{"id":6611,"date":"2024-12-09T15:01:44","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T20:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ctfarmland.org\/site\/?p=6611"},"modified":"2024-12-12T09:13:55","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T14:13:55","slug":"connecticut-farmland-trusts-first-open-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ctfarmland.org\/site\/connecticut-farmland-trusts-first-open-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecticut Farmland Trust’s First Open House"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Layla Ennis and Kae Vargas<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is farmland without a farmer? It certainly will not remain farmland for long. Your past support, combined with financial support from the CT Department of Agriculture through the CT FarmLink program, helps make connections between farmland seekers and owners. Layla Ennis and Kae Vargas, our Farmland Access Coordinator, wrote this article to give you a picture of one powerful new way your support is making a difference in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you hear “open house,” farming and agriculture might not be the first things that come to mind. However, after a Milford farm suddenly lost its dedicated farmer of 35 years, Mr. Vargas initiated a uniquely \u201cfarm-y\u201d open house to introduce new farmers to the farm\u2019s 20 acres of high-quality fields and orchards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kae Vargas set up to talk with farmers<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

First some background on the landowner. Although not a farmer himself, Jim Beard is passionate about the continued maintenance of the farmland his family has lived on since the 1950s. The unexpected loss of the farm\u2019s longtime farmer, Dave Siekierski, affectionately known as \u201cTomato Dave,\u201d left Jim searching for someone equally passionate and dedicated to continuing the property\u2019s farming legacy. \u201cDave did a remarkable job maintaining these 20 acres — farming is a labor of love,\u201d Jim explained. After his own search for a local farmer turned up dry, Jim reached out to CT FarmLink for help. Mr. Vargas proposed an \u201copen house.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cday-of\u201d experience last May was similar to a typical real estate open house, but Mr. Vargas worked in advance to curate an invite list of interested farmers based on intensive pre-meeting conversations to clarify their interests and intents. Mr. Vargas knew the farmers on the guest list had expressed interests in what the farmland owner can offer, dramatically increasing the likelihood of a successful match. Over three hours on a sunny afternoon, farmland seekers had the opportunity to meet farmland owner Jim and tour the property firsthand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of the farmers were Kaitlyn Kimball and Larry Passeck. These first-generation farmers founded Sunset Farm in 2018. Over the past six years, they diligently stewarded four acres of certified organic vegetables and flowers in Naugatuck. Two years ago, they left their full-time jobs — Kaitlyn as a teacher and Larry as a Broadway set carpenter — to fully dedicate themselves to farming. Sunset Farm operates a community supported agriculture (CSA) share system and sells produce at five farmers markets, along with some wholesale and farm-to-school programs. Recently, the couple began searching for additional land to expand their operation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jim, Larry and Kaitlyn (l to r)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had been looking for more land without a whole lot of luck,\u201d Kaitlyn explained. \u201cI decided to create a FarmLink profile on a whim one night.\u201d When the couple heard about the FarmLink open house, they made a point to stop by the Milford property on their way to a farmers\u2019 market, even with their truck full of produce. They met Jim while touring the property, and after discussing and inspecting the land and soil, they instantly bonded with him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to Kaitlyn and Larry, the Somali Bantu Community visited the open house later in the day. After walking around the fields, an agreement was made between the Community\u2019s vice-president, Mohamed Adan, and Jim for a separate 2.8-acre parcel at the front of the property. This land will be used by the Community\u2019s farmers to grow a variety of vegetables using their indigenous Somali Bantu farming practices. Mr. Vargas is currently assisting the Community in finding more land to enable the 25 families of farmers that form this group to start larger farming operations.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the Thursday open house, the process moved quickly. Mr. Vargas facilitated further communications between Kaitlyn, Larry, and Jim and they signed an initial yearlong lease with the following Monday. Two matches from one open house! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The farmers have also used other resources provided by CT FarmLink, including consultations from UConn Extension\u2019s Fruit Production and Integrated Pest Management expert, Evan Lentz, for advice on the property\u2019s orchard, as well as a soil health consultation with Kip Kolesinskas, FarmLink\u2019s Soil Scientist, to help Sunset Farm and the Somali Bantu Community assess the fields.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kip Kolesinskas and Somali farmers discussing soil quality<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Despite only knowing each other for two weeks, farmland owner Jim and farmer Kaitlyn seemed optimistic about the whirlwind of events that had occurred. \u201cI think and hope Sunset Farm will find success.\u201d Jim reassured the farmers and quoted his father, \u201cTake it as it comes.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaitlyn agreed, \u201cOne day at a time.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Layla Ennis and Kae Vargas What is farmland without a farmer? It certainly will not remain farmland for long. Your past support, combined with financial support from the CT Department of Agriculture through the CT FarmLink program, helps make connections between farmland seekers and owners. Layla Ennis and Kae Vargas, our Farmland Access Coordinator, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctfarmland.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctfarmland.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctfarmland.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctfarmland.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctfarmland.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6611"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ctfarmland.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6621,"href":"https:\/\/ctfarmland.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6611\/revisions\/6621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctfarmland.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctfarmland.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctfarmland.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctfarmland.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}