. We have 60 acres, a large
house and barn, a pond, a forest and a stream in the back. We are caring
for three grown goats and three baby goats, baby turkeys and chicks,
chickens, roosters, ducks, and geese, a large house garden, and ten acres
of neglected apple orchards. We are planting a field on the land to
start as a CSA farm, and cleaning out the barn for a healing space. We
have a deer fence to build, lots of planting to do in the ground as well as
our greenhouse. We’ve got our business license and we’re applying for the
ability to accept food stamps in exchange for vegetables. We’re starting a
local CSA for low-income families in collaboration with a community center
in the nearby town of Hudson (and actively trying to raise the money within
our social network to do so!) We are working hard and still smiling as we
follow our dreams!

We need the knowledge of our elders and the help of our peers. If you
can't come for our work party, consider signing up as one of our week
long guests over the spring or summer, or sending a donation.

How to get here:

Our address:
The Germantown Community Farm
4872 State Route 9G
Germantown, NY 12526
518.537.6139

By Train or Train and Bus:

TAKING THE METRO NOTH TO POUGHKEEPSIE: The Metro North to Poughkeepsie is
$12.75 off peak one way if ticket bought at station, and %17 peak. There
is a cheap bus from Poughkeepsie to our area in at 5:45 am, 6:45 am and
4:45 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.. The bus is fifty cents and you can pick it up
seven blocks up hill from the Metro North station in Poughkeepsie at Main
and Market streets. Coordinate your Metro North trip by checking out their
schedule online at:

http://as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/sched_form.cfm

The bus line is called the Dutchess County Loop Bus. There is a possibility
of a pickup in Poughkeepsie, call ahead, gas money would be necessary in
that case.

TAKING THE AMTRAK TO HUDSON: (www.amtrak.com), ten minutes from our Farm,
and we could probably pick you up if you call ahead: $29 to $44 depending
on time of day, and how far ahead you book online.

BY CAR FROM NYC:
Take FDR NORTH over the Willis Ave Bridge
Stay to the left and take signs toward the SAW MILL PARKWAY
Stay on Saw Mill until signs for the TACONIC PARKWAY NORTH
Take the Taconic (60 miles) and exit REDHOOK 199 take the 199 (Left from
the Taconic) West through Red Hook to 9G (Take a Right) North towards
Germantown follow 9G through the town of Germantown (one stop light and a
Stewart's gas station) about 2 miles to the right is Hover AVE. DO NOT turn
on Hover, but slow down. We are the second house to the right, across the
street from the blue and white warehouse, with the big weeping willow, park
in front of the wood fence if there's room (not across the street)

Please RSVP to give us a general idea of when you will get here and how
long you will stay, and what kind of riffraff you are. Call ahead about
bringing pets. Our Farm house: 518 537 6139

We look forward to seeing you soon!

-Alicia, Ashley M., Courtney, Bobby, Kaya, Ben,
Ashley L, Sascha, Tyler, and Erika

(Also: Clubby, Peaches, Ivory, Ibex, Perro, Sascha,
The Rebel Banty, Effie, Willow, The Furbies etc..)

---> If you wish to contact an events and volunteer coordinator call Sascha
Scatter at 917.733.9316 or Bobby Dangerously at 646.942.8156.

Farm Meeting May 4th

Farm Meeting May 4th

Agenda:

Animals
Bill Eegan
Guests
Driveway
Roles and Responsibilities
Schedule
Calendar
Irrigation
Weekend

Roles and Responsibilities

Ash: We need them, I feel this more now. But how?

S: List of what roles there could be and are. Kaya took on finance.

Erica Animals.

Growers? Multiple people.

Bobby will make sure stuff gets made for animals, carpentry. Feed boxes, brooding boxes, fencing etc… for animals. Bobby tells Erica or others to make lists or just ask him. He is officially the builder for animals.

Kaya and Alicia want to be maintenance bottom liners.
Kaya talks about how that could work, and what it entails.

Sasha wants to take care of Garden tools, not carpentry tools.

Systems of organizing need to be done for the carpentry tools.

Bobby says he’d like to bottom line carpentry tools and Sascha and him will work on a system for all tools to be kept and kept track of.

Kaya: Calendar for growing.
Where should it go? Different bottom liners will put stuff on it. Putting weeding and planting on there. This needs a committee.

Ben and Ashley and Court and Kaya will do this.

Bottom liner for growing? Maybe break it down to Greenhouse person, waterer, weeder and pest control.

Grower bottomliners: Greenhouse. Plant Maintenance. Irrigation. Tools. Seeds.

Sascha: Garden tools and Seeds library and seed saving in the field.

Other roles?

Food and preservation: Tyler

Volunteer coordinating and events: Sascha, Alicia, and Bobby

Ashley: Property maintenance bottomliner.

CSA bottomliners: Bobby, Ashley and Kaya


Communication with Shifts: Communicating with other people on shift if you are doing something else, you will be late, and what to work on. The list of projects to work on by the board.

Calendar will help.

Animal shift starts the work shift late.

Shifts are still 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm. When it gets hotter we will start shifts earlier.

Bill Eegan:

Wants a share for work trade. Kaya will call him. Questions are raised about how to go about responding to his request and requests in the future.

Customer relations people can set up how to communicate and set up guidelines for the CSA.

This weekend and guests:

This weekend we made point people.

Damon point person for carpentry. Bobby barn downstairs. Alicia barn upstairs. Sascha will be doing orientation for guests. Tyler will bottomline food prep and more food stuff. Kaya and Courtney will do field stuff.

Alica took secret pictures of all of us and will post the wall with little notes for volunteers about if you want to do this thing contact this picture. (!!!)

Dust masks.
Scrub brush.
Renting a sander?

Rafter has some wood, Sascha will call him.

Charles may check into the electric.

Air compressor from Bob.
Industrial trash bags.

Goats:

Need more greens. Rotating fences for goats to pasture and special collars for them to be pastured by tying them up.

Small fencing for goats.

Work on goat fence this weekend if possible.

Goats have lice, need lice killer of some kind.

Alicia will get stuff at tractor supply.

Ducks, turkeys, geese and chix:

Turning shed around and putting up little fence for baby ducks. Running fence through middle of whole duck area and seeding one side at a time.

Irrigation:

Drip from 350-gallon tank for CSA acre? Probably not. Ben bought new $60 pump, we talk about the many uses for it. House garden from our middle well. Rain tanks on our roof for our house garden as well.


Moving trash from driveway before weekend.

Ben might bottom line dump runs fro Saturday.

We need permit in Hudson from town clerk.

$500 dollars off taxes if we don’t have kids in school. “Star program”
Use that money to have classes here! Educational stuff.

Growing Calendar meeting: Tuesday???

Picnic on Monday at 6:30 at Poets walk. “A romantic landscape walk.”

House meetings always at Wednesday 6pm
Farm meetings always on Thursday mornings at 10am

Alica will go food shopping on Monday.