The Newton Farmer
November 2020
|
|
What a difference a month makes! We wrapped up our Summer CSA a few weeks ago and started our Late Fall distribution in the last week of October. Thank you, CSA sharers! But we only had a few days before the snow hit and it started feeling like winter. While we had to say goodbye to many summer crops like eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes (who thought those would ever end?), we still have cool-weather crops like some leafy greens and root crops to enjoy through this month.
Thank you to everyone who participated in our first-ever virtual event, "Crisis Farming: The Essential Work of Feeding a Community," on October 20. We hope you enjoyed learning more about the Farm and connecting in this new way. If you missed the program, you can watch it anytime on our Youtube channel. Feel free to share the link with your friends and family, too.
|
|
In addition to our regular Healthy Harvest Bags, we're putting together a great new offering this year, our Thanksgiving Harvest Bag, available by preorder on our online store. Buy farm-fresh, nutritious ingredients and support local farms. Contents include all your favorites: cranberries, squash, apples, parsley, salad greens, carrots, potatoes, onions, and sugar pumpkins. Reserve your bag today! More info below.
We're in the home stretch of our 2020 growing season at Newton Community Farm, and we've got exciting plans for the future. Stay tuned. There's so much more to come from this little Farm for all of you to enjoy!
With gratitude,
Sue Bottino
Executive Director
|
|
Healthy Harvest Bags and Our Special Thanksgiving Produce Bags Available for Preorder |
|
Order a Healthy Harvest Bag full of fresh, local produce today! You can preorder through our online store and arrange for pickup at the farm Thursday, November 12. Sorry, no substitutions are possible.
Support the work of NCF and other farms! We are offering a collection of all your favorite fresh veggies and fruit to make your Thanksgiving meal delicious! Pickups will be scheduled for the afternoon of Monday, November 23. Sorry, no substitutions are possible.
Included:
1 lb. native-Massachusetts, heirloom cranberries from Old Earth Orchards in East Taunton
5 lbs. organic white potatoes from Drumlin Farm in Lincoln
2 lbs. organic yellow onions from Porter Farms in Western NY
2 sugar pumpkins from Wards Berry Farm in Sharon
2 organic winter squash from Drumlin Farm in Lincoln
3 lbs. of apples from Autumn Hills Orchard in Groton
1 lb. of carrots from either Piccadilly Farm in NH or from Newton Community Farm, depending on the harvest
1 bunch of parsley from Newton Community Farm
1/2 lb. of mixed salad greens from Newton Community Farm
Price: $54
|
|
Check out our YouTube channel on Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. for new episodes of our cooking show with Jay. You can also view the show archive, where you'll find 45+ cooking, gardening, and story time episodes, anytime. And you can find our shows on NewTV by searching their online schedule.
To sign up for our brief weekly newsletter focused on gardening and cooking tips and information, contact jay@newtoncommunityfarm.org. Recent issues have focused on kale, leeks, eggs, and bell peppers and have included nutritional information, serving ideas, and recipes.
|
|
Update on Our Experimental Mini-Orchard |
|
Many of you have asked about the small apple orchard at the entrance to the barn/farmhouse driveway on Nahanton Street, particularly because there have been several beautiful hens in with the trees this summer. This demonstration orchard was started by volunteer Sam Fogel in 2008 to explore the promotion of fruit-tree growing in urban areas by experimenting with trees of different sizes, varieties, and disease resistances. Our neighbors, Ledgebrook Condominium Association, have kindly allowed us to use their land for this purpose.
In 2020, new volunteer Laurel Valchuis began overseeing the mini-orchard and gave the trees a heavy pruning to make way for consistent annual fruit growth and to maintain walking paths for educational access. The weeds were removed, and the whole orchard was heavily mulched (thanks to the many windstorms and willing arborists who dropped off their wood chips). Farmer Greg put four chickens in the enclosure so they could happily eat the grubs and pests in the orchard while fertilizing the soil and keeping the weed growth down. There was an abundance of plum curculio (a pesky insect that lays eggs in fruit) this year, which, in addition to the drought, caused a lot of dropped fruit, but there were a few tasty morsels for the crew, and for the chickens. Overall, there was good root growth and tree health, giving hope for a more robust crop next season. Our sincere thanks to Laurel, who also works at a neighboring farm in Dover, and runs al-freshco.com, a meal-kit business that uses all local produce.
|
|
The CARES Act Incentivizes Charitable Giving in 2020 |
|
Did you know? The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed by Congress in response to the Covid-19 crisis encourages giving to nonprofit charities by December 31, 2020.
If you do not itemize deductions:
Individual taxpayers can deduct donations to a qualifying charity up to $300 (or $600 for married couples filing jointly) in addition to the standard deduction.
If you do itemize deductions:
The deduction cap is increased from 60% to 100% of adjusted gross income.
|
|
Welcoming Newton's Oak Hill Guide |
|
Check out this short guide to Oak Hill by NCF Farm Manager Greg Maslowe for "Welcoming Newton." There are guides for other Newton villages listed, too.
“Welcoming Newton” is a grassroots effort by two Newton citizens to support newcomers and further engagement of all residents to create community. Find out more about city resources and contacts, helpful email lists, ways to volunteer and help neighbors in need and more at the site: https://www.welcomingnewton.org.
|
|
Thank You for Participating in Our "Crisis Farming" Event |
|
You helped make our first-ever virtual event, "Crisis Farming: The Essential Work of Feeding a Community," a success! Thanks to everyone who attended this online event on October 20. With your support we raised $11,000, and your donations will help us create educational experiences, plant and maintain the crops, and develop more community-building programs in the future.
Our sincere appreciation to all who made this event possible:
-
Our Host Committee of Dedicated Supporters: Jeffrey Baker and Dede Vittori, Marc and Carol Bard, Allan Beth and Eileen Chodos, Adrian and Laura Bishop, Peter Boberg and Sunwoo Kahng, Dean and Sue Bottino, Jess Brooks and Russell Neufeld, Larry and Pat Burdick, Claire and Daniel Caine, Gerry Caron and Sheila Cusack, Stephanie Cogen and Jeff Kopf, Harvey and Tina Crosby, Elissa Fenster and Bill Greenberg, Amy and Paul Holt, Elizabeth and Kristoff Homan, Marietta Joseph, Rebecca and Mark Leiter, Robin and Rich Maltz, Matt Pawa and Elyse Rosenblum, Lisa and Roman Schumann, Barbara Seal and Mark Kadar, and Beth and Hugh Wilkinson.
- Premier Sponsor: The Village Bank
- Community Partners: Green Newton, Archstone Law Group, and Newtonville Books
- NCF's Board of Directors
- Operations, Communications, and Events Manager Jay Vilar
- Farm Manager Greg Maslowe
- "The Mother Earth Podcast Host" and environmental lawyer Matt Pawa
- and all of you!
The recorded program is available on our Youtube channel. And if you would like to add your donation to our fundraising effort, please go to our website.
|
|
NEWTON COMMUNITY FARM
303 Nahanton Street
Newton, MA 02459
617-916-9655
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
