A Day in the Life of an Education Intern

By Elizabeth Brooks

One of the most exciting things about being an education intern is the constantly changing schedule.  I was an education intern at PFP for five weeks this spring, and we did something different every day.  So much is always going on at PFP; there’s always something new to do and learn.  Even though there is a lot of variation in our daily schedule, here’s what a typical day might look like.

June 3, 2016

6:30 – Normally, I arrive at the farm at around 7:30-8:30, but today is a Friday, so we want to make sure to catch the weekly field walk led by our farm director, Leon, which starts at 6:30.  I’ve learned a lot about plants and farming as an intern, but there’s always more to learn so this morning walk is really helpful –and a great way to ease into the day.

On our walk around the farm, Leon shows the farm apprentices and interns what needs to be harvested for distribution and what other tasks are most urgent.  He also tells us some interesting facts about the plants on the farm, like how it’s important for broccoli to be dome-shaped so water doesn’t pool on it and how asparagus plants store energy in their roots before winter so they can grow again in the spring.

7:30 – It looks a little overcast, but we water the Discovery Gardens anyway.  We also weed a little and do a few other small tasks to keep it well-maintained.  Since the garden is new this spring, we have spent a lot of time working on building and maintaining it, and it’s really starting to come together.

8:30 – A 5th grade class from Warring Elementary School is arriving at 9:30 for a farm visit, so we get ready to lead them on a tour of the farm and make a kale salad together.

9:30 – The class arrives, and we take them around the farm to talk about some of the different plants and strategies the farmers use to grow organically.  We also harvest some strawberries, kale, and radishes to use in our salad, but have to cut our tour a little short because it starts pouring.  To escape the downpour, we take all of the students under the tent and start making our kale salad.  Before interning at the PFP, I never thought kids could ever get excited about eating vegetables, but my time here has definitely proved me wrong!  When it’s time to eat the salad, many of the students say they love the salad, and others offer ideas about how to change it to make it even better.  We end the farm visit in the meditation garden so the students can try lemon sorrel and other culinary herbs.

11:30 – After the class leaves, we wash the dishes and discuss how the visit went during our lunch break.

12:30 – We spend some time picking strawberries in the fields to save for education programs in the winter.  Even though there won’t be anything growing, the education program continues to lead workshops and other activities throughout the winter.  We freeze the strawberries so that they last until winter.

1:30 – We spend the last hour of the day weeding some of the asparagus on the farm.  Once in awhile, we do some work on the farm, which is always a nice change from being in the education garden.

2:30 – Since we came in at 6:30, we leave at 2:30.  I go home covered in dirt and pretty tired, but excited to come back in on Monday.

Learning to Throw Bowls for a Great Cause

By Taylor Aufiero

On the first day of the Art Centro subsidized pottery classes for Poughkeepsie Farm Project’s Soup-A-Bowl fundraiser, I walked in incredibly optimistic and excited to throw! As I met our wonderful instructor, Dan Pressler, he immediately asked “Have you thrown before?” In my head I thought, “Yeah sure I’ve thrown bowls before--against the wall maybe.” But I replied in a sing-song voice, “No but I am SO excited to do it!” Well, Dan looked at me with a smile, amused by my naivety, and he laughed; that’s when I learned that throwing pots is NOT easy.

After my first visit to Poughkeepsie Farm Project in May of 2016, I fell absolutely in love. That very day I signed up to take part in the pottery class at Art Centro- an opportunity to make bowls that other people will pay money for AND the money goes to a great cause-- how could I resist! Never the artistic type, I was encouraged when I convinced my mom, PFP native Tina Vaitkus, to sign up with me. The classes were subsidised by Art Centro through their admirable and continued commitment to PFP and its mission to cultivate a just and sustainable food system in the Mid-Hudson Valley.

I am proud to say that after just six weeks-- despite claims that only after I’d thrown my first thousand would I get the hang of it--I was able to create several marvelous bowls! It was, of course, a major group effort and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to spend six Thursday evenings with my fellow PFP members. I have tremendous gratitude and appreciation for the volunteers and staff at Art Centro who made this class possible and put up with my semi-laborious learning process.

