The Newton Farmer
May 2019
|
|
I love that I live in a part of the world that experiences all four seasons. I think it's the uniqueness of each season that most appeals to me. In the spring, it's watching the bright green sprouts emerge against the rich brown soil and nearly black bark of the trees---a color combination truly special to this time of year. I am energized by the people, animals, and insects emerging from hibernation and converging on the land that will nourish us for the coming year.
With our alternating days of rain and sun, you can almost see our seedlings grow. Tens of thousands of plants are growing strong in preparation for our Seedling Sale, quickly approaching later this month.
Read on to find out more about new Assistant Farm Manager Cain Landry, why Director of Education Reva Haselkorn loves the spring, and our new population of bees and beekeeper Sean Sanker.
Here are a a few upcoming opportunities to spend time on the farm:
If you're a high school student, you can work alongside our farmers and educators as part of our summer internship program.
We still need a few helping hands for the Seedling Sale. Sign up
here
.
Happy spring!
Karyn Novakowski
Executive Director
|
|
Join Us for Our Annual Seedling Sale!
|
|
SEEDLING SALE
May 18 & 19, 12-3 pm
Our Seedling Sale is a little over a week away and our greenhouse is bursting at the seams with seedlings!
Stock up on your favorite vegetables, herbs, and flowers. All are specially selected to thrive in New England, and your purchase helps support your local farm.
We’re hoping for sun, but the Sale will run rain or shine. We look forward to seeing you on the Farm on May 18 and May 19 from 12 noon to 3 pm.
We are accepting Seedling Sale
preorders
through May 11. Get your orders in soon, choose the varieties you want and avoid the crowds! Preorders are only available to Friends of the Farm at the Seed Sower ($70) level.
Sign up here
and read more about the benefits of becoming a Friend of the Farm.
|
|
Seedling Sale volunteers needed
We are thrilled that so many people have signed up to help at our Seedling Sale but we are still looking for about 16 wonderful volunteers, especially post-event clean up. If you are interested, please
sign up here
.
|
|
Cain Landry Assistant Farm Manager
Cain Landry is our new assistant farm manager at Newton Community Farm. Cain has been farming and gardening for almost six years now, working in their backyard in Maine and on farms from Massachusetts to Washington State. They are passionate about growing vegetables on small scale farms that get the community involved. They have a degree in Music from the University of Maine and an M.S. in Environmental Studies from Antioch University. When they aren't growing food, Cain loves to take on creative endeavors like making electronic music, recording podcasts about science, baking bread, and making art of all shapes and sizes.
|
|
Job and Internship Opportunities
|
|
Are you a high school student looking for a unique way to spend your summer? Join us for one of our internship programs either in Farm Operations (field crew) or our Education Department and experience the joys and challenges of working on a suburban farm.
|
|
|
Do you have a passion for teaching children about food and farming? Join our summer education team where you will lead campers through learning garden activities, harvesting and preparing healthy snacks, playing games, and doing craft projects.
|
|
|
Director of Education Reva Haselkorn shares her thoughts on her first year with NCF.
I’ve seen a full year here at the farm.
I am in love.
There’s just nowhere else I’d rather spend my time.
This has been a full year of firsts . . . firsts that I got to experience myself and firsts that I got to share with others.
Completing my first year at the Farm has been a homecoming for me. NCF is a great place to explore and see magical change.
The spring brings so much of this. I recall:
- watching sprouts grow even in the time of a single meeting,
- excitement at the arrival of a flock of baby chicks who fit in my palm when they arrived mid-March and now are feathering out, growing into their awkward teenage bodies;
- the anxiety over putting peas in the ground and hoping it’s not too cold;
- planting garlic in the fall with kindergarteners and believing that it’d come up this spring
I get to explore my child-like wonder at the farm every day and, better yet, I get to share it with fellow farm enthusiasts of all ages.
Introducing people to rhubarb, making fresh pasta with eggs collected from our own chickens, the excitement when kids ask, “Can we pick more lemon balm?” “Let’s dig for worms!” “Can we feed the chickens again?”
