Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/738189
The "State of Our Farm" In early 2014, I wrote an ar cle for Abby's magazine describing my love affair with growing my own organic food in my yard for the past 30+ years. The ar cle got Victor Karydis and Abby Sayler's a en on, because she had been contempla ng an educa onal pla orm for expanding her health mission to include growing your own organic food and achieving a healthier sustainable lifestyle. In late spring that year, we had a lovely dinner together where she shared her vision of that enterprise and ask if I would be interested in carrying out the mission. In November of 2014 we purchased our farm, cleared, trimmed and improved the land, renovated the farmhouse, and cast our vision for what was to become Abby's Organic Community Farm, Inc. That plan was very comprehensive and extremely ambi ous for something that was not being done here locally... and certainly not in our size and scope. It would include: an educa on area; greenhouse; raised beds; hydroponics; tower gardens; permaculture; fruit trees; herb/medicinal plants and trees; intern housing; beau fica on, recrea on/play areas; tradi onal row farming; and blueberry farm...and that would all be accomplished through volunteers that shared our vision. We incorporated in the spring of 2015 and engaged The Founda on Group to assist us with applying for our non-profit status and achieving a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt designa on. We received our approval from the IRS in March of this year. Having said all of that, the progress and milestones that have been reached so far are... We reach out by email to roughly 1600+ people monthly that have asked for informa on and want to stay apprised of our ac vity and progress. Of those, we have close to 100 that have filled out a Volunteer Applica on, with roughly 25% volunteering at the farm on a regular basis. Those volunteers have accounted for roughly 780 hours of volunteering since our first volunteers (4) met in August of 2015. The most recent data showed we had about 4,000 visitors to our website (abbysfarm.org) monthly and we rou nely have between 500- 1,000 people reached by anything we post on Our Facebook page. We have conducted 10 workshops serving 150- 200 people, educa ng them about the various methods and best prac ces for growing their own food. The "State of Our Farm" Abby's Magazine - Volume 4 Issue 5| Page 25