Andes Sprouts Society farm operatives

2012 Beginning Farmer Field

2011-12-30T21:12:00.003-05:00

Winter Rye has been planted and last I checked we had pretty good germination. Next season's ASS Farm Operatives we will resume our beginning farmer exchange. The field shown in this image, Arkville 5 is a five acre plot in the village of Arkville, NY. The field will be a collaborative venture between Urban Farmer Ben Flanner, 2 beginning farmers and me. Its time to design the planting schedule, order seeds and get ready!

Stephanie Swain from Delware

2010-08-07T14:34:00.001-04:00

checking in with our farm exchange. Stephanie is a structural engineer in Virginia and decided to spend a part of her summer vacation helping us take care of the crops. she is awesome! this is a self portrait of her, doesn't she look happy?

feeding the lambs on the hill

2010-08-02T14:41:00.000-04:00

Moo had mastitis and was unable to milk her lambs during her treatment. so, 3 times a day someone had to march up the hill and feed the lambs. here is Dorothea Braemer ( executive director of Squeeky Wheel) nursing our 2 lambs and Andes Sprouts first artist in residence Stefani Bardin.

photo by Stephanie Swain

re-settlement of our sheep

2010-08-01T08:46:00.002-04:00

The sheep were moved out of the barn onto the hillside last week. the new sheep shack was constructed by Erwin and Arthur out of recycled lumber from an old sawmill in Andes.

Andes Sprouts visits Farmer Flanner

2010-07-31T01:25:00.003-04:00

Farmer Ben Flanner has created a one acre dream of urban farming. companion planting to max out every inch of this long island city farm is inspiring and delicious. Flanner has planted 1/4 acre of this skyline farm with heirloom tomatoes and a Northen blvd. exposure of sun flowers! http://brooklyngrangefarm.com/

Moo's new born lambs, first day on the farm

2010-07-19T07:30:00.004-04:00

farm stands open

2010-06-23T00:20:00.004-04:00

photos by maria ugas

Joe McFadden joins Farm Xchange

2010-06-21T14:14:00.001-04:00

NOISE! 2010

2010-06-02T23:44:00.004-04:00

Free103point9 presents

Noise! 2010

a one-day, marathon event, featuring a staggering array of artists and works including performance, sound, moving image, language, and culinary craft.

This year, curators Caspar Stracke, Danny Snelson, and Tianna Kennedy contribute an exciting and expansive approach to the event’s theme—mapping signal innovation, distortion, and destruction from the historical avant-garde to contemporary media art practitioners.

Dinner with/by:
Andes Sprouts Society
Able Brown & Casey Farnum
Forrest Gillespie
Dylan Gauthier
Nasumi collective
Ben Flanner / Brooklyn Grange - the rooftop farm

When: June 26, 2010

Where: Ontological Theater
St. Mark's Church
131 E. 10th St.
Manhattan, NY

MORE info

Welcome Maria!

2010-05-28T08:56:00.003-04:00

WWOOFer Maria Ugas has joined us from Seattle, Washington for the spring plant season, and is pictured while busy at work weeding pea shoots.

marrubium vulgare: sprouts

2010-05-27T22:40:00.000-04:00

weeding the garlic

2010-05-21T13:30:00.000-04:00

in in October 09, folks from Eyebeams' sustainability research group joined us in this field to plant GARLIC . Now this garlic is weed free, thanks to Kara Blossom, Tianna Kennedy, M. Rashid, Jessica Vanniel, Arthur Warren and Jen Warren

Splendor in the Green

2010-05-18T12:25:00.000-04:00

A Fundraiser for Build it Green and Solar One
Stuyvesant Cove Park, Manhattan
(East 23rd Street at the river)

Tickets ($20)

Music, Dancing, and Performances -- Saturday, June 12th, 2010, 6 to 10 pm

Are you concerned with the future of the earth? Do you support renewable energy resources, reuse of building materials and super fine partying by the river? Do you like barbecue, excellent live music and mad green goodie bags? Are you doing anything June 12th?

Announcing the first annual and most fun dance party--fundraiser supporting the great environmental non-profits Solar One and Build it Green!NYC. Come help us celebrate five years in business!

Featured performances by: Amayo's Fu-Arkestra, playing a unique combination of Chinese Lion Rhythms and Nigerian Afro-Beat -- plus a bangin' DJ set by DJ Tony Lowe of Cool Places Soundsystem! Come eat bar-b-cue of beautiful vegetables and special organic lamb from our friends up at the New York area farm Andes Sprouts Society.. There is also going to be a silent auction with incredible dinners for two from fancy restaurants, great green gift items and other things, so come bid on a variety of goods and services and help support the cause!

(Solar One, established in 2003, is a solar powered building where students and residents of the city and the greater metro area learn first hand the principles about energy conservation in their urban neighborhood. Check them out here: Solar1.org.)

