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Dear Farm Friends,

I have been amazed at the abundance of produce that has been pouring out of Newton Community Farm since, it seems, the beginning of the season. Now, in full harvest, we are lugging heavy bags full of our CSA share up the path to our parked car each week. At home, I’m up to my elbows in tomatoes and other veggies, planning suitable recipes for what I can use right now and preserving other produce for the winter. And I feel very grateful.

Your editor,

Susan Tornheim
sftornheim@yahoo.com

Notes from Greg Maslowe, Farm Manager

Coming from the arid west, I’m still amazed after all my years in New England how much rain we can get. Hurricane Irene brought the farm five inches of rain. The next week, we got cold, wet weather and another three-plus inches of rain. In two weeks we got almost half of the total rain my home state of Colorado gets in a year!

What does all that rain mean for the farm? We’re behind on planting for the late fall because the ground has been too wet to work. And crops like tomatoes that are prone to fungal disease are suffering greatly. Irene’s strong winds knocked down almost a third of our tomatoes. We got them all stacked back up, but everything that was on the ground is pretty much dead or close to it. Obviously we’re not as badly off as farmers in Vermont (or in Pennsylvania), or even other farms in this area whose tomato crops are pretty much over. We still have some plants that will continue producing through the end of September. It can still be quite a shock, though, to see how quickly a crop can decline based solely on the whims of the weather.

Tonight is the Harvest Moon, and despite the decline of the tomatoes, we’re still enjoying a bountiful harvest. The fullness of the Harvest Moon reflects not only the fullness of the harvest but also the fullness of our days on the farm. Every minute is filled with activity as we try to balance harvesting, planting, preparing for our Fall Festival (after all, we want the farm to look great for our big event), hiring a new education coordinator, keeping our barn renovation on track, and trying to get our new hoophouse built before the cold weather arrives. Our days are frenetic, making us feel like the squirrels, bees, and other animals trying to get as much done as possible before the short days of winter.

I always like to take a moment at this time of year to acknowledge all of our high school interns, who spent a good part of their summer volunteering on the farm, working alongside Megan and me, and making the farm a success. We had a great group of students this year. I hope you’ll have a chance to meet some of them at our Fall Festival when they’ll be leading tours of the field and again helping to do whatever needs to be done. One of the great pleasures of running a community farm is looking out over the fields and seeing so many young people working together and enjoying physical labor. It’s great for the farm and, I hope, a great experience for them.

Next time you visit the farm you’re very likely to meet one, or both, of our newest farm residents: Oslo and Thompson, our barn cats. They were acquired through the Animal Rescue League of Boston’s barn cat rescue program to help control rodents in the barn. Both turn out to be very social. They love trying to get attention. They are, however, like all the animals on the farm, working animals, not pets. They can play rough, and kids (and parents) might not be used to this, so please be sure to supervise children when interacting with any animals on the farm.

I’m really looking forward to the Fall Festival—the music, the festivities, and all the people enjoying time on the farm. I hope you’re able to make it. I look forward to seeing you there.

Greg Maslowe

Harvest Festival

Plan to celebrate fall at Newton Community Farm’s

6th Annual Harvest Festival!

When: Sunday, September 25, 2011 Rain or shine.

Time: 11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
Cost: Free entry. Tacos, soup, baked goods and other food will be available for sale.
Who: Adults, children, families, friends! Invite friends and neighbors.
Activities: Live music, children’s activities, pumpkin decorating, delicious food, farm info, and more.

Don’t miss this popular, lively event!

Harvest Festival Help Wanted!

We are looking for volunteers to help with the Harvest Festival. It’s a great way to enjoy the farm and help build the NCF community. For CSA sharers, it also counts as work hours. We can use volunteers for the following shifts:

• Set up: 8:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m.
• Shift 1: 10:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
• Shift 2: 1:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m.
• Clean up: 3:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

Please indicate whether you prefer to help with children’s activities, food, and/or general events.

To volunteer, contact KC Yoon at ncfarmevents@gmail.com.

Calling Bakers

Need Bake Sale Donations for the Harvest Festival

Do you like to bake? If so, your delicious products can do good while they please the palate if you donate a baked good to this year’s Harvest Festival. The money we make from selling these tasty items helps support our educational programming. If you’d like to donate a baked goody, let us know at ncfarmevents@gmail.com.. Please bring your donation to the farm between 9 and 11 a.m. on Sunday, September 25. We cannot take cakes that need refrigeration such as cheesecakes. Please include a list of ingredients.

Upcoming Classes

Just for kids:
Budding Chefs, 2-Part Series, Wed., 9/14, and Wed., 9/21, 3:30–5 p.m. (grades 3–5)
Early Release: Thurs., 10/6, 1–2:30 p.m.

For Adults:
Jam and Jelly Making, Thurs., 9/15, 7–8:30 p.m.
Growing in Small Spaces, Sat., 9/17, 9–11:30 a.m.
Indoor Composting for Winter, Sat., 10/1, 10–11:30 p.m.
Extending the Growing Season, Sat., 10/15, 3–5 p.m.
Fall Soups, Sun., 10/16, 2–4:30 p.m.
Beer Brewing, 2 Thursdays, 11/3 and 11/10, 7–9 p.m.
Bread from Scratch, Wed., 11/9, 7–9 p.m.
Cheese Making, (Date TBD)

September tends to be a busy month as we say good-bye to the summer season and look ahead to fall. Kids are back in school, summer vacations have come to an end, and life settles into a new pattern. Here at the farm we are undergoing a transition, too―from summer camps and story hours for kids to classes and workshops for adults on weekends and weeknights. We still have a few offerings for our younger friends (“Budding Chefs” and “Early Release”), but most of our fall programming is geared toward cool-weather gardening and helping make the most of the last of your fresh produce. For those of you who have some growing space, take a look at our “Growing in Small Spaces” and “Extending the Growing Season” classes. For those of you who love to eat, I highly recommend choosing from our lengthy list of cooking and preserving courses. We will be preserving, brewing, fermenting, and cooking up a storm this fall. Please join us as we celebrate this year’s bounty. And with so much cooking in the coming months, it would be a shame to throw all of those nutrient-rich food scraps into the garbage. Join Carolyn Arond as she helps students build their own vermi- composting bins in October!

