Making Food Happen is What We Do!

June is bringing lots of activity to our farm. Planting of seeds in the greenhouse, caringly tending the young sprouts until viable for transplanting in the fields, and that is an ongoing event. Some things are direct seeded, like the 3 or 4 acres of potatoes, but the 2 acres of winter squash was tucked into the soil by the water wheel. Two people sitting in scoop seats take each a rooted plant, carefully and quickly inserting it into the water filled hole made by the water wheel, and then the new planting can get comfy in its home. Some things are hand seeded which is lots of back and knee labor, not to mention dirty. Our whole process is this: from seeding in the greenhouse to transplanting in the field followed by weeding, nurturing, watering before harvesting, cleaning, grading, packing and delivery to our customers who bring it to their table.

We have spent a lot of time working in the blueberries. The bushes were previously pruned and now have been mowed and some have been mulched to keep weeds down. The blueberry bushes were flush with flowers that form the berries, so we are expecting a very good year. We’ve seen considerable gypsy moth caterpillar activity in the bushes and are keeping vigilant watch for damage. We are edging closer to blueberry season which starts in July for us. And if all goes well, it should be an abundant harvest on our 10 acres of blueberry bushes located in 3 separate locations on the farm.

Asparagus season is winding down and soon we will be letting the stalks grow up to ferns. We will fence off one of the asparagus patches and introduce our turkeys there where they will enjoy foraging, scratching and finding asparagus beetles and other insects to munch before moving onto the next patch. It’s a nice balance to have them do the pest eradication for us and nourish themselves simultaneously. The Pulaski Salmon River Fine Arts Center asked for a sample of asparagus to use as the subject for their Thursday night drawing class. A collage of finished artists’ work is shown below, and one of them is Farmwife Vic’s.

Salmon River Fine Arts Center Drawing Class: Grindstone Farm Asparagus compositions by local budding artists and one from the U.K.!

Our field manager, Farmer Tony, has been raising 12 piglets at his nearby farm. We have chopped down a few of our locust trees to make fenceposts to keep them corralled, and when in place the young pigs will be brought over to our farm to graze and wallow in the larger field and be given shade, water and food. They sure do a great job of knocking down scrub brush and clearing a field. And that is why good fencing is so important: we don’t want them getting into our crops!

The farm’s little AirBnB cabin rentals are picking up now that school terms are ending, and people are looking to get away. We had an amazing rental year last year with many families from NYC, Long Island and Hudson Valley having getaways from lockdown that are within a reasonable drive. You can find our listing at https://airbnb.com/h/private-cabin-on-organic-farm .

Some fun was had this month at Farmer Dick’s 3-day 50th APW High School Class Reunion a week ago. The 1971 class that graduated 81 students had a particularly good turnout, and reconnecting with old friends was the best. The very next day, June 14th, our first of the season Farm to Table Dinner held in conjunction with Mark Pawliw of Farm to Fork 101 and Chef Rich Straub and assistant Derek of Eden CNY. Eden specializes in wood-fired cooking and showcased the four-course dinner using predominately Grindstone Farm products and some Freedom Rains Farm produce as well as that of other local organic farmers. The event sold out, and the beautiful, perfect weather, amazing food, delectable wine pairings and conversations under out new pavilion pondside in the blueberry patch all made for an incredibly special night finished with dusk falling over the pond lightly covered with wispy fog. See pictures below. We are looking forward to hosting another dinner event soon! When we have the details worked out, we will let you know the date. We hope you will be interested in joining us because we are making food happen from farm to table!

Photo Credits: Christine Snow Frare, Chris Johnson@We Eat CNY, and Farmwife Vic