As the temperature drops there is still plenty of work to be done on the farm. As the first snows and empty fields force us into our high tunnels and ledgers books, we at New Morning Farm are taking over the Modern Farmer Instagram account.
At New Morning Farm, I am one of 12 apprentices who work on the farm, which is owned and run by Jim and Moie Kimball Crawford. There is a lot of self direction with the apprentices: I manage the greenhouse, one of our three farmer’s markets, and the social media presence of the farm (which, during the height of the season, is almost impossible to keep up with).
The farm is located on 95 acres in South Central Pennsylvania, growing mixed vegetables. Even though it is winter, our work here doesn’t stop. We are still harvesting the last of our leeks and Brussels sprouts and starting work in our three high tunnels that are full of greens for winter. Hopefully I will get a lot of pictures from that. The wintry weather also allows us to focus on tasks that we ignored all season — our crop reports and note taking. Hopefully I will get a chance to remodel the greenhouse and find some more room in there.
I just recently created the farm’s Instagram. I was at the Stone Barns Young Farmer’s conference and I noticed that a lot of farmers were on Instagram. I have had my own Instagram for a while, but since the conference I thought that other farms would be interested in following us as well. Instagram is a great way for us to get our name out and show off our beauty.
It is an interesting time of year to be doing this kind of posting on Instagram. It is a lot less green and less exciting for a lot of costumers. But we are still hard at work and it is still beautiful, though it is obviously slower. It really allows us to catch up on all the things we put off all year. Every farmer needs their off season.