The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
OPEN FARM DAY
Visitors engage in local agriculture during Madison County event
KIRKVILLE, N.Y. >> Curious about how local food makes it to the table, residents visited several farms on Saturday for what is one of the most anticipated days in Madison County, Open Farm Day.
The county-wide event was reduced to a virtual model last year due to COVID-19, so getting back in the saddle this year with fairly regular operations has been exciting, said Open Farm Day Coordinator Tess Southern.
There are 19 farms on this year’s farm-day passport—about half of what’s been had in recent previous years. A lack of certainty around what events could and could not be permitted, and in what capacity, was a large reason some farms won’t be participating, Southern explained.
Despite the shrink in size, the farms on the docket are still numerous considering the odds, Southern said. There’s also a broad diversity, including a cut-flower farm, equestrian center, distillery, several dairy farms and vegetable farms, livestock, and more for visitors to get a range of experiences.
Exposure and education are many farmers’ primary focus on Open Farm Day, Southern said. “A lot of these farms, they might sell at markets or have their items in a grocery store, and they’re not always there to be able to meet the people who are buying their product.”
Salt City Harvest Farm (SCHF), located on the edge of Madison and Onondaga counties in Kirkville, is one location hoping to connect the public to its mission and everyday operations.
The not-for-profit provides New American refugees in the Syracuse area with agricultural opportunities to support self-sufficiency and community farming in a meaningful way. Resources for farmers include land, hands-on training, education, and cultural commodities and spaces.
“Right now Salt City Harvest Farm is in a transition phase of sorts. We’re doing a lot of strategic planning work and really trying to envision what our fu
ture could look like to better meet the needs of the community,” said Executive Director Jacob Gigler-caro.
Currently, the property serves just over 30 New American refugees coming from places like Nepal, Burma, Somalia, and other countries all around the world. A partnership between Refugee and Immigrant Self-empowerment (RISE) and the Cornel Cooperative Extension (CCC), helps SCHF provide an opportunity called Syracuse Refugee Agricultural Program (SYRAP), allowing interested New Americans a 3-4 year training opportunity in agriculture.
Participating refugees often already come with a well of rich agricultural knowledge from growing food in the areas they grew up in, Gigler-caro explained. But in a new environment with limited connections, not everyone is able to grow a sustainable yield on their own. For those who’d like to delve deep and get hands-on technical experience, SYRAP is for them.
Participants don’t have to already be avid farmers, either; the first year of the program focuses on a communal farming space with less individual responsibility. Anyone can chip into this crop and equally reap the benefits.
“Our mission is to create this cross-cultural exchange of information, food-ways, and knowledge in a collaborative farming effort,” Gigler-caro said. SCHF provides culturally relevant seeds to crop and supports a hybrid model of farming, combining traditional western practices with the nuanced techniques coming from the farmers.
Those who toured the farm Saturday could see SCHF’S agricultural diversity at play. Some rows were planted as a polyculture, a form of agriculture in which more than one species is grown at the same time and place. Visitors could also learn about unique plant varieties and the knowledge behind the plants to use them in culturally specific medicinal or culinary practices. For instance, the tip of a pumpkin, when prepared correctly (as the farmers know how) is a delicacy.
Visitors could browse available produce for sale and meet the farmers who grew it. Many of the New Americans working with SCHF are deaf, making communication and work-operations both complex and surprisingly simple—it’s just the way it is, explained SCHF Board President Matt Potteiger. Interpreters for Napali Sign Language and American Sign Language are often available to support communication, but for the most part, the workers, both hearing and non, have developed their own unique systems between one another to get things done smoothly. The deaf community feels safe here, Potteiger said.
SCHF’S produce can be found throughout the year at the Syracuse Regional Market. Proceeds are the farmers’ profit. To support SCHF directly, residents can volunteer or donate. Fundraising is currently underway to extend electrical hookups throughout the property for lighting, a potential future greenhouse, and other opportunities. Visit saltcityharvest.farm to learn more.