October 2016

Table of Contents

• From the Farmer
• Education
• Season Extension
• Late Fall CSA
• Fall Festival
• Orchard Report
• Volunteer Spotlight
• Food Preservation
• Recipes
• Farm Stand
• Farmers' Market
• Volunteer Hours on the Farm

The weather―and the season―have changed. The air feels different. It’s fall. Leaves are falling, I pull out my sweaters and warmer pajamas, and we add another blanket to the bed. I wish you a cozy fall.

 

Susan Tornheim 

Newsletter Editor

2016 has been a wild ride. A cold, late spring followed by a hot, dry summer, capped off with a frost the last week in September. My dog died. Crops failed. Our county was one of many declared primary natural disaster areas by the USDA. For the first time in 10 years it’s looking like we won’t meet our budget projections for farm sales. And yet when I think about my newsletter articles over the past few months what comes to mind is “love songs to my farm.” Honestly, I don’t go back and read my articles once the newsletter comes out, but there is a voice in the back of my head telling me that maybe I’ve been waxing a bit poetic lately about the farm. I hope there hasn’t been anything too cheesy. But I also think that it’s great that after 10 years here I’m writing love letters about my farm.

 

Which brings up an interesting point: It isn’t my farm. It’s your farm. It’s the Board’s farm. It’s the city’s farm. As our logo says, it’s our farm. And that does include me, but it isn’t my farm. So why do I talk about it that way so often?

 

The truth is that I talk about it that way because I think about it that way. I do think about this as my farm. I’ve been here since the beginning as the farm has transformed from empty field and rundown barn to the thriving community resource it is today. I’ve lived here. I’ve raised my family here. It’s my—our—home. I’ve thrown myself in and made this place my life. I find it hard to separate myself from this place, and so I think of it as my farm.

 

But it’s not, and I know that. I’ve had that conversation with my Board. I’ve had that conversation with my wife. I’ve had it with myself. But it’s not my farm not only because I don’t own it. It’s also not my farm because it’s a community farm.

I often get asked what exactly that means—community farm—and I often don’t know quite how to answer. But a few weeks ago I was asked to look for an old photo that we wanted to use for an event this fall, and it gave me the opportunity to look back through years of pictures of the farm. Looking through those pictures gave me insight into what it means to call this place a community farm. I saw pictures of an old white, vinyl-covered barn with a blue plywood door. A plowed-up field of rye with no beds and a borrowed rototiller. An overgrown chicken run stretching between the coop and the pullet shed (before it was crushed by a falling tree limb). No greenhouse. No high tunnels. No crops. But people. Lots of people. Me and my kids, of course, but also other kids who, like my kids, grew up on and with the farm. People helping to clear the brush from the overgrown run so we could build our first greenhouse. People helping to lay out beds and double digging them (if you’ve never tried this you can’t even image how ambitious it was that we thought we could double dig all 140ish beds that we have!). People stripping wallpaper and painting walls to get the farmhouse ready for a new family. It went on and on. So many people. So much work. So much love.

 

That’s what makes this a community farm. It really has taken a community to build it, from the pioneers who convinced the city to buy a farm, and those who organized and formed a business to run it, to the hundreds if not thousands of people who have picked, packed, dug, lifted, weeded, built, and painted, to the even more who have supported us as loyal customers and through gifts—it has truly been a community effort.

 

The photos also gave me insight into what it means to call this “my” farm. Seeing all those faces, all those hands that helped—they are my community. They have known and supported me. They have known my children almost their whole lives. It’s not intended as a possessive “my” but rather one that acknowledges and honors deep interconnection. When I leave this place someday, both the farm and I will be very different. Hopefully better for our time together, but undoubtedly different. We are intertwined, this place and me. And all of you. Because this is a community farm after all, and you are that community. You are part of the farm.

 

Greg Maslowe 

Farmer

 

Bright vivid colors, jumping in the leaves, and the crisp cool mornings are just some of the reasons I love fall. Share in the pleasures of spending time outdoors and join us for one of our upcoming fall programs. Already, Farm Sprouts have been on a treasure hunt searching for seeds and have visited our orchard, and kids in our Farm Tuesday program have been making their own pasta as well as tending to the Learning Garden. There is still time to join us this fall. Registration is still open for Farm Sprouts, Farm Tuesdays, and our early-release programs in November and December. And don’t forget our popular Halloween on the Farm event on October 28.

