Would-be farm
ers can get a chance to learn the ropes through the Community Farm of Simsbury‘s incubator farmer program.
The program, in its second year, is the only one of its kind in the state. It offers participants up to an acre of land at subsidized rates, help with plotting and irrigation, and the use of farm equipment. Access to farming seminars by the University of Connecticut and the state chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association also is offered.
The incubator farmer program receives support from both the state and federal departments of agriculture in the form of greenhouses, irrigation systems and deer fencing. The farmers do not receive funding, but they can sell their products for profit.
According to Tim Goodwin, executive director of Community Farm, the selection process is rigorous. This year, only three out of 25 applicants were accepted, joining the six farmers already in the program.
The incubator program “is very different from a community garden,” Goodwin said. It’s designed for “people who want to get in the farming business. Incubator farmers have to sell their own products because they are starting their own business.”
Goodwin said the reason for the incubator program is simple. “Connecticut has an aging farmer population,” he said. Another factor, he said, is the growing interest in organic farming. “A lot of folks want to get into that,” he said, and at CFS there is an interest in “helping people get started.”
Returning incubator farmer Maggie Saska is in her second out of the three years in the program. Saksa produces sustainably grown flowers to sell to florists and businesses; she understands the difficulty of beginning a horticulture or agriculture business. “If you didn’t grow up with a family with a farm it’s a big challenge,” she said.
Like Saska, Joey Listro is grateful to the program for the security it provides for beginners. He considers it “farming without the risks of going into a lease agreement or buying land” with “minimal risk: exactly what I want to do,” he said.
Community Farm is a supportive environment, he said, but essentially the farmers are starting their own businesses. “I have had a lot of help and resources, but I am on my own,” Listro said. Farming is “trial and error,” he said. “It’s a learning process for me.”
1 Bunch Collard Greens
