Continued on page 7

Mrs. and Mr. Schwartz weigh their

Hakurei turnips at the frst CSA
distribution.
Newsletter
June 2014 Issue 3
Rows of bouquet sunfowers line our
You-Pick beds of herbs and fowers.
CSA Vegetable List
Look for these items
in your share this week
(from Cody Creek Farm)
Free-range Eggs
Sugar Snap Peas
Young Lettuce Heads
Broccoli Raab
Red Russian Kale
Rocambole Garlic Scapes

Hakurei Turnips
Spinach
You-Pick Sunfowers
Coming Attractions:
Giant Snow Peas
Rainbow Swiss Chard
Whirligig Farm will be selling their
sustainable produce at Clearwaters
annual festival of music and the
environment the weekend of June 21-
22! The musical farm crew will also be
performing and leading participatory
singing of their spirited worksongs
and other farming songs throughout
the weekend - see the performance
schedules for the Circle of Song stage
and the Artisanal Food and Farm
Market.
While Whirligig is the new farm on
the block in the historic Hurley Flats
near Kingston, New York, which has
been farmed continuously since its
agricultural origin as the corn felds
of the Esopus indigenous people,
its connection with Clearwater has
deep roots. Some of the seeds of
Whirligigs sustainable community
farm philosophy sprouted when I came
to the Hudson Valley 25 years ago to
join Clearwaters public ecological
mission, frst as a volunteer for the
Pumpkin Sail festivals, then as the
bosn, or ships carpenter, and winter
maintenance coordinator, then as
an on-land educator, and fnally as a
volunteer coordinator for the festival
(initially for the Childrens Area, now for
the Artisanal Food and Farm Market).
I am proud to be one of many, many
people who in some small way continue
the work and vision of Clearwater
organizer Pete Seeger. Specifcally,
Whirligig Farm hopes to use the vehicle
of farming and harvest celebrations to
bring people together to celebrate
and better understand their beautiful,
unique piece of the planet - especially
regarding stewardship of the land for
By Creek Iversen
Farmers Note: If The Clearwater Was A
Tractor, It Would Be At Whirligig Farm!
Pete Seeger is joined by farmers Creek Iversen, Walker Rumpf, Dan Moon and Lori Gross
to perform for an audience at our 2013 farm location.
2 3
1375 Hurley Mountain Road, Hurley, NY 12443
Fast Facts: CSA 2014
Sign up at anytime during the season!
You will receive 22 weeks of fresh, seasonal,
sustainably-grown vegetables.
The weekends of June 13-14 through Oct. 31-Nov. 1
(note that the distribution on June 20-21
will be a small box pickup only.)
READY TO SIGN UP?
Fill out the form on page 5,
email us at CSA@whirligigfarm.com,
or call us at (845) 331-0316 with questions!
Two Share Sizes:
1. Duo Shares
(for one to two
people)
2. Family shares
(for three to four
people)
Student Shares:
Available for 11
weeks,
August 21 & 22
to October 31 &
November 2. We
offer sliding scale
share prices, so
you pay what you
can afford.
Our CSA
members have
the opportunity
to immerse
themselves in
our vibrant farm
community
with monthly
music jams,
weekly Saturday
coffees, regular
work parties
and potlucks,
farmhouse
concerts,
seasonal harvest
celebrations
and educational
workshops!
Friday Evening
Farm Social from
4 to 7 p.m. at
Whirligig Farm
Saturday
Morning Box
Pick-up at
Tweefontein
Herb Farm
(4 Jenkins Rd,
New Paltz)
Saturday Morning
Coffee from 10 to
11 a.m. at Whirligig
Farm (or just come
pick up a box we pack
for you at any time
over the weekend)
You choose your pick-up time and place:
On the farm:
Community Harvest
Suppers
Thursdays, June 26 and
July 24
4 to 8 p.m. or come
earlier!
Music Jams
Saturday, July 5
Sunday, August 3
5 to 9 p.m.
potluck at 6:30 p.m.
Farmstand Grand
Opening
Saturday, July 5
9 a.m. farmstand open
1 p.m. grand opening
celebration begins
Off the farm:
Woodstock
Transition Gathering
Saturday, June 14
Woodstock
1 to 5 p.m.
Music, vegetable and
info table
Clearwater Festival
June 21 and 22
Croton-on-Hudson
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Festival of Music and
Celebration of The
Environment
FARM
EVENTS
d
Got CSA?
r
r
1. The farm crew proudly poses in front of our frst ofcial harvest of the season. 2. Young Chinese
cabbage and Hakurei turnips. 3. Creek Iversen entertains CSA members with his banjo and Shay
Otis organizes the evening pick-up. 4. We also ofer free range farm-fresh eggs from our 50+ hens
at our CSA distribution as well. 5. Our front porch was brimming with veggies!
5
3
2 1
4
Filling The Demand and Feeding Families: Community
Supported Agriculture
It
has been only within the last half-decade that small
town demands for sustainable and safe farming
practices have led to a movement in support of local
farms across the globe.
Community Supported Agriculture programs, or
CSAs,exist to provide clean, local food to families,
while families provide local support and a willing
community to farms. The kind of CSAs that we are
familiar with now, actually originated in the 1960s in
Switzerland and were introduced to the United States
in the 1980s. In response to the large-scale farming by
corporations, consumers in Europe sought a way to
safely source their food while farmers sought to fnd a
stable demand.
There was a slow but steady increase in interest
through the 1990s and in the early 2000s. The CSA saw
a renewed interest and a wave of farm development.
Today, countries and regions participating in CSA
programs include Australia, Hungary, India, Hong Kong,
Holland, England, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, France,
Denmark, Germany and Japan, according to Steven
McFadden of the Rodale Institute. In Japan, millions
participate in a well-established CSA movement called
teikei.
Typically, a CSA farm offers shares to consumers, the
cost of which help fnance the operation of the farm
for the season. Some invite shareholders to contribute
labor to the farm efforts. These shareholders receive
a supply of the farms yields, which may consist of
vegetables, fruits, herbs, fowers, eggs and meat.
The farms goal is to reach its ecological potential by
engaging the community and developing itself on the
land.
By Gianna Canevari
Continued on page 7
4 5
C O M E S I T A T O U R W E L C O M E T A B L E
1375 Hurley Mountain Road, Hurley, NY 12443
www.whirligigfarm.com CSA@whirligigfarm.com

