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April 22, 2016
A note from Scott . . .
The Encyclical Letter published by Pope Francis in 2015, "Laudato Si," On Care for our Common Home, begins with a blessing by another Francis: "Praise be to you, my lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs."
 As we pass the middle of this Spring month and enjoy a welcome string of warm days, flowers of multiple colors begin to surround us here at Quail Hill. Daffodils and narcissi on the edges of woods, cherry blossoms in white and pink on the hill, dandelions bright against the greening grasses, and herbs putting out leaves: sage, oregano, thyme, and nettles in our valley.
 I was fortunate to be invited to take part in a celebration of the Pope's quite beautiful Encyclical, earlier this Spring, in the Great Hall of Cooper Union. I read a poem imagining our fields: "/Against the dry hedge/of wild berry vines and bittersweet/the cerulean flash of a bluebird..." and I read from the Pope's letter: "There is a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, a mountain trail, in a dewdrop..." and from the spiritual writer, Ali al-Khawas, whom he quotes: "There is a subtle mystery in each of the movements and sounds of this world. The initiate will capture what is being said when the wind blows, the trees
 sway, water flows, flies buzz, doors creak, birds sing..."
At Quail Hill this Spring we are listening, as always I hope, to what is being said, and to the subtle mysteries, as we select and seed and plant and work to enrich the soil.
Layton is back, in her fourth year as Farm Manager, and we are rejoined this year by Nick Berini who apprenticed here during the 2014 season. In the 2015 farming year Nick was off at "school," learning through the sustainable farming course at the Center for Agroecology at Santa Cruz, California. Happily for us he has returned, as Assistant Farm Manager, and he brings with him 3 fieldmates from the Santa Cruz program: Sarah Bush, Matthew Gregory, and Katrina Siladi. Anthony Cinicolo joins us via Italy (and an apprenticeship last season in Vermont), Brendan McMullen, also a 2014 apprentice, is back as well, as is our traveling photographer, Greg Kessler. We have a fine, experienced team this year, and the farm is truly humming with Spring energy.
 Your Share in our community farm supports our farmer training, always central to our mission; as we labor in the fields we also nurture present and future stewards who will care for our common home. In the past week they have planted Red Gold, Papa Cacho, Purple Majesty, Maris Piper, and assorted other potato varieties in our warming soil. Peas are in, fava beans, the first spinach, arugula, and radish, and the greenhouses are full of seedlings. As the hours of sun grow longer and the soil warms soon the fields will be full of those same seedlings (growing to bear fruit). 
 Farming is often an intense occupation, so much dependent upon the weather. Though I often look for the time and find the time to listen or remember, not only to the language of the field, but to those who reflect on how we may care for our inheritance. From "Laudato Si;" "We have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor." As community farmers working to improve the good soil of Amagansett we are also able to hear in the movements and sounds of the earth the joy of it, and I echo a phrase from the Pope's letter: " Nothing in this world is indifferent to us."
Cheers!
SAVE THE DATES . . .
Saturday, April 23 at 11:00 am
Scott will be reading from his book, Seedtime: On the History, Husbandry, Politics and Promise of Seeds at a special "Seed" program in celebration of Earth Day at the Amagansett Farmers Market, hosted by the Amagansett Food Institute.
Also on Saturday, April 23: Join Scott again at
5:00 pm at Canio's Books in Sag Harbor, where he will be joined by fellow poet (and Quail Hill Farm member) Kevin Coffey for a reading and discussion on the influence of William Butler Yeats' poem "Easter 1916."

Saturday, May 21 at 10:00 am:
Stewardship Day at the Farm -- join us as we transplant the seedlings from the greenhouse into the fields at the farm. Help us get this year's vegetables and herb crops into the soil!
Saturday, June 4th: Our first Summer Harvest Day!
Have You Joined for 2016?
Quail Hill Farm summer shares are available now.
We hope that you will join us as we celebrate our 27th season at the farm. One of the original CSAs in the country, Quail Hill Farm shares are a unique experience, where farm members share in the harvesting of the bounty from the fields. Over 500 varieties of vegetables, herbs, fruits & flowers are raised on 35 acres of farmland, donated to the Peconic Land Trust by Deborah Ann Light.
We look forward to seeing you in the fields of
Quail Hill Farm this summer.
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Producing over 500 varieties of organically grown vegetables, flowers, fruit and herbs,
QUAIL HILL FARM is located on 220 acres of land donated by Deborah Ann Light to
the Peconic Land Trust. Quail Hill Farm is located on Deep Lane in Amagansett, NY,
Summer harvest days are Saturday and Tuesday from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm.
Winter harvest days are every other Friday and Saturday, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Also, keep up on farm news,

Quail Hill Farm is a stewardship project of the Peconic Land Trust.
For information concerning Quail Hill Farm, please contact Robin Harris at 631-283-3195
The Peconic Land Trust conserves Long Island's working farms, natural lands,
and heritage for our communities, now and in the future.
Financial Disclosure Statement: A copy of the last financial report filed with the New York State Attorney General may be obtained in writing to: New York State Attorney General's Charities Bureau, Attn: FOIL Officer, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271 or Peconic Land Trust, PO Box 1776, Southampton, NY 11969.
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