The Adirondack landscape provides a challenge to grow crops. The growing season is short and the soil is sandy. However, it is done very successfully by many farmers and gardeners within the Blue Line. During the sustainability field experience, which ran the last two weeks in May, we ate 100% locally sourced food. Below is an excerpt of student testimony by Anna Millar:
“For the past two weeks, we have been eating local foods, provided by farms in the region. The funds that we have been provided by the school for food have been able to cover the costs. We have also challenged ourselves to make sure that the costs of buying local food would be equal or less than the prices of non-local options. We have also challenged ourselves by only buying food that is currently in season, an issue that is often overlooked.”
The students are no longer on site, however, the garden they planted is thriving. Several cuttings of kale and one cutting of Swiss chard have been picked and biked over to the St. Regis Café, a restaurant on the Paul Smith’s College that’s open to the public.
Important tips for the summer:
- Get out to farmers’ markets near you. Make connections with your local farmers. Even though markets are seasonal, once you have a contact, you can easily get meat, dairy and eggs year round.
- Go forging and find some delicious strawberries before they are out of season or eaten by turkeys!
- Every time you make a food purchase, ask yourself, “Where is this coming from?”