2 0 1 4 C S A S H A R E S I G N U P
Names of all adult shareholders: ___________________________________________________________
Names and ages of child shareholders: _______________________________________________________
Address _______________________________________________________________________________
Phone ___________________________ Email(s) _____________________________________________
P I C K U P T I M E & L O C A T I O N
Select one pickup date for cool season crops and culinary herb and herbal tea garden shares:
Fridays, 4 to 7 pm at Whirligig Farm, 1375 Hurley Mountain Road, Hurley, NY 12443
Saturday, 10 to 11 am at Whirligig Farm, 1375 Hurley Mountain Road, Hurley, NY 12443
Saturday / Sunday anytime at Whirligig Farm, 1375 Hurley Mountain Road, Hurley, NY 12443
Saturday morning (time TBA) at Tweefontein Herb Farm at 4 Jenkins Road, New Paltz, NY 12561
(New Paltz assuming sufficient interest; checks will not be cashed until drop off finalized)

V E G E T a b l e s h a r e S
Vegetable shares are limited and are available on a first come, first serve basis.
Type Sliding Scale Price Your Price Total
Family Share $700 - $1000
Duo Share $400 - $600
Student Share $325 - $425
Farm Service (Choose one from below):
I / we commit to working 32 farm hours (for family shares) OR 16 farm
hours (for duo shares and student shares)
-

In lieu of working farm hours, I / we would like to make a financial contribution
of $______ to the farm intern program. Please choose amount a

In lieu of working farm hours, I / we would like to contribute a different gift or
service to the farm. Please describe:
-

S E E D L I N G s h a r e S

Seedlings are only available this year a la carte beginning the first weekend in May while supplies are
available. Cool season crops are available first and warm season crops will phase in. Please visit Whiriligig

T O T A L P A Y M E N T
Grand Total:
Current Payment: (Min. $100 deposit required. Full payment required by May 15 for
incentive quart of sugar snap peas or snow peas. Full payment required by June 8.
Please contact CSA@whirligigfarm.com if you would like to request a special payment
schedule.)

