By Kristie Snyder, GreenStar Staff For Surik Mehrabyan, farming is a second career — one that has allowed him to put down roots in the Ithaca area. Raised in Armenia, and with an academic background in physics, he came to Cornell in 2003 to work at the Wilson Synchrotron Lab. When the project lost funding, his family decided they weren’t going anywhere. A long-time backyard gardener, Surik joined the Groundswell Incubator Farm Program, becoming their first graduate in 2016. Now still in the process of purchasing a plot of farmland, he grows vegetables, fruits, and fruit trees at his home in Ithaca and on various small leased plots around town. Surik’s beginnings at Groundswell, before they’d installed cooler facilities, [...]

By Kristie Snyder, GreenStar Staff Both Allan Gandelman and Karli Miller-Hornick of Head + Heal successfully used hemp extract to regain function from debilitating illnesses — in his case, Lyme disease, in hers, anxiety and panic attacks — without the side effects of either pharmaceuticals or medical marijuana. No wonder they felt a calling to put their farming expertise to work to bring high-quality locally and organically grown hemp extract to the region. Thanks to the recent legalization of hemp in New York State, that dream has become a reality.   Allan, a co-owner of the Main Street Farms organic vegetable CSA in Cortland, and Karli, the farm’s CSA manager, formed their own company in 2017 with the intention to [...]

By Kristie Snyder, GreenStar Marketing Staff It was while working in hot, steamy kitchens that Carly Dougherty, co-owner of Food and Ferments, discovered she couldn’t rely on any of the natural deodorants she found in stores — but she didn’t want to turn to artificial fragrances or aluminum-based antiperspirants. A friend suggested she try making her own. "I couldn't believe it worked!" Carly said. She started sharing it with friends and family, and another business was born — the Stinky Girl Beauty Co. Carly and her husband Dave mostly rely on word of mouth from devoted users to build a market for their product, but you can find Stinky Girl on the shelves of the West End store's Wellness [...]