Growing skills and confidence at Common Roots Farm

This past week we welcomed our postsecondary students back to the farm after their winter break. Because our fields are so wet, our students moved into the warm greenhouse where they had an opportunity to learn how to grow fodder for the chickens. After preparing the seed mix with the right amount of moisture, they sowed pea and broccoli seeds into trays, covered them lightly with more mix, and placed them on greenhouse tables where they could receive maximum sunlight. In a few short weeks, students will feed healthy pea shoots and broccoli microgreens to our winter weary chickens.

These students, aged 18 to 22, are eligible to continue their public education careers until they turn 22. As many young adults with disabilities and their families can attest, age 22 can feel to some like “falling off a cliff.” The services, social life, and focus on new skills built up during an individual’s public school life end very abruptly when the student “ages out.” Moving from a school-based life to one where any needed services and supports must now be obtained through an entirely different adult system can be very daunting.

Common Roots Farm was founded in large part to address the gaps created by this aging out phenomenon. The farm offers a beautiful, natural setting where adults with disabilities can continue their growth and development. Meeting the myriad challenges of building a life, learning to manage day to day tasks, making friends, finding purpose, and being engaged in the world are significant developmental tasks. Common Roots is glad to be an increasingly popular job site where postsecondary students can become better prepared to enter this next phase of their lives. For many, this is their first time experiencing a work place and it’s an opportunity to build self-confidence. Working alongside these youth as they learn how to start seeds, care for plants, be part of a team, delight in the harvest, and grow their skills and sense of self-worth is what it’s all about.

Give it a rest!

Farmers have long known that to give a field a rest for a season, or fallowing, results in improved crops the following year. Why is this? Fallowing, a common practice in regenerative agriculture, provides an opportunity for the biological activity happening within soil to thrive without the usual demands of growing production crops. When a field is fallowed, it literally is allowed to rest and replenish its soil nutrients.

Common Roots has been slowly expanding our cultivated area over the past six seasons, but this year we plan to do something different. We are going to give some of our fields a rest and plant them in cover crops. Grains like rye and oats, legumes such as field peas, hairy vetch and bell beans, usually comprise a good soil builder cover crop. Legumes pull nitrogen from the atmosphere and bring it down into the soil to provide this vital nutrient at the depth of plant roots. Grains and grasses provide fast-growing plants that help reduce soil erosion caused by rain. They also add substantial amounts of biomass or green manure when they are mowed and incorporated into the soil. We will share more about this farming practice and our plans for our 2024 season in our upcoming newsletter.

Something new is in the works!

Please follow our social media and read our March newsletter for news about our fast-approaching 2024 season. Some pretty big changes are in store and we hope, as a supporter of Common Roots Farm, you will stay tuned as we share details about the changes that are ahead. Little hint? Think Berries and Blooms!