Remaining Balance:

________________________________ ________
Signature Date

Please indicate your payment method:
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Why Whi r ligig CSA?
Top 10 Reasons:
Meet One of Our Farmers: Shay Otis
Hometown: New Paltz, NY
Favorite Vegetables: Kale, Lettuce, and Carrots
First farming experience: Phillies Bridge Farm when I was a little kid; my dad
helped start the farm with Dan Guenther.

What made you want to work at Whirligig Farm? I worked with Creek and Dan
last year at Brook Farm Project, and when I saw what an amazing place they were
moving on to, I knew I had to be a part of it!

Whats the future of farming for you? I love working outside and growing my
own food, so I know that will always be a part of how I want to live my life. I am
hoping next season to focus more on working towards being an outdoor educator and
leading backpacking/wilderness excursions.
What do you love about working at Whirligig Farm? I love the people here; we
honestly have the BEST crew ever. We all get along so well, and its great how much
everyone cares about supporting eachother.
Shay Otis
Shay Otis taste tests
sugar snap peas before
the farms frst CSA
distribution.
1. Save Money: Pay less for your vegetables
than farm stand or local organic supermarket
prices.
2. Beyond Organic: Our Northeast Organic
Farming Association of New
York designation as a Farmers
Pledge farm is our guarantee
of accountability for practices
that are sustainable on many
levels, far beyond the exclusion
of unhealthy chemicals.
3. Build Local Economy and Local Food
System: Support the development of local
farmers. Our entire farm crew is hired from the
mid-Hudson Valley, and spend their paychecks
in your community. Help our region transition
to a more local, sustainable, and resilient food
production.
4. Maintain Farming Heritage: Help our
neighborhood retain its small working farm
history, aesthetic and character.
5. Friends and Neighbors: Weekly farm share
pick-ups gather smiling people of all ages who
care about healthy food, local farms and a
sharing community.
6. Education: Learn new recipes, garden
know-how and a better understanding of
sustainable farming. Support our work bringing
farm experiences to students and community
groups.
7. Music, Arts, Culture, Fun: Evolve the local
artistic culture around the celebration of the
land - the beautiful and unique Hurley Flats
between the Esopus Creek and the Catskill
Mountains - and its bounty.
8. Grow Food Justice: Help us make healthy
local food accessible to everyone in our
communities. From donations to food pantries,
to work-for-vegetable barters, to subsidized
prices for lower income communities, to
community harvest suppers, all may Come sit
at our welcome table!
9. Participation: Be a part of the growing of
your own food in joyful community with others.
10. Taste and Health: Delicious farm-to-
mouth vegetables all season.
Sign up at
anytime during
the season!
TM
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sustainable community food production.
Along this journey, I have been fortunate to absorb some
of Petes ideas through diverse interactions: maple sugaring
with him at his home, helping him to build a stone chimney,
swimming across the Hudson to raise money for a foating
riverpool, singing with the Hudson River Sloop Singers, co-
organizing a coffee house with music performances at the
Beacon Sloop Club, volunteering at the BSCs seasonal
harvest celebrations, participating in a community Weed
Wallow to rid the harbor of invasive water chestnuts, etc.
These experiences, combined with crewing on the Sloop
Clearwater, have given a richness and direction to my
life which has been favored by the creeks and rivers and
mountains and farm felds of our Hudson Valley Home.
Just a few months before he passed away, Pete came out
to the Brook Farm Project, which our Whirligig Farm team
was managing at the time, to give a family performance
benefting our community farm and the work of a student
Oxfam group. Im told it was our sweet watermelons that
clinched his farm appearance! His daughter wrote to us
afterward: I have not seen my father so pleased with an
afternoon of music in a long time. The afternoon was such
a relief for him. He loved seeing so many local singing
young people, and is enthusiastically in support of all of you.
Thanks for having him, and for letting him see what you are
doing frst hand. Being there for a songfest is worth a million
words.
Id like to invite everyone to come out and see what we are
doing frsthand - Come Sit at Our Welcome Table is our
motto! And what is it we are doing? We are farming in a way
that improves the soil, harmonizes with natural ecological
communities, makes good food available to all segments of
our community, centers the evolution of local artistic culture
around our land and food, and builds an improved public
stewardship - and even a reverence - for the land. Whether
it is to support the farm by joining the CSA (program of
weekly fresh produce pickup) or shopping at our farmstand,
to volunteer to work and sing with us in the felds, to join
us at a Community Harvest Supper (next on June 26 and
July 24), or to come to our monthly farm music jam, barn
dance, or other special harvest event (next Open Farm is
July 5), please come visit our beautiful, musical farm just 3
miles from the Kingston NY Thruway exit, at the edge of the
Catskills along the Esopus Creek, at 1375 Hurley Mountain
Road in Hurley, New York.
See you down on the farm!
Creek
For more information, go to clearwaterfestival.org
Farmers Note continued
History of CSA continued
Suzanne DeMuth,
author of Community
Supported Agriculture
