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Simple Gifts Farm: SEASON EXTENSION, ON-FARM RETAIL, AND CROP/LIVESTOCK INTEGRATION

Simple Gifts Farm grows approximately 18 acres of organic vegetables for CSA and store sales on 35 acres of community-preserved land in North Amherst, MA.  We currently harvest and sell produce every week throughout the year, and have experimented with a number of different season-extension techniques and structures.  We are continually expanding our capacity for season extension with both full-size greenhouses and with lower-cost and smaller structures.  The tour will include a basic introduction to the farm, as well as a variety of structures and how we tailor different structures and crops to continue to expand the quantities of off-season produce that we produce.  We will also be touring our new farm store and talk about the implications of the store for our farm’s development and how it interacts with our season extension efforts.  The main subject for this tour is on our season extension, but we will also touch on our integration of livestock into our cropping system, since it is a unique feature of our farm.