Holcomb Farm moves into autumnal mode

It’s been two months since we last shared all that is happening at Holcomb Farm, which means there is so much to share: more than we could ever convey in our monthly Drummer installment (for which we are immensely appreciative). We hope you have found—or will find—time to visit us and experience our beautiful farm and trails for yourselves. The CSA and Farm Store have been operating at full tilt since early June, and both will continue well into October. Farmer Joe and his crew have managed through the excessive heat of July and, more recently, the excessive rains, and we ask all who have any pull with Mother Nature to please ask the rains to subside.

At this writing, we are preparing for the Holcomb Hoedown. Please join us in thanking our business sponsors and in-kind donors (see bottom of article). Together with all the volunteer time and the donations of those who attend, these funds are critical to our ability to provide, through Fresh Access, real food from the farm to friends and neighbors in need in Granby and throughout greater Hartford.

In July, we welcomed representatives from our Fresh Access partner organizations to the farm. Representatives from all seven partners—Granby Social Services and Senior Services, the Waste Not Want Not Community Kitchen, the Open Cupboard Pantry, Healing Meals Community Project, the Hispanic Health Council, and Wheeler Health—participated, as did Town Manager Mike Walsh, First Selectman Mark Fiorentino, and a representative from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving (one of the grant-making organizations we count on to help us fund Fresh Access).

Again this year, we thank Thrall Farms for letting us harvest fresh fruit from their orchards to augment our Fresh Access distributions. The Thralls allow our volunteers to harvest fruit at wholesale cost, and we are very grateful.

Meanwhile, hiking trail maintenance and Tree Trail development continued. Check out the new Holcomb Tree Trail sign, at the intersection of Simsbury Road and Day Street South. We hope you will remember, when you visit, that these trails are 100 percent supported through volunteer time and donations. If you aren’t already involved, please support our work. Annual family membership is $25. Check us out at holcombfarm.org

Our Stewardship Team has been inviting a crew of volunteers to join in two-hour work parties. In August, the crew cleared around the big red maple at the north end of the North Field, east of Simsbury Road/Day Street South. Dennis Orr put in heroic work digging, chopping and finally kicking a big barberry root mass loose; and then he went back in for more. Thanks Dennis, and the rest of the crew.

Enjoy the harvest season. Don’t forget to visit us—and all the farms—on Open Farm Day, Sept. 14. (Check out our planned activities at www.holcombfarm.org) And mark your calendar for Oct. 19, when we will hold our Harvest Dinner to support Fresh Access. Tickets go on sale in early September. Visit the website for more details.

We are so grateful to the following sponsors for helping make our Holcomb Hoedown possible: