I went from not knowing how to grow anything but a stubbly beard, to understanding enough about sustainable organic farming to start my own! It is hard to imagine somewhere with more passionate and knowledgeable people than Farm Education Inc. It is a wonderful place with idealistic commitment to caring for people, animals, and the environment. They teach everything you need to know about small scale farming, with emphasis on product variety and sustainability (heirloom vegetables, seed saving, heritage breed animals, etc.). Their main product...new farmers with the knowledge, commitment, and enthusiasm to start small, sustainable, organic farms wherever they go. The goal: More small farms, in more places, producing incredible food in all the right ways. That, without a doubt, is worth supporting.
I've been a customer, student, supporter and finally board member over the past six years. The farm is an extraordinary example of the integration of functioning sustainable agriculture, star quality product, a training ground for future farmers and a "school" for their future customers. An immensely positive force for the future of sustainable farming in the Hudson and Housatonic Valleys. Dom's passion is boundless and catching.
This Farm is a dream realized to me and best of all it feeds my family!!!
My three boys (11, 8 and 5) get to walk around the land that produces their food with the humans that raise and nurture it...providing them with a primal, essential connection to life that few are fortunate enough to have in these times.
I cannot speak highly enough about Farmer Dom and his mission to create not just sustainable food but an army of new farmers that will also be good shepherds of our food and of our planet.
I am the fortunate recipient of fresh produce and product from Moon in the Pond Farm. This has led to a lively, educational dialogue on organics, sustainability, farming techniques,the seasons, the water cycle... each time I chat with the MITP farmers, I learn something and I am re-reminded of their deep commitment to the earth and good, wholesome food. It is a special, magical place and group.
Dom taught my grandchildren, aged 4 and 5, all about pigs - especially how well the pig nose works. He is such a natural teacher, really good at it; the boys were happy to gather apples and toss them to the pigs, watching the pigs find the apples by smell. A couple of weeks later and the boys are still talking about it. Every time I stop at the Dom's booth at the Farmers Market I learn something - from how to grow his delicious shallots, to how to cook mushrooms correctly.
Dom is an amazing friend, teacher and his dedication to growing organically and training future farmers is inspiring. Not to mention, his meat and vegetables are some of the best in the region. If you have the chance, definitely swing by the farm. Dom will always make time to chat and give you a tour.
It isn't just that the food is well, grown with love not chemicals, it is the education piece. No matter what kind of question I have (today it was about mushrooms) they take the time to answer it and teach something extra. Today I learned that the traditional way to grow shitakes on logs is much better, more flavorful, than growing on sawdust. I didn't know anything at all about how mushrooms grow! They make education part of everything that is done at the farm.
Their commitment to real food is inspiring and helps us to know and respect where our food comes from!
I discovered Moon in the Pond Farm near the end of my Appalachian Trail section hike in the middle of August. I told them I was interested in staying a couple days, even though unbeknownst to them my real intention was to stay for at least a couple weeks. I was quickly put to work on my arrival in the evening with the task of harvesting 'Purple Potted Peapods,' and was given a generous and delicious supper prepared by the 'Farmer in Charge,' Dom, following the completion of this task.
After a peaceful sleep in my tent in a secluded area of the farm, I showed up at 'the house' at 630AM, ready to work. I helped out one of the interns with chores in the morning. This included moving the chicken tractors and ensuring the chickens had sufficient food and water, feeding the pigs, and helping to prepare for market (depending on the day). After a big breakfast at 830, I did some weeding for a few hours until lunch was served at 1. Following this I did some other work, such as cutting down overgrown rose bushes, preparing a dirt bed for planting, harvesting some crops, setting up a fence for the cows, making pear juice or butter, or some other activity that would make the farm better.
Near the end of my second week, before lunch, a family of visitors came to the farm. The family consisted of two kids, around ages 7 and 10, their mother, and their grandmother. The grandmother chatted with Dom, the owner, while I volunteered to show the others the pigs, which was a bit of a walk away from the house. They started asking me questions, and I started answering them. First they were mostly about me, and then they started asking farm questions; Are the pigs pregnant? How old are they? How much do they eat? I didn't realize how much I learned on the farm up until that point. I explained about the pig feeding process, how the boar gets fed first and separately so he doesn't eat all the food, and how we were borrowing the boar to try to get the sows pregnant, and how we would know if they were pregnant. Overall it was a great experience, and after I left the farm I was able to identify and eat some wild greens and weeds that I had learned about on the farm!