With each sunny Friday workday on the Old Acre, we’ve thought the warm conditions may be the last of the season. This Friday was no exception.
On this particular glorious afternoon, students threshed and winnowed Einkorn wheat, chopped corn stalks, and scuffled plots in preparation for planting. Reaping the fall bounty of a summer’s hard work, students harvested persimmons, heads of lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and 25 lbs of beets. The beets were used on Saturday at Yale Pop-Up’s lunch event, hosted at the Old Acre.
After an afternoon of hard work, students gathered in the Lazarus Pavilion, now fully decked out in dried flower bouquets, garlic bunches, chile ristras, and marigold garlands from previous workdays. Natalie Smink ’24, a Farm Manager and 2022 Yale Farm Summer Intern, presented her summer research as the knead 2 know. Smink, who hails from Boulder, CO, spoke about regenerative agriculture in her home state, and the ways that farmers are working to adjust to a changing climate. Smink talked about soil health in a drought state, the dangers of flash flooding, and the importance of cover crops to protect soil health. She spoke about ranching and grazing techniques, such as sending goats through agricultural fields, and the ways that these practices leave root systems intact and naturally introduce fertilizer into the area. Smink also noted how ‘regenerative agriculture’ has become somewhat of a buzzword, and that all the self-identifying regenerative farms in Colorado are white-owned. She spoke of the importance of bringing native communities back to the lands from which they have been disposed as a means of making agricultural practices more genuinely regenerative and justice-oriented.
Thank you to everyone who has been coming out to our events this fall. You can view photos from the event here.