Soup-A-Bowl will take place on October 16th, 2016. For more information on Soup-A-Bowl check out our event page. I hope to see you there, and if you’re lucky, you’ll get one of my bowls.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Minimizing Household Waste to Maximize our Potential

Join us on Monday, July 11th from 6 to 8 pm at the Environmental Cooperative at Vassar Barns for an evening of community and education. Come enjoy light, farm-fresh fare, and learn from our panel of local experts about how we can make our waste stream more efficient. 

Maureen Costura, from The Culinary Institute of America, will explain why an overhaul of our current process of waste disposal is essential. 

Sarah A. Salem, from Zero to Go, will discuss how Zero To Go has transformed the waste stream in Beacon and how their principles can be applied toother communities. 

Cathy Lane, from Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County, will discuss steps we can take every day to recycle and compost. 

Stiles Najac, from Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County, will discuss minimizing food waste.

Poughkeepsie Farm Project’s very own education intern Rachel Pittelman will bring dialogue full circle, answering questions about how properly recycled items are used. Pittelman will also touch upon New York state recycling and waste laws.

Although this is a free workshop, we are encouraging everyone to register so we have a sense of the number of people coming and can plan the space and the refreshments! We hope to see you on July 11th for an evening of engaging discussion.

Meet Our Summer Interns!

Sam Carletta is from Rochester, NY and is currently pursuing an Economics major and Environmental Science minor from Hamilton College. He is interested in studying agriculture as a vehicle for sustainable development and growth in third world countries. He enjoys playing ultimate frisbee, as well as the guitar. This year, he has lived in New York City and in Tanzania, and is excited to spend his summer in Poughkeepsie! 

German Gutierrez was born in Veracruz Mexico, but was raised in Fairfax County, Virginia. He is the third of five sons, and has no sisters. Whenever he has free time he likes to bury his nose in a corny science fiction paperback. He found himself in the Hudson Valley after he followed his older brother here looking for a fresh start and opportunities to learn about agriculture. He is deeply interested in food justice and that is how he came to volunteer with Poughkeepsie Farm Project. He is also fascinated by the current trend in urban farming, which he believes has great potential to revitalize not only our diets but our cities as well, and to provide communities access to fresh farm produce.

Sophie Kosmacher is a rising senior and philosophy major at Vassar College. She's diving into gardening full time for the first time this summer since beginning in the Meditation Garden during the spring semester (come volunteer with us on Wednesdays from 4-6!) She looks forward to building fellowship with the community gardeners and among the gardeners, the Farm Project, and the Poughkeepsie community this summer. In her free time, Sophie enjoys running, hiking, dancing, reading, and cooking (especially eggplants and sweet potatoes!) and exploring local restaurants and coffee shops. She hopes to see you in the garden soon!

Margaret Patkus is a Poughkeepsie native who graduated from Spackenkill High School last year. She just completed her first year at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she plans to pursue a major in Environmental Studies and a minor in Race and Ethnic Studies. She plays the viola, and is passionate about being active (Pilates and hiking are favorites) and preparing beautiful, local eats! She is excited to be a part of this community and to work on improving community food and environmental justice.

Rachel Pittelman is about to graduate from The Culinary Institute of America with her Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Food Studies. She is an Education Intern at Poughkeepsie Farm Project. For many years she has been bothered by the unhealthy diets of many American children. She hopes to connect her passions for cooking and nutrition with an understanding of how food waste is managed to create a career path of her own.

Samuel Schwartz is a senior at SUNY New Paltz studying philosophy, linguistics, and interpersonal/ intercultural communication. His choice to pursue an internship with Poughkeepsie Farm Project was motivated by his philosophical interest in ethical engagement between individuals, communities, and the environment. He believes that communication within and between local subcultures centered on agriculture can unify diverse populations and the natural world.

Anthony Walker is a rising senior at Vassar College from Madison, Wisconsin.  Previously he has worked at a small vegetable farm, worked at a summer camp, and taught kids swim lessons at his local pool.  If he’s not at the farm, he’s probably in the pool because he is on Vassar College's swim team.  He is a Geography major interested in grassroots community movements and sustainable development. He loves to grow and pick fresh fruits and vegetables and he is so excited to be working with all the cool people at the Poughkeepsie Farm Project.

Now you can sign up for a fruit share!

Water, Water Everywhere – Or Perhaps Not

German is connecting a drip line to the header, which supplies water.

