Dear Members,
This picture shows our field crew weeding fall carrots. Carrots are a lot of work to grow, because their little leaves don't create shade, and allow lots of weeds to outgrow them. They need constant weeding! But this batch seems to be doing well...
We are getting a lot of requests from members to add vacation holds, delete holds, etc. Please be aware that the farm is not responsible for this courtesy service of creating your vacation holds. If you have technical issues, please email the program's tech support@harvie.farm. We can't grow, harvest, pack and deliver vegetables, and also manage all your vacation plans. Thanks for understanding.
Ansche Chesed and Roslyn members: remember that your Wednesday Sept 19th delivery has been rescheduled to Thursday Sept 20th, due to Yom Kippur. If you pick up at other sites and observe the holiday, please place a vacation hold on your share for that day
This week we hear from Trainee Asivhanzhi Trinity Mamphwe, of South Africa: “Where do I even begin? my name is Asivhanzhi Trinity Mamphwe from South Africa in a small province of Limpopo which borders Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. I am an agricultural Management graduate from the Nelson Mandela metropolitan university. I’m also known to my fellow trainees as ‘Madibaz’ which is my volleyball team name. Coming from a country that does a lot of conventional farming, and getting first-hand experience with organic farming methods has been the most intriguing and interesting highlight of the program.
When I arrived at the farm in late April it was busy at the farm and we did a lot of planting, and weeding. Now my daily activities includes feeding chickens and collecting eggs and on weekends I help at the farm stand and do hayrides. I have learned how produce can thrive without the use of synthetic fertilizers and chemicals.
I have learned how good agricultural practices like crop rotation, hand weeding, the application of organic fertilizers like fish emulsion, pest scouting, and using beneficial insects to get rid of problem-causing insects can produce excellent quality crops. My hands-on experiences in the US has been exciting. Coming to America was an enriching experience because it forced me to adapt to things that I’m unfamiliar and unused to. I’ve become independent and open to new – and sometimes terrifying - challenges that I would never have encountered in my home country.
When I left South Africa to come to New York in April, I had never left my home country before, and I was traveling all by myself, not knowing what was awaiting for at the end. It was a leap of faith that I would be fine and one day all that I'm doing would make sense. A few weeks ago I had a skin irritation that became infected, and I was admitted to the hospital. I had never spent a night or day at the hospital, and I even had scary IV's inserted, but again I kept telling myself I've gone through worse and convinced myself it was just a phase.
My mother passed away in 2012 due to diabetes. At the time I was a first year student at university and I am her only child. In everything I do I try my best to make her proud, so when I go through challenges I always try to stay positive. I have learned and developed as a person, I have discovered things about myself that I never knew I could do.”
