The Newton Farmer
June 2021
It has been a crazy-busy month! Our annual seedling sale went very well, and we are thrilled that so many gardeners purchased their plants from Newton Community Farm. We filled over 500 orders with varieties grown right here at the Farm. Our team of wonderful, hardworking volunteers helped make this event possible. And it was terrific to meet Farm supporters, old and new. Special thanks to Margaret Mallory who took beautiful photos, including the ones of Greg, Evan, and Linda shown in this newsletter.

And it's not over yet! We still have small quantities of many varieties of herbs, vegetables, fruit, and flowers available for sale online through May 31. Order now and pick up on Thursday, June 3, in the afternoon.

We would love for you to email us photos of your gardens as they grow so we can share your hard work and inspiration with other local gardeners online. Please send photos to sue@newtoncommunityfarm.org.
We are so excited for summer! Registration for our Summer Farm Fun in the Sun outdoor classes for kids in July and August is filling up. Weekly sessions are available in either the mornings or afternoons. Sign up soon before we sell out!

Our CSA pickups, farm stand, in-person workshops, and summer internship program as well as the Newton Farmers' Market will all be starting in June. Read more about all the ways you can participate below.

As we embark on the busiest time of year at the Farm, I want to be sure to recognize and appreciate the amazing contributions of so many who make this community farm an invaluable resource. I am grateful to our staff, Board, volunteers, and customers. And I am reminded that what we have here today is the result of 15 years of dedication to this Farm from all of those who have come before us. We are reaping what so many before us have sown here, all for the greater good of this community.

Looking forward to seeing you all this summer!

With gratitude,
Sue Bottino
Executive Director
Register for Summer Farm Classes for Kids
SUMMER 2021 Farm Fun in the Sun 
Outdoor Classes for Kids

Registration is now open!

If you're looking for a summer program where your kids will have:
  • fun getting dirty and playing outside, screen-free
  • a unique, hands-on learning opportunity
  • a place to connect to the earth.

Then sign up for our 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 two 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, visit our website. Preregistration is required.

We hope you will join us. It’s going to be a great summer here at the Farm!
Online Mini Seedling Sale Ends Monday, May 31
Didn't get everything you wanted yet for your garden? Planted what you have and realized you can fit a bit more in? Remembered that you wanted flowers, herbs, or soil, too? Check out our Mini Seedling Sale online now. We have small quantities of many plant varieties available to order through May 31. Pickups will be scheduled for the afternoon of June 3.

Thank you to everyone who helped with the seedlings so far! From label writing to packing orders and assisting customers, our volunteers work tirelessly to make everything run smoothly. If you would like to help out with our last seedling pickup, either for the morning (8 am–noon) or afternoon (12:45–6 pm) shift on June 3, please sign up here.

If you don't need the black carrying trays that the seedlings were in when you picked them up, we can reuse them. Drop them off at the farm stand on Winchester Street anytime.
Workshop at the Farm
Pickling Made Easy
Thursday, June 24, 5:30–7 pm, $20 per person
In-person at the Farm

Learn the art of pickling and make delicious, preserved foods. Pickling allows you to capture fruit and vegetable fresh-from-the-garden flavors to enjoy throughout the year. Jon Orren, our local pickling expert, will walk you through the fundamentals of canning, pickling, and preserving fresh local food.

In this workshop you will:
  • learn canning basics and techniques
  • create classic cucumber pickles
  • receive pickle recipes to try at home 
  • find out how easy this great homesteading skill is for creating the most delicious sweet and savory pickles.
High School Summer Internship Program
Newton Community Farm is offering summer internship opportunities for current high school students. The time commitment is Tuesday–Thursday, 8 am to noon for four consecutive weeks. Students can apply for either June 29–July 22 or July 27–August 19. This is an unpaid internship.

This program has a number of goals including providing educational and work experience on an intensive market garden (the traditional term for small vegetable farms) where much of the work is done by hand and enhancing an intern's personal responsibility. 

For more information, including the application and required forms, visit our website.
Community Organization Spotlight: Freedge
“Take what you need, leave what you can,” is the the motto of the new Newton Community Freedge program. The Freedge opened in March of this year in a brightly decorated shed at 420 Watertown Street, Nonantum, in the Central Drapery and Dry Cleaning parking lot. Organized by the Newton Food Pantry, the Freedge is a 24/7 outdoor refrigerator and pantry that provides an alternative, anonymous, and free supplemental food program to assist individuals and families who are food-insecure. “Freedge” is coined from the words “free” and “fridge” and emphasizes the fact that no-cost, perishable, as well as shelf-stable items are available. Open to everyone, with no sign-up needed, the Freedge offers milk, eggs, fruit, and vegetables, freshly prepared meals, and more. The free and fresh concept is part of a growing network of such organizations in Greater Boston and the U.S.
This volunteer-led supplemental food project grew out of a collaboration among many local businesses, restaurants, nonprofits, and dedicated individuals. Designed, built, and donated by a Nonantum-based company, the colorful Freedge is part refrigerator and part pantry. To stock the Freedge, eleven teams of volunteers from Newton nonprofits are scheduled to pick up items from more than 30 business partners at various times every day of the week. These volunteers also manage items dropped off by individuals from the community as well as organize the bounty and clean the premises. Note that fresh eggs and milk are delivered three times each day! To date, respectful users and donors have made the project a huge success.

Newton Community Farm supports the Newton Food Pantry with seasonal fresh produce donations. If you are interested in learning more about Freedge and their donation guidelines, check out their website or join their Facebook Group. Please consider purchasing extra produce from the Newton Community Farm and taking it to the Freedge!
A Book Is Like a Garden...
...carried in the pocket. ~ Chinese proverb

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.
The Overstory, by Richard Powers

To me The Overstory by Richard Powers is the perfect book. It is a long, beautiful novel with a large cast of interesting characters. Their stories cross, intersect, converge, and separate in ways that keep us guessing and discovering. The characters span geography, time, and demographics, and are united by their powerful love and connection to trees and the natural world, but from different perspectives. When I finished the last page, I turned right back to the beginning and started over. And at 500 pages, that’s no small commitment. 

The most important character is...trees. The structure of the book is a riff on the physical shape of a tree – roots, trunk, crown and seeds. Through the characters, as they speak for him, the author makes the case for trees being communal and intentional. They live in time differently from humans, who cannot see the danger to trees because of our limited understanding of the arc of time. While reading this book, I experienced a profound shift in perspective on trees in the world, which was moving and beautiful. 

Book review by Stephanie Cogen, previous NCF Board President and longtime farm supporter and volunteer.
Farm Stand and Newton Farmers' Market
The NCF farm stand will be open this summer! We are working out all the details, so keep an eye on our website for more information on when we'll open and what the hours will be this summer.

We'll be participating in the Newton Farmers' Market on Saturdays again this year. The Saturday market will be held at Newton North High School (352 Lowell Avenue) starting on June 26 from 9:30 am–12:30 pm.
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.
NEWTON COMMUNITY FARM
303 Nahanton Street
Newton, MA 02459
617-916-9655