The Newton Farmer
April 2020
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Dear Farm Family,
During this challenging time, we hope that you are all safe and comfortable in your home. While we are physically distant at the moment, we can’t wait until we can all gather again and together enjoy our farm community.
In the last month we have shifted from preparing spring education programs, our online auction, and summer camp to redirecting our efforts due to COVID-19. While we have had to cancel or postpone a number of programs, we are also excited to offer some new ways that the Farm can provide for our community.
In this newsletter, you’ll find out about our new offerings, new channels, and new ideas.
Please note that at this time the Farm property and all buildings are closed to the public to protect the safety and health of all of us.
Our farmers are considered essential workers (we never doubted it!) and their work on the Farm continues as usual, preparing the field for planting and starting the seeds.
But the rest of our staff has shifted focus. We now have a new
YouTube Live channel
and our
new webpage
for sharing resources and support with each other and the community. And yes, our annual
Seedling Sale
is still on for May! Some of the purchasing, payment, and pickup details may be different from past years, but we’re still growing all your favorites. Details to come.
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Now, more than ever, we are focusing on how we can provide the produce, programs, and community building that connects you with farming, gardening, and each other. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, concerns or if you just want to check in and chat, please be in touch. Call us at 617-916-9655 and leave us a voicemail message. Also, please feel free to reach out to me directly at
sue@newtoncommunityfarm.org
.
Thinking of you and looking forward to sunnier days ahead,
Sue Bottino
Executive Director
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Watch Our New YouTube Live Channel
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Necessity is the mother of invention, and we are reinventing ourselves as broadcasters! Join us for live shows on a variety of topics on our
YouTube Live channel
on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 1 p.m.
Jay Vilar, our operations, communications, and events manager, who is also a nutritional therapist, will be doing cooking and baking demonstrations from his home kitchen on Mondays. Hope Kelley, our interim director of education, will teach us about gardening and farming from her home and also from the Learning Garden at the Farm on Wednesdays. And Sue Bottino, our executive director, will lead story time for kids on Fridays. If you miss our live broadcasts, you can go to the
channel
anytime to check out our show archive.
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Contribute to Our New Community Webpage
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So many of you are telling us that you are excited about
gardening this year! We have created a new
Community
tab o
n
our website, where you will find our YouTube shows (mentioned above) and delicious recipes, photos, and videos of gardens submitted by all of you.
Do you have something to share? A great book about keeping chickens or identifying insects? A recipe that has brought you comfort? A gardening tip that will help people who are starting their first garden? A fun video of something outside that is bringing you joy? Do you have questions about gardening? Send them in! Send your ideas and submissions to
jay@newtoncommunityfarm.org
We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you to Barney Keezell, gardener extraordinaire and former NCF board member, for sending in the beautiful slideshow of his garden, already posted on the page.
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Register for Education Programs
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We have made the difficult decision to cancel all spring education classes for children and adults through May 4 with the exception of two cooking classes that will be offered live online and taught by Jay Vilar.
Support the Farm and join Jay for these great programs!
Register
today!
Seasonal Handmade Pasta
, Thursday, April 30, 7:00–9:00 p.m. Join to learn how to make fresh pasta with spring vegetables. $55 per household.
Healthy Cooking in 20 Minutes or Less
, Thursday, May 7, 12–1:30 p.m. Offered as part of our new nutrition workshops, this program offers shortcuts to food prep and instruction on how to cook healthy, nutrient-dense recipes. $25 per household.
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Seedling Sale Coming Soon
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Preparations for our May Seedling Sale are underway! Farmer Greg is growing vegetable, fruit, and flower seedlings for you to plant in your home garden.
To adapt to the current pandemic, we are exploring online ordering and prepaying via credit card, and staggered pickups of orders, perhaps over several more days than usual. But rest assured, the Farm will have the seedlings that you know and love—tomatoes, beets, peppers, greens, cucumbers, eggplants, and much more—available for sale. Check our
website
for updates and more details.
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On March 10, Farmer Greg picked up the flock of one-day-old peeps from the post office. These tiny little birds, each weighing less than an ounce, are growing and thriving. We have over two dozen chicks representing 11 different breeds. If you’d like to see more photos and videos of these little ladies, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, where we post lots of updates.
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Summer Flower Shares Available
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NCF will again be a pickup location for the Natick Community Organic Farm (NCOF) Flower Share program for 15 weeks from mid to late June through the end of September. Visit
NCOF
for more details and to sign up for a share of beautiful, seasonal, cut flowers.
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Our Summer CSA program is sold out. Thank you to everyone who signed up. At this time, we are proceeding as usual with our plans for this program and will update registrants if we need to change logistics as we get closer to June.
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Newton Community Farm anticipates lost revenue due to cancellation of many of our spring programs. If you can, please consider making a
donation
so that the Farm can remain an important resource, especially in this time when we seek to maintain our health, local food supply, and vibrant community.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which was enacted on March 27, includes a charitable giving incentive.
Even if you don’t itemize, you can now deduct up to $300 from your taxable income.
The incentive applies to contributions made in 2020 and would be claimed on tax forms next year.
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In these are tough economic times, we want to highlight our business and organization sponsors and friends. These supporters have given financial contributions, donated their time, or provided in-kind donations and much-appreciated discounts on services. We hope that you will consider supporting these businesses if you are able, either now or in the future (or both!). Please join us in extending gratitude to them for all of the support that they have given the Farm.
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A Tent for Rent
Archstone Law Group, P.C.
Bay State IT
Beacon Gallery
Charles River Neighborhood Foundation
Farmstead Table
Gentle Dental Newton
Gourmet Catering
Green Newton
Hirsch, Roberts, Weinstein Law
Honda Village
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Mara Sahleanu
Newton Wellan Montessori School
Newtonville Books
Noble, Wickersham, and Heart LLP
Nothing Bundt Cakes
Russian School of Mathematics
Sotheby's International - Deirdre O’Connor
The Village Bank
Wegmans
Whole Foods Market
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We’ll be listing more business supporters when we post our rescheduled
Growing Green Online Auction.
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NEWTON COMMUNITY FARM
303 Nahanton Street
Newton, MA 02459
617-916-9655
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