Click here for more class information.

Kelly Lake

Feast for the Farm

Join us on Tuesday evening, October 18, for fine dining and an evening with friends that will strengthen our own Newton Community Farm. Chef Mike Leviton’s Lumière restaurant in West Newton is considered to be among the finest restaurants in the Boston area, and we take over the entire place for the evening. It’s an exciting experience (because of his creative menu) and yet mellow (because of the fine wine pairings that are served with each course). He generously creates a four-course dinner for us, with vegetarian options for each course. Besides his culinary reputation, he is known as a leader in promoting and serving local, sustainable, and humanely raised food, including his meat and fish choices, and serves as a leader in the Chef’s Collaborative. He has been a supporter of our farm since its beginning.

So join us for our major annual fundraiser at this beautiful restaurant. You’ll enjoy the evening and its exceptional value, because we have kept the same price, $150 per person, since its inception, and we offer you a major tax deduction as well ($65 per person). We also recognize Sponsors’ and Patrons’ additional donations in the evening’s printed program. Details will appear in the invitation you receive in the mail. If you have questions, call Jerry Regosin at 740-503-2669 or jregosin@aol.com.

Jerry Regosin

Meet Two NCF Interns

Charlotte is a high school junior who worked at NCF this season as a first-year summer intern. Looking for something interesting to do for the summer, she decided to volunteer at the farm. She likes it so much that she will probably volunteer again. She also has a home garden where she grows carrots and beets. Charlotte likes to see the farm at different stages and enjoys the range of tasks including planting seeds, weeding, and harvesting vegetables. She is particularly good at peeling garlic (it doesn’t make her cry!) and picking tomatoes (fun to eat along the way!). Charlotte’s favorite vegetables are carrots and cherry tomatoes, and she likes to eat them alone or with salad dressing.

Finishing his second year as an intern at the farm, Ben says he will definitely volunteer for the farm again in the future. Ben, entering his junior year in high school, has a large garden at home and loves to grow his own food. He is involved in the farm because he thinks it is important to know where food comes from and how it is grown. One of Ben’s favorite tasks at the farm is weeding because he likes to help the plants thrive. He also likes the orderly look of the farm when the beds are marked, weeded, and lush with plants. Ben’s favorite vegetable, okra, is not common to New England; he enjoys okra stew with tomatoes, okra, and garlic.

Dede Vittori

Start Your Compost Pile With Autumn Leaves

Your dead leaves and kitchen waste can help your garden. All you need to do is start and tend a compost pile, following instructions provided by Eric Olson, an ecologist at Brandeis University and a lifelong composter.

Why compost?

You can fertilize naturally and improve your soil’s texture by adding compost. Compost is created by a natural process of decomposition that turns your organic matter into humus–odor-free, uniformly textured material that holds water well and slowly releases nutrients into your garden. This biological process relies on bacteria and worms in the process Olson recommends for beginners.

Build your compost pile.

Autumn is the perfect time to start your compost pile. Here’s how Olson suggests you start.

1. Collect six to eight large bags of dead leaves.

2. Place the leaves in a bin made of chicken wire. It can be as simple as a large circle to hold your pile in place. You don’t need a massive bin with a cover. Some people buy those to fend off rodents. Olson says, “We’ve never attracted any rodents in 10 years of composting.”

3. Start adding kitchen waste. You can add any plant matter. Stay away from meat, bones, cheese, grease, and other animal products as well as moldy bread or pasta. These materials will attract animals.

You’re aiming for an ideal ratio of three parts leaves to one part kitchen waste. When you begin composting in the fall the ratio will be more like 100 to 1. Over the course of the year, your pile will become steadily richer in kitchen waste. Come spring, earthworms from the surrounding soil are sure to arrive, accelerating the decomposition process.

Olson leaves a pitchfork out by his compost pile so that each time he adds his kitchen waste he can mix it with a few quick jabs. After about a month, thoroughly pitchfork your bin contents to mix the fresh kitchen waste into the carbon-rich leaves. Bringing your nitrogen-rich kitchen waste into contact with the leaves gives the pile’s bacteria the balanced diet they need to create compost. It also reduces the chance that parts of the pile develop bad odors, and it thoroughly hides any scraps that might attract, for example, a curious squirrel. Repeat this process monthly, trying to dig in the wastes and bring up a fresh batch of leaves. Turning speeds decomposition. It also allows you to observe the process of decomposition.

If you’re worried about odors, you can rest easy when following Olson’s method. “A compost pile doesn’t smell as long as you start with a good amount of brown leaves,” he says. However, don’t treat grass clippings as a substitute for leaves. When you fill your bin with a mixture of only grass and kitchen waste, you’ll get a slimy mess that is almost guaranteed to produce nasty odors, Olson says. When he mows his lawn, Olson lets the grass clippings fall where they may, so they can decay and release their nutrients directly back to the soil.

The process described above should yield compost in about one year. Of course, eventually your bin will start to fill up or you’ll want to stop adding new wastes so the decomposition process can complete. This is why Olson typically starts a second bin for fresh waste while continuing to turn the contents of original bin. “By the time the second pile is done, we’ve emptied the first pile and spread it,” he says.

What are you waiting for? Get started now!

Susan B. Weiner

A Word from our New Manager

In last month’s newletter Greg described Megan Talley as his “super assistant.” In the coming months Megan will be taking over the reins as farm manager while Greg and his family travel to the South Pacific. Here’s a chance to learn more about Megan in her own words.

