Grindstone Farm’s Season #40 Begins
It all began for us 40 years ago here at Grindstone with purchasing land, clearing, plowing and planting in 1981. Now 2021 we start another season but this one we celebrate the amazing milestone! It has been quite the ride getting to 2021. We’ve endured so many challenges, not just with weather but labor, finances (the old farmer says “if you want to farm for a year, start with a million dollars”), fickle markets, structure collapses but we’ve also had so many, many victories. These victories have allowed us to continue to grow both in the field, business infrastructure and uncounted relationships. We’ve trained many interns who acquired the skill sets to go on to manage other farms or start their own, keeping the organic evolution moving forward! One magazine referred to Farmer Dick as the “Elder Statesman of Organic Agriculture in Central NY.” Surely this is the case. He is one of the old guys on the organic farming block. And with age comes wisdom. He knows his lands, how it reacts to elements, what it needs and when it needs it, getting up at 2am to check for freezing temperatures, setting up frost control, feeding the soils, finding and creating markets for added new products. These are the hallmarks of a veteran farmer. And we are blest to have capable and talented folks on staff who support the diversity of Grindstone Farm.
We have Farm Manager job postings out in the marketplace. As Farmer Dick is getting a little grayer and sees benefit letting the “younger, stronger staff” do the heavy bull work, he has an eye toward decreasinging his growing season responsibilities frequently spanning 12 hour work days. While he will still be here and hands on, a farmer or farming couple experienced in organic farming is being pursued to join Team Grindstone, and housing can be provided as they would need to be close by to oversee production, field labor and livestock. So if you know of anyone who may fit the description, have them contact us. We’ll also be looking for part-time labor, organic farming experience preferred.
So as the Gindstone begins to turn into spring season of this year, we’ve onions and garlic coming up with asparagus soon to follow. Lots more plantings are scheduled for seeding, about ten acres of blueberry bushes to be pruned, get our Haygrove high tunnels covered so that early outdoor plantings will be protected from the elements. Our Haygrove tunnels allow our growing season to be extended by approximately 3 months. Our days are always full, and we deliver our awesome Best Boxes year round. Ann cheerily manages our on-farm market each Friday from 11 to 5, making sure every customer gets the best, and she’ll even give great cooking tips!
So as season #40 ramps up we look forward to what this season brings. Crops get planted, luscious, delicious fruit and veggie seeds begin life in seedling trays to later be transplanted, nurtured and harvested; livestock will be raised (they too frequently gets loose and we have to chase around the farm), and of course there is the tricky dance with Mother Nature, adjusting to her steps that change every year. But it’s not just what we do and what is raised on the farm but “who” happens through the farm: the diverse staff who come our way, customers who join our Best Box programs and we get to know at delivery or pickups or those who visit our on-farm market, guests at our fabulous professionally prepared Farm-To-Table dinners under our new pavilion pondside in our blueberry patch, and guests who come to stay in our little AirBnB cabin. Things are ever changing, dynamic, often whirlwind and never boring here during the growing season at Grindstone! The best is yet to come.