
The farmstand at Foxtrot Flower Farm in Stanfordville is closed up for the winter.
Kate Farrar
The farmstand at Foxtrot Flower Farm in Stanfordville is closed up for the winter.
Signing up for a CSA is one of the most effective ways to support small farms and help community agriculture thrive
STANFORD — International CSA Day is Thursday, Feb. 22! So what is a CSA, and why should you sign up for one?.
Like any good idea or innovation, the CSA (community supported agriculture) model was created out of a vast shared need: the economic survival of small farms and farmers.
A CSA is a subscription service. You subscribe to a local farm’s CSA for a fixed cost, and the farm regularly provides you with its produce and/or products for a set period of the year.
The concept is that local customers invest in a farm when the farm needs it most: up front, before a farmer has any produce to show for themselves or with their investors.
Without the CSA model, farmers work, pay and invest back into the farm year-round but only make their income seasonally.
I founded Foxtrot Farm & Flowers in Stanfordville three years ago, after working for eight years in agriculture. I built Foxtrot around a CSA model because in my experience it’s financially effective, time efficient, and most rewarding for a farm of my scale to sell directly to their community, building relationships over the years.
A year on the farm
At Foxtrot, the year of expenditures on the new crop begins now, in mid-February, when I begin to sow, tend to and heat — with propane — this year’s crop.
Apart from the CSAs, my income doesn’t start to trickle in until the blooming of narcissus and tulips in April, followed by a small seedling sale in early May. Then there is a gap during heavy planting season until around mid-June, when my annual and perennial flowers start to bloom.
Come July, August and September, I’m hustling, harvesting for retail and wholesale outlets, designing flowers for weddings and special events. Money is coming in and I feel buoyed, but come mid-October, reminders of frost are just around the corner.
When the frost hits, so does the financial crash: the flowers burned and browned, and the cyclical crunch season begins again.
A little economic boost comes around the holidays with wreath sales and the like, but so do the holiday expenses, so it just about evens out. The bank account that I felt accomplished and proud of in November starts to look less shiny come January, after three months of — hopefully — paying myself a wage, without income.
Come January and February, I’m ordering seeds and supplies for the next growing season, I’m making expensive improvements on any number of things — to date: building a walk-in cooler ($5,000 plus operation costs); a germination chamber ($1,000 plus operation costs); a lean-to for farm storage ($7,000); a farm stand ($2,000); and a growing tunnel ($23,000).
In March and April, self-employment taxes are due. I’m starting seeds and experiencing financial security-induced panic attacks.
The breakdown
A Foxtrot bouquet might cost $30. To break that down, let’s borrow Lennie Larkin’s “The Flower Dollar” framework and apply it to a bouquet from Foxtrot:
— $3.50 into infrastructure and machinery (money to reinvest in machinery).
— $4.50 into land costs (mortgages, taxes and rents).
— $4.50 into farm supplies (seeds, plants, bulbs, compost, fertilizer, irrigation).
— $4.50 into administrative costs (insurance, permits, bookkeeping, accounting and utilities).
— $6 into employee payroll — fair, living wages for farm workers. A quick note on wages: many farms struggle to keep up with the ever increasing living wage in the area. Most local farms are able to offer their employees between $18-$22/hour, while the true living wage in the Hudson Valley is now $24.75/hour.
— $7 into profit — a hopefully living wage for me, and reinvestment in capital expenses.
Most farmers hope to make a profit, but often we just about break even.
I’ve worked in agriculture for the last 11 years, as a crew member, a manager and as a farm owner. I’ve had second jobs and third jobs to stay afloat.
Only this year as a business owner — going into year three at Foxtrot — have I started to be able to pay myself a year-round wage and that is largely due to the CSA model that I’ve built Foxtrot around.
The money that my CSA members invest in Foxtrot from November through April enable me to keep the business afloat. In return, once the flowers are blooming, I share them generously with my members.
There is good value in a CSA for its members — most farms position their CSA pricing between wholesale and retail value in gratitude for the upfront investment on the part of their CSA members (a $30 Foxtrot CSA bouquet might be valued at $40 elsewhere).
Let’s just say, a farmer remembers these customers.
A labor of love
Farming is a labor of love, and that’s no body’s burden but our own. But ultimately, most career farmers must work with a bottom line, and operate without another means of income or a large security net.
If we value small farms as a community, we must ask: How could the task be made easier?
The CSA as an economic model is an answer to this financial dilemma. It creates a small but critical seasonal security net for working farms and farmers, and a built-in, community-driven customer base for a farmer’s harvest.