I’m thrilled to continue exploring with my community, the community I grew up in, as the rapid growth of spring leads to the steady chaos of summer.
|
|
Dig, learn, and grow at the Farm
Farm Babies
New this year we are inviting children under 2.5 years and their adult caregivers to join us for an interactive farm-themed story time, movement and songs followed by time to socialize with others and free play for the kids.
Summer Farm Camp
There are still a few spots available for our summer Farm Camp. Register soon to claim your spot!
Seasonal Handmade Pasta Making
Thursday, May 16, 7-9 pm
Learn to make fresh pasta with pastured farm eggs and savory fillings and sauces. Tentative menu: Ravioli with Sauteed Asparagus and Farfalle with Arugula and Peas.
Cookbook Dinner
Wednesday, May 22, 7-9 pm
Join fellow community members for a fun cookbook themed potluck dinner in our historic barn.
Ready, Set, Grow!
Sunday, June 2, 2-4 pm
Join us for a hands-on gardening workshop - Maintaining Your Garden: Productivity Tips & Irrigation.
Concert and Picnic Evening
Wednesday, June 5, 6-8 pm
Kick off the harvest season with a picnic and live local music.
|
|
Bees Have Returned to the Farm
|
|
Beekeeper and Newton resident Sean Sanker shares the long and winding road that brought his bees to NCF.
I started beekeeping in 2013, but I started on my path to beekeeping through another form of backyard farming. It was 2008, I was living in Pembroke, and a new neighbor moved in next door. He quickly built a chicken coop and bought some chicks in the following spring. Chickens? Who has chickens in 2008? But the concept stuck with me. Sometime later I rescued a baby wood duck from a busy street. I couldn’t find the duckling’s family, so I took her home and proceeded to convert an old shed into a chicken coop. And, of course, I added chickens. I successfully kept chickens until I moved to Newton in 2015.
|
|
In 2013 I stopped by the honeybee building at the Marshfield Fair and ran into my old neighbor. He was now a beekeeper. We talked about the hobby and what interests us about beekeeping. I like the idea of working to help with current bee issues such as the phenomenon of Colony Collapse Disorder. I also like the idea of homesteading, the lifestyle of self-sufficiency. I wanted to learn more about tending to bees so I sought out the Plymouth County BeeKeepers Association. These folks love beekeeping! After two months of classes, I was a beekeeper, too.
Sean will be at the Farm on Sunday, June 2 at 1:30 pm to demonstrate tending to the hives and answer questions about home beekeeping. This informational session will be held immediately before our Gardening Class: Ready, Set, Grow!
|
|
2nd Annual Community Farms Gathering
|
|
On March 31, Newton Community Farm hosted the second Metro-Boston Community Farm Gathering in the NCF Barn. More than 40 participants attended, representing fifteen farms and organizations ranging from Ipswich to the north, Littleton and Medway to the west, and Milton to the south.
The spark that initiated the first gathering in 2018 was the need of community farms in Eastern Massachusetts to have forum to exchange ideas, discuss common challenges and potential solutions, and identify successes and possibilities for collaboration to benefit all Metro-Boston area community farms.
Topics discussed at 2019's gathering were: relationships between community farms and their surrounding municipalities including Waltham Fields Community Farm’s current negotiations with its landlord, UMass; an introduction to a proposal for a farm apprenticeship program from New Entry Sustainable Farming Project; strategies for building a robust community outreach through events and volunteer programs; and a panel discussion on the present and future of farm-based education.
Newton Community Farm was pleased to be able host the event for the second year in a row, in our refurbished barn, a unique resource among the participating organizations. Event organizers included Lisa Schumann and Sue Bottino NCF Board Members, and Dede Vittori NCF former Board Member. The Metro-Boston Community Farms anticipate this gathering to become an annual event.
|
|
Upcoming Events & Programs
|
|
NCF Farmstand
Opening day
June 4, 2019
|
|
Elm Street
Farmers' Market
Opening day
Saturday, June 22, 2019
|
|
Dinner on the Farm
Save the date
July 22, 2019
|
|
NEWTON COMMUNITY FARM
303 Nahanton Street
Newton, MA 02459
617-916-9655
|
|
 |
Consider highlighting products or services, sales or promotions, personal bios, and more. Use images that complement your message, and link your images to supporting resources.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
