Sustainable agriculture & lively outreach
Amy Sidran, who is education coordinator at The Hotchkiss School’s Fairfield Farm, gave a talk explaining how the farm has grown, and what happens to the meats and produce that are raised there.
Photo by Cynthia Hochswender

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.

Latest News

Yellowjackets lose to Hawks in Falls Village

FALLS VILLAGE — The Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic Yellowjackets co-op football team lost 47-14 to the Woodland Regional High School Hawks Saturday, Oct. 5.

Woodland’s explosive speed created breakaway plays on the ground and in the air. Woodland QB Jack Brunetti Brunetti threw for 160 yards and the Hawks’ backfield combined for 298 rushing yards.

Keep ReadingShow less
Economic pressures jeopardize Connecticut's farming future

Marble Valley Farm in Kent leases land from the Kent Land Trust at below-market rates. The model enabled owner Megan Haney to grow her vegetable operation in an otherwise harsh economic climate for Connecticut farmers.

Photo by Sarah Lang

Last month, the USDA’s 2024 Land Values Summary reported that Connecticut has the third most expensive farm real estate in the country (tied with Massachusetts) at two times the northeast average for dollars per acre.

To Chelsea Gazillo, the senior New England policy manager for American Farmland Trust, these numbers reflect a “farmland access and succession crisis” that has impacted the state for “the last 15 years at least.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Amelia R. Wright

Falls Village – Amelia Rosalie (Betti) Wright, 91, of Falls Village died September 30, 2024 at her home surrounded by her loving family. She was the wife of the late Robert Kenneth Wright.

Amelia was born September 6, 1933 in Torrington, CT, daughter of the late Benjamin and Mary Eliza (Passini) Betti. Amelia worked at Camp Isabella Freedman as the Head Housekeeper. She was employed there for 35 years. She attended the Falls Village Congregational Church and had been very active at the Senior Center in Falls Village. She enjoyed collecting. She also enjoyed the craft classes offered by Adult Ed at the Housatonic Valley Regional High School. She enjoyed traveling, especially to the Cape, Vermont and New Hampshire. An avid flower person, Amelia had traveled to the major flower shows in both Boston and Philadelphia.

She is survived by her daughter, Susan Osborn and her husband David of Falls Village, her son, Robert H. Wright of Falls Village and her son, Donald Wright and his wife Kate of Millbrook, NY; her sister, MaryAnn Betti of Falls Village; her grandchildren, Benjamin and Katie Osborn and Jacob Wright. Amelia is also survived by her great grandson, Gunner Osborn. Amelia was predeceased by her brother, Donald Betti.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 5, 2024 in the Mountain View Cemetery, Sand Road, North Canaan, CT. Calling hours will be held at the Newkirk-Palmer Funeral Home, 118 Main Street, North Canaan, CT 06018 on Friday, October 4, 2024 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Memorial donations may be sent to the Falls Village Volunteer Ambulance Association, 188 US-7 South, Falls Village, CT. 06031

Fashion and fun mark a century of service

Tom Barret shows off some Rummage Sale finds.

Natalia Zukerman

On Saturday, Sept. 28, the Cornwall Woman’s Society hosted its 100th anniversary celebration at Mohawk Mountain ski lodge.

“This celebration is to thank the people of Cornwall for their support and to celebrate the 100 years that the Woman’s Society has contributed to Cornwall and to needs near and far,” said Nancy Barr, co-chair of the Cornwall Woman’s Society (CWS).

Keep ReadingShow less