June 12th, 6-10 pm, Stuyvesant Cove Park, Manhattan. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Buy them HERE. (You can also pick them up at the warehouse in Astoria; or over the phone at (718) 777-0132 ext. 21.

planting celery, celery root, kohlrabi, broccoli

2010-05-18T09:47:00.004-04:00

Emily and Arthur in the fields. photos by Kara Blossom

Spring Farm Hands

2010-05-17T09:12:00.003-04:00

Emily Wissemann and Reah Siegel, 18 year-olds, from Hastings-On-Hudson, NY. Emily and Reah are here in Andes for 2 weeks as part of a senior internship project from Hastings HighSchool.

photo by Kara Blossom

ready for work!

2010-05-17T08:46:00.001-04:00

photo by kara blossom

ramp kimchee prep

2010-05-08T22:22:00.002-04:00

Jen Warren and Roberto "What the Fox" Lucini putting the AMP in rAMP.
photo by Kara Blossom

potato planting

2010-05-07T13:23:00.005-04:00

Planted about a 1/2 acre of the finest austrian crescent and assorted fingerling potatoes.

In this photo, David Turan, from MKNHP, Roberto Lucini, WWOOFER, and John Dalessi, artist.
Photos by Tianna Kennedy

mondu and kimbop

2010-05-02T23:10:00.000-04:00

Michael Kudish Natural History Preserve

2010-05-01T16:53:00.003-04:00

We took a break from the fields and joined Dr. Michael Kudish and Dave Turan for a hike through the foreest of the Mike Kudish Natural History Preserve in Stamford, NY

As a professor emeritus in the Division of Forestry at Paul Smith's College, he has also written four books on the vegetation of the Adirondacks, including Adirondack Upland Flora, The Catskill Forest: A History and a number of articles on forest history of both the Catskills and Adirondacks

The following is an except from “The Catskill Forest: A History” Purple Mountain Press, 2000:

“ …{h}e began a life-long study of the history of these forests, beginning with Vegetation History of the Catskill High Peaks, his dissertation at the New York State College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse University in 1971. In the intervening 39 years, his study has expanded to include an examination of Catskills soils, climate, ecological personalities of tree species, human disturbance and history, and the history recorded in the rings of living and just-fallen trees. Such examination could push the clock back only 300 to 400 years, the maximum age of the oldest living trees and of the writings of European settlers. In 1994, he realized that tree fossils preserved at high-elevation peat bogs also could be used to reconstruct forest history and that the age of the peat could be determined by radiocarbon dating. Forest history has now been pushed back to 14,000 years”

photos by kara blossom

Inula helenium +Cimicifuga racemosa

2010-04-28T12:20:00.011-04:00

Inula helenium-L aka Elecampane
Perennial growing to 1.5m by 1m. It is hardy to zone 5. It is in flower from July to August, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, Lepidoptera (Moths & Butterflies). The plant is self-fertile. The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil. Our two crowns were ordered from FEDCO and were grown in Maine.
Elecampane has a long history of use as a medicinal herb. A gently warming and tonic herb, it is especially effective in treating coughs, consumption, bronchitis and many other complaints of the chest as well as disorders of the digestive system.

Cimicifuga Racemosa-L aka Black cohosh
Perennial growing to 1.5m by 0.6m. It is hardy to zone 4. It is in flower from July to October, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs)

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland). It requires moist soil.

Black cohosh is a traditional remedy of the North American Indians where it was used mainly to treat women's problems, especially painful periods and problems associated with the menopause[254]. A popular and widely used herbal remedy, it is effective in the treatment of a range of diseases[4]. Also, both the growing and the dried plant can be used to repel bugs and fleas[211]. Our 2 crowns were were purchased from FEDCO, MOFGA organic

Info above from Plants for a Future

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
[211] Coventry. B. O. Wild Flowers of Kashmir Raithby, Lawrence and Co. 1923
A nice little pocket guide to 50 wildflowers of Kashmir.
[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

SHIITAKE success!

2010-04-19T03:06:00.008-04:00

check the size of this shiitake! Our mushroom growing experiment started in 2008. Last season we harvested a meager 15-20 shiitakes, but judging by the size/weight of the latest one to appear, we might to on to something...

spring snow

2010-04-19T03:03:00.001-04:00

We had snow this weekend, hopefully the fruit tree buds adapted to the wintery conditions.

flock of sheep

2010-02-14T14:33:00.003-05:00

Our friend in Gilboa, NY has given us her flock of sheep. We are looking at one Ram and 2 Ewes and 3 lambs. We are on the way to sheep milk/cheese, wool and meat.

