Mountain Dell Farm's "patchwork" fields.
On Monday, September 12, the Catskills CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training) group visited Mountain Dell Farm in Hancock, NY. Participants, led by farmers Mark Dunau and Lisa Wujnovich, saw first hand how Mountain Dell Farm utilizes just five acres to supply their community supported agriculture (CSA) and restaurant customers with vegetables from June through November.
While the region's recent storms were evident in damaged beds and pooling waters, Mountain Dell Farm is grateful to have product for their customers and have been working hard to get their fields back in shape.
The farm is laid out in fields that are from 15 to 25 feet wide and are from 100 to 200 yards long. These fields produce 50 varieties of vegetables and most of the greens require multiple plantings to keep up with supply due to short harvest windows. Throughout the tour, transplants mixed with established greens demonstrated this intensive planting schedule.
Row covers are on stand-by for next month’s expected frost. Over the past 20-plus years farming these fields, Mark and Lisa have pin-pointed the exact temperatures at which their crops must be covered to avoid frost damage. On a mid-November pick day, it is not unusual for Mountain Dell Farm to harvest over 700 pounds of greens.
Committed to not growing too fast and focusing on serving their existing clientele, many of whom have been customers since the farm began, Mark and Lisa have established a unique small farm that maximizes land use while providing a level of income that allows them to maintain the farm and employ two on-farm interns.
As is required of all of Mountain Dell Farm’s interns, this year's interns, Patrick and Kenny, managed their own farm project. 20 chickens were processed last week and Kenny served a delicious creamy chicken soup at the potluck meal that followed the tour.
Mark Dunau has summarized the farm’s practices in an informative online article. For more information about Mountain Dell Farm and and to access this article, visit www.markforpresident.dontsubmit.org/farm.html.
Catskills CRAFT visits are scheduled at a different farm each month through November. Visit www.catskillscraft.org for a full schedule.
While the region's recent storms were evident in damaged beds and pooling waters, Mountain Dell Farm is grateful to have product for their customers and have been working hard to get their fields back in shape.
The farm is laid out in fields that are from 15 to 25 feet wide and are from 100 to 200 yards long. These fields produce 50 varieties of vegetables and most of the greens require multiple plantings to keep up with supply due to short harvest windows. Throughout the tour, transplants mixed with established greens demonstrated this intensive planting schedule.
Row covers are on stand-by for next month’s expected frost. Over the past 20-plus years farming these fields, Mark and Lisa have pin-pointed the exact temperatures at which their crops must be covered to avoid frost damage. On a mid-November pick day, it is not unusual for Mountain Dell Farm to harvest over 700 pounds of greens.
Committed to not growing too fast and focusing on serving their existing clientele, many of whom have been customers since the farm began, Mark and Lisa have established a unique small farm that maximizes land use while providing a level of income that allows them to maintain the farm and employ two on-farm interns.
As is required of all of Mountain Dell Farm’s interns, this year's interns, Patrick and Kenny, managed their own farm project. 20 chickens were processed last week and Kenny served a delicious creamy chicken soup at the potluck meal that followed the tour.
Mark Dunau has summarized the farm’s practices in an informative online article. For more information about Mountain Dell Farm and and to access this article, visit www.markforpresident.dontsubmit.org/farm.html.
Catskills CRAFT visits are scheduled at a different farm each month through November. Visit www.catskillscraft.org for a full schedule.
Lisa and Mark demonstrate their season-extending row covers.
CRAFT participants touring the fields of Mountain Dell Farm.
Tomatoes ready for harvest.
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