What do Rutgers University and Duncannon, Pennsylvania have in common?
Charlton Herczegh, Marley Skinner and Stephanie Zaitz, that’s what. Rutger’s Cook College student farm had them to manage its Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in the past and Duncannon’s got them now to run one of the newest CSA ventures in town.
The three twenty-somethings all grew up in New Jersey (and readily admit they need to lose the Jersey plates on each of their cars to earn a bit more street credibility here in Central PA) but joined forces last spring to cultivate a CSA on the 140-acre farm that has been on Zaitz’s family for over 150 years. The property, with its picture-perfect three-story red barn, hovers on the hill above the Route 11&15 thoroughfare in Perry County. The spot is a twenty-minute drive from downtown Harrisburg. If you hit the Susquehanna Trading Post, you’ve just missed the Old Trail Road turnoff leading to the farm.
The farm’s cat lounged on a battered, comfy chair on the side porch as Zaitz invited me into the kitchen for a cup of sage tea brewed from herbs grown locally, as in, on-site. We chatted about the farm while sitting around a Formica and chrome kitchen table. The table would make a hip, vintage addition to any Manhattan studio apartment, but here is just part of the untouched 1950s décor.
“This has been a working farm for five generations,” said Zaitz. “And every generation has had to figure out how to manage it.”
The CSA is Zaitz’s generation’s plan for saving it (See her YouTube video on the subject.)
Herczegh, Skinner and Zaitz planted the figurative seeds for their full-blown CSA venture last spring, cultivating potential share holders by operating a road-side farm stand where they sold a variety of organically grown (that is a practice, not a certification) produce.
“We got a lot of traffic at the stand, mainly out of curiosity, I think,” said Herczegh, admitting that newcomers in this area are sometimes viewed with a bit of cocked eyebrow.
“But we earned some credibility with some of the older customers because they kept saying how nice it was to see young people out working hard in the fields every day,” added Skinner.
The literal seeds for this year’s CSA crops – which range alphabetically from Bok Choi to Zucchini with 30 other vegetables in between and include beds of herbs and flowers as well – sit under heat lamps in makeshift germination rack perched atop cinderblocks in the farmhouse’s living and sleeping quarters. They will grow there until the farmers are ready to move them to a plot of land protected by a high-tunnel (an unheated greenhouse which has a soil floor for planting) on a cloudy day so the young plants are gingerly introduced to the natural sunlight.
The trio is currently offering 50 full shares (targeted to feed a family of four) at $450 with distributions running weekly beginning in June and continuing through October. Half shares run $250. Share holders can either come to the farm to collect their produce or they can pick them up at a designated drop-off point: Espresso Yourself Café in Newport.
Herczegh, Skinner and Zaitz have also been working to cultivate the “community” part of their enterprise by working with the local food bank and offering gardening classes for both adults and children.
Wooden Farm is accepting CSA applications through May 1st. You can express your interest on the farm’s web site.
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