 by Anne Dailey Issue 37 (Aug/Sept 07) [Copyright © 2007, The Valley Table] On 45 acres of lush fields and woodlands, Hanna Bail and Hugh Williams tend to orchards, gardens that supply a 37-member CSA, a herd of 18 cows, scattered chickens and a few pigs. The couple works the land that is Threshold Farm with one full-time farm hand and a legion of volunteers--friends, really--who jump at the chance to work side-by-side with these visionaries, taking in the view, working up a healthy sweat and relishing in the knowledge that they're doing something positive for the earth. The couple's two young children often can be seen playing in the fields, songbirds build nests in apple trees that have never been sprayed with pesticides, and every animal has a name. It's idyllic, but tempered by reality: Cows must be milked, gardens weeded, fences mended. Sometimes machinery breaks down. It's life on a small, diversified farm, a throwback to the days when everyone grew vegetables and many families had a cow for milk and a few animals for meat. Today, of course, a life like this is rare. "It's unique in time; it's unique in the world," Williams says. At a time when most farmers are working hard to get their produce and meat into more markets and specialty shops, striving to expand their customer base and get the word out, Bail and Williams seem to be doing the opposite. When they started farming on this land in Philmont 12 years ago, they had CSA distribution sites in New York City and several towns in the Hudson Valley. This year, they've dropped their last delivery site--Woodstock--and will operate only a pick-up CSA. They will attend only one farmers' market (Saugerties) and supply vegetables to a few restaurants, but it appears that rather than turning out to the world with what they have to offer, they are turning in, inviting people to join them. "We know we're walking a tightrope, but our scary decisions have always been the best," Williams says. "In the past, we were driven by our vegetable production and we don't want that. The goal is to be more comprehensive, more self-sustaining. At certain times you have to step out and make changes. By ending one thing, you make space for something else to happen." The vision at Threshold Farm, simply stated, is "Year-round food." That means grains, vegetables, an orchard, animals for meat, milk and eggs, and plenty of preserving. That vision is driven and supported by the style of farming that Bail and Williams have chosen for their land and their life—biodynamics, based on the anthoposophical teachings of Rudolph Steiner. An organized approach to organic farming and gardening, biodynamics (the "Mercedes Benz of organics" according to Williams) involves "preparations" and techniques that utilize naturally occurring plant and animal materials from their own land, including clay, herbs and hay, carefully tended compost, and manure from their small herd of cows. Bail likens the practice to holistic or homeopathic healing--for the land. Using biodynamics, farmers like Bail and Williams strive for "self-contained individuality"--essentially a self-sustaining, closed system. "The matrix of life that surrounds a biodynamic farm is incredibly complex and we don't take full advantage of that complexity without a closed system," Williams stresses. "The farm provides everything from within its own boundaries--each animal and plant brings something different to the farm and the system." Williams grew up in Australia, where his father managed orchards conventionally; when he struck out on his own, he stuck with orchards, but went straight to biodynamics. Bail came to the farm one year after Williams as a "woofer"--a volunteer worker on an organic farm. She never left. The pair runs Threshold Farm on a long-term lease, and they maintain a positive relationship with the landowners (who are also members of their CSA). This system has proven to be relatively inexpensive, while still providing financial security. The couple owns a house in downtown Philmont, a few miles from the farm, where they also keep a greenhouse. Adhering to the belief that a person can only truly manage two major projects or tasks at a time, Bail and Williams have divided management of the farm with precision. "I do the orchard and the animals," Williams explains. "Hanna does the vegetables and the business. I am only a worker in the vegetable garden, and she's a worker in the orchard." It's the orchard at Threshold Farm that has drawn the most attention recent years. Williams calls it "the engine of the farm," though he views it more as an orchard "embedded in a farm." On five acres, Bail and Williams grow 11 varieties of apples, including Paula Red, Macoun, Liberty and Ida Red, and heritage varieties like Baldwin and Cox Orange Pippin, four varieties of pears and six varieties of peaches. Williams has chosen to keep the orchard small enough that it can be managed primarily by hand, an approach that has been crucial for keeping the trees at their peak of health and the orchard sustainable. Though chores like thinning the apples--a labor-intensive task that can take up to five weeks--may seem daunting to an outsider, it's all part of the process of learning how to work with the orchard and the land, not on or against it, something Bail and Williams clearly understand. "I don't push the trees," Williams says with a smile. "Life is a unity, and we're just being asked to keep up with it." This willingness to work side-by-side with nature doesn't always result in a picture-perfect, symmetrical, waxed, round red apple, but the apples will have unparalleled flavor and texture. This paring-down strategy seems to be working for Threshold Farm. In fact, Williams believes the model of a self-sufficient farm may be the only viable one for the future. He notes that as global warming begins to take effect and oil prices continue to rise, the so-called "global marketplace" might simply become too expensive. The average American meal travels 2,000 miles from farm to table, and those miles are becoming more expensive almost by the day. "There will be a whole new dynamic to farming as we move forward," Williams emphasizes. "What happens when a farmer can't get seed from Argentina anymore?" On a small, diversified farm--one that is self-contained and self-sustaining--seed from Argentina would be a moot point. Bail notes that, in the current cultural climate, "We're increasingly unaware of what's going on with nature," yet neither she nor Williams is willing to lay all of the blame for the disconnect at the foot of the mainstream population. Increasing government regulations limiting what small farmers can legally sell, and farm subsidies that go to the biggest, monoculture operations, have hit home at Threshold Farm again and again. In the past, Bail and Williams had been able to sell raw (un-pasteurized) apple cider, pressed from their own apples, to their CSA members. Beginning in 2007, sale of any raw apple cider will be illegal. A number of Threshold's CSA members are heartbroken. "It's a human right to choose what foods you want to eat, to choose to be healthy," Bail says forcefully. "They are taking away our basic freedoms." Ultimately, though, both Bail and Williams strongly believe that individuals need to take responsibility for their own health and food choices. "We need to start paying attention to what we put into our bodies," Bail says. "Sometimes I feel like I'm preaching to the choir, but how do you reach the people who aren't in the choir? It's a whole different world we're advocating." On a warm day in late May, Bail stands on a ladder, thinning apples on a tall Ida Red apple tree that has recently been sprayed with a light layer of clay to combat insects. In the spring sun, it's almost silver, and seems to shine. "Look," she says, grinning, pointing to a bird's nest in the branches. "You won't see that on a conventional farm." Threshold Farm, P.O. Box 323; 16 Summit Street, Philmont NY 12565, (518) 672-5509 |
