As we gear up for the 2020 growing season, we are also making our invitations to the community to join in on the fun. There are few things we enjoy more than seeing visitors participating with us in growing healthy and nutritious vegetables and fruits.
We look for schools, corporate, or non-profit groups to join us in the fields during the summer months to bond and to learn the ins and outs of our farming practices, while sampling delicious veggies and farm honey along the way.
Have ideas for an event or gathering? Reach out to us and we will make it an experience to remember. Email us or call Farmer Dan at 401-834-5828 to set up a day in the fields for this summer.
A three-hour farm outing typically includes a farm tour, bee and honey presentation, fieldwork and harvesting, plus snacks and drinks to enjoy.
We have had corporate groups, organizations, schools, birthdays, parties, educational events – whatever your interest we are here to host. We want you to come and volunteer some time and enjoy our farming oasis.
Evolution at the Farm “With a successful growing season behind us, we look forward to continuing our commitment to the local food economy, most notably through outreach and education. We want the community to come to the farm not only to purchase at the farm stand but to engage with the land and take that knowledge back home with them. We want to inspire a movement of composting, homegrown food, and self- sufficiency and are here to provide guidance and support through the process.” Thank you to all the people who visited, volunteered, and bought from the stand in 2019 – you help make what we do possible!! – Farmer Dan’s Journal January 2020
The 2020 growing season is fast approaching! Would you believe our Onions will be seeded at the end of this month! Join us by clicking the volunteer button above with subject line: BFS Grows 2020
Winter Events and Volunteer Opportunities
Climate Change and Resiliency Cabin Fever Series, Sunday, January 26, 2020⋅2:30 – 5:00 pm, Registration
Trails and Trail Mix – join us for some trailblazing in the woody acre and create some yummy trail mix for the adventure. Inquire w/subject line: Trail Magic – youth groups/families are welcomed!
Berry Love, How to- Pruning Berry Bushes, February 14, 3 pm – we’ll enjoy some Valentine’s treats and drinks as well
The 2019 Year in Review
In 2019 we: began transforming the 1.5 acres of tillable land into uniform growing areas using market gardening, bio-intensive regenerative practices
planted fruit trees and berry bushes, donated from friends and local businesses
painted and beautified the summer kitchen and farmstand with the help of dedicated volunteers
sowed and harvested loads of produce, flowers, and honey for sale at the farm stand
expanded our food scrap collection, keeping thousands of pounds of reusable energy from entering the landfill, while creating delicious rich humus for our plants using vermiculture
hosted hundreds of volunteers- they came to us as corporate outings, school groups, church groups, and families and individuals
offered educational events relating to food health and sovereignty, farming from soil and seeding to transplanting and harvesting, composting and food scrap collection and vermiculture, planting and growing flowers, preparing garden beds and using slow tools
hosted community gatherings in the spring, fall, and summer while also offering organic seedlings to the community via our first plant sale
met hundreds of you at the farm stand and shared stories of our love for food, plants, the environment, and cooking
While the farm stand is seeing less activity as our production winds down, the farm itself is quite busy. We’ve sown all the fields in cover crop, have been planning for the location of the NRCS high tunnel, and are working on a variety of other projects, including the planting of daffodils and tulips, and garlic!
Farmer Dan covering the garlic seeds with rich organic compost
Our board President, Tim Faulkner, put together some numbers of the goings-on at the farm. Take a look:
Compost. The October food school food-scrap collection totals are in. Hampden Meadows School 374 pounds, Sowams School 209 pounds, Nayatt School 190 pounds, Primrose Hill School 155 pounds, Barrington Middle School 81 pounds and Barrington High School 0. St. Andrew’s School collected 370 pounds. Public drop-off (east of the farm stand off Federal Rd) at the farm netted 1,323 pounds.
Amazing soil we are creating thanks to food scraps from community schools
The BFS Food Scrap Program is run with the Barrington School District Green Team. Food scrap collection occurs during lunch at all four Barrington elementary schools. The Middle School and High School collect food scrap from their kitchens.
