One of the first and most frequent things we heard when we started talking to farmers a few years ago was, “You gotta get connected with Pasa.”
Our farming journey requires a lot of learning. Learning what Pasa offers wasn’t at the top of the list but, it turns out, maybe it should have been.
Pasa is a Pennsylvania nonprofit that supports sustainable farms and equitable food systems through farmer-driven education, research, and community.
We had gardened for years, so we dove into plants and regenerating the land instead of something that might have set us up for more success like funding and building deer protection.
In retrospect, acquiring a knowledge base first would have delayed action, but we would have done some things differently.
We are slowly learning about all of the resources and programs Pasa offers to a community of aspiring, beginning and seasoned farmers. We fit in there somewhere.
So it was that we registered to attend Pasa’s Sustainable Agriculture Conference, held February 10–12 in Lancaster, PA. We were excited to peruse the sessions offered during the conference and even more stoked to learn one of our favorite Instagrammers would be a keynote speaker… more on all of that in February!
Our interest in Pasa was from the perspective of Sans Souci, an establishing permaculture experiment transforming six acres of open farmland in Chester County.
But that interest dovetailed with my day job recently when we attended a sponsor event for Good Food Fest, the incredible one-day farmers market at Kimberton Fairgrounds this Sunday, November 1. At that event, we met a lot of quality contacts, including a Pasa team member. Because my company, Virtual Farm Creative, sponsored Good Food Fest, Pasa reached out to see if we’d sponsor the annual conference.
Now, VFC is not targeting AG clients. We sponsored Good Food Fest because several thousand people attend, so we passed on the Pasa sponsorship. But we made some connections and tonight were invited to a gathering of like-minded folks.
The Pasa Pot Luck, as it is called, was held at Frecon Farms in the U-Pick orchard. Although attendees brought delicious homemade dishes, Frecon’s cider, pies and bowls full of fresh-picked apples would have made the event worth attending all by themselves.
But then we met so many great people: a journalist (Dan) from Lancaster County Farm Journal, a medicinal plant gardener (Stacy), a Farm Credit rep (Dan), a Burpee Seed sales rep, the owner of Hill Creek Farm (Dorene), a Kimberton Whole Foods sales rep, the owners of Root Mass Farm, and Steve Frecon, co-owner and operator of Frecon Farms, among many others.
We’ve learned that, in the farming game, you can consult books and YouTube, but nothing beats information imparted directly by people who have put their 10,000 hours in.
After eating, Steve offered to drive the group through the orchard in a glowed-up hay wagon pulled by one of many New Holland tractors on the property.
It was a perfect October evening, with the sun slowly setting and foliage turning. The ride through three hilly orchards packed with apple, peach, blueberry and cherry trees was unexpectedly impressive. The 117-acre property outside of Boyertown, PA, was a dream farm.
When the ride ended, we listened to Steve talk about the soil, the weather and proprietary varieties for several minutes and immediately understood why Frecon is such an impressive operation.
On the way home, we both agreed we’d attend a talk given by Steve Frecon on fruit farming. If the speakers and session leaders at Pasa’s February conference are half as compelling, we are in for a flood of information.
Thank you to Eric Klein from Pasa for organizing and inviting us. We can’t wait to keep getting more involved.
Stay curious.
