I hope 2012 has gotten off to a good start for you.
We are planning our biggest farm project of the coming season: installing a mile of perimeter fencing to ensure the safety of our animals and the integrity of our 81 acres. Through a contract with the National Resources Conservation Service, we will be reimbursed for the cost of fencing in our fragile wetlands, after we install perimeter fencing.
In the meantime, we are selling off our Dexter cows and steers. Once fencing is completed, we will begin a milk cow herd with a breed, probably Jerseys, more amenable to working with students. (As our students progress through the grades, they move from the chickens to goats and sheep and then to the cows). We have 3 cows remaining to be sold. Plans are being finalized this week for the 2012 Sunfield CSA. With our big hoop green house we will be able to grow more food for more people. If you are interested in joining, please call us at 385-3658. Our farmers are working closely with Dick Schneider of Raincoast Farm to grow the best varieties of tomatoes for this climate in the greenhouse.
An exciting milestone was reached this month when two more children enrolled in our combined 1st & 2nd grade class. This marks the first-ever full classroom in the five years of Sunfield Waldorf School! Because I help monitor my grandson’s blood sugar levels, I’m in and out of this classroom quite a bit and get to experience the joy, the learning, the creativity and the love that permeates the class. It is a joyful class!
To those who responded to our end of year appeal, thank you so much! We have raised $8,090 toward our Capital Campaign and will begin looking for an architect to help with the design of our multi-purpose building, which we hope to have erected by the fall of 2013. We also received undesignated donations that help towards paying for our underfunded programs and projects.In the meantime, the remodel of half our office building into a classroom is near completion. We will likely turn the other half of the office into another classroom to meet the school’s space needs for this coming fall. We are looking for a structure to move onto the school grounds to serve as our office.
Thanks to you, our donors and supporters, for helping make possible what we do at Sunfield—the farm, the school and outreach through our community education programs. Come see us, and let us show you around.
Jake Meyer
Organizational Director