The farm is a beautiful, peaceful place where plants grow vigorously using ample supplies of rainwater… sometimes. Most of the time, we rely on our irrigation network and a thoughtful approach to scheduling waterings. Much water is needed, obviously, to maintain thriving crops, but supplying water at the wrong time or in the wrong place can have harmful consequences.

At PFP, irrigation is really important because we’ve got awesome soil. Really. It allows us to get outside and do fieldwork before neighboring farmers can, and it can be tilled most of the time, because it drains so well. Additionally, soil is constantly losing moisture through evaporation, and plants lose a large amount of water through their leaves via evapotranspiration (the loss of water to the atmosphere due to the plant’s respiratory processes).

Whenever we activate irrigation at PFP, the timing is strongly dictated by the weather, as you might expect. As a general rule, mature plants lose water through evapotranspiration at a rate of 1 inch per week; therefore, this amount of water should be supplied by the weather or by the farmers. Healthy plants and soils should experience wet periods and dry ones, and so this inch or so of water has to be applied at appropriate intervals. It is also important to avoid overwatering, as it encourages weed growth. Remember this, as it is true in your garden too!

Patrick is irrigating tilled cover crop to allow it to break down.

When you think of irrigation on the farm, I hope you think of the grand jets produced by the overhead sprinklers. I won’t lie: I love turning those on because of how cool they look. They are used for most leafy greens and many root vegetables. These sprinklers have a diminutive cousin, aptly named microsprinklers, that are used especially with freshly transplanted crops. They produce a mist that is much gentler than the droplets produced by larger sprinklers, and are good for young and fragile plants. Overhead sprinklers are easy to set up and are portable, but they allow for evaporation to occur, since the water is sprayed into the air and rests on the surface.

Another large component of our irrigation system helps avoid some of the problems described above: drip irrigation. Drip lines are installed in beds of tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, melons, strawberries, blueberries, eggplant, squash, and others, because these crops are especially susceptible to bacterial and/or fungal diseases. In these beds, irrigation water is supplied underground. Disease spreading is minimized, as leaves do not get wet and soil does not splash onto plants, except when rain falls. Because the ground isn’t covered in water in this situation, drip irrigation helps to minimize weed growth, as well.

Drip irrigation is so effective that we put up with the labor required to install it each season (though the task is made more efficient by a tractor implement that buries drip tape and lays down biodegradable plastic mulch!). Some crops would be nearly impossible to grow if we could not irrigate underground because of disease pressure, including tomatoes, winter squash, onions, and strawberries. When enjoying fine produce this season, be sure to appreciate the irrigation system (and your farmers!). Don’t hesitate to look around at the network while picking; the farmers are also eager to tell you more if you are curious!

Are You Interested in a Fruit Share?

PFP is pleased to announce that we are considering adding a fruit share to our CSA offerings! The fruit would come from a local orchard and would be a mix of peaches, plums, pears, nectarines, apples and grapes. Before jumping into it, we need to gauge serious interest among our current CSA Shareholders.

***Edit*** We did it! There was enough interest and from now until July 1st, you can sign up for a Fruit Share by clicking here.

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Gov. Clinton Elementary School Builds a Garden

After taking PFP’s “Using Gardens to Teach” Summer Institute for Educators in 2014, third grade teacher Mrs. Suzi Sullivan was intent on starting a school garden at Clinton School. Since then, she has written and been awarded three grants in order to purchase the fence, garden, beds, soil, and hand tools that have made her vision a reality. Her students have been busy planting seedlings donated by Poughkeepsie Farm Project. School principal, Mr. David Scott said, "I am extremely appreciative of the support of our partners: Lowe’s Toolbox for Education, Whole Kids Foundation, Tractor Supply Company’s Dig-It Program, and Poughkeepsie Farm Project." Clinton students now have the opportunity to experience an outdoor classroom setting that fosters the learning of various topics including science, social studies, math, literacy, and nutrition.

