Esopus Agricultural Center will first encompass 214 acres of agricultural and wooded land located along the Esopus Creek. This unusual parcel is located between the diverse natural riparian habitat and the dense urban environment of Ulster and Kingston. NEFA envisions the Center as both a midscale organic diversified vegetable production resource, and an experiential farm-park on the edge of the city. It will feature native-plant insectary strips abuzz with pollinators, a nonprofit educational center alive with farm-based learning opportunities, and more. An open playing field on-site will continue to welcome public use; some 2 miles of bike and walking farm paths in and around the Center also invite engagement.
(At NEFA’s three New York agricultural centers in Copake, Chester, and Kingston, New York, multidisciplinary approach and mixed methods are being utilized to analyze the social and ecological impacts and benefits that are generated when agriculture, people’s livelihoods, and nature co-exist. The diversified farming and food-processing operations at NEFA’s three distinct sites each comprise four or more farm households with independent but complementary operations. The Centers are different ecologically; in various stages of conversion from conventional to organic agricultural practices; and at different phases of adaptation to mutual association and investor ownership. Read more about NEFA’s overall agroecology efforts.)