 

 

Did you know?
We now offer Farm Tuesdays, an afternoon program for kids in grades 3 to 5. Meeting each week until December 13, kids get to come to the farm and unwind, spend time outdoors tending to the Learning Garden, and get involved in nature-inspired projects.

 

Greg and Alison will be at the Newton Free Library on October 24 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. for a showing of Susan Rockefeller’s award-winning film Food for Thought, Food for Life (20 min.), followed by a community discussion on the issues and ideas raised. It’s ideal for adults, as well as families with teens or tweens. Contact Newton Free Library for event details.

 

New Additions!
Farmer in Training: Saturday Special, (Grades (3–5), October 22, 10:00–11:30 a.m. Two additional Saturday Farm Sprouts Specials on November 19 and December 3.

 

Alison Scorer

Farm Educator/Coordinator

 

This summer as we think about NCF’s tenth anniversary, we have been working with Historic Newton to research the history of the farm and its neighborhood. We are also considering how we can collaborate on other projects with Historic Newton. One program that Historic Newton will present is a talk on food preservation that will include Margaret and Ken Mallory’s photographs of the farm.

 

Saturday, October 22, 4:00–5:00 p.m.

Durant-Kenrick House and Grounds, 286 Waverley Ave., Newton

 

Fungus to Fermentation: Food Preservation in Early America

An abundant food supply is something we take for granted each morning as we pull fresh produce out of the refrigerator, but in the past, how did people preserve food to get them through the winter or a long journey on a ship? We will explore the science of food preservation and the microbes that both make it happen and those that make it necessary! Through examining stories of our past we will also discuss food poisonings on a large scale and how they influenced history. Join us for a food tasting and a conversation about a common autumn pastime in New England kitchens.

 

We continue to develop season-extension programs at the farm to provide produce to our CSA community and our partner restaurants later into the fall and even winter months. That green salad with goat cheese and apples you eat at Farmstead Table in December may be made with mesclun from the farm.

To support our season-extension efforts, we recently obtained a grant for a new high tunnel via a program from the National Resources Conservation Service, a division of the United States Department of Agriculture. The NRCS supports season-extension practices to increase the production and consumption of local produce, which in turn decreases transportation costs, one of the leading energy uses in our food supply system.

 

Like so many aspects of farming, season extension offers answers but also asks questions. What are the consequences of planting the fields into the winter, without a rest? How do fertility, soil health, and pest control issues change in an enclosed environment? Finally, what does season extension mean for farmers, who traditionally use winter months to repair, rest, and plan for the spring?

 

Craig Greiner

 

Enjoy three distributions of delicious fall produce from NCF and other local farm partners. The cost is $150 per share, and applications are due at the farm by 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 29. For more information click on late fall share or download the 2016 Late Fall Produce Share Form. The number of shares is limited to 50, so sign up soon!

 

On the last Sunday in September, the farm hosted 700 people at our annual Fall Festival. It was a beautiful day, fall was in the air, and there was fun in every corner. Children, parents, and families all came to enjoy the farm. They made beautiful decorated pumpkins, dug for potatoes, played cornhole, sang with Julia of Music Together, made leaf rubbings, visited the chickens and bunnies, and did the first ever Newton Community Farm Scavenger Hunt. We were happy to partner with b.good, which offered freshly grilled food and will be donating its profits from the event to the farm. Many thanks to all the volunteers who worked hard to set up, staff all the activities, and clean up at the end. And a special mention to Newton high school students who helped at the event through Athletes Serving the Community. The annual Fall Festival is a true community event!

The NCF orchard contains 33 dwarf apple trees of bearing age, including eleven varieties: 8 Honeycrisp, 7 Liberty, 5 Crimson Topaz, 4 Goldrush, 1 Crimson Crisp, 2 Enterprise, 1 Empire, 1 Resi, 2 Galarina, 1 Roxbury Russet, and 1 Florina. All trees have total or partial resistance to apple scab, a major fungal pathogen.

Unlike last year when we had the best all-time harvest, this year we will have the worst all-time harvest. Last year we harvested 800 Honeycrisp apples; this year, only 1. Our Liberty variety produced 600 apples last year, but only 15 this year. Why? First, the weather, especially the cold snap in February, which was severe enough to destroy the fruit buds on 100 percent of the peach trees in the entire state. The damage to the state’s apple crop ranged from 25 to 40 percent, whereas ours was 99 percent.

