The Newton Farmer
July 2021
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We're in the thick of it now!
- Starting the summer high school student internship program
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Preparing to begin the kids' summer classes this month
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Opening the farm stand for the season
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Starting back at the Newton Farmers' Market on Saturdays
- Setting up for the CSA pickups each week
- Organizing and dropping off produce donations
- Welcoming new staff and volunteers
- Finishing our spring speaker series
and all while planting and harvesting during record-breaking heat. This is the busiest time of the year at the Farm. You can feel the energy as we all buzz around like bees working to offer as much as we can for the community to enjoy.
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Your support makes all these programs and more possible. Thank you to everyone who donated during our spring appeal. Would you like to help out by volunteering at the Farm? We'd love to have you on (most) Saturday mornings as part of our field crew or on Thursday mornings working with our weeding crew. Read on for more information on how to sign up (required for our planning purposes).
With gratitude,
Sue Bottino
Executive Director
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Register for Summer Farm Classes for Kids |
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SUMMER 2021 Farm Fun in the Sun
Outdoor Classes for Kids
It's not too late to register! Sign up for nature-based, small group classes. This program is held outside in and around our Learning Garden where kids explore topics including farming, plants, food, chickens, insects, and sustainability with our experienced educators.
Classes run for a week at a time, July 12–August 27, and there are morning (9:30–11:30 am) and afternoon (1:30–3:30 pm) sessions available based on age. If you have multiple kids who you would like to attend at the same time but they are in different age groups, contact us and we will try to accommodate your request. Classes cost $200 per weekly session, and financial aid is available for those who qualify. For all the details and to sign up, visit our website. Preregistration is required.
We hope you will join us. It’s going to be a great summer here at the Farm!
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Education
Matt Durham comes to Newton Community Farm with nearly a decade of experience teaching youth about gardening. He previously worked as a garden educator with Edible Schoolyard New Orleans. Before that he completed a year of service with City Year New Orleans.
Matt loves being outside and seeing the connections that develop through gardening and learning about the natural world. He recently attained an M.A. in Environmental Education and Natural Science from Hamline University. Matt enjoys riding his bike, listening to podcasts and audiobooks, spending time in the kitchen, and exploring nature with his wife Kate and dog Finn.
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Anne Linders is an educator and plant enthusiast and she brings her creativity and curiosity to the Farm. She has many years of experience teaching in both public schools and nearby Solomon Schechter Day School. Anne loves to incorporate natural materials into printmaking, crafts, and other hands-on activities for the Farm’s summer programming.
Anne loves getting her hands dirty in the soil, and she has extensive knowledge of hydroponic farming from working with St. Louis Indoor Produce. She is a lifelong learner who enjoys the connections between farming, art making, and community. Her dream is to bring fresh produce to all community members and alleviate urban food deserts.
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Farm Stand
Ruth Anne McManus joined the Farm this summer as our Farm Stand Operator. During her tenure as a volunteer at ReVision Urban Farm, she realized that farming and food security are her passions. Ruth Anne is currently enrolled in the Master's Program in Leadership and Administration at Woods College at Boston College where she is a member of the RealFood Club. She volunteers at the RealFood Garden helping with watering, weeding, and planting.
When Ruth Anne, a Brookline native, is not working or volunteering, you can find her tending to her own vegetable garden or running with her parents Mary and Tom and her friends at L Street Running Club. She also loves cooking, reading, baking, and meditation.
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Community Organization Spotlight: Historic Newton |
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The land at the corner of Winchester and Nahanton Streets where Newton Community Farm operates has served as an example of small-scale New England farming for over 300 years. The Farm exemplifies the mission of Historic Newton, an organization that “connects our community with its history in order to enrich future generations.”
Historic Newton is a public/private partnership between the City of Newton (City) and the nonprofit Newton Historical Society (NHS) and carries out its mission by operating the 1809 Jackson Homestead and Newton’s history collections, which are owned by the City, and the 1734 Durant-Kenrick House and grounds, which are owned by NHS. It also oversees the City’s three historic burying grounds. Historic Newton offers educational programs focused on the city’s stories viewed in the context of American history—workshops, walking tours, lectures, and discussions. Programs for children and adults include such impactful topics as “Journey on the Underground Railroad,” focusing on the Jackson family’s abolitionist activities, and “Beyond the Pantsuit,” looking at life and work of women over two centuries in the Durant-Kenrick House.
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Historic Newton is also an important archive for the city’s historic documents and continues to collect, interpret, and exhibit materials of local significance. And the organization has its own history. Today’s Historic Newton grew out of interest in the Jackson Homestead Museum established by the City in 1950 and continued with the formation in 1982 of the nonprofit Newton Historical Society until, in 2009, today’s umbrella organization, Historic Newton, was established.
One of the guiding principles of Historic Newton is that “The understanding of the past evolves; as we ask questions, we gain perspective.” Go to www.HistoricNewton.org or even better, visit the Museums, which are now open, and ask some questions!
