Farmers Note: Weve Taken the Farmers Pledge!

Do you use
chemicals? is a
question we hear
often. A better
question might
be: do you
use synthetic chemicals? Clay
powders, diatomaceous earth,
and soap and pepper sprays are
examples of naturally occurring
chemicals that can be effective pest
deterrents. You might not get to
enjoy Whirligig Farm cucumbers
and squash if not for the application
of a simple clay powder by our
assistant manager Dan Moon, to
prevent them from being devoured
by cucumber beetles. Even organic-
certifed chemicals such as copper
can be damaging to the soil if used
too frequently or in too great a
concentration, and an over-reliance
on any one chemical will encourage
insects and pathogens to evolve
resistance to that chemical. So, the
answer to the chemicals question is
more nuanced than yes or no.
Actually, many questions
regarding sustainable farm
practices are similarly complicated.
The best assurance you can have
that your food is being grown
in a manner that is building soil
rather than degrading it, building
community rather than sacrifcing
it, and working with rather than
against natural ecological systems,
is to know and trust your farmers
and their practices.
Fortunately, the Northeast
Organic Farming Association of
New York has developed The
Farmers Pledge, a document
which allows farmers to share with
their customers just exactly how
their practices are sustainable in a
number of categories far beyond
the rejection of a list of harmful
chemicals. Here is an excerpt from
By Creek Iversen
Newsletter
July 2014 Issue 4
CSA Vegetable List
Look for these items
in your share this week
Beets
Giant Snow Peas
Rainbow Swiss Chard
Rocambole Garlic Scapes
Head Lettuce
Watermelon Radishes
Chinese Cabbage
Sweet Hakurei Turnips
You-Pick:
Herb: Chinese Parsley (Cilantro)
Flower Bouquet
Extra Peas to Freas!
Coming Attractions:
Purple Kohlrabi
Cucumbers
Kelly Farrel, Greg Cerne and Nina Petrochko await the crowds at The Clearwater
Festivals Whirligig Farm booth, where we sold salad mix, snap peas and snow peas.
Jasmina DeLeon-Gill and Nina
Petrochko laugh and talk while
harvesting mustard greens.
TM
Continued on page 3
Creek Iversen and Dan Moon lead
the audience in a round.
A beautiful panorama of Whirligig
Farm is visible from the other side of
Hurley Mountain Road.
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ON THE FARM:
Farmstand Grand
Opening
Saturday, July 5
9 a.m. farmstand open
1 p.m. grand opening
celebration begins.
Stone House Day
By The Hurley Heritage
Society
Saturday, July 12
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Were featured on tour
of several of Americas
oldest private homes.
For tickets and
more info:
StoneHouseDay.org
Community Harvest
Supper
Thursday July 24
4 to 8 p.m. or come
earlier!
Music Jams
Saturday, July 5
Sunday, August 3
5 to 9 p.m.
potluck at 6:30 p.m.
FARM
EVENTS
Its not too late to sign
up for our CSA!
Email:
CSA@whirligigfarm.com
Call:
(845) 331-0316
Whirligig Farm Goes To
The Clearwater Festival
1. Shay Otis, Phil Erner, Nina Petrochko, Greg Cerne and Creek Iversen at the Whirligig
Farm booth. 2. Kelly Farrel sells the frst pints of peas of the day to festival-goers 3. Phil
Erner and Creek Iversen sing folk songs. 4. Nina Petrochko, Shay Otis, Jasmina DeLeon-
Gill and Dan Moon organize our triple-washed greens for CSA members. 5. Just a portion
of our many beds of vegetables: lettuces, fennel and brussel sprouts fourish.
3
4 5
2
1375 Hurley
Mountain Road
Hurley, NY 12433
Rainbow Swiss Chard
1
3
Farmers Note continued.
Meet One of Our Farmers: Phil
Hometown: Albany County, New York.
Favorite Vegetables: Cukes, Sweet Corn and Butternut Squash.
