On October 25, Cultivating Community, a Portland-based nonprofit focused on food justice, hosted a free, family-friendly event dubbed the “Great Garlic Gathering,” at Hurricane Valley Farm in Falmouth. The event brought together families, farmers, and members of different communities for a day dedicated to the cultivation of garlic. In addition to garlic planting, the program included live music, food trucks, children’s activities, and farm tours.
According to Silvan Shawe, executive director of Cultivating Community, “The Great Garlic Gathering was the first annual garlic planting and was a great success. … We planted almost 5,000 cloves of garlic, which will grow into a harvest that will be shared with community farmers growing at Hurricane Valley Farm and sold to help support keeping the farm open.”
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Shawe explained the genesis of the gathering: “We are here because several farmers asked us to learn how to plant garlic … garlic is used across cultures, grows well in Maine, and is also expensive to buy. … It has been one of the crops that farmers have wanted to grow the most.”
The festival was conceived as a way to get a lot of garlic planted at once – and as a way to build community. “By opening up this new field and bringing in the community to help with the planting, we wanted to share the joy and work of growing food together. The garlic scapes will be harvested in the spring, and bulbs will be harvested, dried, and distributed in the summer,” Shawe said.
The 62-acre Hurricane Valley Farm hosts over 50 community gardeners on 3,000 square-foot plots. The farm is one of two supported by Cultivating Community’s Community Farms Program. All told, according to Shawe, “the two farms grow 42,000 seedlings of mostly African crops, such as moroho, amaranth, and more, for approximately 50 families from immigrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking backgrounds.”
Founded in 2001, Cultivating Community’s programs prioritize those with limited resources, including immigrants. And Shawe noted that although resources are more limited than ever these days, she is hopeful that the programs will continue.
“With cuts to SNAP and state and federal funding that have supported our programs, we are working very hard to keep the farms open and safe, and also continue to support immigrant farmers in our programs, growing their independent businesses and providing delicious, fresh, and chemical-free food to the community,” she said.
There is a waitlist to join Cultivating Community’s program at Hurricane Valley Farm. Any interested farmers can email [email protected] or send a WhatsApp message to (207) 233-7014.
