Three Years to Organic: Hearty Roots' First Harvest in Red Hook
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Three Years to Organic: Hearty Roots' First Harvest in Red Hook
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In 2023, Ben and Lindsey Shute of Hearty Roots Farm bought 97 acres of farmland on Route 9 in Red Hook. Because the land had been farmed conventionally, they had to wait three years before anything they grew there could be certified organic. That wait ended this month with a harvest of kabocha squash. Publisher Walter Mullin talks with Daily Catch senior reporter Claire Greenberger, who was in the field for it. They cover the USDA's three-year transition rule and how the town bought the Cookingham East property. They also talk about how the land was split between protected farmland, public trails and affordable housing through RUPCO. Claire explains why local farmers and Scenic Hudson think a critical mass of farms matters. She also covers what the Shutes did with those three years and what's next: garlic, a pollinator meadow, better irrigation and crop rotation with their Clermont farm.
Produced by Emily Sachar, Walter Mullin, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud at the Radio Free Rhinecilff studio