First farming experience: For two years I lived at Gleanings Farm in the Helderberg
Hilltowns near Albany, learning to care for - and to imitate the calls of - dairy goats, chickens,
ducks, etc. Whirligig is my first experience with plants, and so far theyre quieter, greener
and easier to wrangle.
What made you want to work at Whirligig Farm? For years Ive wanted to try the farm
life with Creek Iversen, our farm manager.
What do you love about working at Whirligig Farm? Whirligig Farm is an enviable
place to be, from the fields, to the Esopus Creek, to the Catskills, to the historic house,
to the people who love, inhabit and work upon it. Whirligig is a classroom without walls,
an antidote for my decades spent indoors and sedentary as a student-educator. Nary an
hour passes without our singing, bringing joy to our field work and farm markets. We are
building a kind, caring community here. And our home cooking is terrific.
Phil Erner
NOFA NYs website:
Knowing your farmer is the best assurance that
the food you buy is responsibly grown with methods
that honor the web of life. Northeast Organic Farming
Association of New York, Inc. (NOFA-NY, Inc.) believes
that farmers should work in harmony with nature and
leave the little piece of the world over which they have
stewardship in better condition than when they found
it.
To further enable consumers to identify the farms
they want to support with their food dollars, NOFA-NY
has established The Farmers Pledge, a separate and
distinct program from USDA Certifed Organic. This
Pledge is based on the integrity of the farmer. It seeks to
describe sustainable practices in a document that both
certifed organic growers and growers that use agro-
ecological systems can attest is an accurate description
of how they farm. It serves as a bridge for consumers
and farmers alike to better know the agriculturists that
struggle to create healthy communities, local food
security and food sovereignty.
Here is an abridged list of what Whirligig Farm has
pledged to support through our practices.
WE PLEDGE THAT IN OUR FARMING, PROCESSING
AND MARKETING WE WILL:
Build and maintain healthy soils.
Use no synthetic chemicals.
Use no GMOs.
Treat livestock humanely.
Support markets and infrastructures that enable small
farms to thrive.
Conserve natural resources including the atmosphere and
climate.
Maximize the nutritional value of food and feed by
practicing careful post-harvest handling.
Ensure food safety.
Limit energy use and convert to renewable sources of
energy.
Reduce food miles by selling produce locally and regionally.
Create beneficial habitat for wildlife and encourage
biodiversity.
Help preserve farmland.
Share and develop farming skills and know-how.
Use ethical business practices.
Pay a living wage to all farm workers.
Treat farm workers with respect, and ensure their safety.
Work in cooperation with other farmers and with the
neighboring community to create a more sustainable way
of life.
Encourage the distribution of unsold but edible food to
people who need it.
Sustain the land in healthy condition for future generations.
We are proud to be one of about 150 New York
State Farms that have taken The Farmers Pledge of
sustainable practices! So, while enjoying the taste and
freshness of your Whirligig Farm products, you can also
enjoy the satisfaction that you are truly supporting the
building of healthy soil and sustainable community in
a way that harmonizes with the lands natural ecology.
See you down on the farm!
Creek
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And go to
whirligigfarm.com
to learn more about the farm, our CSA
program and other opportunities.
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Harvest Tips:
Snap Peas
and
Lettuce Greens
The wonderful thing about growing
lettuces and other salad greens is that
they can provide a second yield after the
frst harvest! Simply cut the leaves about
one inch from the root when they mature,
and watch as the plant grows more leaves.
(Left) Phil Erner, Nina
Petrochko and (above)
Jasmina DeLeon-Gill
harvest mustard greens.
(Right) Phil Erner
demonstrates his super-
efcient way of picking
sugar snap peas.
To pick snap peas with one
hand, use your thumb to pinch
the tip of the pod so you can
pop off the calyx, the little cap
at the end.
(Left) Jasmina DeLeon-Gill and Phil Erner, carry crates of sugar snap peas
in from the felds. (Middle) Holy Kohlrabi! (Right) Our Rainbow Swiss
Chard is loving the rain and looking amazing.
Photography and layout by Gianna Canevari.
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