Thanks

* Anne Kalis, Amy Volk, Jane Wilcox, Carolyn Arond, and Katie Cormier for designing, leading, and coordinating our “Farm Sprouts Story Hour” program this summer.
* Many thanks to Chipotle Mexican Grill for free burritos every Friday for our campers.
* Thanks to Tany Horgan from Green City Growers for helping to teach our Garden City Rollers crew about organic plant care at Temple Beth Avodah’s new school garden.

Recipes

I think turnips are an underappreciated vegetable, so I’ve entered a recipe into the farm wiki called Pureed Turnips and Potatoes. It pairs two root vegetables that work well together, and it’s perfect as the weather starts getting cooler and we start adding more stick-to-the-ribs dishes to our meals.

Click here to see the recipe.

Susan Tornheim

Farm Stand Hours

Tuesday through Friday, 2–7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

Volunteer hours

Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, 9 a.m.–noon

Please contact us if you have any questions about this newsletter or ideas for future issues, or if you want to be added to our mailing list. Just e-mail Susan Tornheim at sftornheim@yahoo.com. For more information about the farm, e-mail Greg Maslowe at greg@newtoncommunityfarm.org

Dear Farm Friends,

While we’re enjoying August, the end of summer is in sight. And as you will read in this issue, a lot will be happening in the next few months. Ideas are turning into plans, events are sprouting on the schedule, and people are working to make things happen.

Check out what’s in store; you might want to take part.
Your editor,

Susan Tornheim
sftornheim@yahoo.com

Notes from Greg Maslowe, Farm Manager

Harvest Festival Volunteers Wanted!

Garden City Rollers Pilot a Success!

 

If you happened to pass by a group of young bikers on the streets of Newton during the week of August 1 to 5, chances are you saw our Garden City Rollers pilot program in action. A dead giveaway might have been the trailer being towed at the end of the line, from which the long wooden handles of shovels, rakes, and hoes could be seen protruding. After an orientation session that covered bike safety, bike mechanics, and a crash course in garden maintenance, our crew of five middle schoolers pulled weeds, dug and mulched pathways, planted carrots, and harvested radishes as they helped tend three school garden plots at Oak Hill, Solomon Schechter Day School, and Temple Beth Avodah.

This year’s pilot program lasted only one week, and while we were able to help out some school gardens, we hope to be even more involved next year. As more schools in and around Newton install schoolyard gardens (a great way to collaborate on environmental science and nutrition education), a common struggle emerges:  Parents and teachers work together to get the gardens off to a great start in the spring, while school is still in session; but finding steady support throughout the summer can be a challenge as family vacations, summer camps, and hopefully some R&R dominate our schedules. As summer progresses, so do the weeds and―you guessed it―by the time the kids come back to school in the fall the garden beds are a lesson in plant succession as cultivated crops die off from neglect while more tenacious invasive species thrive.

Next summer we plan to have four to six middle school students who will make up the Garden City Rollers Crew. For the months of July and August, the crew will work with schools to ensure that gardens are watered, weeded, mulched, and maintained. The GCR Crew will also be able to install or expand gardens for schools that would like to begin a garden where one doesn’t already exist. If you work with any school within biking distance from the farm and are interested in collaborating on this exciting project, please get in touch with us now so that we can plan for next year!

Kelly Lake

The Garden City Rollers Crew

Meet a NCF Intern

 

Jenny is a high school junior who has been working at Newton Community Farm since June as a first-year summer intern.

Not able to find a summer job (too young!), she decided an internship on the farm would be a good alternative, since she has an interest in food and cooking and wanted to learn more about growing food. Jenny likes the experience so much she will probably volunteer again. She is also planning to have a home garden and participate in a farm apprenticeship program in the future. Her favorite task so far has been harvesting basil because it smells sweet like a candy bar. Her favorite vegetable is eggplant, especially in eggplant parmesan sandwiches and pasta with roasted eggplant.

 

NCF is fortunate to have a crew of enthusiastic summer interns like Jenny!                                                                                         NCF Interns Anna (left) and Jenny (right)

 

Dede Vittori

Thanks

 

We wish to thank the following volunteers who helped prepare the food for the Dinner on the Farm: Bernice Cramer, Sue Flicop, Sheryl Kalis, and Lorel Zar-Kessler. Your efforts are appreciated and greatly contributed to the success of the event. Also thanks to Jenny Craddock for setup and cleanup help, and to Dede Vittori for cleanup help.

 

We wish to extend a huge thank you to the following people who work on NCF’s communication team:

Newsletter:  Susan Tornheim (editor), Mark Geffen, Susan Weiner, Margaret and Ken Mallory

Web site:  Kelly Lake, Lisa Janice Cohen

E-mails:  Maureen Kelley

Lawn Signs:  Jerry Regosin, Josh Nichols-Barrer

Want a Composting Bin?

Rotating tumbler composter available free to first taker. Barely used and in good shape.  If interested, contact bakervittori@comcast.net.

 

Recipes

In recent months I’ve had trouble entering recipes into the farm’s recipe list, and the recipes I wrote about last month are still not posted. So I apologize and have included them below. I hope you enjoy them.

 

Cold Cabbage Soup

(from Jane Brody’s Good Food Book)

 

2 cups broth

1 cup finely shredded green cabbage

1 Tb. snipped fresh dill

1 Tb. prepared mustard

1 tsp. sugar

½ medium cucumber, cored to remove seeds, and finely diced

2 cups buttermilk or low-fat yogurt (thinned with water if necessary)

2 Tb. minced parsley

 

In a medium saucepan, heat the broth, add the cabbage, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the dill, mustard, and sugar. Then add the cucumber and buttermilk. Chill well before serving. Taste to adjust seasonings and garnish with the parsley.

