Joe O’Grady joined the Friends of Holcomb Farm as its Farm Manager in 2014. Together with his partner Emma and their two children Juniper and Willow (who both were born right in the old farmhouse, as we suspect were Tudor and Laura Holcomb, more than a century prior), they have quickly emerged as important, active members of the Granby community.
O’Grady is indispensable, as he leads the Farm Crew in nurturing the land and growing the chemical-free produce that many in Granby and the greater Hartford region value so much. As testament: the summer 2022 CSA shares sold out before the snow had melted! Even more, when he can find the time, he is improving the land—well beyond what counts for growing veggies—and he generously shares his extensive knowledge with anyone who wants to learn more about farming.
As I write this, O’Grady is offering a greenhouse tour to the Bionutrient Food Association, a group of gardeners, foodies and farmers who work together to support growers looking to improve their management practices to improve food quality. Last October he hosted a farm tour for UConn’s Organic and Sustainable Vegetable Production Class. In November, he entertained the Granby Women’s Breakfast with tales of life on the farm and its many diversions.
O’Grady also works to secure outside funding for many of the improvements he makes to the farm. This winter, he secured a significant grant from the National Resource Conservation Survey to, amongst other things, protect the farm from erosion and create improved habitat.
Right about the time this grant was secured we received a call from the Simsbury-Granby Rotary, looking to see what Holcomb Farm might be doing in support of pollinator habitat. O’Grady told them about the “shelterbelts” project he is spearheading at the farm:
“One of the many projects gathering steam here at the farm is the establishment of shelterbelts in all our fields. I’ve settled on using ‘shelterbelt’ as a catchall for what we are doing—perennial patches and blocks spread throughout the farm to serve as insectaries, pollinator, and wildlife habitat, and for aesthetic beautification and diversification. Last fall we tarped two small patches inside our deer-fenced field. The tarping will kill the perennial mugwort/grass mix that was growing there, and this spring we will remove the tarps and plant several varieties of mint. Watching the insect activity around a mint patch in flower is breathtaking; there should be a 24/7 TV channel devoted to it.
We are slowly adding and expanding these shelterbelts each year. The big one this year is going in our Carriage Barn Field. The site was prepped last year with heavy mulch, and we spent about $527 on seeds, trees and plants for it. The goal for all these shelterbelts is to have at least three plants flowering at all times to attract, feed and shelter insects and pollinators.
This Carriage Barn Field Shelterbelt will be anchored by several mulberry trees and a few native plums. The remainder of the space will be filled with haskaps, Cornelian cherries, gooseberries, Welsh onions, chamomile, lemon balm, crocus, wild garlic, columbine, butterfly weed, New Jersey tea, monarda, coneflower, salvia and asters. I cannot wait to see what it looks like once established; I almost want to quit growing vegetables and just design and plant shelterbelts.”
The Rotary’s offer to contribute to this project was most welcome! We thank them for the $500 grant to kickstart the next shelterbelt. In addition to serving the purposes outlined above, this one will also serve as a perennial buffer to the erosion at the edge of the field, suffered last year with the incessant torrential rains.
In addition to this grant, the Rotary also honored us with a $500 grant earmarked to add two more trees to the Tree Trail, in the fields to the east of Simsbury Road. As the trails begin to dry out, be sure to take a walk up there. By April 1, the earliest sign of spring – the cornelian cherry dogwood – was already in bloom!
If we don’t run into you on the trails, please mark your calendars so you don’t miss the fun upcoming events.