The Fairy Tale of Nimble Roots Farm
My daughter Cecilia and her husband Gabe are the non-farming partners of Christine and Fabio of Nimble Roots Farm in Catskill, NY. They call themselves “general fans of these two incredible humans” and have rented several acres of land to the young farmers for several years for the whopping amount of $1 a month. I once questioned why they didn’t charge a “more reasonable amount” and they chuckled at my ignorance and lack of imagination. Gabe and Cecilia had come up with an arrangement that not only benefitted them more than I ever imagined, enabled a young couple to live their dream of sustainable farming, and provided fresh Certified Naturally Grown produce to their community, but was the fertile soil for community building and collaboration. They wanted to show the world how choosing to share their gifts with others who had different talents but the same vision of a thriving and caring community that nurtured and protected each other could bring that notion to life. The four of them have been preaching by example. Their concept has taken root!
For more information on Fabio and Christine click the button below.
Fabio and Christine tell their story on their website. “…in pursuit of land to lease in our native Capital Region, we posted our profile on what is essentially a dating service for land-owners and land-seekers. With this resource, we connected with our incredible partners, Cecilia Aldarondo + Gabriel Krystal. In 2019 we broke ground on their land outside of Saratoga Springs, NY selling veggies and some flowers at three small farmers markets. That first season, the four of us built such a solid and reciprocal relationship, that when Cecilia + Gabe decided to relocate to the Hudson Valley, they asked if we would join them. So in 2020, mid-pandemic, our newly formed collective moved to our forever-farm in Catskill.”
Christine and Fabio further explain the concept of community supported agriculture (CSA).
“The CSA model is a system by which community members become shareholders in the farm that grows their food and share in the risks and rewards that the season brings. This reciprocal relationship provides the farmers with essential capital, when there is little coming out of the ground, to purchase the farm’s seasonal needs (think: equipment, seeds, soil, harvest/wash/distribution supplies, etc) AND the member with weekly, nutrient-dense and freshly-harvested produce. Member investment in the farm means the farmers (hi!) are paid a fair and living wage for growing your food and dollars are re-invested into the true, local community over and over - the farmer heads into town to get a drink, the brewer needs an oil change, the mechanic gets a coffee, the barista needs a haircut, and on and on.”
This fairy tale of a project was chugging along mightily until a few days ago when Christine and Fabio’s home was broken into by a man who set multiple fires, stole some cash, and took off in the ATV they use daily in their farming work. Immediately Cecilia went on GoFundMe to recover their $6,000 loss.
“If it sounds wild,” reads the GoFundMe page, “it's because it is. Completely unexpected and really hard to swallow that these two kind humans would have their lives invaded out of the blue.
“While the guy was caught a few days ago, Christine and Fabio have been through a really tough week. There was a ton of smoke damage inside their place, their kitties had to go to the vet for smoke inhalation, and they've lost crucial farm income because they've had to focus on completely cleaning out their place and putting everything back together.
“The thing about farmers is that they spend most of their time sustaining others. And we want to let them know their community sees them.
“So they don't have to, we are fundraising a few bucks so that Nimble Roots can get some peace of mind.”
What is really wild is that in twenty-four hours Cecilia and Gabe raised over $11,000 and even more after that! And what is really REALLY wild is that Christine and Fabio immediately responded by gratefully acknowledging the generosity of the community (well, that’s not that surprising if you know these big-hearted farmers) and announced they wanted to respond in kind.
Their response to receiving amazing generosity was what rattled my core.
“While our emergency is unusual,” their response on GoFundMe states, “the unfortunate reality is that small farmers live dangerously close to crisis most of the time. No farmer should have to experience the upheaval and anxiety we’ve had to weather this month. And so we’d love to help prevent this kind of emergency in the future for our fellow farmers… We would like to donate 30% of your donations to start a Farmer Relief Fund for our newly formed network of Greene County farmers, “Gang Greene” -- so that any farmer who experiences hardship can feel the community generosity we do… These donations have made us whole again and are significant investments in the future of agriculture in Greene County. We feel so seen and so loved. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
“xoxo -christine + fabio”
If you would like to support Christine and Fabio and their Farmer Relief Fund for their newly formed network of Greene County farmers, click the button below.
Whatever your contribution is, you can make all the difference to their community.
And that’s why I had to share this story with you!
#farming #generosity #communitysupport #farmers #communitybuilding #partnership #inspiration #CertifiedNaturallyGrown
