There's going to be an evening of poetry and music to celebrate the vernal equinox—and with it, the return of farmers carting their green wares to the city, at Manhattan's groovy a Gershwin Hotel, Saturday, March 22nd, 8-12 pm. Proceeds will benefit Nesenkeag Farm and the New Farmer Development Project in New York.. Suggested donation at the door is $10.
The line-up includes David Abel, Bare Hand Wolf Chokers Association (pictured above), Lee Ann Brown, Scott Chaskey, Brenda Coultas, Jason Eisenberg, Russ Gershon, Grant Hart, Nicole Peyrafitte, Janine Pommy Vega, Eero Ruuttila, Sparrow, Steven Taylor, Laki Vazakas, and George Wallace.
Regional farmers from NOFA -NY will donate organic produce so that caterer Peggy Wallace has plenty of good stuff to work with in providing snacks to the audience.
Nesenkeag Cooperative Farm, located on the Merrimack River in Litchfield, New Hampshire, has established itself as a model of cutting-edge organic agriculture and community outreach. Marketing its high-value specialty crops directly to top chefs in Boston and Southern New Hampshire, Nesenkeag Farm donates more than $10,000 of food to the New Hampshire Food Bank each year, with the support of Share Our Strength. The farm has a strong relationship with the large Cambodian immigrant population in and around Lowell, Massachusetts, employing farm staff from this community and participating in market-garden projects involving the Coalition for a Better Acre, the New Immigrant Farmer Project and the United Teen Equality Center.
Farm Manager Eero Ruuttila has won recognition for pioneering bio-intensive sustainable methods and is a well-known speaker at organic farming conferences throughout the Northeast region. He is a poet and photographer, as well. "I have been inspired to find common ground with practitioners of alternative agriculture as well as those of the alternative arts," he says. This inspiration is evident every fall at the Annual Nesenkeag Farm Day, where visitors tour the fields, sample Cambodian cooking, and then gather to listen to featured poets and musicians. Even without tractors or bonfires in the background, this Nesenkeag Farm benefit cabaret will produce the same kind of green alchemy that results when artistic inspiration mixes with activist consciousness.
Any questions can be addressed to Lorna Smedman or Kim Lyons.
