Purpose

This program is designed to give interns at organic farms in the southeastern Pennsylvania area the opportunity to increase their knowledge of sustainable agriculture principles, broaden their exposure to different farming practices and create a network of other interns and farmers with whom they can develop supportive relationships.

Program Description

From May through September, interns gather for various educational workshops. Most of these Saturday and Sunday workshops are hosted by participating farms and include a farm tour, a demonstration of a specific farming practice and a discussion of relevant topics. In addition, there are scheduled Seminar workshops, all held at Camphill Kimberton. Each Seminar will feature lectures that focus on a particular farming topic. Unless otherwise noted, the hours for workshops are normally 10am-1pm, with an optional potluck lunch following.

Program Administration

This program is administered by Maysie's Farm Conservation Center, as the purpose of this internship training alliance falls within the goals of the outreach programs there. Administration includes producing the annual program and schedule, communicating with participating farms, and compiling intern and farmer feedback. All participating farms are invited to contribute to the further development of this program through formal and informal meetings, surveys and regular phone or email communications.

Attending SAITA Workshops

Although the program is geared toward intern education, anyone interested is welcome to attend and can obtain information from Colleen Cranney, the SAITA Program Coordinator at MFCC (colleencranney@comcast.net). There is no fee charged to attend SAITA programs except as noted on the schedule. We do ask, however, that you contact the host farm prior to attending a workshop so that the farm knows how many people to expect. Contact information for the host farms is listed in a directory in this packet. Please contact Colleen at the email address above before attending a seminar at Camphill Kimberton.

Workshop Content

Each farm workshop includes an introductory presentation and a tour of the farm, a demonstration of a specific farming practice and a discussion of relevant topics. The farmers provide background information about themselves, the history of their farm and a physical description of their farm property. They share information with the interns about their farm operations, including growing techniques, types of equipment, sources of labor, marketing strategies and farm finances. Each farmer uses his or her unique talents to present the information to the interns in a meaningful way.

Each seminar workshop will be held in the basement of Serena Hall at Camphill Kimberton (for directions, go to www.camphillkimberton.org. Serena Hall is located across from the café). Each Seminar features one or two speakers who will lecture on the monthly topic. There will be time for questions and discussion. An optional potluck lunch will follow all workshops.

Farms Hosting Workshops

Charlestown Cooperative Farm

Charlestown Farm is part of the Charlestown Farm Center, a 150-acre sustainable farming project in suburban Philadelphia. The Farm provides non-certified, organically grown vegetables and fruits to a 150-member CSA and local restaurant, wholesales to the local health food store, and participates in a weekly farmers' market from mid-May through November. We have 9 acres in vegetable cultivation and another 9 in cover crop and sweet corn cultivation. We grow year-round in our 30' x 120' state-of-the-art hoophouse, which is heated with a corn burning furnace. A PaDEP Energy Harvest Grant funded the hoophouse and two recently installed tracking solar panels that generate "green energy" for sale back to the grid. The working dynamic of the Farm is a collaboration of efforts between the Andersen family, Sue Kilpatrick (farm manager), Andrea Grom (assistant manager) and three full-time seasonal apprentices. The Farm is across the street from Broadwater Farm, a pastured livestock operation under development, which is also part of the Charlestown Farm Center. The Farm is committed to educating members, the surrounding community and school groups about sustainable agriculture through field days, demonstrations, tours, cooking classes, monthly newsletters, environmental movie nights and potlucks.

In My Back Yard at Misty Hollow

Jim (a carpenter, teacher and grower) and Sally (an artist, teacher and nurse) Hammerman have made it their mission to grow, gather and explore nature's bounty for food, flavor and health. They started a small working-member CSA in 2007 and also host hands-on workshops monthly from March through November. Through their farm, they want to help people of all ages understand the reciprocal relationship of human and earth health.

