Adopt Your Own Plot At Four Corners Community Farm
There's still time at Four Corners Community Farm to start your plot, grow your own food, and support the farm's mission.
Farmer Sam Rose says there’s still time to start your own garden plot this summer at the Four Corners Community Farm in Red Hook, New York. Not only does Four Corners have the plots ready, seedlings grown and tools to lend, but it is also on a mission to support and build community.
Rose cofounded Four Corners this spring with the land owner Frank Migliorelli, whose family has farmed here for generations, and Liza Parker. This foundational year has been one of experimentation and discovering what kind of farm the Red Hook community wants and needs. While 8x10 and 8x20 plots are available to anyone looking to grow their own food, there is also a larger multi-crop field, tended by volunteers. The produce from this community plot is donated to the Red Hook Responds aid organization, founded to fight local food insecurity during the pandemic.
“Since we moved up here we have been looking for land. Then COVID hit, real estate took off and buying our own became impossible,” Rose said. “Through the American Farmland Trust I discovered Frank and Liza were trying to lease over 200 acres. It is a very special location. It’s flat, the soil is amazing, and they said they were looking to have a component that supported the community. It was perfect.”
On weekend mornings this summer, Rose can often be found in a work shed beside an old John Deere and a projector screen, teaching farming fundamentals and ecological science to groups of kids and aspiring amateur farmers of all ages. During this first year, the classes, like the plots, are free, but donations are appreciated. The farm’s application for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status is currently in the works.
Rose and his wife Cecilia Cortina moved to Red Hook in 2014 from La Paz, Mexico with their infant son so Rose could take a job as the farm manager for the nonprofit Sky High Farm in Ancramdale, New York. He worked there for six years. In coastal La Paz Rose managed oceanic field days for scientists from the nearby universities, scuba diving, observing whales and taking samples. Rose and Cortina then founded an educational urban garden program, Raíz De Fondo.
Rose says one of the major differences between Raíz De Fondo and Four Corners is transportation. In rural Red Hook, it’s harder for those who need the garden plots most to get to the farm. He has begun investigating options for group transportation to Four Corners.
Though they’ve left Mexico, Rose and Cortina have maintained their commitment to supporting the Hispanic community around their new home, especially those involved in farm labor. Cortina works as a human trafficking survivor services advocate for the Worker Justice Center of New York and Rose has made sure that all written materials and in-person instructions at Four Corners are in English and Spanish. Their hope is that creating a safe space for multicultural interaction around food will help connect neighbors separated by language.
If Four Corners wasn’t enough of an undertaking, Rose also simultaneously launched SunRunner Farm on 150 acres beside Four Corners. Through SunRunner Rose is growing fields of small-batch heritage grain using sustainable and regenerative practices. He is also undertaking the complex task of getting the farm certified organic and plans on donating 10 to 15 percent of his yield.
“I’m a baker at home and I make all of our own bread. It’s surprisingly difficult to get heritage grain and it’s expensive,” Rose said. “Going organic and using the sustainable practices we do requires a lot of upfront cost and planning I don’t have experience with.”
Through a grant from Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corporation (HVADC) Rose worked with an advisor to build a business plan that met his goals; he also consulted with Thor Oechsner of Oechsner Farm in Newfield, New York. Oechsner is a leader in the field of regenerative grain farming and has developed a growing system and crop rotation program that promotes ecological health and produces some of the best quality grain in the nation. While it’s more work, Rose is committed to following Oechsner’s laborious example.
“When we heard what Sam wanted to do with SunRunner, we were happy to be able to help him get the business technical assistance he needed and connect him with Thor,” said Todd Erling, HVADC executive director. “At SunRunner, Sam is practicing what he is teaching the next generation of farmers at Four Corners. Sam is working harder than he has to, to make sure he does everything the right way for the land and the people in his community. It’s inspiring stuff.”
The schedule of classes offered at Four Corners is available online and updated regularly to reflect community interest. If you still haven’t started your garden this season — or the weeds took over during all the rain — Four Corners can help you feed yourself and others through harvest time.