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A Book Is Like a Garden... |
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...carried in the pocket. ~ Chinese proverb |
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The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature by Sue Stuart-Smith
The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature by Sue Stuart-Smith is the perfect summer read for those of us who enjoy spending evenings puttering in the garden. Chances are you already know you feel better after spending some time with your fingers in the earth; the author, a British psychotherapist, explores why that is. From case studies, like her personal paternal grandfather returning from WWI, and the inmates enrolled in a progressive gardening program at Rikers Island prison, the author chronicles the way gardening has improved the mental and physical health of humans. Her warm and wise writing is about the joy that comes from planting, and observing, from tending a patch of earth, from watering and weeding and talking to all the plants in your garden—and the result is an inspiring summer read destined to get you out working the soil!
Book review by Mary Cotton, co-owner of Newtonville Books and enthusiastic planter of seedlings.
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Let's learn more about each other and discover new reads through book recommendations around our common interests in farming, gardening, the environment, food, and good health. Send your review and a note to describe yourself to sue@newtoncommunityfarm.org. |
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Thank You to Our Produce Donation Program Sponsors |
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Newton Community Farm has donated produce to local organizations addressing food insecurity since our inception in 2006. Our longest partnership has been with the Newton Food Pantry, where NCF was the first organization to contribute fresh, healthy produce. In 2020 we donated $11,000 in produce to the Newton Food Pantry, Food to Your Table, and Newton at Home, which distributed it to their clients.
COVID-19 has increased the need for our Produce Donation Program over the past year. According to the nonprofit Feeding America, "Massachusetts has experienced the largest relative increase of food-insecure individuals in the nation due to COVID-19 and the highest increase of food-insecure children at 102%...With record unemployment, lost wages, and many having little-to-no savings to protect them from the economic impact of COVID-19, food insecurity has skyrocketed…" And we have seen the need grow tremendously in our own Newton community.
We are thrilled to announce our sponsors for the 2021 NCF Produce Donation Program. For the second year in a row, NCF has received a generous grant from The Rebecca Pomroy Foundation, which assists Newton organizations that provide health-building, educational and recreational opportunities and guidance to people of all ages in the community, with a preference for organizations that assist girls and young women in need. New grantors this year are Cambridge Savings Bank Charitable Foundation, which works to improve and enrich the lives of their neighbors, and Cambridge Trust, which supports nonprofits directly benefiting local communities.
We are so grateful for our community partnerships and the opportunity to help our neighbors experiencing food insecurity. We extend our sincere appreciation to our sponsors and to the local organizations that help feed the hungry in our community.
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Where Can You Buy NCF Produce? |
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At the NCF On-Site Farm Stand
The farm stand has opened for the season! You'll find us in the little red shed packed with produce on Winchester Street.
Farm stand hours are:
- Thursdays and Fridays from 1:30–6 pm
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Saturdays 9:30 am–1 pm
In addition to a selection of produce right from the Farm, for a limited time, we have Vermont Compost Company soil and soil amendments and perennial herb plants for sale, too. We accept cash, credit cards, and WIC. We also accept SNAP on Thursdays and Fridays at the farm stand.
The Saturday Newton Farmers' Market is held at Newton North High School (352 Lowell Avenue) from 9:30 am–12:30 pm. We accept cash, credit cards, WIC, and SNAP.
Don't forget to bring your reusable bags!
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Volunteers
In mid-June we wrapped up our second of two seedling sales at the Farm this spring. In all, dozens of volunteers filled 675 orders for over 20,000 seedlings. Remaining seedlings were donated to Haley House, the Sustainable Agriculture Program at Newton South High School, and Mary Morganti's citywide plant swap, hosted by Historic Newton. Thank you to everyone who helped with this event. We could not have done it without our wonderful team of hardworking volunteers! And thank you to all the local gardeners who shopped with us. May your gardens grow in abundance!
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Speaking of volunteering, would you like to help out with field work? We have volunteer hours for adults most Saturdays 10 am–noon throughout the summer. Sign up here at least one day in advance so we can plan projects.
Or, if you are a high school student or older and can make a regular commitment for Thursdays, 9 am– noon, we'd love for you to join our team of weeding volunteers. Contact sue@newtoncommunityfarm.org to express your interest.
Photo of volunteers Sarah and Fiona by Margaret Mallory.
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News
Newton Community Farm was recently featured on the front page of the Newton Tab on June 23, 2021, in the article "Community Farm moving ahead post-pandemic" by Julie M. Cohen. Check it out!
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Newton Community Farm is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, EIN #20-2482452. If you would prefer to donate by mail, please send a check payable to Newton Community Farm at the address below. Don't forget to ask your employer if matching funds are available. |
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NEWTON COMMUNITY FARM
303 Nahanton Street
Newton, MA 02459
617-916-9655
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