Wesson Radomsky drying indigo
Wesson Radomsky’s earliest memories were shaped by two things: farming and fiber arts.
Growing up on a farm in Elizabethville, Radomsky tended to the animals living on the property and spent time helping on neighboring dairy farms.
“There are plenty of things you can do to help out around a farm, and I was doing them,” they recalled.
When not farming, Radomsky experimented with fiber arts, inspired by grandmothers who were devoted artists themselves. Later, Radomsky attended HACC and then Georgetown University, staying in Washington, D.C., to work in higher education for 12 years.
“It was a fascinating job, but I burned out pretty hard during the pandemic,” they shared. “I left in 2021 and did a big reset in my life.”
Radomsky returned to the farm and began planting Berry Mountain Color Farm’s first crop of dye plants. Through self-education and trial and error, Radomsky broke through, establishing practices and routines that resulted in vibrant fibers to share with the local artist community.
“It was just so incredible,” they said. “I loved it so much that I had to do it all the time and share it with people.”
Community Share
From July to September, the annual and perennial dye plants at Berry Mountain Color Farm are at peak bloom, packed with their most vibrant pigmentations. These months are the most intense for Radomsky, harvesting and processing plants like Japanese indigo, goldenrod, marigolds, sunflowers and many others.
“I am harvesting every day and doing as much as I can with every bit of daylight available to me to not let anything go to waste,” they said. “Then I am doing the dying with the fresh dye stuffs that I just harvested from the fields, and then I’m also drying the extra flowers or leaves.”
For a small farm like Berry Mountain Color Farm, securing funding at the start of the season is critical to support the labor needed to plant, harvest and produce fibers. So, Radomsky established Berry Mountain Color Farm as a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), a model that allows customers to purchase products from farmers before a crop is harvested, animals are butchered, or, in the case of Berry Mountain Color Farm, fibers are dyed.
Once a year, Berry Mountain holds a pickup day to distribute fibers to members. Operating on a CSA model, Radomsky aims to budget their resources and ensure they have committed customers prior to production so the plants, dye and fibers don’t go to waste.
“I want there to be a sense that there is a community affiliated with and attached to this farm,” Radomsky said. “This is not something I want to do in a vacuum. It’s something I want to invite folks into and share with people.”
Despite the challenges of running a small farm—securing funding, intense labor and making ends meet—Radomsky has found joy in the change of pace, as well as the rich community built around local fiber arts. In particular, Radomsky praised the support of Andrea Grove, founder of Elementary Coffee Co. in Harrisburg.
“Andrea’s early and enthusiastic support has been key,” Radomsky said. “Elementary Coffee Co. has given Berry Mountain Color Farm a home in Harrisburg, helped me connect with a wider audience, and provided me with a sense of community and support that has been critical to sustaining this work.”
After connecting with Radomsky at the café, Grove wanted to help amplify Berry Mountain Color Farm by becoming a pickup location for CSA distributions.
“The more that as humans we can encourage other humans doing rad things, the better everybody is and, I think, the more growth we get to see in a society, hopefully for the better,” Grove said. “It is really hard for micro-businesses to really get the exposure they need and deserve for what they’re doing.”
Such a Gift
Frankie Laird saw a flyer for Berry Mountain while working as a barista at Elementary. A fiber artist since high school, Laird was interested in finding locally dyed fiber for knitting projects.
“I signed up through a mailing list that was on a flyer and got to pick from two different kinds of yarn,” Laird said. “I got this lovely bag of all these beautiful oranges and color variations…It has really helped me feel a bit more connected as I’m working with the yarn that came from someone’s garden.”
In addition to Elementary Coffee, CSA members can pick up their annual share from Radomsky’s home yarn store, Humble Stitch, in Newport and the Dickinson College Farm in Boiling Springs.
As Berry Mountain Color Farm develops, Radomsky hopes to offer educational opportunities for people, teaching dye workshops and providing numerous entry points where people can interact with natural color.
“There is so much that explorations of natural color can bring into folks’ creative lives and so making a space where people could come to the farm, get their hands on the dye plants, really immerse themselves in it, feels like it would be really impactful and satisfying,” Radomsky said.
Recently, Berry Mountain Color Farm was selected to participate in Pasa Sustainable Agriculture’s Climate-Smart Farming & Marketing program, a pilot program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program provides funding and assistance to farmers implementing regenerative practices and supporting programs deemed climate-smart.
“It’s been a really creative process getting to work with Wesson,” said Delaney McKinney, technical assistance provider for the Pasa program. “They have a really big vision that feels more and more tangible the more we plug in these practices to different areas of their farm.”
From workshops and new products to selling at markets and stores, Radomsky has a big vision for what Berry Mountain Color Farm could become. Regardless, they are choosing to prioritize sustainable growth at a pace that supports their wellbeing, amidst the intensity of a farming career.
“The most fulfilling part is the way that slowing down and paying attention has grounded me and opened my eyes to such beauty and joy [and] to things that I would not have paid attention to before,” Radomsky said. “Slowing down has made room to really center wonder and beauty and joy in my life—that is such a gift.”
For more information on Berry Mountain Color Farm, visit www.berrymountaincolorfarm.com or follow at @berrymountaincolorfarm.
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