With all the news of the water crisis in California, and the ensuing warnings about the effect it will have on the availability and price of fresh produce, it’s comforting to know that Stamford, CT is on the forefront of a movement to local, community-based farming. Yes, that’s right. Right here in Stamford we have Fairgate Farms. Right smack dab in the middle of town, in the shadow of a gargantuan new hospital being built.

Now that the snow has finally melted and the winter kale crop harvested, the fields at Fairgate are being prepped for planting. On a quiet, windy, sunny Saturday in early April, the earth drinks up the sun. Our ground is plenty wet from winter’s snow cover; and seedlings are sprouting in the greenhouse.

Fairgate Farms not only provide fresh produce to anyone in the community who stops by, and maybe spend a little time hoeing, it provides an educational opportunity to the youngsters in the neighborhood.  I recall a conversation last fall with Fairgate Farms Director Bill Callion about a high school student who had never received a passing grade in math. As a summer school project, this student worked at the Farms. Together he and Bill studied the pattern of seeds falling from a large maple tree on the property. They deduced this or that  – calculating, extrapolating, and crunching numbers. Bill told me the student got his first passing math grade that summer!

In How to Grow a School Garden, Arden Buck-Sporer and Rachel Kathleen Pringle cite the following:  

Numerous studies point to school gardens as a means of improving academic achievement, promoting healthy lifestyles, demonstrating the principles of stewardship, encouraging community and social development, and instilling a sense of place.

So a small urban farm, that sits on four plots of land in a residential neighborhood of central Stamford, that relies on volunteer labor, under the directorship of a dedicated citizen, reaches deep into our community’s values. It touches us with fresh, locally grown food, it provides a place for gathering, and a place for learning. It makes Stamford a little less reliant on the geo-political forces at play on the other side of our continent — forces that may or may not be due to climate change. We will leave it to the scientists to decide.  But one thing is for certain: Fairgate Farms is a jewel!

Learn more about Garden-Based Learning and Edutopia.

Contributed by Janis Stahlhut.  Janis has been a member of the UUC in Stamford for twenty years.  She travels the world leading small groups on exploratory excursions as a volunteer for the Appalachian Mountain Club Adventure Travel Program.