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When David and Peggy Fogarty-Harnish moved to their farm nine years ago, David continued his family's 10-generation legacy of Mennonite farming in Lancaster County.
But on Oct. 11, the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, much of the work at Scarecrow Hill Community Farm, 76 E. Mohler Church Road, Ephrata, was taken over by extra sets of helping hands.
Members of Congregation Kol Ami in Elkins Park, a suburb north of Philadelphia, spent the day at the farm to get down in the dirt and discover the origins of their food.
"Sukkot is the harvest festival, so part of that in modern times is for us to connect to our roots," said Mark Kaplan, who helped organize the trip.
A weeklong festival beginning five days after Yom Kippur, Sukkot commemorates 40 years of wandering in the desert for the children of Israel. The name of the holiday comes from the Hebrew term for the temporary huts the Jewish people built in the fields, which many continue to construct to mark the holiday.
Although she's no expert on Judaism or Jewish holidays, Peggy Fogarty-Harnish couldn't help but notice a parallel to her own Mennonite faith.
"I discovered what (Kol Ami was) doing as a community — that they were going back to their religious roots and putting that into action," she said. "It's very faith-based work that the Amish and Mennonites are involved with, so I just thought that was such a fascinating and inspiring connection between those two communities."
The recent visit to the farm was the congregation's first work experience there, but the members have been connected to Scarecrow Hill Community Farm through a community-supported agriculture program at their synagogue.
In the CSA, managed by Lancaster Farm Fresh, families prepay farmers for shares of their seasonal crops and, in return, receive weekly shipments of the freshest produce.In addition to promoting increased farmer-to-buyer interactions, CSA programs allow both parties to share in the risks and rewards of a growing season.
When the Fogarty-Harnishes started their farm, they initiated an independent CSA. However, now, as a member of the 30-farm Lancaster Farm Fresh cooperative, they are able to produce fewer and more specific crops to contribute to the program.
Farm Fresh currently serves the Lancaster and Philadelphia metro areas, delivering batches directly to groups such as Congregation Kol Ami.
"Before, we used to raise about 50 different crops," said Peggy Fogarty-Harnish. "Now, we're more streamlined in just raising the things that we really do well at. With so many other farmers, there's a pretty big variety of crops."
On Oct. 11, approximately 20 CSA members, including participants from Lancaster's Temple Beth-El, hit the fields and greenhouse to harvest heads of lettuce and cherry tomatoes. After working up hearty appetites, they ended the day with a potluck dinner.
Many attendees saw it as an educational experience and a way to become more involved with the CSA program and local agriculture in general.
"It's been great," said Beverly Rubin, of Lancaster. "I've never had so many fresh vegetables."
Prior to her engagement with Temple Beth-El's CSA, Rubin said, she bought organic when she could, but not regularly.
(203) (173) (72) (44) (16) (13) (6) (4) (3) (2)Rubin's friend, Jill Watts of Lancaster, also joined the program. Although she's not Jewish, Watts said she simply enjoys the benefits of eating organically and supporting local farms.
"I choose not to eat pesticides," she said. "I think we all need to go back to nature."
With CSA programs sprouting nationwide, some temple-based branches are part of a larger national movement in the Jewish community called Tuv Ha'Aret, meaning "good for the land" and "good from the land."
Peggy said increasing program interest from the Philadelphia area is largely attributable to Robin Rifkin, an official with the Health Promotion Council who works with Kol Ami's CSA and advocates for organic goods.
For the Fogarty-Harnishes, growing organic has become a mission they wish to spread with customers as well as their own family.
"I always had a green thumb, but I think when our son came along, we wanted to feed our family clean food," David said.
For more information on Scarecrow Hill Community Farm, visit www.scarecrowhill.com. For more information on the Lancaster Farm Fresh cooperative and CSA, visit www.lancasterfarmfresh.com.
