D&R Greenway Land Trust Presents The Effective Use of Hand Tools in Gardening and Land Stewardship,
Sunday, June 22, 2025, 2 pm at St. Michael’s Farm Preserve, Hopewell, NJ
D&R Greenway Land Trust and farmer and workshop leader Rob Flory invite you to learn about The Effective Use of Hand Tools in Gardening and Land Stewardship on Sunday, June 22, 2025, 2 pm at St. Michael’s Farm Preserve, Hopewell, NJ. Reservations are necessary and can be made at www.drgreenway.org. Detailed directions and parking information will be sent to registrants prior to the event. A donation of $10 per person contributes to the care of the land by D&R Greenway Land Trust.
Learn how you can become a sustainable and effective gardener by using hand tools. This workshop will cover the basic tools of agriculture, and some specialized adaptations like the wheel hoe(hoe) and scythe(knife) to make your gardening work more efficient. Their use in cutting vegetation of different kinds, tillage, planting, and cultivating will be demonstrated with hands-on opportunities as field conditions allow.
Farmer and workshop leader Rob Flory has been practicing agriculture for 40 years with tools ranging from pre-contact Indigenous tools made of wood, stone and bone, village and industrial-level animal-drawn tools, to use of tractors and adaptations of basic tools to animal and tractor power. He applies human and tractor-powered tools of many types in his work at the Native Seed-Sharing Garden at D&R Greenway’s St. Michaels Farm Preserve. A few other methods will be demonstrated, like solarization and occultation, and fire will be discussed but not practiced, especially Indigenous uses of fire. This workshop is appropriate for gardeners, farmers and land stewards.
Rob Flory formerly worked as a farmer and internship coordinator at Mercer County’s Howell Living History Farm. He partners with D&R Greenway Land Trust to provide educational programs on agriculture and crops. At St. Michaels Farm Preserve, he is growing native corn from indigenous seed to share with the Lenape people, and he is growing crops for donation to Aunt Chubby’s Project and the Stoutsburg-Sourland African American Museum.
About St. Michaels Farm Preserve: Now over 400 acres, the St. Michaels property, which was preserved in 2010 and expanded in 2017, is an expanse of farm fields and forests on the edge of Hopewell Borough.
Started as a Victory Garden in 2020, the community garden at St. Michaels Farm Preserve has grown to 48 plots and provides a beautiful setting for community members to grow healthy and nutritious food.
Join Rob Flory for the presentation and weather permitting, enjoy a walk through the beautiful St. Michaels Farm Preserve to hear the songs of tree swallows, field sparrows, song sparrows and red winged blackbirds. Stop by to see The Awakening, by Seward Johnson, ©1980 The Seward Johnson Atelier, Inc. Measuring 70-feet wide, the sculpture of a giant man in the Earth has drawn people from around the world to enjoy an interactive experience. It is in temporary residence at St. Michaels Farm Preserve through a partnership with Johnson Atelier and the Hopewell Valley Arts Council.
Visitors to the preserve can look for the D&R Greenway sign and park in the parking lot located approximately at 120 Princeton Avenue, Hopewell, NJ.