 

Liz’s Kale Salad

(From Cindy Scott, El Cerrito, CA)

This recipe uses raw kale, which is “cooked” by the dressing. It’s delicious even if you don’t have any sprouts.

 

¼ cup sunflower seeds

¼ cup pumpkin seeds

¼ cup sesame seeds

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce

1 lb. raw kale, deveined and cut into strips

1 small red onion, sliced thin

Handful of pea or sunflower sprouts

 

Toast the 3 types of seeds and let them cool. Mix the oil, lemon juice, and soy sauce in a large bowl. Soak onion in the bowl with the dressing to soften. Toss and massage the raw kale strips in the bowl using hands. Toss in seeds and sprouts. Let it sit for 10 minutes to soften.

 

Susan Tornheim

 

 

Farm Stand Hours

Tuesday through Friday, 2–7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

 

Volunteer hours

Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, 9 a.m.–noon

Farm Wish List

8×8 landscaping timbers, at least 7 feet long

If you can help us with this item, please contact Greg Maslowe at

617-916-9655 or at greg@newtoncommunityfarm.org. We are a

501(c)3 organization. Your donations may be tax-deductible. Thank you for your support!   

Please contact us if you have any questions about this newsletter or ideas for future issues, or if you want to be added to our mailing list. Just e-mail Susan Tornheim at sftornheim@yahoo.com. For more information about the farm, e-mail Greg Maslowe at greg@newtoncommunityfarm.org or check out our Web page at newtoncommunityfarm.org (or click on the image at the top of the page).

---

     updates on class listings, events, NCF news and more!

Dear Farm Friends,

Golden days, heat like an oven blast, sheets of rain―it’s summer! I love going past the farm and seeing what’s growing. And produce from farm is available from CSA shares, the farm stand, and the Friday farmers’ market in Nonantum.

Happy summer to all.

Your editor,

Susan Tornheim
sftornheim@yahoo.com

Notes from Greg Maslowe, Farm Manager

Job Opening

Summer Programs

Farm Wish List

     updates on class listings, events, NCF news and more!

Dear Farm Friends,

As you will read below, the season has started with a rush of abundance on the farm. I am trying to cope with that abundance at home by making huge salads and by steaming and then freezing chard and other such greens. Now I need to start hanging up bunches of herbs to dry when I have more than I can use quickly. Happy munching and happy summer solstice!

Your editor,

Susan Tornheim
sftornheim@yahoo.com
sftornheim@yahoo.com

Notes from Greg Maslowe, Farm Manager

The mad rush of June is on. We’re harvesting five days a week for our various markets, which are now all open: farm stand, farmers’ market, food pantry, and CSA. But we’re still in the thick of planting season, with many of the hot-weather crops still going into the ground: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, summer squash. Not to mention all the ongoing planting, in the field and in the greenhouse, to ensure that we have a steady supply of lettuce, herbs, and greens throughout the season and to prepare for our fall plantings.

As if harvesting for four markets and being in the middle of planting season isn’t enough, the combination of very hot weather with rain is making for a great crop of summertime weeds. Those banes of all gardeners—pigweed and purslane—are growing like crazy. Good thing Oprah has let out what many NCF supporters already know—purslane is actually tasty and incredibly good for you. Now if only she’d do a feature on the benefits of pigweed, we’d be able to skip all our seeding and transplanting and just let the weeds grow! Pigweed, AKA amaranth, is grown for both its leaves and for grain in many parts of the world. Here, it goes onto the compost pile.

As you visit—or drive by—the farm this season you may notice something different from years past: rows of plants growing on black plastic. We’re doing what’s called “trialing” in farming. That is, we’re testing a new product (or seed variety) to see how we like it. I’ve avoided using plastic for a long time, but there’s a new brand out that doesn’t just break down into little bits of plastic as many older “biodegradable” plastics did. This one, being plant-based, actually decomposes. So we’re giving it a try. Growing on plastic has many advantages. It heats up the soil more quickly than bare soil, and it allows you to cover the soil earlier than you could if you were using straw or leaves as a mulch (because it actually heats the soil, whereas straw and leaves keep it cool). It also does a better job at suppressing weeds. We’ll see what we think at the end of the season. We’re using it not just for tomatoes but for our eggplant and peppers as well. I hope it pays off by increasing our yields and saving us time weeding.

Greg Maslowe

Summer Programming

 

Thanks to everyone who came out for a class or two on the farm this spring. It has been a busy season! So far we have built worm composting bins, learned about growing in small spaces and raising backyard chickens, and more. We also started our popular Ready, Set, Grow series for young children and their parents. The class participants built a new sunflower house f

or all to enjoy this summer. We are happy to report that the sunflowers are alive and growing―make sure to track their progress as you walk through the learning garden this season.

Looking ahead, we still have openings in all three of our summer camp programs for youth entering grades 3 to 9. You can read about them on our Web site. Our Farm Sprouts story hour for preschoolers begins July 12 and repeats every Tuesday until August 23 from 10 to 11 a.m. The cost is $5 per family group. Read more here.

We are also offering adults and older kids an opportunity to get up close to what we have growing in our fields throughout the growing season. One evening each month our farmer, Greg, will lead a field walk through the various growing spaces at Newton Community Farm. If you have ever wondered what is actually going on out in the field, or how we manage to grow so much sustainably on such a small space, or if you have a garden of your own and want to compare notes, this is a relaxed and informative evening you won’t want to miss. Read more about our field walks here.

You can contact our education coordinator, Kelly Lake, directly:
email: Kelly Lake education@newtoncommunityfarm.org
phone: 617-916-9655

Event: Strawberry Solstice
Family Event
Sunday, June 19

Come celebrate Father’s Day and the summer solstice with us! We’ll have strawberry- and sun-themed activities such as making your own sundial, planting sunflowers, bubble printing, creating your own musical instruments, and taking part in relay races. There will be fresh strawberries and desserts for sale.