Garlic. Volunteers planted nearly 2,000 garlic bulbs on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3. The garlic was fertilized with seaweed courtesy of Point Judith Kelp Co., shredded leaves, and our own compost. The garlic, our own variety, will be harvested in July and offered at the farm stand.
Board help needed. The Barrington Farm School is looking for new board members. In particular, we are in need of a treasurer and a grant writer. If you are interested in either position or would like to join our board as a regular member, please reach out to Tim Faulkner atBarringtonFarmSchool@gmail.com or 401-330-6276.
What better way to follow el Dia de Los Muertos than with planting seeds. While October 31 still draws the most attention, it marks the eve of the day when we celebrate our ancestors.
When we think about the richness of tradition and the vast metaphors within oral and written histories with respect to life and death and its relationship to the soil, we recognize the intricate relationship we have with the earth. For us, this takes center stage with our composting—collecting local food scraps from areas schools and at our farmstand drop off toters, which are filled to the brim regularly by enthusiastic neighbors.
In honoring the earth, and our carbon-based chemistry, we have planned two wonderful opportunities for the community to join us in farming the land here at Vendituoli Farm.
Monarchs and Milkweedis Saturday, November 2nd, from 10 am – 11:30 am, hosted by our neighbor Cynthia O. and her keen knowledge and stewardship of native plants, pollinators, and milkweed—we will tour her native garden and learn how to collect seed and incubate seed into cold stratification through the winter.
Planting Garlictakes place Saturday, November 2nd, from 11:30 am – 3 pm. We will be planting 2500 garlic seeds in the “Little Uruguay” garden bed. We’ve been conditioning the soil with our very own compost, plus we will be mulching over the garlic with Kelp mulch, courtesy of Point Judith Kelp Company. This process is amazing, and so rewarding come July as the various heirloom varieties make their way out of the ground to cure.
Another great way to show support for the farm is with our “Adopt” a farm row campaign. We’ve secured 9 out of 27 rows thus farm, and your donation helps to ensure the best organic compost courtesy of Earthcare Farm, and the best organic seed from the most respected open seed companies in New England.
Autumn carries with it its own sense of rejuvenation, with its many insect creatures preparing for their hibernation, its fallen leaves a haven, as the sun prepares for its final descent until blessing us in winter.
However our paths meet from now until spring, the farm echoes, even when silent. For there are infinite projects in the works. We’re grateful for being here.
A 7-year-old’s birthday anniversary celebration at the farm: such a treat and a testament to what this community can be about…
A super farm-tastic birthday celebration for this young one
Co-hosting with a local family and their friends to enjoy a perfect afternoon is all we could have hoped for on this early autumn day. We met casually earlier in the week to make a plan: two hours – honey bees, bbq, playing with worms, harvesting carrots and radishes – and best of all- s’ mores and dirt in a cup!
Guests enjoying a bbq and blanket picnic in the center of the farm
We truly enjoyed this model, building friendships and teaching about our great little farm school. Everyone went home with an overwhelming sense of joy.
Each guest took home a farm bundle (carrots, radish, kale, and onions)
This event came together casually and ran smoothly thanks to the efforts of the farm team and the terrifically easy-going visitors. Of course, when it is sunny and warm, and the farm is brimming with flowers, veggies, and kind hearts, what could be better?
If you receive our newsletter, you have already met our talented volunteer, Emily Sutherland. Though she’s been with us just a few weeks, the Farm School is her home now; she is one of us! This is her first blog … we asked her to share her journey to becoming a farmer…enjoy!
Emily’s first bed prep at Barrington Farm School
Self-sufficiency has always intrigued me. As a child, I would read with wonder how the Ingalls family would churn butter, build log homes and barns, and tap maple trees for syrup. I would play with my American Girl Doll, Kaya, learning how the Nez Perce valued their food so highly that they left not one piece of buffalo wasted after a hunt.
Even the postman gets some maple candy!