(CSA): An Annotated
Bibliography and
Resource Guide,
writes that CSAs allow
growers to focus on
land stewardship and
still maintain productive
and proftable small
farms.
Community building
is the basis of CSA
efforts, and local
sourcing, below-market
pricing and transparency
about farming practices
are simply the wonderful bi-products.
According to a 2004 United Nations report on the state
of global economics: There is overwhelming evidence
that effcient (industrial) agriculture is not only mining the
natural resource base but also infuencing other parts of the
environment in ways that are detrimental to the well-being
of humankind.
Programs like CSAs are rising in popularity because
they provide partial
answers to the questions
surrounding the
relationships among
food, the economy,
environment and public
health. Concern is
raised now more than
ever by those who wish
to purchase food they
know is effciently grown
and free of harmful
chemicals.
Shared values and
commitment on the part
of local communities are
necessary components
for CSA programs to
survive, as well as an awareness about the benefts that
come from supporting local farms. Acknowledging that
sustainable agriculture is the key to a sustainable future is
the message that will be spread by the continual growth and
success of Community Supported Agriculture.
For more information, read The History of Community
Supported Agriculture by Steven McFadden.
The front porch of our beautiful farm house packed with vegetables for our
CSA members last Friday.
8 9
Pro u e Per ecti n O
E
L
J
1. The farm crew weeds beds of onions (2) on a cloudy afternoon.
3. This aerial photo, taken by Dan Moon, shows a great deal of our
beds of vegetables as they soak up a recent rainfall. 4. Sugar snap
peas were among the frst veggies we harvested on the farm. 5. Whos
ready for kale chips? 6. Rows of Winterbor kale grow beautifully in
our rich soil. 7. Red Russian kale, a tasty addition to salads, soaks
up the late afternoon sun. 8. The farm crew plants scallions that we
started from seed just weeks before. 9. Young Chinese cabbage and
Hakurei turnips were ofered in our frst CSA distribution last Friday.
10. Shay Otis, Dan Moon, Phil Erner and Jasmina DeLeon-Gill
harvest giant red mustard, a wonderfully spicy and versatile green.
2
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10 11
You and the Whirligig Farm crew are new members
to join the farm community in Hurley. What is your
history with farming in other locations?
I am a newcomer to farming. My interest in farming
grew out of a sense that the terms security and yield,
- so pervasive in the world of investing and wealth
management - have a more profound meaning in the
world that we are coming to know.
What is true security? Is there such a thing?
Philosophically speaking, the question is moot. But
speaking practically, the best answer I can come up
with is that true security may be found in the sustainable
production of wholesome foods, in the preservation
and tending of our lands and waters, and, most
importantly, in the connection and interdependence of
us, each of us, as a caring community.
As for yield, well, the land speaks for itself. Just take
a look at what Creek and Shay, Dan, Nina, Phil and
Jasmina, Greg and Kelly have brought forth from the
soil at Whirligig in our frst season on the farm. Its
beautiful!
What is it about the Hurley Flats, as this part of the
Esopus Valley is called, that made you interested in
purchasing this land?
I frst moved to this area in September of 1997. I
bought a small house in Lake Hill, New York, and quickly
made friends with a woman named Grian MacGregor,
who has a wide variety of aptitudes, not the least of
which is vegetable gardening. I think observing Grian
had a lot to do, on a root level (if I may), with my decision
to purchase farmland.
Stones is what they mostly grow in Lake Hill, however,
so I had to look a little further afeld. First I looked
w e s t w a r d ,
towards Andes
and Delhi,
but the area
seemed too
remote. Then
I heard from
Grian that a
friend of hers
was selling a
farm near New
Paltz. I took a
hard look at
that farm. After
doing my due
diligence, I realized with considerable disappointment
that it was not a good ft for me. Just as I was reconciling
myself to the loss, my realtor with whom I was working,
got word that the Paul Farm may be coming up for sale.
I went to see it, walked the land, saw the great barns
and the historic farmhouse, and entered a bid on the
spot. It was a much larger purchase than I had intended
originally, but the land itself - the soil quality and depth,
the surrounding waterways, the accessibility to markets
- all gave me a sense that I was on to something
incredibly special.
So far, CSA members have some amazing produce,
so the food does speak for itself. Can you speak
about the quality of the soil as it relates to the success
of The Paul Family Farm?
When I entered into negotiation for the farm in
February, John Gill, the man who had been tenant-
farming for the Paul family for some years - and who
I hoped would continue to do so for me - took me on
a tour of the felds. We got out of the truck at several
places to feel the difference in the texture of the soil
loam. At one point, John stopped the truck and looked
out across the upper felds, where were now fencing
in a 16-acre parcel for mixed vegetables, herbs and
fowers. God, this is a beautiful piece of land, John
said. He was preaching to the converted at that point.
I just nodded. The land speaks for itself. Theres not a
stone in it, and the Unadilla Silt Loam is among the
fnest soil you can fnd in New York State.
Q&A
W
ith The
W
hirligig Farm

