Many Hands Plant a Farm

Those of you who know us know that we really value community.

One thing that has been great about starting Spring Forth Farm has been the many ways in which it has been a community venture.

First, there is the land-sharing arrangement with Wayne and Deborah and Orchard Hill Children’s School. We are sharing the cost and work of clearing the land, and in exchange we have a place to start our farm, they get some produce, and after a couple years, they will have well-established garden beds to expand their own garden into. Everybody works, everybody wins together.

Our friends and families have also been overwhelmingly supportive, helping us meet many of our start-up needs with minimal start-up cost. Our families, friends, and colleagues have given us a weed-eater, gas cans, a cooler for storing produce, and miscellaneous hand tools. Local farmers, including Maple Spring Gardens and Elysian Fields Farm have sold us supplies at cost, helping us add another farm to the growing network of small farms that make this area such a rich place to grow.

We relish the ways we have been able to participate in the community life of other local farms. For example, we love visiting Mike and Brenda Heindl at Emmaus Farm, and helping stoke the wood-fired kiln for Brenda’s Liberty Stoneware. We are committed to making Spring Forth Farm a positive contribution to the life of the community. We are committed to donating 5% of our sales, as well as donations of farm products, to a local food bank, helping to ensure that everyone in our community has access to food.

I don’t know if this is the case with all farms, but bringing Spring Forth Farm this far has really been an instance of community-supported agriculture. We could not exist without the support we have already received, and will continue to receive throughout the life of the farm. We are blessed that Spring Forth Farm has received such and outpouring of community support, and we look forward to finding new ways to make our farm a part of the community, too.