Philipstown’s ‘Big Dig:' Farm Program Shares the Fruits of its Labor
Area food pantries, soup kitchens, and other organizations fighting food insecurity once again got a boost from the Sweet Potato Dig – a collaboration between the Town of Philipstown, and Stacey Farley and Davoren Farm, along with many volunteers and community members.
On a parcel of land belonging to the town, at Route 403 in Garrison (across from the Desmond-Fish Public Library), sweet potatoes were grown over the summer for local food banks.
The model farm serves as an experiment, with advocates aiming to reduce food insecurity in the Hudson Valley by growing more food locally, distributing it more efficiently, and wasting less.
The event is coordinated by Farley and members of the Putnam County community.
In June 2025, organizers plowed up the field, put in irrigation, prepared the rows for planting, and with the help of more than 50 volunteers, planted 12,000 sweet potato “slips” and a giant patch of butternut squash. In October, with the help of more than 180 volunteers, over 25,000 pounds of sweet potatoes and butternut squash were harvested – which went directly to food pantries, food banks, soup kitchens, a veterans program, and a school.
On Oct. 10, more than 240 people – including many kids – harvested more than 22,750 pounds of sweet potatoes butternut squash from the field.
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