You may recall that we have been awarded a high tunnel grant for our farm. In addition, we were accepted into the high tunnel mentorship program through NOFAMass as mentees. Our mentors are Danny and Divya from Laughing Dog Farm, which is located on the former Renaissance Commune, about which I knew almost nothing. I thought I had heard of it, but wasn’t sure, and then I thought, “No, that commune was surely in California or something.”. It wasn’t. It was right here in Massachusetts. There seems to be a documentary film floating around out there about the commune. We’ll have to hunt around for a copy to watch one night.
Danny and Divya were wonderful warm hosts and Danny is an enthusiastic and generous instructor. He answered all of our questions and more about the construction, maintenance, and operation of our high tunnel – steered us clear of some things that may turn out to be more trouble than they’re worth and emphasized the importance of a key feature that we were on the fence about, namely the inflated double layer cover.
By the time we left, I had a handful of seeds that he had saved as well as a container of their farmstead chevre that I am guarding jealously until a time that we can sit together and enjoy it properly. And we talked about having them come to visit our farm sometime soon.
I’m sure someone at NOFA thought it was a fun co-incidence that both our farm and Laughing Dog Farm have a connection with Renaissance. We’re glad they did and that we were put together. It was worth the long wait for that first meeting and I hope that it will be the first for many for years to come.
Here is a video of quad kids that they welcomed to the farm several years ago, and another that chronicles the building of their second hoophouse.