One of the main goals of the school’s garden is to provide educational lessons that incorporate meaningful messages about nutrition. According to Poughkeepsie Farm Project’s education director, Jamie Levato, “taking part in garden-based learning encourages healthful eating and connects students to academic subjects in engaging ways.” Not only does the exposure to fresh fruits and vegetables allow students to develop healthy eating behaviors and food choices, but the involvement in their growth, maintenance, and harvest establishes a more purposeful connection that will follow students as they move into adolescence and adulthood. Mrs. Sullivan says, “the garden will play a critical role in establishing an environment that supports healthy behaviors while providing opportunities for students to learn about and practice healthy eating and physical activity.” Research shows that nurturing students’ interest in eating fruits and vegetables and improving their knowledge of nutrition can lead to improvements in eating habits, and thus academic performance, social skills and behavior.

Clinton School will have classes decide what to grow in the garden and spend one 40-minute period each week for garden bed maintenance or other educational activities like reading in the garden. Mr. Scott, says he knows that the garden “will promote healthy eating behaviors by providing our students with direct, hands-on learning experiences in the school garden.”  Additionally, students will be able to harvest and taste fresh produce. The success of the school garden program will be measured by student reports of their gardening experiences, including what activities they enjoyed, new fruits and vegetables they were able to taste, and what messages they took away from it.

On June 10th, 2016, there will be an outdoor, full-school assembly at 12:45pm followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony at 1:30pm. This event will celebrate the importance of promoting health and well-being through student, faculty, and family participation in building and maintaining the school’s garden.

Staff Highlight: Katherine Chiu, Food Share Manager

Katherine grew up in an Ohio suburb surrounded by cornfields, but she cultivated her love for farming in New York City.  While working in nonprofit marketing and communications, she fell in love with community gardening and with the Union Square farmers market near her office, where she quickly learned how to locate the “ugly bags” and end-of-day deals (on that aforementioned nonprofit salary) while also forming relationships with the folks behind her food. 

The lure of working outdoors, supporting a community-based project, and immersing herself in another language led Katherine to a children’s home in La Paz, Bolivia, where she worked with resident children to build their own community garden.  “One of the kids told me the soup they’d made for dinner one evening was especially tasty because they had grown the radishes that were in it,” she recalls, “while another kid kept his radishes in the ground all season.  He told me they couldn’t be pulled up until at least the following year!”  Their enthusiasm for growing food and strong sense of food sovereignty stuck with her, and back in NYC, she dove further into urban agriculture, helping to develop urban farms and community gardens with the New York Botanical Garden's Bronx Green-Up, managing educational apiaries with NYC Beekeeping, and tending chickens in Brook Park while learning with neighbors about the history and significance of this South Bronx community garden. 

Though she felt strong ties to her neighborhood and New York City, she also found herself more and more frequently traveling across and beyond the five boroughs to visit and work on various farms.  Last year she moved up to Dutchess County to apprentice at Sisters Hill Farm, a five-acre, 250-member vegetable CSA farm, where she received training in efficient farm systems, tractor operation, and farm management.  She also graduated last winter from Farm School NYC’s urban agriculture and food justice certificate program, which shaped her understanding of a fair food system as one that is anchored in environmental, social, and racial justice. 

Katherine is thrilled to be farming this season at Poughkeepsie Farm Project and to be working alongside an awesome farm crew and staff, both in the field and in her role as Food Share program manager, through which she will be coordinating donations of fresh produce throughout the season to local community organizations.  She looks forward to collaborating with PFP’s Food Share partner organizations, and she is equally excited to meet and work with our CSA shareholders.  Keep your eyes and ears peeled around the farm; if you spy someone in the fields snacking on edible weeds or hear a loud burst of laughter, that might be Katherine!

"Using Gardens to Teach" Workshop Benefits Local Educator

We are excited to offer our annual Using Gardens to Teach Summer Institute for Educators again this coming August 23-25. Below is a letter from Nicole Cardish, one of our 2015 participants, to a colleague. We just saw Nicole a few days ago when she picked up seedlings that PFP donated to the Mill Road School Garden that she manages in Red Hook. She was thrilled to be planting with the students and teaching in the garden. 

As suggested by her note, Nicole has started a vermiculture bin and has just initiated classroom composting for snack time and the kids are loving it! She and the students are also growing a wide range of vegetables in the garden for tastings and preparing simple snacks.

From left to right: Susan and Nicole collect and process seeds from Glacier Tomatoes; Nicole and Stacy prepare a healthy garden-fresh snack; Nicole and Isaac find the area and perimeter of a garden bed; Nicole picks up PFP-grown seedlings for the Mill Road School Garden.