 

Another factor for our low production was probably that some of our varieties had been allowed to bear too heavily last year, which affects the subsequent year. (We could have avoided this problem last year by thinning more apples). The weak apple bloom in April supports this notion. Another explanation was early season and persistent drought, especially for our orchard, which is a raised bed that dries readily and is not in close contact with the shallow groundwater aquifer under the main part of the farm, thus requiring frequent irrigation. Therefore water delivered during critical apple bud development may have been insufficient.

 

So, growing apples is not so simple, and it appears that there were many factors involved. If you have questions or comments, please contact me at sam@fogel.com.

 

Sam Fogel

 

As 2016’s new volunteer coordinator at Newton Community Farm, I have been so impressed this year by how many people with so many different interests and skills give their time and energy to the farm. Volunteer work is vitally important to the farm to allow us to do many of the things we do. There are so many of you that I can’t name you all without taking up the entirety of the newsletter, but you have helped in many ways: you’ve worked at events cashiering and answering questions; weeded and harvested in the fields; worked at the farm stand and brought donations to food pantries; cooked and chopped for our Dinner on the Farm and baked for the Fall Festival; lugged seedlings and platters of food; served on our education, finance, communications, and events committees; helped with mailings and data input; photographed the farm and written about it; and worked on our Web site, social media, and this newsletter. Newton Community Farm thanks you all.

As this growing season approaches its close, we are already looking ahead to next year and work that needs to be done. Here are several areas where NCF is especially looking for additional volunteers:

Fundraising: Capital Campaign volunteers, mailing help, grant writing
Events: Event organizers for upcoming events
Communications: Communications manager, graphic designer (helping design materials), media calendar liaison (updating event info online), newsletter writer (writing short articles for the farm’s newsletter), social media contributors
Finance: Finance Committee members
Buildings: Project oversight assistance for building and renovation projects

 

If you would like to contribute to the farm in any of these areas, please contact me at volunteers@newtoncommunityfarm.org and note your name, interest, and any information about yourself that might be relevant to the work you are interested in doing. Thanks once again for everything you all have contributed to the farm. We could absolutely not do it without you.

 

Lisa Schumann

Volunteer Coordinator

 

This summer as we think about NCF’s tenth anniversary, we have been working with Historic Newton to research the history of the farm and its neighborhood. We are also considering how we can collaborate on other projects with Historic Newton. One program that Historic Newton will present is a talk on food preservation that will include Margaret and Ken Mallory’s photographs of the farm.

 

Saturday, October 22, 4:00–5:00 p.m.

Durant-Kenrick House and Grounds, 286 Waverley Ave., Newton

 

Fungus to Fermentation: Food Preservation in Early America

An abundant food supply is something we take for granted each morning as we pull fresh produce out of the refrigerator, but in the past, how did people preserve food to get them through the winter or a long journey on a ship? We will explore the science of food preservation and the microbes that both make it happen and those that make it necessary! Through examining stories of our past we will also discuss food poisonings on a large scale and how they influenced history. Join us for a food tasting and a conversation about a common autumn pastime in New England kitchens.

 

We tend to forget that the farm community shares wonderful recipes at a Web site called Shared Harvest. Here you can find recipes―or add recipes of your own. Butternut squash will be harvested at the farm soon; Shared Harvest has a wealth of delicious ways to use this fall gift. You can also peruse recipes using kale and beets. It’s a treasure box. I hope you enjoy it.

 

Susan Tornheim

 

Until 10/22: Tuesdays through Fridays, 1:30–6 (or dusk), and Saturdays, 9:30–1:00. After 10/22: Tuesdays, 1:30–dusk, and Saturdays, 9:30–1:00 until 11/22. Tuesday, 11/22, will be our final day of the season. Join us for our annual Thanksgiving blowout and get all your turkey-day fixings (minus the turkey). Please check our Web site and/or Facebook page for updates, including what's for sale.

 

The farm sells its produce at the Newton Saturday market, which is located on Elm Street in West Newton. It runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the summer and fall.

 

Hours: Wednesdays and Thursdays, two sessions, 8:00–10:00 a.m. and 10:30–12:30; Saturdays, 10:30–12:30. Please read the information on our Web site about volunteer field work so you know what to expect. Then sign up online.

 

Please be sure to check our Facebook page before coming in case of last-minute cancellations.

 

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If you want to be added to our mailing list, click on list. For more information about the farm, e-mail our farm administrator at admin@newtoncommunityfarm.org or check out our Web site at www.newtoncommunityfarm.org (or click on the image at the top of the page).

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