Trailside Organic Farm 2023 Year-in-Review, January 2024

Goals reached during 2023 included hiring a seasonal farm manager, expanded the growing capacity to two acres (which increased the quantity and offerings of items harvested), the completion of the barn and ribbon cutting ceremony, incorporated irrigation lines, constructed a second hoop house, ongoing building of a healthy soil structure and continued to offer workshops, farm tours and Friday Farm Markets. One of the biggest goals achieved during 2023 was receiving USDA organic certification! The numbers below are accurate as of article submission on December 11, 2023, but some may have slightly increased by end-of-year.

• 1.4 – Approximate acreage of the farm site put into production (Note: not including lanes and grass buffers).
• 9,100 – Total weight, in pounds, of fruits, vegetables and herbs distributed from the Trailside Organic Farm.
• 1,780 – Total pounds of produce and herbs sold at the market.
• 5,250 – Total pounds of produce and herbs Dining Services received from Trailside Organic Farm.
• 2,070 – Total pounds of produce donated to the Chestnut Street Community Center in Lebanon over 19 weeks.
• 30 – The number of Farmers Markets held this year. Markets began on May 12 and ended on December 1.
• 408 – The number of flower bouquets made at and distributed from Trailside Organic Farm.
• 12,967 – Total stems of flowers harvested from 0.12 acres.
• 1,900 – Pounds of sweet potatoes harvested from 0.09 acres. In terms of total pounds, sweet potatoes were our number one crop this year.
• 1,674 – Pounds of summer squash harvested, our number two crop this year in terms of total pounds.
• 3x – …more lettuce grown in 2023 over our first season in 2022.
• 22 and counting – The number of residents signed up to volunteer their time with Trailside Organic Farm. These residents help us with a wide range of tasks including planting, processing produce and running the Trailside Farm Market.
• 98.5 – Total resident volunteer hours contributed to the Trailside Farm.
• 40 – Resident volunteer sessions offered
• 12 – Educational sessions, including farm tours, held for residents.
• 10 – The number of LED grow lights that started our seeds for transplants and made the 2023 season possible.