Driving down Highway 184, it is nearly impossible to miss. Vibrant fall flowers bloom on the roadside and lambs frolic in a grassy field.
Bittersweet Farm,the sign reads, Organic Eggs, Organic Transplants. Milkweed “a loveable, scruffy pup” sits in the driveway, excitedly wagging his stubby tail.Bittersweet is a small, family owned farm in Heuvelton, a thirty-minute drive from campus.
The farm is owned and operated by Cat, Ann, and Brian Bennett. Cat, who graduated from St. Lawrence University in 2016, is also the owner of a regenerative agriculture, potato-centric company: Milkweed Tussock Tubers (who’s colorful, upcycled merchandise shirts can be spotted all over campus).
Cat, Ann, and Brian have fostered a close relationship with many students at St. Lawrence who want to volunteer at Bittersweet: always with open arms, endless patience, and bountiful knowledge.
New to Bittersweet Farm is the Weekend Work Share. A work share is like a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) devoid of monetary cost.
For Bittersweet Work Share, two hours of work will earn a share of fresh farm food and products.
A farm share committed to hands-on farming education is a rare opportunity for college students: especially college students interested in sustainability and eating local.
Eating local is so much more than simply eating. It is transparent and communicative; lively and engaging; educative and refreshing. And at Bittersweet, it is more.
Ann Bennett of Bittersweet beautifully summarizes the relationship between small farms and eating local; “Small local farms are not just about growing food, they’re about growing community.
A weekend work-share allows people to be involved in production and then reap the benefits, to see firsthand how much is involved in producing food, with neither the farmer nor the worker having to be burdened by the current capitalistic economy.”
Product labels at the grocery store boast natural or organic, they tell a craftily worded story of the chicken that hatched the eggs and the farmer who raised her, and they scream cage-free: at big chains like Price Chopper, Walmart, and even Whole Foods, these are empty words.
Bittersweet does not need labels or cunning tales: Cat, Ann, and Brian take time out of their endlessly busy days to explain where their soil comes from, where and how their animals are raised, and where crops come from.
I am guilty of engaging with industrial crops; I am a frequent buyer of sweet potatoes from Price Chopper. But, last week, I had the opportunity to help harvest potatoes at Bittersweet.
As I dug around in healthy compost soil, Adirondack Blues continued to pop into my open palms. With striking purple hues, Adirondack Blues look nothing like any potato on supermarket shelves. Blues are beautiful: as beautiful as any potato could be.
To connect with food on such a raw, personal level is eye-opening. Post-harvest, I expressed my amazement to Cat, Ann, and Brian as we chatted over fresh potato salad and vegetables: marking the end of the most enjoyable grocery trip.
Available work times at Bittersweet are on Saturday or Sunday, from 10 a.m. -12 a.m., 11 a.m.-12 a.m., 12 a.m.-1 p.m., 1 p.m. -3 p.m., or 2 p.m. -4 p.m.
To join the Work Share, text 315-528-6344, or email bittersweetfarm.bennett@gmail.com.
Is this the Brian Bennett that played hockey at St. Lawrence with Jacques Martin?