chicken flock

2010-02-14T14:06:00.004-05:00

The chickens started laying eggs last week. a couple of fresh eggs for breakfast is a perfect way to start a day at the farm. The chickens spend most of the time indoors where their feed is, plus they don't like the snow. This flock is 1 rooster, 3 retired hens and 2 layer hens.

bunnies in the barn

2010-02-04T16:22:00.000-05:00

7 Flemish giants, 5 bucks and 2 does. These bunnies are 3 months old and at full maturity will weigh in at 20-24 lbs. GIANTS!

feeding the lambs

2010-02-02T14:37:00.000-05:00

Hang a Wreath Sponsor a Greenhouse

2009-11-29T11:29:00.014-05:00

This winters project is to build a solar greenhouse! Fundraising, design and construction of the greenhouse will be complete by the end of February ready to start the first seeds: onions, scallions and leeks! Transplants from the greenhouse will be planted in fields at ASS and neighboring farms, including Straight Out of the Ground Farm, Roxbury, NY. A greenhouse at the AS farm includes 9 months of dynamic space use for both Andes Sprouts farm exchange and residency programs goals. Building a greenhouse on the Andes Sprouts farm allows the farm to extend the season, on both ends. Spring time use will include starting seeds for transplanting in the fields after June1st(traditional frost-free day around here). Come September, first frost can happen anytime in the Catskills, so a greenhouse can promote good conditions for frost sensitive plants.
Throughout the summer months the greenhouse turns into a lab for residency artists to develop bio-projects in.

Wreaths are made at the AS farmhouse by visiting farmhands and friends of the farm. Douglass fir, white pine, yellow pine branches were sustainably harvested at local farms supporting this project. Hot peppers are edible and are extremely hot, eat with caution, thai hot(tiny red ones) and limon pepper(habanero variety)

From December 10 thru the New Year
Wreaths will be hanging at
Second Stop Cafe
located on the corner of Lorimer and Ainslie St in Brooklyn,
open m-f 7am to 10pm
open sat+sun 8am-10am
EAT Cafe
located at 124 Meserole Ave. Greenpoint
open wed-fri 9am -10pm
open sate+sun 10am - 10pm

Please stop by and pick up a wreath and support our greenhouse project! Thank You.

photos by Jackie Nguyen

hot sauce!!

2009-10-17T23:40:00.002-04:00

Jalapenos, garlic, vinegar, salt, ball mason jars.... liza burke and erwin karl cooked up 3 gallons of hot hot sauce!

pickling by Chloe Swan

2009-08-10T19:54:00.002-04:00

A traditional way to preserve your garden cukes is to pickle them. With a brine (apple cider vinegar, salt and water) that is brought to a boil, pour brine into sterilized jars packed with cucumbers, daikon radish, carrots, garlic, dill, fennel, grape leaves to keep the cukes crunchy.

thanks to Straight Out of the Ground farm for the vegetables.

drive-in organic mini market

2009-07-30T20:06:00.005-04:00

open 24 hrs.
thanks to Alison Wilder for opening the market.

photos from 1,3,4 by Xavier Faltot

one acre plowed and limed

2009-05-20T20:25:00.002-04:00

jeff waters from new kingston, disked and plowed an acre of the andes hillside. to prepare the soil for next season crops 3 tons of lime was spread(pick-up truck to haul the lime in and tovey with a shovel) and oats cover crop planted.

Garlic Seed Exchange

2009-01-11T09:51:00.003-05:00

April 2008 during a trip to Memphis to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination, I made a visit to Midtown North community garden where I met Farmer Mary Norman. Midtown North garden is one of five community gardens in Memphis under the direction of GrowMemphis, a collaborative between the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center and local communities.
Within 5 minutes of my arrival Mary had me shoveling compost into raised beds. The Midtown North garden serves as a resource garden providing seedlings, fertilizer, compost and seeds for the other four gardens in the city.
Farmer Norman says
"We're trying to bridge the gap between seniors and youth. We want to pass on our wisdom, not only about gardening, but eating right and taking back neighborhoods."

She expressed interest in the garlic we grow and thanks to a bountiful garlic harvest, there was plenty to share with Memphis. ASsociety sent Farmer Mary 200 garlic cloves to get started.

Recycling tires, Midtown North garden planted about 5-6 cloves in each tire and they are on their way to having seed and garlic for market in this upcoming season.

