Has anyone taken a walk up to the farm recently? Yes, it’s cold and covered in snow, but this is one of our favorite times to visit the community growing space. The blank canvas of a frozen garden gives you time to reflect on all the work put into the Athens Community Farm project over the last 5 years – and all the food we’ve shared out! Peek under the (currently 2 foot?) bed of snow and you’ll find 30 beds waiting to be filled with u-pick vegetables, irrigation lines put in by our volunteers that probably should have been removed but we’re crossing our fingers on, spare tools scattered around from our monthly work days, bee hives quietly waiting on a first thaw, and so much more. Yes, probably even a few pathway weeds hanging on through the winter.
When you have a chance, stroll past (the DPW does a great a job of plowing out the road) and think about what you’ve enjoyed at the farm over the past five seasons, and what you hope to do this year. Whether it’s new crops to try out, new organizations to partner with, or new ways to provide fresh, local produce to our community, we’re excited to kick off a new year at the farm. Our first planning meeting for 2026 is scheduled for Tuesday, February 24 5:30-7 PM at Night School. See you there!
2025 Highlights
We know that the impact of community organizations can never be truly distilled into hard numbers, but let’s take a look at what we all accomplished this last year:
24 weeks of no-cost produce to food pantries
4,300 1/2 gallons of milk shared
$20,300 purchased from local farmers
210 days of active growing at the farm
45 varieties of vegetables, herbs + fruit
540 square feet of garden beds prepared
20 partner organizations engaged in Greene Co.
9 community work days + 2 seasonal fundraisers
1 new bee hive added to our fruit and veg garden
Year 6: Reinforcing for the future
With uncertainty around resources for public programs in our community, we’d like to focus our sixth season on ensuring that the farm is strong, stable, and ready to provide support for those that need it. Here is a sneak peak into the current plans for the next season:
- Refreshing the farm: Okay we didn’t exactly put in the new door last year, so let’s get it on the list for this season, in addition to reinforcing our growing beds, putting up new signage, and building better pathways. Oh and our website will get a little update as well, it needs it.
- More productive distribution of free produce: We built this farm so that Athens had a 24/7 free resource for fresh veggies, let’s focus on building productivity at our farm + efficiently growing or our weekly food pantry delivery program, Community Shares.
- Strengthening our community relationships: We lost track of EJA elementary last season and we really missed our third graders farmers planting garlic, let’s get them back. Did you know there’s a new Greene Co Food Security Coalition and that local orgs like Columbia County Sanctuary Movement are expanding their food programs? Let’s do more to support them!
Can’t wait to get started this season? Join our first planning meeting on Tuesday, February 22 from 5:30-7 PM at Night School – pizza on us!
Athens Community Farm 