My parents went along with my various escapades, running the stove for hours to boil down the sap I tapped from the maple tree in the front yard and building me a raised bed when I was seven. Looking back, the pride and confidence I build while growing my own food was crucial in my development. I would bring my maple candy (after boiling it past the point of syrup) to school and proudly watch my classmates devour it. I was contributing food to my family’s table, selling it at the end of my driveway for a few dollars, and learning to love nutritious food all the while. My garden gave me ownership and responsibility, and I loved it.
Not sure why I am cold if it’s tomato season 🙂 .. Tending to my childhood patch
I took a career class during my freshman year of college at American University. The professor had us write down our main interests and favorite activities as a child. “This,” she said, “is where you’ll find your passion. Turn that into a career and you’ll be all set.” I looked down at my list and realized I was going to be a farmer.
Just kidding.
I didn’t know what I could possibly do with a list consisting of “raising pet rabbits and chickens,” “tending to my garden,” “being outside,” and “meeting new people.” So I decided to enter the business school, figuring I could pretty much go any path with a business degree. After finishing a year early (thanks AP credits!), I decided to pursue my masters, also in the business school, but in a specialized Sustainability Management program. It was one year long, and since I’d already completed the basic business classes, I got to take a variety of electives. I took environmental science, conservation, and political ecology classes. These opened my eyes to the wide, messy, complicated world of food- growing it, importing it, genetically engineering it, distributing it, and so much more. The director of the program had studied agriculture herself and was the first person that encouraged me to pursue farming. Nobody I knew had viewed it as a viable life path before, even myself. Farmers were poor, relied on subsidies, and wrecked the environment, right?
During my masters, I started reading and researching potential programs for aspiring farmers. As it turns out, there are hundreds of farmers looking for apprentices. They tote labels such as “regenerative,” “no-till,” and “organic.” They sell at farmers’ markets in the inner city and donate to food banks. They educate kids on how to eat healthily and encourage the next generation of farmers. Once I got a taste, I knew that’s where I’d be going after college. So in March, I’m headed to a farm in Shenandoah, Virginia, to work full time as an apprentice.
tending to the rows in Bill’s Place (Garden Bed)
That’s where Barrington Farm School comes in. I was raised in Barrington and figured it would be wiser to move home for a few months after graduation rather than working a low paying job while paying high rent in DC. I quite literally stumbled upon BFS while walking my dog (I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed it over breaks previously, I guess college kids are in a sleep-deprived daze when they return after exams). I met the amazing farmers that volunteer their time to make this farm happen and teach others the same skills that empowered me as a kid. The next day, I showed up and put in a few hours of work… and have come back every day since.
(to be continued …)
final touch of well water after sowing lettuce varieties in Billy’s Place (Garden Bed)
While turnips are not directly related to radishes, they seem to have a mild radish flavor without any of the spice.
Our Hakurei salad turnips are so tender, juicy, and delightful, you’ll become a fan instantly. And like many root vegetables (beet, radish) the greens are perfectly edible.
We’ll have a good amount of turnips this September, so take a try… they are great fresh (raw) or in soups or roasted.
Reflection sinks in deeply when August night’s cool settles the mind as it looks back at the fruits of summer
In this first spring-summer employing market garden and bio intensive planting techniques, we begin to recognize how the beauty of the craft is in the continuous practice of bed prep and seed sowing.
With each bed flip, prep and new plantings what we get beyond the produce is … knowledge.
This summer was a test to see if the lessons we read and viewed would come to fruition.
We’ve learned enough to get by and we remain humble in knowing there is still so much to learn.
While we kept it relatively simple, as far as variety of produce, we certainly recognize that as we scale up some next year and look to offer more variety, the farming will be more involved and the practice will take on another level of intensity.
Late summer and fall opportunities for cover and fall planting serve as fundamentally essential moments too nourish, heal, and regenerate the soil-structure on the farm or in the garden.
We are sure to study best practice in the field, and share our vision and knowledge with visitors and volunteers.
Truly, our vision is yours. The more input and support in the region the greater the change.
Then we prep many of the garden beds and land for next season – resting the soil so that it might nourish us again.
