Foxtail Community Farm is a small family farm in
rural Greene County, New York, about 40 minutes south of
Albany. Our family moved here and started the farm in
2004, with our first CSA season in 2006. With common ties
to upstate New York, we chose Greenville as a wonderful
place to live, farm, and raise our three young children.
We bring strong and varied experience to this endeavor.
Eric has a degree in Agronomy and Sustainable Agriculture
from Cornell University. He interned on several small farms
and CSAs and studied permaculture in eastern Australia,
before starting a successful small-scale CSA in our previous
home of Wisconsin. He has also worked in commercial
greenhouses, the cooperative extension system, and with
the Regional Farm and Food Project, a non-profit
organization dedicated to improving local food systems.
Like most modern farm families, we also have off-farm
income from Rachel's job as a public health physician in
Albany. Rachel helps with farm work as much as she can,
writes the weekly newsletter, and comes up with lots of
ideas for special projects, some of which we actually get
around to doing! Our three children Malcolm, Garrett and
Clara also help out with farm work on occasion (a little
more each year!) and are great critics of new recipes for the
weekly newsletter. Eric's mom Dee does the flowers and
helps with weekly harvests.
Farming is a labor of love that is both a livelihood and a
way of living for our family. It helps us be productive and
healthy, strengthens our connection to the earth and to our
community, and allows us to attain a growing level of
self-sufficiency. Through the CSA, we strive not only to
support our farm, but to share these benefits and
experiences with members of our CSA community. We look
forward to getting to know and sharing our farm with you!
Sustainability: Our Philosophy of
Food Production
Most people are familiar with organic agriculture as
a method of producing healthy, natural food. We
believe that true organic production is part of a
sustainable agricultural system that emphasizes
local food production and consumption to support
the local environment and economy.
Instead of chemical fertilizers, we use compost
generated from food and livestock waste. Instead
of chemical pesticides, we use cover crops, crop
rotation, hoeing, beneficial insects, and other
physical and cultural methods for controlling
damage from pests.
A century ago, most of you would have grown
your own food. Today most people have lost that
direct connection to the soil, but you can use your
power as consumers to support the same values
and enjoy many of the same benefits through
supporting local sustainable agriculture.