Sunday, June 19
1-3 p.m.
At Newton Community Farm
Ages: Preschool-3rd grade, with adult
Fee: $5 per family
Click here for a PDF of the event flyer

Seedling Sale

The farm celebrated the beginning of the growing season here in New England with its third annual Seedling Sale. This year we expanded the event to two afternoons, and despite some gray and soggy weather the event was a great success. We sold most of the 20,000 seedlings we had for sale, all of which were grown right here on the farm (except for some basil seedlings―thanks to Natick Community Farm for growing those for us!). For those of you who made it out and purchased some plants, we hope they are tucked into their new homes and adjusting nicely. If you need some growing tips, check out our online resource that we started this year.

This event would not have been possible without a dedicated and energetic group of volunteers. A special thanks to those who worked on this event: Barbara Andersson, Peter Barrer, Judy Nichols, Claire and Dan Caine, Maresa and Derek Weems, Valori Treloar, Anne Drowns, Karen Emmons, Sam and Margaret Fogel, Paul Garrity, Linda Huang, Ruth Lederman, Ken and Margaret Mallory, Mithra Merryman, Becky Mosher, Mark Rosen, Anne and Burke Ryder, Patrick Bassett, Kathe Shaw-Basset (and your great kids!), Dede Vittori, Elaine Whalen, Alexandra Ananth, Amy Sellke, Caroline Kerrigan, Carolyn Arond, Ellie Huberman, Ed and Jenny Craddock, Jerry Regosin, Lucy Stair, Macy Tubman, Ruth Nussbaum, Trudy Lanman, Rick Dinjian, Josh Nichols-Barrer, Carol Chapman, Cathy Chapman, Humi Vishniavsky, Sam Cohen, and of course our amazing farm staff: Greg Maslowe, Megan Talley, and Kelly Lake.

A Light Supper… and watch the sun set

Our favorite farmer, Greg, and the Board of Directors invite you to spend an Evening on the Farm with us on Tuesday, July 19, from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. Come anytime during that period, stay as long as you wish, and share a light supper of wine, cheese, crudités, salad, country bread, pita, beer, and more. If the scenery alone doesn’t cool you, perhaps music by the Dixie Butterhounds will.

This is a fundraiser to help us expand our educational programming. Reservations are $30 per person, with at least 50% expected to be tax-deductible. Friends of the Farm will receive a 30% discount―$21 per person. If you have thought about becoming a Friend but just haven’t done it yet, sign up now on our Web site and take advantage of this benefit almost immediately. Other information and benefits are listed there. (Our other fundraising event is a multicourse dinner at Lumière Restaurant in West Newton in October.)

If you’d like to help create this event, contact Jerry at 740-503-2669 or jregosin@aol.com.

Our capacity is limited, so make your reservations soon. Last year we had to turn people away from a more formal dinner. In case of rain, we will assemble in the barn―more crowded but definitely a worthwhile evening.

Jerry Regosin

Nahanton Park Update

In March Jeff Collins of Mass Audubon presented the initial inventory for the Nahanton Park Natural Resources Inventory and Management Plan Study. This four-season study, sponsored in part by the Newton Conservators and Newton Community Farm, is meant to present an overall picture of how Nahanton Park is used by visitors and the type of natural habitat it offers for wildlife. The goal of the study is to provide a plan for how this habitat can be preserved while also enhancing the enjoyment of human visitors to the park.

Newton Community Farm is hopeful that the study will show that our proposal to use some land at Nahanton Park for farming is consistent with both goals. In the coming months we intend to present Mass Audubon with some ideas and proposals to show how our presence at Nahanton Park would be beneficial to all users of the park, including its natural inhabitants. If you have any ideas or comments about how our use of land at Nahanton would benefit the park, please send your thoughts in an e-mail to newtoncommunityfarm@comcast.net.

Rick Dinjian

Recipes

As I’m sure you have noticed, we’re in the midst of early season greens. Chard, spinach, arugula and lettuce are filling up my CSA share, so I’ve posted a recipe for a salad that’s based on raw spinach and includes lots of other goodies. Look for Spinach Salad – Meal in a Bowl on the farm list of recipes.

Click here for the farm’s list of recipes.

Susan Tornheim

Farm Stand Hours

Tuesday through Friday, 2-7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Volunteer Hours

Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 9 to 12 starting the last week of April.

Wish List

bookcases for our expanding educational library
small totes or boxes with lids for educational materials

If you can help us with any of these items, please contact Greg Maslowe at 617-916-9655 or at greg@newtoncommunityfarm.org. We are a 501(c)3 organization. Your donations may be tax-deductible. Thank you for your support!

Please contact us if you have any questions about this newsletter or ideas for future issues, or if you want to be added to our mailing list. Just e-mail Susan Tornheim at sftornheim@yahoo.com. For more information about the farm, e-mail Greg Maslowe at greg@newtoncommunityfarm.org or check out our Web page at newtoncommunityfarm.org (or click on the image at the top of the page).

Dear Farm Friends,

I have a perennial tug of war: gardening versus the rest of my life. The rest of my life usually wins, which is why I am the editor of the farm newsletter instead of spending time gardening in my yard. But I truly enjoy looking at gardens and admiring them and feel great respect for those who create and maintain them. So I accept that I am a minimal gardener and simply try to do a little to improve and beautify my yard each year. If I do a reasonable job watering and protecting what I plant, then I am rewarded the next spring.

Your editor,
Susan Tornheim
sftornheim@yahoo.com

Notes from Greg Maslowe, Farm Manager

Our farm stand opened April 30 this year—a record for Newton Community Farm. I wasn’t necessarily planning on opening the stand that early; we usually shoot for opening around the time of our plant sale in mid-May. It’s just that we had too much good stuff in the field and needed to start selling it. Since we don’t typically close until Thanksgiving that means the farm stand will be open for almost eight months this year!