Joining a CSA isn’t a donation. It is a subscription model similar to so many that we rather passively participate in these days — Amazon Prime, Netflix, Spotify, and Blue Apron, to name a few. The difference is that a CSA is a subscription to your neighbors, your community, your local economy, your landscape in exchange for something that is tangible, important and life-giving in return.
I have had the pleasure of being a part of the leadership committee for the Hudson Valley CSA Coalition, a network of over 120 farms whose aim it is to advocate for the CSA model.
Visit Farm Search as a part of the Hudson Valley CSA Coalition’s website, hudsonvalleycsa.org, to explore the CSAs that are available in your community.
A few other local farms’ CSAs include:
— Rock Steady Farm, Millerton: produce, with partner farm add-ons available.
— Chaseholm Farm, Pine Plains: beef, pork, dairy and cheese.
— Foliage Botanics, Pine Plains: a seasonal apothecary of plant medicine.
— Sisters Hill Farm, Stanfordville: produce, with pick-your-own add-ons available.
Kate Farrar is the farmer and florist at Foxtrot Farm & Flowers, 6862 Route 82, Stanfordville. For more information email foxtrotfarmflowers@gmail.com.
The Mobile Health Unit will be returning to Millerton on April 9 to provide basic health services and guidance on insurance and addressing greater health needs.
MILLERTON – Dutchess County’s Mobile Health Unit is returning to Millerton. On April 9, members of the public can receive vaccinations, STI screenings and assistance with general health needs.
Public health education coordinators will be on-site to provide information on tick removal as well as hands-only CPR and Narcan training. For those in need of further care, guidance will be provided as will assistance with insurance navigation.
The Mobile Health Unit will be located at the rail trail parking lot from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., just down the street from the North East Community Center, located at 51 South Center St. in Millerton.
Paquito D’Rivera performs at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington on April 5.
Natalia Bernal is the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center’s education and community engagement manager and is, in her own words, “the one who makes sure that Mahaiwe events are accessible to all.”
The Mahaiwe’s community engagement program is rooted in the belief that the performing arts should be for everyone. “We are committed to establishing and growing partnerships with neighboring community and arts organizations to develop pathways for overcoming social and practical barriers,” Bernal explained. “Immigrants, people of color, communities with low income, those who have traditionally been underserved in the performing arts, should feel welcomed at the Mahaiwe.”
Partnerships with organizations like Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires (VIM), the W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Committee, and Community Access to the Arts (CATA) have helped bridge that gap. But for the Latinx community, there’s an even more targeted effort: the Spanish-language Community Advisory Network (SCAN).
“Six years ago, we started an advisory group of Spanish speakers in the community,” Bernal said. “They tell us what the community wants to see, how they’d like their culture represented. Today, SCAN has 12 members. We meet four times a year and are in constant communication. It’s because of them that we’ve hosted free Spanish-language film screenings and live performances.”
For Bernal, this work is personal. “When I first moved to the U.S. in 2003, it was because I got a Latin American scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music. That first year, I went home to Uruguay for Christmas and saw Paquito D’Rivera perform at a jazz festival. I was determined to meet him, and I did. Later that year, Paquito came to Berklee and invited me on stage.”
Now, two decades and 16 Grammys later, Paquito D’Rivera is coming to the Mahaiwe on April 5, and there’s a chance history might repeat itself. “He saw a post we made about his concert and commented, ‘Ay, chica, que maravilla, are you gonna sing a song with us?’ I almost died,” Bernal laughed. “I don’t know if it will happen, but it would be a dream.”
About the possibility of a guest appearance by Bernal, D’Rivera said, “Natalia is a very dear, valuable colleague, and jazz is about improvisation, so the surprise factor is always part of the fun here.”
D’Rivera’s concert is just one example of how the Mahaiwe is making world-class performances accessible. “My whole day has been about offering ‘pay what you can’ tickets for this show,” Bernal says. “We also issued a 50% discount to our partners. We work with ESL teachers, public libraries, literacy agencies, anyone who can help us get the word out.”
That kind of grassroots effort has been transformative. “Last year, we screened ‘Florencia en el Amazonas,’ the first opera written in Spanish ever performed at the Met,” Bernal said. “I sat in the Mahaiwe in tears. As someone who loves opera, it was the first time I heard one written in my own language. It was so powerful.”
Natalia Bernal, Mahaiwe’s education and community engagement managerPhoto by Martin Cohen
For Bernal, it all comes back to representation, on stage and in the audience. “My son is eight. I bring him to everything I can. Spanish shouldn’t just be something that happens at the dinner table. It should be in the world, in all these shapes and forms.”
