Sprout Creek Farm was founded in 1979 as an agricultural educational facility. We at Big Gay Hudson Valley have been working with our friends at the farm for more than five years to host events like Out On The Farm for the LGBTQ community and our friends. Over the years more than 1,000 of you have gathered at the farm with BGHV and Baby Goat Weekend now gives you the opportunity to better understand life on the farm by spending two days caring for the more than 50 baby goats that are expected to be born the weekend of March 10 + 11, 2018.
Sprout Creek believes that a person cannot practice the art and science of farming without the land and the animals to provide the foundation for his/her livelihood. In turn, the land and the animals cannot be a farm without the farmer. With this in mind, the agricultural aspect of Sprout Creek Farm aims to achieve a balanced partnership between the staff, the land, and the animals in order to provide the nucleus for the organization as a whole.
As stewards of the land, the team at Sprout Creek Farm focuses on:
- Providing a strong foundation for the market, creamery, and educational programs so they may best fulfill their own missions.
- Having a minimal impact on the environment while still making the best use of its resources.
- Providing an atmosphere for experiential farm-based education with the farm as the teacher.
- While striving to achieve these goals, the farm endeavors to balance its dual identity as a sustainable working farm as well as an educational resource.
- By participating in Baby Goat Weekend you are helping to support the farm and its educational mission.
The Animals at Sprout Creek Farm
Farm animals are more than producers of milk and meat. They are teachers and companions, friends and partners in the mission of education to which Sprout Creek aspires on a daily basis. Animal husbandry is the term used to describe the care and maintenance of animals in agriculture. Sprout Creek farmers ensure quality care and maintain a high quality of life standard as part of the husbandry practices for each and every animal. Most animals are named and known, and all are deserving of the utmost respect. As part of Baby Goat Weekend you’ll gain a greater appreciation for every gallon of milk, slice of cheese, and each carton of eggs that you purchase in the future.
The Gardens at Sprout Creek Farm
Gardens are an essential element of every farm and especially important to Sprout Creek’s mission of education. Vegetable gardens at Sprout Creek are tended by our knowledgeable staff and by program participants young and old, using varied methods, but always organically grown from seed sprouted in our modestly sized greenhouse. Surrounding the buildings varied perennials bloom all spring and summer offering another horticultural opportunity for program participants. Vegetables and herbs are harvested by campers, students, and adults enrolled in
programs to be used in culinary classes offered as an integral part of their stay at Sprout Creek Farm.
The Environment
The environment is the envelope in which we live; the truest context for all human, animal, plant activity, it is the center we call home. Sprout Creek Farm highlights both the wild and the domestic as co-operators, partners in the effort to sustain life. Education is essential for us to learn how to be better partners, to learn what it means to care for the environment, to re-learn the language of the planet.
Big Gay Hudson Valley is proud to support the educational mission of Sprout Creek Farm by creating events and experiences that allow each of us to better understand the life cycle of the farm – and the work that is put into ensuring that we are all well-fed.
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