Walking & Tasting the Farm

2018 | July 16, 2018

Part of “Tom Day”—our full day with Tom, co-director of Calypso Farm—included a walk through the fields and orchards of the farm. Tom pointed out and introduced the students to the vegetables Calypso grows. The students knew many of them and many (like kohlrabi) were new and novel. We tasted lots of tastes. One of the more surprising experiences was sampling nasturtium flowers (yes, they’re edible!), which taste like a vegetable and then come in with a finishing kick of spiciness.

Tom also taught students about their approach to farming, a small-scale, high diversity, high yield approach that contrasts from industrial farming both in productivity per square foot and resiliency against pests, diseases, and environmental factors.

In all, an educational, tasty, and (as always) inspiring experience.

It’s Monday morning and we’re about to head out to the Mt. Healy Overlook Trail with guides from the Denali Outdoor Education Center. Here are some photos from our farm walk. Enjoy!

— Anna & Kevin

Walking the lower field.
Discussing farming methods and squash.
Tom caught us photographing.
Taste test.
Interest level is directly proportional to tightness of circle around Tom 🙂
Fireweed, which Tom explains can be used to tell when winter is coming (when the flowers catch up with the tippy-top).
Fireweed!
It’s pretty AND useful.
Tom teaches us about apple varieties and gives an introduction to grafting.