Pitney Meadows Community Farm Announces Temporary Limited Access

Dear Supporters and Friends,

These are indeed extraordinary times, but our roots go deep at Pitney Meadows. Our community will get through this.  And in the coming weeks, standing on the shoulders of all the volunteers whose hard work has brought our farm so far, we will do our best to step forward to contribute to the community response to the COVID-19 health crisis.

Our mission to provide healthy food for our community has never been more critical.  As a result, we are increasing our planned acreage under production to allow us to increase our support for local food pantries while continuing to offer fresh produce to our customers.

While we focus on growing more, we need to simultaneously strive to observe the strictest food safety practices – a goal that requires the cooperation of our visitors and volunteers.  Moreover, we must comply with the social distancing restrictions called for by our government leaders.  To that end, we must, regrettably, limit access to the farm and impose new restrictions on visitors.

As of Saturday, March 21st, we respectfully request that visitors comply with the following:  

• Do not come to the farm if you are sick.
• Do not enter the farm fields.
• Do not enter the farm buildings.  We cannot consistently sanitize these areas, and further, the high tunnel is being used for growing.
• We strongly urge all gardeners to wear a mask while in the gardens.
• Use your restroom at home. Our restrooms are can no longer be available to the public because we cannot ensure they are completely sanitary and virus-free.
• Community gardeners will need to work on a staggered schedule which will be announced shortly, which will ensure no more than 10 gardeners are in the Community Garden at one time.
• Community gardeners should bring your own tools and wear gloves at all times.
• Do not touch the produce in the Community Garden plots or touch any other plot than your own.
• Do not bring your pets into the Community Garden.
• Do not bring children to the Community Garden, and please do not allow children to congregate on the farm.

Community Compost

At this time, we will not be opening our Community Compost in partnership with Sustainable Saratoga. With our farm fields temporarily limited to farm staff only, we are unable to welcome community members to drop off their compost. Stay tuned for information from our two organizations on how to compost at home though!

It is with sadness that Pitney Meadows Community Farm has decided to limit public access at this time. We recognize that this is a loss for many who love being at the farm, and we will continue to review and revise these guidelines to reflect changing conditions.

-       The Board & Staff of Pitney Meadows Community Farm