Sustainable agriculture & lively outreach

LAKEVILLE — The future of farming is here and now, thanks to a burgeoning, committed agricultural program found at The Hotchkiss School and its integrated educational program at Fairfield Farm.

The farm is located on 287 acres adjoining the school’s campus, and it houses an active agricultural program inviting school-community involvement in hands-on experiences in everything from organic and sustainable soil health to seeds, plants, harvesting, cooking, nutrition and supporting local food banks. 

“I love plants; it’s deep in my DNA,” said Amy Sidran, Education Coordinator at The Hotchkiss School’s Fairfield Farm, located along Route 41 between Sharon and Lakeville. The farm, formerly owned by Hotchkiss alumnus Jack Blum, became part of the school in 2004.

“Education, outreach and sustainability: Farming for the future,” was the title of Sidran’s Zoom talk on Monday, Feb. 1. The event was sponsored by the school and Noble Horizons, whose residents frequently visit the farm to meet with students.

Fairfield Farm is also linked with the 160-acre Whippoorwill Farm on Salmon Kill Road in Salisbury, run by Allen Cockerline, who is in charge of meats and other farm products for the school. Using the whole of the animal is a priority and the school chefs incorporate all cuts (and many organs) into their recipes.

Fruit and vegetables for food pantries

The vegetable gardens produce about 40,000 pounds for the school and Lakeville’s Corner Food Pantry. 

A volunteer at the Corner Food Pantry commended the farm for “bushels and bushels” of fresh produce provided throughout the summer and fall including lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, squash and relatively exotic edibles such as bok choy, celeriac and fennel. Crops number about 60 to 70, Sidran noted. 

At present, the farm supplies 30% of the dining hall’s needs for the school’s 2,000 meals served daily.

Fairfield Farm also partners with about 30 family farms in the area, who help by supplying food to the school. In a cooperative arrangement, about 160,000 pounds of compost are provided to those farms.

Sidran arrived at Hotchkiss and Fairfield Farm in August 2020, bringing a master’s degee in biology and experience in teaching science. She has taught middle school science in the Dominican Republic, where she discovered that farmers were unsuccessfully trying to raise crops from seeds acquired from the United States — seeds not intended for the tropics.

Time spent in Bolivia and Costa Rica strengthened her interest in sustainable farming.

An underground network

Sustainability is an essential component in the farm’s program, Sidran said.

“Plants are talking with each other underground,” she said, stressing the need to stabilize the soil and keep it nutritionally rich. 

The organic farming program also encourages insects and diversity. Pesticides are not used. The farm encourages natural solutions. Parasitic wasps, for example, will wipe out tomato horn worms, by laying their eggs on the backs of the worms.

Students are engaged in every aspect of the farm work, Sidran said. In place of a sports requirement, 25 students opt to work at the farm. “Lots of leadership happens,” Sidran said of the program.

New this fall will be community gardens open to Hotchkiss families and a new course for students, “Sustainable Food Systems.” Continuing a 24-year tradition, Eco-Day will bring all students to the farm for a day of service, pandemic permitting.