Bees in the house

2008-12-27T17:47:00.004-05:00

Bees moved into the farmhouse in Andes a couple of years ago. Tovey collected rent/honey from the bees in October.
what to do next with the bees?
Beekeeper Rupert visited the farm today and showed us videos of beekeepers in brazil and upstate ny. we especially like the beekeeper in Tivoli using topbar hive system. one of these topbar hives could be future home of andes sprouts bees. to be continued.
see video at
http://www.anarchyapiaries.org/
anarchy apiaries: grassroots beekeeping in the hudson valley

canning school

2008-09-20T23:25:00.003-04:00

ASsociety canning school
Flesh Farm, Roxbury, NY

6 days and 600 pounds of heirloom tomatoes, the andes sprout canning school preserved 60 gallons of tomato.

recipe
tomatoes wash, cut stems and blemishes
olive oil drizzled in bottom of big pot.
fill pot with cut tomatoes(big chunks ok) to the top.
add pinch of sea salt and couple cloves of garlic
slow low heat for about 45min or until consistency is saucy, then cool to temp good for pureeing sauce with hand blender.
return to low heat, bring to boil. add genovese basil and hot pepper

canning teacher
Valer Flesh. chef of simple foods opened her commercial kitchen at the Flesh Farm to ASsociety canning students for hours and hours of simmering tomatoes. Valer has been a chef at Cleaver Organic Catering Company, nyc for 10years+.

canning students
Jordan Colon. Greenpoint,Bklyn, Eat proprietor
Erwin Karl. Jefferson, NY, Naturalist
Emily Joiner. Williamsburg, Bklyn, Community Strategist
Cedric Martin. Greenpoint,Bklyn, Artist
Arthur Warren. Roxbury, NY, Prospector

tomatoes, garlic, hot peppers, genovese basil
provided by cooked goose farm.

farm direct to conflux festival

2008-09-11T00:31:00.001-04:00

Center for Architecture, nyc hosted 2008 conflux festival headquarters. ASsociety partnered with the conflux opening festivies by providing farm direct SUNGOLD tomatoes.

CONFLUX
The art and technology festival for the creative exploration of urban public space.

Smokin the Competition

2008-08-06T08:32:00.004-04:00

Tannersville Crazy Race
non-motorized vehicle

Awarded the Weirdest Racer Prize

ASsociety entry
called "smokin the competition" was a smoker on wheels. the vehicle was smoking a 15 lbs pork shoulder
during the race. following the race we all enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches.

Concept and fabrication by Arthur Warren, Roxbury, NY. prospector
15 lb pork shoulder provided by Flesh Farm, Roxbury, NY
Bikes provided by cooked goose farm, Roxbury, NY

Garlic Harvest with Wave Farm Airtime Residents

2008-08-01T09:27:00.000-04:00

100degrees + chicken eggs

2008-07-29T21:34:00.000-04:00

100 degrees, chicken eggs, water (for humidity) and time to rotate eggs 3x a day

2 Heats
June 17, 19 eggs placed into the incubator and 21-23 days later we have healthy 9 chicks!
July 15, 24 eggs placed into the incubator and 21-23 days later we have healthy 16 chicks!

Chick adoption
9 chicks adopted by Freddy the Dreamer, Stamford, NY
16 chicks adopted by cooked goose farm, Roxbury, NY

incubator provided by mediocker industries, Bklyn,NY
eggs provided by cooked goosed farm, Roxbury, NY

Farm STANDS

2008-07-03T00:41:00.000-04:00

2 roadside garlic stands were built and stationed at ASsociety farm and cooked goose farm
bringing farm direct garlic and variety of produce to the driving public

wagon provided by castrucci
fabrication by
Tovey Halleck. Roxbury, NY
Arthur Warren. Roxbury, NY, prospector

Burroughs Raised Beds

2008-06-01T08:06:00.000-04:00

John Burroughs (April 3, 1837-March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and essayist important in the evolution of the U.S. conservation movement. According to biographers at the American Memory project at the Library of Congress, John Burroughs was the most important practitioner after Thoreau of that especially American literary genre, the nature essay. By the turn of the century he had become a virtual cultural institution in his own right: the Grand Old Man of Nature at a time when the American romance with the idea of nature, and the American conservation movement, had come fully into their own.

spring 2008
Associety and Wired Heifer House build raised beds
The raised beds sit on the Wired Heifer House fields just south of the family farm Burroughs was born at in 1837, his writing studio Woodchuck Lodge and his final resting place at Boyhood Rook.

(8) raised beds 4 x 100'
planted pumpkin seeds
37 varieties of heirloom tomatoes
cucumbers

Truchitecure

2008-05-25T00:06:00.002-04:00

twin cab pick up truck transformed into a farm stand

Tovey Halleck, Roxbury, NY, Truchitect

fabrication assistance by
Arthur Warren. Roxbury, NY, prospector
Erwin Karl. Jefferson, NY, naturalist
truck provided by Ferra Design, Brkln Navy Yard, NY

elderbery + stinging nettles DYE

2008-05-24T11:02:00.000-04:00

cooked goose farm was cleaning out their freezers, and bags of 2007 elderberry and fresh cut stinging nettles were boiled to make 2 natural dyes, purple and smokey mint green.

mushroom farming

2008-05-06T08:11:00.000-04:00