Kimberton CSA

In 2002, Birgit and Erik Landowne took over the leadership of the Kimberton CSA from Kerry and Barbara Sullivan who started and ran the CSA since 1987. On ten acres they produce an abundance of high quality biodynamic food for the CSA's 200 member households during the 28-week harvest. Birgit and Erik grow most of their crops on raised beds, but they have also been experimenting with planting directly into rolled-down cover crops. Seedlings are raised in a heated greenhouse and high tunnels are used to extend the season and improve production of some crops. Cover crops and compost are used to maintain soil fertility; while irrigation, both overhead and drip, helps to ensure a good harvest even in the driest years. Interns work at the Kimberton CSA from April through November.

Maysie's Farm Conservation Center

Maysie's Farm Conservation Center is a nonprofit educational organization founded by Sam Cantrell and dedicated to the purpose of increasing public understanding of the importance of conservation and ecological thinking. Maysie's Farm works with individuals, families, communities and educational institutions to encourage ecological living by demonstrating and advocating organic agriculture and Community Supported Agriculture. Located in Glenmoore, PA, Maysie's Farm is a small farm educational center where sustainable agriculture interns work and learn year round. Of the farm's sixty-four acres, seven are in beds which produce organic vegetables for the 170-member CSA, a private school lunch program, and a weekly farmers' market. Through the CSA and related educational programs, Maysie's Farm is developing a community that is based on a local food supply and a commitment to ecological living.

North Slope Farm

North Slope Farm is a 50 acre, diversified organic farm, located in central western New Jersey. Ê Primary cash crops are vegetables, flowers and herbs grown on three acres. Ê Other management responsibilities include hay, straw, pasture, fruit, infrastructure, waterways, buffer zones, woodlands, wetlands and community involvement. Ê We serve a variety of markets including our retail farm stand, off-site farmers markets, wholesale accounts and special projects. Ê Primary tillage and cultivation is done with both tractors and hand tools. Ê While we strive to improve the efficiency and mechanization of crop care, the production crew remains the most valuable aspect. To this end, we have created a Stewardship Guild to invest in providing opportunities for hands-on training.

Oley Valley Apiaries

Oley Valley Apiaries specializes in honey production and raising high quality honeybee colonies and local (northern) queen bees. Their products are marketed through wholesale outlets, CSA farms, farmers' markets, and an internet store in partnership with Swarmbustin Honey. Oley Valley Apiaries also farms six acres of vegetables in rotation with a series of cover crops providing both fertility for the soil and nectar for the bees. The farmers participate in two farmers' markets as well as selling direct wholesale to farmstands and the kitchens of a few local colleges and universities.

Pennypack Farm

Pennypack Farm was started as an organic CSA in 2003 by a community group who wanted access to locally grown organic vegetables. No existing farmers nearby wanted to adopt the many new practices that an organic CSA would require, so our group leased land from another non-profit, and hired four farm staff to begin to return fertility to the soil while growing shares of vegetables, flowers, and herbs to local families. Being a 501(c)(3) educational organization was essential to raising funds needed for the start-up capital for equipment and buildings. We have grown from offering 80 shares in 2003 to now over 300 families. Two years ago we added "free-range" chicken layers and broilers to the food we raise. Educational programs include 1,000 kids from a nearby summer camp, an intern program, a monthly speakers' series, workshops about organic gardening and food preparation and preservation, school field trips, corporate volunteer days, and more. We learned many hard lessons that prepare us to consult with other groups on best ways to get a farm started. Some of us would like to see a farm established every 5 miles in suburbia.

Pleasant Pastures Organic Acres

Benuel and Anna Stoltzfus farm 69 acres in Honey Brook, Chester County, next door to where Ben grew up. Being Amish, they do this without electricity and motorized vehicles, but with the help of their nine children (ages 5-23), five of whom work fulltime on the farm. Most of the farm is in pasture for their chickens, pigs, turkeys, and dairy and beef cattle, although they also grow vegetables for the family and fruit for use in their products. The farm has been certified organic since 2000. They sell a wide range of raw milk dairy products, all direct marketed through CARE (Citizen's Alliance for Responsible Ecofarming) to places as far away as New York and Virginia.

