The Cooperative Farm is a big hit with residents-Green Wood Farm

Daufuskie Island residents work together to get home-grown foods By JOSH McCANN jmccann@islandpacket.com 843-706-8145 Published Sunday, June 27, 2010 Comments (0) | Recommend (0)Email Article | Print Article | Feeds | | Search the Archive tool nameclose tool goes here Mouse over the photo to enlarge When you live on an island without a grocery store or a bridge to the mainland, getting necessities such as milk and eggs can be a frustrating chore. Milk is heavy to lug to and from a boat, and eggs often break during the journey. That's one reason many residents of Daufuskie Island's sparsely developed 5,000 acres have collaborated to create a cooperative farm they expect will diminish their need to venture off the island. Since February, aided by more than 100 volunteers from all corners of the sometimes fractious community, organizers have built a goat barn, chicken and turkey coops and established beehives at what they call Green Wood Farm. They also have trucked in a pair of pregnant, North Carolina goats, who have since had three kids, and picked up a pair of turkeys in Georgia and ferried them across the water from nearby Hilton Head Island. In the process, organizers hope they are cultivating a sense of unity among the island's several hundred residents, an emphasis on more sustainable living and optimism the community can thrive despite the ongoing bankruptcy of a major employer, the Daufuskie Island Resort & Breathe Spa. The farm sprang from the mind of Pat Beichler, the silver-haired director of sustainable living for the nonprofit Daufuskie Island Conservancy. "I see this as a springboard for the island," said Beichler, who has lived on Daufuskie for 12 years. Beichler, who grew up on a dirt road in Maryland and is known on Daufuskie as "Ms. Pat," has no cell phone or cable TV and keeps a bottle of teat dip concentrate on her kitchen table, presumably for the goats. She hatched the concept of a community farm after she was inspired by a best-selling book about the food chain, "The Omnivore's Dilemma," and a related documentary. She then secured a low-cost lease on seven acres owned by a member of the recently elected Daufuskie Island Council. She has since held several fundraisers she calls "mystery dinners," in which a cast of attendees she handpicks to ensure diversity follow her for an exotic meal at an unknown location. They're not allowed to discuss unpleasant subjects, such as the resort bankruptcy. Although Beichler remains the driving force behind the farm, many others have pitched in by swinging hammers and supplying muffins and drinks during weekly workdays and rising for 6 a.m. goat-milking sessions. Using wood from the island, organizers are building a fence that will allow the animals to roam, eat ticks and trim brush. Organizers also plan to grow a variety of crops in raised gardens and a greenhouse-like structure where the water in which fish are kept will provide fertilizer. Other possibilities under discussion include erecting a welcome stand and education center, growing hops and conducting classes in subjects such as home brewing and making goat cheese, a task for which a group of Daufuskie women recently attended "school" near Charleston. They're not sure how they will distribute their wares in the future, but for now, whoever milks a goat or retrieves some eggs either keeps or shares the bounty. Officially, donors "own" each goat. Unofficially, "it's the community's goat," said Bill Greenwood, the council member on whose land the farm sits. Several residents have told Greenwood they're excited about the prospect of returning the island, once so heavily farmed that natives said they could see from one side to the other, to its agricultural roots. They also say the farm is tangible proof the community is coming together. "A lot of folks are nodding their heads and saying, 'Yeah, we're starting to feel it,' " he said. Read more: http://www.islandpacket.com/2010/06/27/1289130/daufuskie-island-residents-work.html#ixzz0sQaj4GqW