And that’s what SCAN is helping build: a future where Latinx voices aren’t just included, they are central. “Our SCAN advisors are volunteers, cultural ambassadors,” Bernal said. “They help us distribute surveys, talk to the audience, and strengthen the community. Nobody should feel alone. Everybody should feel like they belong here.”
Education and outreach are central to D’Rivera’s work as well. He said, “It is an important part of our mission to plant and nurture the seed of quality music in our communities.” He continued to say, “Using our visibility and influence in favor of justice is always a very effective vehicle in denouncing violations of human rights around the world.”
This shared mission of education and social justice extends beyond the Mahaiwe. “We are one of the few arts organizations in a monthly meeting with BASIC (Berkshire Alliance for Immigrant Services). We have direct ties to the Berkshire Immigrant Center, VIM, and others so that we are well-informed and ready to serve,” said Bernal.
That commitment to community, culture, and access is why Bernal’s dream panel—Women in the Music Business—would feature Paquito’s wife and longtime manager, Brenda Feliciano. “She’s a tower of power. She’s been managing his career for at least 45 years. If I could organize an event one day, she would be the cherry on the cake.”
Until then, Bernal will keep doing what she does best: making sure the Mahaiwe is a place where everyone, regardless of language, income, or background, feels at home. And maybe, just maybe, she’ll find herself back on stage with Paquito D’Rivera, just like that first time, all those years ago.
For more info and tickets to Paquito D’Rivera, visit mahaiwe.org
There is magic in a home filled with the things we love, and Mary Randolph Carter, affectionately known as “Carter,” has spent a lifetime embracing that magic. Her latest book, “Live with the Things You Love … and You’ll Live Happily Ever After,” is about storytelling, joy, and honoring life’s poetry through the objects we keep.
“This is my tenth book,” Carter said. “At the root of each is my love of collecting, the thrill of the hunt, and living surrounded by things that conjure up family, friends, and memories.”
The creative director at Ralph Lauren for almost four decades, Carter began writing this book during the pandemic, a time of rediscovering comfort. “I found more time to appreciate those special things that give our homes warmth and connection.” Working with Ralph Lauren, she learned that the best spaces tell a personal story. “His desk was filled with toy cars, miniature shoes, superheroes, English dandies, cowboys on horseback. The walls? A gallery of his children’s paintings, iconic photos of Frank Sinatra and Gary Cooper. Everything told a story.”
Carter acknowledges how homes can become overwhelmed with stuff but sees a difference between clutter and collection. “To live happily, create environments that inspire and comfort rather than encumber you! Look around and ask, ‘What is truly meaningful? What makes you smile? What recalls the people and places you cherish?’” Then, she added, “weed out the rest with discipline and courage!”
Provided
Each home in Carter’s book reflects its inhabitant’s spirit. “The first time I walked into Bethann Hardison’s apartment, I knew right away how authentic it was to who she is.” Hardison’s walls are lined with artwork from friends Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Haitian paintings, testaments to a life well lived. “Though her mantra is, ‘the lighter the load, the freer the journey,’ she also admits some things ‘delight your environment’ and can’t be parted with. Amen to that!”
Having survived two childhood fires, Carter deeply understands what truly matters. “It’s not the things, but the people and memories they evoke.” She loves her collections, but they don’t possess her. “They make me happy, but they do not define me.”
She delights in how people showcase treasures. Paula Grief, for instance, lives in a ten-foot-wide house and had to part with many books. “She tucks the ones she can’t live without through the rungs of her staircase. I love that ingenuity!”
When asked about her most cherished possession, Carter tells a story of loss and serendipity. A childhood portrait of her in a blue velvet dress was lost in a fire. “Years later, the artist’s daughter found another version. Now, it hangs in our apartment, surrounded by flea market art and one of my favorite saints, Our Lady of Guadalupe.”
Adding to the cozy feeling of this book, Carter’s son, Carter Berg, took the photographs, and her sister, Cary, contributed the illustrations. “Cary once stayed in our apartment and painted a dozen objects from our cluttered kitchen. I hung them immediately. When I started this book, I knew she had to capture my favorite objects.”
Four of the featured homes are local to the Northwest Corner, including Carter’s in Millerton, Joan Osofsky’s in Lakeville, Robin Bell’s in Salisbury, and Paula Grief’s in Hudson. They all gathered at the White Hart/Oblong Speaker Series on March 27.
After perusing the richly colored pages of this book, you may feel tempted to shop. “You don’t need money to create a meaningful home,” Carter insisted. “Some of my favorite paintings cost no more than $10 or $25. Value is personal. It’s not about provenance but the story an object tells you or the one you make up.”
Carter’s advice? “Fall in love with the wackiest thing. Surround yourself with what matters, and you’ll live happily ever after.”