So how is it that we’re harvesting fresh produce in April? This is not produce taken from a cooler or root cellar or brought in from a farm in the south, but fresh-picked vegetables grown right here in Newton. Some of it comes from planting perennial crops that get us off to an early start—rhubarb, asparagus, and sorrel (a great, lemony flavored green for those not familiar with it), for example. But other items we had in April are things that you might not expect that early in the year: lettuce, carrots, and scallions. These items, and a couple of others (kale and spinach), were planted late in the summer—August or early September—last year and overwintered in the field.

So still there’s the question of how we managed to keep all these crops alive over the winter in the field. Without a doubt Mother Nature helped us this year. The deep snow cover created an insulating blanket that protected the crops from bitter cold and desiccating winds. But we can’t (alas) rely in eastern Massachusetts on heavy snow cover. So was this year just a fluke? No. We do actually plan for early harvests using a couple of different techniques. First, we plant crops that we know are cold hardy—like spinach, kale, and scallions. These plants, even without cover, will usually survive the winter for an early spring harvest. By covering them with a row cover we increase the chances of them coming through the winter in great shape. Crops like lettuce and carrots aren’t quite as cold hardy and definitely require the protection of a row cover to keep them going through the depths of winter. There are also some secrets, like going into the winter with plants that are the right age. Mature lettuce plants can’t handle winter, nor can very young seedlings. But there is a stage in its growth when lettuce is actually quite capable of handling very cold weather.

As I mentioned last month, one of our projects this summer on the farm will be building a new, movable hoophouse. We received a grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (a branch of the USDA) to build the hoophouse as part of a program to promote session extension. Once built, the hoophouse will allow us to get an early start in the spring on things like tomatoes, and during the winter months to have even more crops like spinach ready to harvest. Perhaps in the coming years this new hoophouse will allow us to expand our farm stand from eight months, to nine, ten, or more! Wouldn’t it be great to know that you can have fresh, local produce almost all year long? Once our barn is renovated we hope we’ll also be able to store crops like winter squash, potatoes, onions, cabbage, and apples so that we can have even greater offerings early (and also late) in the year.

There are many challenges to creating a sustainable, local food economy in New England. Winter is certainly one of them. But it’s not insurmountable. With a little creativity and planning, the harvest season can be extended well beyond what you might think. At NCF we enjoy talking with other farmers about the tricks they’re using to extend their harvest and experimenting with new ideas. While we certainly don’t have all the answers, we’re committed to being one of the places that pushes the boundary a little bit further.

Greg Maslowe

Save the Date! Strawberry Solstice
June 19, 1-3 p.m.

Come celebrate Father’s Day and the summer solstice with us! We’ll have strawberry- and sun-themed activities such as making your own sundial, planting sunflowers, bubble printing, and taking part in relay races. Fresh strawberries for sale!

At Newton Community Farm
Ages: Preschool-3rd grade, with adult
Fee: $5 per family

Summer Programming

We are off to a great start this year, with several sold-out gardening classes for kids and adults―a big thank-you to those who have made it out to enjoy some spring sun on the farm! For those of you who are interested in signing up for a class or a workshop, stay up to date by visiting us online (at www.newtoncommunityfarm.org/education/classes) or by following us on Twitter or Facebook. New summer listings will be posted soon. In the meantime, we have three exciting summer programs planned for kids entering grades 3 to 9. Read on to learn more about these exciting weekly summer programs for youth.

Farmer in Training program for middle school students: You are probably familiar with this popular program, which will be running for its third year this season. We still have some openings for the following weeks: July 11–15, July 18–22, July 25–29, and August 22–26.

New! Farmer in Training program for 3-5 graders: We are excited to announce that we are opening this successful program to children entering grades 3 to 5 for two weeks this summer. Every day, students will do some light gardening on the farm and will learn about plants, chickens, and bunnies. We will also harvest produce straight from the fields and learn about cooking with fruits and veggies, and we will be doing garden-related crafts together. This programming is being offered the week of August 8 and again the week of August 15.

Garden City Rollers Pilot Program for middle school students: Garden City Rollers is Newton Community Farm’s new summer program that connects youth to school and community gardens throughout the city of Newton. The Garden City Rollers crew will spend one week (August 1–5) visiting various garden plots in Newton by bicycle. The 2011 pilot will be developed into a six-week internship for middle school students in 2012!

To learn more about any of these exciting programs, or for registration details, please visit us online

You can also contact our education coordinator, Kelly Lake, directly:
email: Kelly Lake education@newtoncommunityfarm.org
phone: 617-916-9655

Newton Community Farm Stand and Farmers’ Market

NCF will continue to provide fresh, tasty, and locally grown produce from the farm at the on-site farm stand and at the Newton Farmer’s Market when it starts up in June. Here are the details:

On-Site Farm Stand
At the farm, on Winchester Street
Tues.-Fri.., 2 p.m.–7 p.m. Open June 7
Sat., 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Open now

Newton Farmers’ Market (Friday location only)
American Legion Post 440 Parking Lot
295 California St., Nonantum
Fridays, noon-5 p.m.
Begins Friday, June 17, and runs through October 7

NCF’s on-site stand was very successful in 2010, and sales grew as the summer progressed. NCF has also had a regular presence at the Friday farmer’s market since it opened, the same year the farm began operations. This year we will continue to sell a selection of popular, seasonal items such as asparagus, lettuce, tomatoes, sweet corn, and cucumbers. We have also made a few changes to the farm stand including better signage about the honor system and how to pay.

