Hudson Valley Farm Hub

08/02/2025

Join us for Beyond Delicious, August 6-8, at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY! This three-day gathering is designed for people working across food and farming to connect, reflect, and strategize for a more sustainable food system. Learn more here:
https://www.eomega.org/workshops/beyond-delicious

05/05/2025

[Español Abajo]

Register now for a self-guided Public Birding Day on Tuesday, May 13th, from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM at the Hudson Valley Farm Hub!

Participants will have a chance to explore a 1.3-mile loop through grasslands, ponds, creeks, and floodplain forest. Observe Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, American Kestrels, Savannah Sparrows, and other less common species during the nesting season. Our Applied Farmscape Ecology Program team will be available to answer your questions along the trail.

All ages are welcome (under 18 must be accompanied by an adult). Registration is required. To learn more and to register, please click here: http://hvfarmhub.org/birdingday2025

We hope to see you there! 🌾

[En Español]
¡Inscríbase ahora a un día de observación de aves autoguiado el martes 13 de mayo, de 7:30 a 4:30, en el Hudson Valley Farm Hub! Los participantes tendrán la oportunidad de explorar un circuito de 1,3 millas a través de praderas, estanques, arroyos y bosques de llanura aluvial.

Observa especies como el Tordo Arrocero, Pradero Tortillaconchile, Cernícalo y Gorrión Sabanero durante su temporada de anidación, con la posibilidad de ver especies menos comunes.

El equipo del Programa de Ecología del Agro-Paisaje Aplicada estará disponible a mitad del sendero para responder cualquier pregunta.

Todas las edades son bienvenidas (los menores de 18 años deben ir acompañados de un adulto). Es necesario inscribirse. Para obtener más información e inscribirse, haga clic aquí: http://hvfarmhub.org/birdingday2025

¡Esperamos verle allí! 🌾

04/08/2025

Good news for HV farmers impacted by USDA funding freezes.

📣 HUDSON VALLEY FARMERS 📣
Glynwood has established the 'Hudson Valley Farm Relief Fund'— emergency financial support to the farms across our region that have been impacted by the federal funding freeze.

Applications open April 4 (TODAY!) and close April 21. Application linked below.

Eligible farms will receive an equal percentage of their documented need. We encourage all HV farmers affected by the federal freeze to apply. Everyone can help us spread the word to ensure this relief reaches those who need it most.

🍏 Who qualifies: Operating farms (for-profit or non-profit) in Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Ulster, Sullivan, or Westchester counties that can document approved federal grants or contracts that have been frozen.

The Fund is a time-limited emergency response initiative, designed specifically to address the immediate impacts of the federal funding freeze, and is separate from Glynwood's core programming.

If you're not a farmer but want to help, we're actively seeking additional investments to maximize the impact of this emergency fund.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdL2U2yO284fqh-cdBhh8pnHH9b0zxbFX675HNFxOFBEPUGA/viewform

12/10/2024

Teresa Dorado can be often found in the farm fields with magnifying glass in one hand and a camera in the other. She is searching for pests that can decimate crops including sweet corn. As the program coordinator for the Farm Hub’s Applied Farmscape Ecology Program, she works on pest management as well as outreach and education. “I enjoy spending time among vegetable fields and documenting the pests, beneficial insects, and other wildlife that one finds there. One of my favorite aspects is sharing with others the different interactions insects have with plants and with each other,” Teresa says. Learn more by clicking into the link below.
https://hvfarmhub.org/women-in-ecology-teresa-dorado

12/03/2024

We are hoping for a cold winter to continue our experimentation with organic no-till hard red spring wheat. The cover crops in the field behind the Hurley Reformed Church, visible from Route 209 across from the bike path, are a nine-species mix with different rooting habits chosen to prepare the field for wheat planting in March 2025. The cover crop mix balances a little grass (black oats) with nitrogen-fixing legumes (Persian and Egyptian clovers), but is dominated by weed-suppressing brassicas (tillage radish and Abyssinian cabbage) plus some added diversity (linseed, buckwheat, sunflower, and phacelia). The buckwheat and sunflowers died in October frosts. The brassicas should ‘winter kill’ in time for us to plant wheat without tillage. If the radish and cabbage survive the winter, then they will initiate a flowering in early spring, and we will be forced to till the cover crop prior to planting wheat. For no-till we either terminate cover crops mechanically with a Roller Crimper or let winter terminate them for us, but as an organic farm, we do not use herbicides for no-till practices. Our goal is to fit two years of cover crop-based no-till into our 6-year field crop rotation.

