Community agriculture sees growth
HILLTOWNS Raymond Luhrman stooped to pluck garlic out of its muddy field despite Saturdays downpour.
"This stuff has to come out of the ground, you know," said Luhrman in a singsong Dutch accent.
He and his wife, Sara Luhrman, along with a handful of dedicated souls, harvested their garlic crop for Fox Creek Farm, a community-supported agriculture project, in Gallupville. The Luhrmans own Fox Creek Farm, renting the land from Bittersweet Organics. The project is in its third year, and doubling its size every year. Three years ago, the project had 10 members, Mr. Luhrman said. "Last year, we doubled to 20. This year, we doubled again."
The 40 members each pay for a share, which costs $375, and provides them with vegetables for 18 weeks, from June to October.
The idea of community supported agriculture (CSA) is relatively new; it was developed in Europe in the 1960s and introduced to the United States in the mid 1980s, according to a report from the United States Department of Agriculture.
The idea originated because there was a market for locally-grown and organically-farmed produce; the practice also gave farmers financial security. Since members of the CSA pay for their share before the season begins, if there is bad weather and crops fail, members shoulder the burden with the farmer. The concept also results in a local farming community because the members have an interest in and knowledge of the farm that produces their food.
The Luhrmans stressed the importance of the local aspect of CSA’s. "The other big pro," in addition to the organically grown produce, Mr. Luhrman said, "is you keep money in the community."
One of their goals is to reinvigorate the local rural economy. The Luhrmans said that they’d consider working with local farmers who produce other goods. Karl Westphal, a CSA member who helped harvest the garlic on Saturday, used to run a dairy farm that he’d consider starting again, he said. "It would be nice to complement each other," said Mr. Luhrman of working with a dairy farmer.
"I think we’re growing slowly but steadily," said Mr. Luhrman of Fox Creek Farm. "The idea is to create a community," he said. "Create a little farm related network."
This is the first year that the couple had a tractor, a 1948 Farmall, to help with the work. "We still have to do a lot by hand, though," said Ms. Luhrman. The couple hopes to make their living off of the farm eventually.
"We’d like to be full time farmers," said Ms. Luhrman, a substitute teacher. She was an African studies major in college, but said that she learned how to farm by doing it. She worked on an agricultural project while she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal; the government was looking for more tolerant crops that could grow in the drought prone area of West Africa.
Mr. Luhrman was also in Senegal at the time, which is how the two met. Ms. Luhrman, a California native, said with a chuckle that they chose to settle in Gallupville because it was half way between Holland and California.
"Accidentally, we met in public transportation," Mr. Luhrman said. "And now we are harvesting garlic in the rain."