We thank you for your support in the past and hope you will visit us again this year at the farm stand and farmer’s market. Please spread the word about us to your family and friends. You can get more information about the farmer’s market at the City of Newton Farmers’ Market Web site at http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/Parks/specialevents/FarmersMarket/FarmersMarket.htm.

For directions to the farm stand on the farm, click here.
 

Prepare Your Soil Now, Harvest More Veggies Later

All soil is not created equal. It’s likely that the soil around your home does not offer optimal conditions for growing vegetables. Its texture, acidity, and mineral composition may be inhospitable. However, you can easily improve your soil’s characteristics. Follow the instructions below, which were provided by Sam Fogel, Margaret Fogel, and Janet Springfield, to improve your odds of having a healthy vegetable crop.

Your Soil’s Drawbacks
Plant roots must be able to work their way through your soil. Rocky or compacted soil makes this difficult. Construction rubble also presents a barrier to root growth. The acidity or alkalinity of your soil—also known as its pH—affects nutrients’ availability for your plants. With the right pH level, your plants will absorb more nutrients.

Plants need nutrients to grow. Without nitrogen, plants can’t create the proteins that drive their growth. Phosphorus is essential for creating DNA, and potassium is needed for making more efficient use of water. Plants use so much of these three nutrients that gardeners must typically add them to soil. Plants find other minerals essential, but they only need smaller quantities of these.

You can fix your soil by following the two-step process below. Ideally you should take these steps in early spring, before you plant.

Step 1: Assess Your Soil
You need to assess your soil to prepare it most effectively for growing vegetables. If you planned ahead, you may have obtained a scientific assessment of your soil. The University of Massachusetts Extension Service in Amherst, Massachusetts (http://www.umass.edu/soiltest/list_of_services.htm), will analyze your soil samples for as little as $10. The Standard Soil Test identifies your soil’s pH, what additions would enhance the quality of your soil, and whether common toxic elements are present.

As of May, it’s too late to send your soil samples to UMass and get results before the growing season starts. But don’t fret. You can use a less formal approach. Pick up some soil and squeeze it together in your hand. If it sticks tightly together, it has too much clay. If it falls apart, it has too much sand.

Step 2: Enhance Your Soil
You can fix the flaws uncovered by the informal soil test. If your soil has too much clay, add sand to improve its texture. If your soil is too loose, you can improve it with clay or peat moss, which is easier to find.

The right compost can address most of your soil’s other issues. Compost made from leaves is rich in phosphorus and potassium. Supplement leaves with coffee grounds for a nitrogen boost. Compost also improves the soil’s texture. This makes soil better able to hold moisture and to drain.

If you don’t have the patience to use compost, you’ll find different mixes of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium at your garden center. With the results of a UMass soil test, you can pick the precise mix that’s best for your soil. Watch how your plants respond and adjust your fertilizing frequency accordingly. For example, too much fertilizer will grow your tomato plants’ leaves at the expense of their fruit. Fertilize too little, and you’ll have scrawny plants.

If a UMass test revealed that your soil is too acid, you can correct its pH by adding compost or lime. Around Newton, you’re more likely to find soil that’s too acid rather than too alkaline.

Act Now!
Gardening season has arrived. The steps you take now to prepare your soil will pay off over the life of your garden.

Susan B. Weiner

Orchard Notes: May 11, 2011

Our 19 dwarf apple trees are now in full bloom, and as apple farmers say, in their 4th leaf (year). They have reached this white blossom stage after a harrowing winter in which their lower branches were chewed on by hungry rabbits. The apple trees also survived, rather well, attacks this spring by winter moths, thanks to timely sprays with the bioinsecticide Spinosad. We will soon see what type of fruit set we get. If it’s heavy, we may have to thin apples to limit the number of fruits to ensure large size, as it takes about 40 leaves to support the growth of one apple. Finally, eight new “disease resistant “dwarf trees have been planted including varieties such as Honeycrisp (two), Goldrush (two), and one each of Galerina, Crimson Crisp, Florina Querina, and Liberty.

Sam Fogel

Recipes

Asparagus is still in season, so this is the time to make Spaghetti with Asparagus, a light treatment of spaghetti that is a lovely pairing. Kale is another starring vegetable in May, and it is delicious with peanut sauce on it, so look at the Chinese-influenced version I’ve added to the farm’s list of recipes.

Click here for the farm’s list of recipes.

Susan Tornheim

Volunteer Hours

Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 9 to 12 starting the last week of April.

Wish List

Canvas market umbrella
Pressure-treated 8′x8′ timbers, at least 7 feet long
Wood cable spool (the kind that utility companies use)

I’m sure that you have been enjoying all the signs of spring as they tease us. This first issue of the new season seems like another sign, and it is full of farm-related news. The joint is jumpin’, as you will see as you read.

Welcome to the new season!

Your editor,
Susan Tornheim
sftornheim@yahoo.com

Notes from Greg Maslowe, Farm Manager

I keep a garden journal, irregularly, but I try to keep up with it. I started it when I began farming here at Newton Community Farm. It’s interesting to be able to look back and see what was going on at the same time of year a year ago, two years ago, six years ago. It’s been a cold spring. I know that because in most of the last six years we’ve already been harvesting asparagus by now, whereas this year the first shoots are just starting to poke their heads out of the ground. The cold temperatures have kept the soil cold, too, so we didn’t get our peas in the ground as early as I wanted. Or rather, we didn’t bother putting them in as soon as I wanted because they would have just lain there anyway, waiting for warmer weather.

But now we’re off and running. The field is getting turned and crops are going in. The greenhouse is slowly but surely filling up, in anticipation of both our season and our annual seedling sale. We’re working hard to get all the perennials ready for the season—last-minute pruning, cleaning up the flower gardens and herbs, and planting replacements for anything that died over the winter. The heavy snow cover this winter helped many of our perennials by acting as, at times, a three-foot-deep mulch. Not only did many of the perennials love it, but it helped us overwinter spinach, lettuce, scallions, and carrots. Again, all protected by the blanket of snow. Unfortunately, our fruit trees did not fare as well. The deep snow allowed mice and voles to get at the trees above their protective wrappings and chew away at their bark. We’ll see over the next few months how many of our trees will succumb to the damage caused by this browsing.