Landow
ner
M
ich
a
el R
o
g
ers
Pictured here with his
fance, Mina Koyama
True security may be found in the
sustainable production of wholesome
foods... in the connection and
interdependence of us, each of us,
as a caring community.
Michael Rogers
What is it about the industry of agriculture and the
environment that is changing the way we grow,
purchase and consume our food?
As a consumer, Im keenly interested, and thoroughly
invested, in eating local foods. Theyre fresher, they
dont arrive coated in oil, and they are inherently
sustainable. Its important to know where and how food
is grown. What methods are employed? What are the
inputs? The land has such abundance to offer to us if
we tend her with respect. Why interfere?
It was my great good fortune to meet Creek Iversen
(I want to express my gratitude to Laura Kellar for
suggesting the meeting.) Over the course of many
months, Creek and I talked about a vision for Whirligig
Farm, about the farm model, and its intention. I
found that we had a lot in common as regards our
vision. What Creek has that I do not, however, is the
experience and know-how to bring that vision to life.
If we are successful in realizing our vision, Whirligig will
be a farm that produces excellent food grown in strict
compliance with the Farmers Pledge designation.
It will be a farm that encourages community through
participation in educational and artistic events. It will be
a farm that teaches respect for the land and its natural
history by living that respect day-to-day. Good work is
a deep form of respect, and thats what we aim to do
here.
Pinxt er:
This springtime religious holiday was
brought by Dutch settlers to North America
in the 17th century; it was a day to rest
and gather with friends. Pinxter comes
from a variation on the Dutch word for
Pentecost, Pinksteren. By the 19th century,
this celebration was practiced mostly by
African-Americans, in which many African
traditions were incorporated in a three-to-
four-day holiday to dance, sing and spend
with family and friends.
Greg
Cerne, Nina
Petrochko,
Lisa Mitten,
Jasmina
DeLeon-
Gill and
Shay Otis
harmonize
with the
other
singers.
Mr. Moon, Cecelia Hernandez and Shifty (bottom) join Creek Iversen and
the rest of the musical group (top).
Q&A with Michael Rogers continued.
12
Follow us on Facebook!
And go to
whirligigfarm.com
to learn more about the farm, our CSA
program and other opportunities.
Photography and layout by Gianna Canevari.

We Are Beyond Organic
We strive to provide our community with healthy farm products grown ever-more-
sustainably, to improve the soil and to encourage direct participation of the people in
building the local culture around their food and the celebration of the land.
1. (Top left) Dan Moon, Creek Iversen, Greg Cerne, Nina
Petrochko (bottom left) Jasmina De-Leon-Gill, Phil Erner
and Shay Otis pose for a shot in front of our farm house
during our Pinxter celebration. 2. Jasmina and Nina plant
rows of scallions. 3. Jasmina and Shay taste test the sugar
snap peas, not a bad gig! 4. Dan Moon and Phil Erner enjoy
their time triple-washing spinach that was harvested that
morning.
2
4
3
1