On June 7, the blueberries weren’t quite ripe yet. A few weeks before, eight students lovingly weeded and side-dressed the blueberry patch in the hopes that this year’s berry crop would be unparalleled. And on their last day on the farm for the year, they wanted to enjoy the literal fruit of their labor. So the students took to the patch determined to find a ripe berry among the dozens of bushes. After a few moments, the cry went up–“I found one!” One glorious, huge, juicy bl

This past weekend, Permaculture course participants studied Natural Building and Passive Solar Energy at the Ecosystem Farm in Piscataway Park.  Activities included building a cold frame and a worm bin, covering a hoop house, planting cover crops at our Persimmon guild and making Biochar, an ancient soil amendment. Loose brush is burned inside a homemade furnace and removed before being buried. Biochar Biochar is a kind of charcoal, which converts agricultural waste, or in th

Remember and honor the old ones, our traditions, our values, and the events – good and bad – that have shaped who were are as a people.

The Accokeek Foundation is seeking workshare volunteers for the growing season. If you are interested in the principles of sustainable agriculture and farm market operations, and are able to commit to 2 – 4 hours per week, then join the Ecosystem Farm Workshare Corps. As a workshare corps volunteer, you will receive a weekly share of produce in exchange for the opportunity to be stewards of the land, and working on a nonprofit, educational farm operation as you learn about gr

Crusaders, Erika “Riks” Enriquez and Nicole “Nics” Fleming, are spending the summer of 2014 travelling across the U.S., visiting 15 states in 30 days. Along the way, these two ambitious friends are opening their eyes and minds to discover what their home country has to offer by volunteering at organizations such as Clean the World, Climate Cycle, Cradles to Crayons, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, Second Harvest Food Bank, and on Day

I am extremely excited about this weekend! Tomorrow (aka: Saturday) will be the season opening of our on farm market, and I can’t wait to see the fruits of our labor. Ecosystem Farm manager, Holli Elliott, with the help of volunteer farmhands and staff, has been working diligently to provide fresh, organic produce for the public to enjoy. The Accokeek Foundation’s Ecosystem Farm welcomes anyone to visit, creating a thriving engaged community that is passionate about food. Ret

by Rebecca Cecere Seward Training farmers to fill this increasing demand is at the core of the current mission of the Ecosystem Farm, but over the last year we have been steadily increasing the consumer education element of our mission. Whether visitors come to the on-farm market, volunteer with us for one of our volunteer days, or come to us as schoolchildren for a tour, we have been spreading the good word about organic farming and eating. Increasing this audience is on the

It was a beautiful day on the farm last Saturday as 19 volunteers took on the task of freeing fence lines from creeping vegetation and clearing the “leftovers” from the field of the Ecosystem Farm. The late October frost brought about the demise of several of our summer crops, shriveling their leaves and stems, but leaving much of the fruit still ripe and ready to be eaten. The volunteers picked all of the green peppers, eggplants, pak choi, and sweet potatoes that had surviv

by Rebecca Cecere Seward Planning for a CSA is a difficult lesson in making choices, as I have found these last two seasons, and I often have to think more like an eater than a farmer when considering what will fulfill our CSA members’ needs. My formula for what can provide a hearty amount of choices in a family’s week of meal planning is the title of this essay: roots, fruits, leaves, and spice. Fruits, as one would describe them botanically, contain seeds. Culinarily, they 

The farm crew preps the fields for planting by laying plastic which helps to maintain soil moisture and temperature, while aiding in weed control. The mild spring afforded the Ecosystem Farm comfortable days to work, beautiful weather for growing, and a little bit of extra water to remind us of our connection to the swampy environ around us (ha!). The crops have flourished in the moist regular-spring conditions: tomatoes fruiting on big deep green plants, the squash big and r

Godiva, one of our spring Hog Island Sheep lambs. If you love animals and would like to spend a few hours each week working on the farm, join the Livestock Farmhands volunteer team on Saturday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm to assist with the successful management of our Heritage Livestock Program. Volunteers will work closely with staff members to help feed, clean the barn, repair livestock fencing, clear brush, maintain pasture and barnyard areas, and more. Livestock Farmhands

by Becky Seward This is a poem I wrote in 2006 for my undergraduate thesis at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, but I still find it relevant to the farm life I live today. It was written about my last day on a farm I worked on for nearly five years. Countless Green It was my first and last day on the plow in the secluded North Field our dream space Behind me behind the buzzing machine lay many pearly crests Her underbelly On my last farm day I sat baking in the warm sanctuary o

by Becky Seward, Ecosystem Farm Manager (Written to the CSA community and published in this week’s edition of Field Notes.) I write to you on the tail end of a couple of beautiful days of rain and another gorgeous day of sun and warmth to wick some of that extra moisture off of the field. It has been a truly blessed season here at the Ecosystem Farm; I cannot believe the good fortune we’ve had! I have really enjoyed seeing you all around the community, and have been feeling s

The following are the invited speakers to present on the panel during the next installment of the Food Justice Series held at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, November 17, 2011. This month’s topic will be on Environment, Food, and Health. Bernadine Prince Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, FRESHFARM Markets Bernadine (Bernie) Prince is Co-founder and Co-Executive Director of FRESHFARM Markets, a nonprofit organization which operates 11 producer-only fa