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Post a commentElwyn prepares its farm for winter, bigger crop next year
Sometimes, there’s nothing better than a day out of the office — even if it means laying down woodchips and planting garlic.
About 30 workers from the software company SAP, of neighboring Newtown Square, spent Oct. 26 working at Hillside Farm on the Elwyn Campus. The community-supported agriculture farm (CSA), is one of six run by the nonprofit organization Greener Partners, of Malvern, which teams up with land trusts, municipalities, arboretums and universities to transform underutilized space to food-producing land.
By about 2 p.m., the volunteers had just finished pressing cider, and were putting the finishing touches on making sure this parcel would produce food for a May harvest.
The volunteers were split into four groups that: planted garlic and shallots for a May harvest; covered the trails with woodchips to stunt the growth of weeds (which also eliminates the need to use carbon-producing landscaping machines later); helped construct a greenhouse; and created an environmentally friendly plaster for the basement of the barn, which is purely aesthetic.
Jason Ingle, co-founder and executive director of Greener Partners, said the two-acre farm produced food for about 50 families in its inaugural year. The volunteers helped cover crop a portion of the farm, which will increase the productivity of the soil, and hopefully, Ingle said, produce for about 100 to 120 shareholders next year.
Not bad for a “farm” that was covered with waist-high weeds a year ago.
Ingle said people are becoming tired of absentee, industrial farms, adding that there’s a grassroots push toward local and organic foods. And eating locally produced food, though it may cost more, offers a sense of immediate gratification for the environmentally conscious.
“I think there’s a huge, huge movement that’s begun,” Ingle said. “It’s really a convergence of issues: sustainability, community, environmental, youth … when you converge all of those things and it’s as simple as ‘food.’ It’s not complicated where you have to buy a hybrid car, or put solar panels on your roof … you can have an immediate return by eating local organic food.”
SAP volunteer Stan Anderson, of Moorestown, N.J., said jokingly, “This is a day off? Actually, for our company, this is a great way to give back.”
Anderson said he spent the day planting garlic and shallots and spreading mulch and hay. He said he hopes the things he planted wind up yielding food, as he’s not very successful when it come to his home garden.
Jim Dever, who works in the public relations department of SAP, said the company is involved in about 200 volunteer-based projects over the country, adding that the company contributes money, as well as time.
“With blood and sweat — it creates a bond between our company and the community,” Dever said.
When volunteers aren’t at the site, Nathan Hasler-Brooks helps keep the farm running. Hasler-Brooks, of north Philadelphia, is in the first year of a two-year farming apprentice program with Greener Partners, and tends to Hillside Farm along with another apprentice and a farm manager. While looking over the progress made for during the day, Hasler-Brooks looks satisfied.
“We’ve done pretty darn good for year one,” he said, taking off a farmer’s straw hat and wiping away some sweat. “It’s been pretty hard because it was weeds for 50 years.”
A former social worker, Hasler-Brooks said he would find himself often dreaming about farming. And with an interest in sustainability, he wound up meeting representatives from Greener Partners at a seminar.
Though the volunteers didn’t think of the day as work in the traditional sense, Ingle said while laying down some woodchips a few of them were asked, “Who wishes they were back at the office?” and a couple of hands went up in jest.
“They loved it,” Ingle said. “They really learned a lot … Obviously, when you’re talking about farms and food, it’s a great opportunity to gather people together.”
For more information on Greener Partners, call 484-318-8691 or visit www.greenerpartners.org.
About 30 workers from the software company SAP, of neighboring Newtown Square, spent Oct. 26 working at Hillside Farm on the Elwyn Campus. The community-supported agriculture farm (CSA), is one of six run by the nonprofit organization Greener Partners, of Malvern, which teams up with land trusts, municipalities, arboretums and universities to transform underutilized space to food-producing land.
By about 2 p.m., the volunteers had just finished pressing cider, and were putting the finishing touches on making sure this parcel would produce food for a May harvest.
The volunteers were split into four groups that: planted garlic and shallots for a May harvest; covered the trails with woodchips to stunt the growth of weeds (which also eliminates the need to use carbon-producing landscaping machines later); helped construct a greenhouse; and created an environmentally friendly plaster for the basement of the barn, which is purely aesthetic.
Jason Ingle, co-founder and executive director of Greener Partners, said the two-acre farm produced food for about 50 families in its inaugural year. The volunteers helped cover crop a portion of the farm, which will increase the productivity of the soil, and hopefully, Ingle said, produce for about 100 to 120 shareholders next year.
Not bad for a “farm” that was covered with waist-high weeds a year ago.
Ingle said people are becoming tired of absentee, industrial farms, adding that there’s a grassroots push toward local and organic foods. And eating locally produced food, though it may cost more, offers a sense of immediate gratification for the environmentally conscious.
“I think there’s a huge, huge movement that’s begun,” Ingle said. “It’s really a convergence of issues: sustainability, community, environmental, youth … when you converge all of those things and it’s as simple as ‘food.’ It’s not complicated where you have to buy a hybrid car, or put solar panels on your roof … you can have an immediate return by eating local organic food.”
SAP volunteer Stan Anderson, of Moorestown, N.J., said jokingly, “This is a day off? Actually, for our company, this is a great way to give back.”
Anderson said he spent the day planting garlic and shallots and spreading mulch and hay. He said he hopes the things he planted wind up yielding food, as he’s not very successful when it come to his home garden.
Jim Dever, who works in the public relations department of SAP, said the company is involved in about 200 volunteer-based projects over the country, adding that the company contributes money, as well as time.
“With blood and sweat — it creates a bond between our company and the community,” Dever said.
When volunteers aren’t at the site, Nathan Hasler-Brooks helps keep the farm running. Hasler-Brooks, of north Philadelphia, is in the first year of a two-year farming apprentice program with Greener Partners, and tends to Hillside Farm along with another apprentice and a farm manager. While looking over the progress made for during the day, Hasler-Brooks looks satisfied.
“We’ve done pretty darn good for year one,” he said, taking off a farmer’s straw hat and wiping away some sweat. “It’s been pretty hard because it was weeds for 50 years.”
A former social worker, Hasler-Brooks said he would find himself often dreaming about farming. And with an interest in sustainability, he wound up meeting representatives from Greener Partners at a seminar.
Though the volunteers didn’t think of the day as work in the traditional sense, Ingle said while laying down some woodchips a few of them were asked, “Who wishes they were back at the office?” and a couple of hands went up in jest.
“They loved it,” Ingle said. “They really learned a lot … Obviously, when you’re talking about farms and food, it’s a great opportunity to gather people together.”
For more information on Greener Partners, call 484-318-8691 or visit www.greenerpartners.org.
