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Photo by Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
Urban farming: A growing field
By V.L. Hendrickson
am New York
March 7, 2010
The Queens County Farm Museum's history dates back to 1697; it occupies New York City's largest remaining tract of undisturbed farmland and is the only working historical farm in the City. The farm encompasses a 47-acre parcel that is the longest continuously farmed site in New York State. The site includes historic farm buildings, a greenhouse complex, livestock, farm vehicles and implements, planting fields, an orchard and herb garden.
Early morning livestock feedings and cultivating the herb garden aren't on the daily list of duties for most New Yorkers, but for Leah Retherford, they're business as usual. As farm manager of Queens County Farm Museum, she oversees 47-acres.
"I wanted to keep farming when I moved to the city a year ago," said Retherford, who had been working at a smaller operation in Detroit. "This as the perfect opportunity: I'm living in the city and working with animals among fruit trees."
All in a day's work
As farm manager, Retherford, 30, is responsible for maintaining the health of the farm's sheep, pigs, dairy cows and other animals, as well as day-to-day chores such as feeding and keeping them and their environment clean. The farm also grows vegetables (sold at the farm and at the Union Square Greenmarket). Retherford oversees planting and harvesting and makes sure the farm is using sustainable methods.
A gig for outdoor lovers
Retherford said many people start out as volunteers and become apprentices. You have to love being outdoors and manual labor to enjoy the farming life, Retherford said. "I like to think of farming as applied science, where you are observing a natural system, and trying to make management decisions that will support healthy plants and animals," she said.
Retherford came to the Queens Farm Museum as an apprentice last year. She had experience working with vegetable farming, but not livestock.
Many city farmers bring their produce to Greenmarkets. These farms need hands to man the stands, especially during the busy summer and early fall seasons. Pay is generally $10-15 per hour.
See the rest of the article here.
From Showpiece to Sustainable Crops, a Farm Shifts
By ANNALIESE GRIFFIN
New York Times
March 3, 2009
FOR a glimpse of agriculture in a land of high-rise apartment buildings, busloads of New York City schoolchildren have come for years to the Queens County Farm Museum. There they have petted Daisy the cow, walked through the cornfield maze, ridden the hay wagon and examined pens and fields that seemed just like those of a real farm.
But over the past year, the museum has become a real farm.
Since Michael Grady Robertson was hired as its director of agriculture a year ago, it has been raising more crops and animals, using sustainable methods, and plans to expand.
For the first time, the farm is running a stand at the Union Square Greenmarket. Every Monday since November, the farm has been selling greenhouse produce — more than 15 pounds of salad greens each week — eggs, honey, frozen heirloom tomatoes from last summer's abundance, and pork from pasture-raised pigs.
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