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VOL 41 NO. 28
Farmers were “chomping at the bit” to get into fields to work the ground,
plant com, and harvest grass, as the weather cleared early in the week. But
in many fields, the tractor tracks were so deep that tillers and planters left
the tread marks showing. Before the next rain hit Wednesday night, a few
hours had been spent irt planting.! Others were trying to harvest rye and
other g rasses. Much of was still too high in moisture to make really
good haylage, but the alternative was to let more rain fall on it Wednesday
night and Thursday.
The Pennsylvania Agricultural Statistics Service reported that farmers
had only half the number of days suitable for fieldwork this year compared
to 1995. Com planting progress was slow. Some earlier planted corn has
emerged and Is yellow due to cool and wet conditions.
Community Supports Agriculture In This Kimberton ‘Garden Of Eden’
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
KIMBERTON (Chester Co.)
What if?
As in: “What if you took some
body’s really diverse backyard
garden and exploded it?”
As he says this, Kerry Sullivan
“Almost all of the strawberry beds are adopted by the members," said Kerry Sulli
van, left. "Certain members will say,' Til take care of this bed for a year, weeding and
whatever It needs.’ That’s worked out very well. So that frees us to grow other produce
for them. They get excited about weeding strawberries because they love them." At
right Is wife Barbara.
604 P«r copy
opens the door to a 76-foot long
high tunnel filled with the smell of
leafy vegetables. On a jute rope,
robust cucumber vines languidly
snake upward while romaine, leaf,
and butterhead lettuce stretches to
cover ground rich with compost.
Kerry points to one of the vines
Lancaafcr Firming, Saturday, May 18, 1996
and says, with a smile, “These are
growing really well.”
Because of the recent cold, wet
weather, the greenhouse crops pro
vide a hefty boost to start the veg
etable growing season.
With wife Barbara, the Sulli
vans not only grow a wide variety
Frost Tuesday morning nippsd many of the early crops and fruit flowers
across the state with the coldest spots reported down in the teens in north
ern counties. In many areas, however, extensive damage was not expected
because many of the crops have yet to be planted, and early warnings by
the weather service gave many peopliFINNSfO i protect their plants.
For many farmers, planting corn and harvesting first cutting hay will now
come at the same time, and they will need to decide which is more important
to do first in their farming operation. The photographer caught this tillage
operation Wednesday afternoon at Ed and Shenda Sensenich's Sen-Shine
Farm along Temperance Road, west of Lititz, in Lancaster County. Photo by
Evaratt Nawawangar, managing adhor.
of vegetables organically but are
on a mission to prove that small
farms can be viable amidst explo
sive suburban growth.
Their Kimberton Community
Supported Agriculture (CSA)
farm, which encompasses about 10
acres of ground leased from a near
by private school outside Kimber
RANDALLSTOWN, Md.
Maryland Farm Bureau President
C. William Knill has been elected
to the American Farm Bureau
Federation’s board of directors. In
this position he will be one of
three people representing North
eastern farmers on AFBF’s
June Is Dairy Month. And our annual Lancaster Farming
tribute to the dairy industry is scheduled to come to your farm
on Saturday, June 1. Our staff and field correspondents have
met with many farm families, and we will report what they
have to say about their operations and the future of the dairy
business. In additidn, we will have news stories, farm man
agement reports from the experts, dairy recipes, and mes
sages from our advertisers.
If you have a news story or an advertising message to be
placed in this special June Dairy Month issue, please call the
office any day, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5. p.m. Our
phone number is (717) 394-3047 or (717) 626-1164. Our
Fax: (717) 733-6058.
Four Sections
AFB Elects Knill
To National Board
June Dairy Issue Coming
$27.50 Per Year
ion, is very diversified. The literal
“community garden” is home to
about 55 different flower, fruit,
and vegetable plants from which
produce is grown for the commun
ity in which they live.
Crops are not grown by the acre,
but by plots. For instance, the
(Turn to Pago A2O)
27-person board.
Mr. Knill Maryland Farm
Bureau president since 1992
will be completing (he two-year
term of Keith W. Eckel.
Mr. Eckel, Pennsylvania Farm
Bureau president from 1974 to
(Turn to Pago A2B)