Quiet Creek Farm CSA

John and Aimee Good are owners and operators of Quiet Creek Farm CSA located on land leased from the Rodale Institute in Kutztown, PA. The Goods manage a Community Supported Agriculture model farm serving a membership of 200 households, growing over fifty different vegetable crops on 8 acres of certified organic farmland. Members pick up their produce at the farm where they have access to the farm's Upick garden. Quiet Creek Farm features a "Real Foods"Êmarketplace which offers locally raised farm products, such as natural and grassfed meats, cheeses,Êeggs, honey, etc.,Êfor sale to members of the CSA community. Quiet Creek Farm has been in operation since 2006. John and Aimee Good previously managed Charlestown Cooperative Farm for 4 years, and apprenticed for 2 years in the CRAFT program in New England. They are both originally from Emmaus, PA.

Sankanac Farm CSA

Located in Kimberton, the Sankanac Farm CSA is a 15-acre biodynamic farm that is an integral component of the Camphill Kimberton Hills community for adults with mental disabilities. Camphill Village is located on 420 acres that includes a dairy that produces raw biodynamic milk and an orchard with apples, peaches, pears, a vineyard and more. The Sankanac CSA is a 200-member CSA that has incorporated a significant livestock component into its operation.

Spoutwood Farm

Rob and Lucy Wood manage a 26-acre farm 35 miles north of Baltimore, Maryland and 15 miles south of York, Pennsylvania. Since 1996, Spoutwood has had on their front field a more than two-acre organic CSA garden that had been fallow for the preceding ten years. The CSA is one of a number of efforts in the farm's mission of reconnecting people and nature. Spoutwood's dried flower business has been bringing nature's bounty to craft and gift shows for over ten years. Spoutwood celebrates the spirit of nature with its May Day Fairie Festival (May 2-4, 2008) and the Mother Earth Harvest Fair (October 5, 2008). Spoutwood has been incorporated as a nonprofit educational center emphasizing the need for people to live in greater harmony with nature.

Weavers Way Farm

Weavers Way Farm is located on 1.25 acres at the Awbury Arboretum in East Germantown, Philadelphia. The farm is both a market garden, selling to the Weavers Way Co-op and markets around the city, as well as an educational facility for area schools and groups. This truly community effort includes two full time staff, full season interns, and volunteers from co-op members to schoolchildren who all help create the farm's supply of fresh, organically grown produce. Weavers Way operates the farm with the aim of creating a sustainable urban farm business. The farm is also a destination for many local schools and groups to participate in a 1/4 acre children's garden. The Education program is also cultivating a small market garden at Martin Luther King High School, walking distance from the farm.

Wild Goose Garden

After retiring, Jack Nachamkin and Margaret Goodman bought a small farm in Glen Mills, Delaware County. Jack, who spent 40 years as a theoretical physicist, wanted to apply simple physics and innovative ideas to make the farm productive. As a result, the farm has solar panels that track the sun and provide 80% of the farm's electricity; a root cellar that uses a vortex tube for cooling; an engine that uses waste vegetable oil; and a greenhouse made of recycled windows. Jack leased an acre to Shira Kamm, who is growing vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs biodynamically to sell at two local markets. Shira, who has worked at Weavers Way, Kimberton CSA and Old Earth Farm, is assisted by Deirdre Bowers, an environmental educator and former Maysie's Farm intern.

Willow Creek Orchards

Willow Creek Orchards is a certified organic, family farm located on 138 acres in central Montgomery County in Worcester Township, PA. Drew and Melissa Smith established an orchard in March 2003 consisting of apples, peaches, pears, cherries, plums and apricots as well as brambles, blueberries and strawberries. They also grow a wide array of vegetables, flowers and herbs. Most of the produce is sold on the farm through Pick-Your-Own or the retail farm market.

Year 2008 Schedule

Unless otherwise noted, all workshops begin at 10am and end at 1pm, with an optional potluck lunch following. Please contact the host farm if you plan to attend. For directions to the seminar workshops, go to www.camphillkimberton.org. Serena Hall is located across from the café.

For more information about SAITA, contact:

Colleen Cranney
e-mail: colleencranney@comcast.net

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