Finding balance

FALLS VILLAGE — Yan Tutschka was a little surprised to have a visitor on a rainy Monday at Chubby Bunny Farm, at Undermountain and Cobble roads.He had spent the morning picking vegetables and was relaxing in front of his seasonal home — a modest RV trailer downfield a ways from the barn.Tutschka is one of four full-time apprentices at Chubby Bunny Farm, a community supported agriculture farm (or CSA) run by Dan and Tracy Hayhurst.It is Tutschka’s third year working on farms, and his first at Chubby Bunny.“I’ve always been involved with environmental issues, I enjoy being outdoors, and trying to make a difference.”He said he is interested in learning more about livestock and grains, and someday “it would be nice to have my own diversified farm.”Dan Hayhurst came by with a pickup truck full of baskets of corn from Bruce Howden’s farm in Sheffield, Mass. “I gave up on corn,” Hayhurst said. “To grow the quantities people want I’d have to use half our fields.”Chubby Bunny has about 270 members, who buy either full or partial shares to receive fresh vegetables, grown by actual people and without a lot of weird stuff sprayed on them.Hayhurst said the recent spell of very hot, dry weather caused a few problems.“Some stuff got scorched.”But the farm’s land varies greatly — from dry, sandy soil to very wet areas.“It all balances out. Plus, we overplant everything.”Tomatoes have been good, but it’s been an excellent year for onions, he said.And he expressed some relief that the bins in the storage area are filling up. “As the crops come in, it settles the mind.”For more information on Chubby Bunny, see www.chubbybunnyfarm.com.

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