11/26/2024

Every year between 365 million and 1 billion birds die in the U.S. from flying into windows, buildings, or cars. Bird savers for windows are easy to install and relatively low-cost. Check out the short video below on how to make your own bird saver.

11/24/2024

We recently hosted a bird conservation workshop in which participants received tips and strategies on how to help protect birds. The interactive workshop, which was free and open to the community, covered identifying birds and using binoculars, methods for preventing window collisions, and how to set up, monitor, and maintain nest boxes.

A highlight was a DIY demo on making bird savers for windows, which are easy to install and relatively low-cost. Between 365 million and 1 billion birds die in the U.S. from flying into windows, buildings, or cars. The North American bird population has fallen by 2.9 billion breeding adults since 1970.

11/22/2024

A good day for Meg Rumplick usually involves turtles. As a technician for Hudsonia Ltd. Meg used radio telemetry to navigate terrain that includes creek, forest, and farm fields to study the connection between turtles and agriculture. Her interest in wildlife conservation was further fostered by study abroad in college at The School for Field Studies in Tanzania, Africa. Discover Meg’s career journey and watch her locate turtles by clicking on the link below.

https://hvfarmhub.org/women-in-ecology-meg-rumplick

11/20/2024

Claudia Knab-Vispo is a field botanist with the Farmscape Ecology Program at Hawthorne Valley Farm with a love for the beauty, diversity and significance of plants in the world. Her curiosity in this area has taken her to far-reaching places including Borneo, Indonesia, and Venezuela. Today she uses these experiences and knowledge to work on the Native Meadow Trial at the Farm Hub.
Learn more about Claudia’s love of plants by clicking on the link below.

https://hvfarmhub.org/women-in-ecology-claudia-knab-vispo

11/18/2024

English below

¡Estamos emocionados de compartir que este año nuestro entrenamiento de Fundamentos Básicos de Mecánica Agrícola para hispanohablantes creció! Este otoño, el programa dio la bienvenida al doble de participantes que en años anteriores. El entrenamiento de 8 sesiones proporciona una experiencia activa en mecánica agrícola, incluyendo temas como partes y sistemas de tractores, diagnóstico, seguridad y reparación - todo en español. Entre los instructores se encuentran Shane LaBrake y los miembros de nuestro equipo de producción Jesús González Jr, Jesús González Sr y Jaime Villegas. En una sesión reciente, los asistentes aprendieron a solucionar problemas de fugas de aceite y a realizar tareas básicas de mantenimiento en una variedad de tractores. El taller concluyó con un proyecto de «hágalo usted mismo».
agrícola

Excited to share that this year our Farm Mechanic Basics training for Spanish speakers grew! This fall, the program welcomed twice as many participants than in previous years. The 8-session training provides hands-on experience in agricultural mechanics, including topics such as tractor parts and systems, diagnostics, safety, and repair – all in Spanish. Instructors include Shane LaBrake and members of our production team Jesus Gonzalez Jr., Jesus Gonzalez Sr., and Jaime Villegas. At a recent session attendees learned how to troubleshoot oil leaks and perform basic maintenance on an assortment of tractors. The workshop concluded with a DIY project.

11/14/2024

The Kingston YMCA Farm Project winter farm stand is today afternoon! Get your fresh vegetables from 3:30-6pm on Thursdays at the YMCA of Kingston & Ulster County🥕 🥬 🥦 We are happy to support the stand with vegetables grown at our farm. Kudos to the youth who manage the farm stand!

11/13/2024

This time of year brings both the winding down of the fall harvest and a nod to the next growing season. We recently planted our 2025 garlic crop using a Mechanical transplanter and look forward to a mid-July harvest.