Community Corner

Ledyard Alum Returns To Plant Roots

A 24-year-old farmer joins ranks in old-school farming community.

 

If the seventies was a time when people went “back to the land,” to farm and regain a connection to the natural world, then, if Allyson Angelini has her way, the summer of 2012 will be when people “go back to the family table” and re-connect with loved ones over farm fresh ingredients.

After seven years of being away, the 2005 alum has returned home to her roots to plant some of her own at on Iron Street.  She moved onto the farm May 1 and has been working around the clock to put get the ground ready for the season.

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“I couldn’t ask for a better spot,” she said of 6-acre lot. “It needs a little work but I have such an amazing vision for this place.”

Angelini said people get that farm-fresh food is better for their health, the environment and the local economy. She’s introducing a “full plate member share” program, which she hopes will encourage family dinners and help people find ways to incorporate farm-fresh food into their regular eating habits.

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“Once you buy a share of a farm it becomes such a big part of your life,” she said. “And once you taste the local difference, you don’t go back.”

Buying a farm share will help people really enjoy the season’s bounty, according to Angelini, who said one of the best things about farming is how time is marked by the vegetables that are coming out of the ground.

“We’ve been here 10 days and we missed asparagus season,” she said. “If I ate pasta every day, I’d lose track of time.”

What is a Full Plate Member Share program?

The member share program is a type of community supported agriculture program where clients make a deposit and have first dibs on farm-grown products. The full-plate aspect of Angelini’s vision refers to her goal to provide ingredients for a family to cook and eat one or two full meals a week.

She’s coming off a stint at the Jones Family Farm in Shelton, where she led cooking classes that incorporated farm grown ingredients. She said the full plate member share program helps people transition the farm fresh concept into their own kitchens.

“It’s a grocery bag with meal suggestions for how to use the ingredients as an entire meal.”

The program includes $25 a week of farm products with the hopes that families sit down for at least one meal a week together or find ways to incorporate farm-fresh foods into their regular eating habits.

Can you give me an idea of a typical meal that your farm will grow?

A Full Heart grocery bags will contain a selection of the more than 50 varieties of vegetables, herbs and eggs that will be grown on the farm this season. Chicken or pork meat will be included every other week.

An average grocery bag may include one pound of pork sausage, eggs, potatoes, squash and herbs, for instance.

“We love breakfast here,” she said of the house she shares with her fiancé. “You could have fall vegetable hash with eggs, veggies and sausage with pasta for a dinner, and egg salad for lunch."

Angelini said having everything up and running will be a milestone but what she’s really looking forward to is being able to bring her farm’s mission into her own kitchen.

“The first Full Heart meal with family and to have a meal we grew entirely by ourselves,” is what she’s looking forward to.

People interested in signing up for a farm share can visit the Full Heart Farm website or sign up at the Ledyard Farmers’ Market, which begins June 6.


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