During the next two months you’ll see sections of the field growing with a lush, green grass. This is winter rye, planted last fall at the end of the season to protect the soil. While much of the rye gets turned under in the spring to make way for our crops, we also leave some beds planted with rye until late May when it flowers. You may recall my article last year in which I described our no-till tomato experiment. That experiment was so successful that we’re expanding our trials this year and planning to keep even more detailed records comparing many aspects of no-till tomatoes to our regular practices.

One of our big projects for this season will be improvements to the Winchester Street entrance to the farm. Late last fall a local landscaping firm used recycled granite curbing to build a series of terraced beds behind the farm stand. Over the course of this season, we’ll be planting those beds with a variety of edible and ornamental plants. Thanks to a federal grant, the city of Newton installed one of almost 200 new bicycle racks here at the farm, so now when you ride your bike you have somewhere to lock it up. And when the farm stand opens for the season in mid-May you’ll see many improvements to the interior.

Another big project taking place this season, again thanks to a federal grant, is that we will be putting up at least one new hoophouse. The new hoophouse will be used for season extension—growing extra early heat-loving crops like tomatoes or cucumbers and protecting hardy greens like spinach for harvest during the winter months. As we near construction I’ll write more about this, as the design we’re looking at should put NCF at the forefront of organic growing.

Greg Maslowe

Work Share Job Opening

Newton Community Farm has an opening for someone to fill a Work Share position. The work sharer will receive a full, weekly share in our CSA in exchange for running our stand at the Friday Newton Farmers’ Market. The market begins June 17 and runs through October 7 from noon to 5:00 p.m. If you are interested, please contact Greg Maslowe at greg@newtoncommunityfarm.org.

Education

Whether you are an avid gardener or are just starting to develop your green thumb, we have classes for all ages and all levels on the farm this spring. For adults, we have a workshop on raising backyard chickens (Did you know it’s legal in Newton?) as well as a container gardening class (Plots in Pots) and a two-part intensive gardening class for those of you who want to make the most out of small spaces (Gardening in Small Spaces). If you have young children, take a look at our Ready, Set, Grow family series―back by popular demand!

We still have a few frosts ahead of us, but I want to give you a sneak peak at some of our programming for July and August because we are going to have a lot going on! For those of you with preschool-age children, our Farm Sprouts Story Hour will be taking place every Tuesday once again. It is a great way to introduce your youngest children to the farm and share some time outdoors each week with other young families. Our Farmer In Training program for middle-school students is still enrolling for several weeks, so if you know of a middle schooler who is interested in farming, environmental issues, or outdoor fun, please take a look at our Web page.

And finally I’d like to let you know about an exciting new program that we will be piloting this summer and expanding for next year. Our Garden City Rollers program for young adults will combine gardening, environmental awareness, and renewable energy as the GCR crew travels to school and community gardens by bike to tend plots that are otherwise neglected during the summer months. We are currently looking for schools or community centers to partner with and are in the development stages of this project, so if you would like to get involved or support this program in any way, please contact Education Coordinator Kelly Lake at education@newtoncommunityfarm.org.

Visit our education page for more information on summer programming!

Expanded Seedling Sale Coming Soon!

Saturday, May 14, and Sunday, May 15, noon–1 p.m., Presale for Friends of the Farm; 1–3 p.m., open to the public

Newton Community Farm’s popular Seedling Sale is expanding! This year there will be 20,000 vegetable and herb seedlings for sale, twice as many as last year. The sale will also take place on two afternoons this year to accommodate the large number of gardeners interested in the farm’s hearty seedlings.

We sprout and grow the seedlings on-site in our greenhouse, and they are ready to be transplanted to your garden as soon as the temperature moderates. This year there will be more seedlings for sale of many different vegetables and herbs, including cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, peppers, lettuce, and squash. Greg, NCF’s farmer, has also arranged with Natick Community Organic Farm to provide additional basil for sale at the event.

Come select some plants for your backyard and talk to expert gardeners who will be on hand to answer your questions. We’ll also have food and perennial flower plants available for purchase. Bring your own boxes for carrying. The cost is $5 for a four- or six-pack container, and the proceeds from the sale support NCF’s mission. Cash or check only.

Friends of the Farm are invited to our Presale Event from noon to 1 p.m. on both days.

Help publicize the event by printing the Seedling Sale flier found on our Web site, posting it, and giving it to your friends. And for information on how to care for the plants we will be selling at this year’s seedling sale, see the article below and visit the new growing tips page on our Web site.

Click here for the Seedling Sale flier.

Many Volunteers Needed for Seedling Sale

We need help at the farm on Saturday, May 14, and Sunday, May 15, to make the Seedling Sale a success. It’s fun, and you can meet other volunteers, learn about plants and seedlings, and enjoy helping people stock their home gardens. We need volunteers from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday as well as extra volunteers to help set up before and clean up after the event. Volunteers will restock seedlings from the greenhouse, sell food and veggies, clean up, and so on. For CSA members, your work at the Seedling Sale will count toward your required work hours. Contact Kelly Lake at education@newtoncommunityfarm.org to let her know your interest and time availability.

Barn Renovation

Q: When will the barn renovation be started and finished?

A: The start is not too far off, but the schedule is somewhat uncertain. If the design process can continue at a reasonable pace and there are no big surprises with the construction estimate compared to the established budget, we expect construction will start this summer and finish before the planting season in 2012. Current plans include adding a new kitchen and toilets on the main floor and refinishing the old floorboards. A new screened porchlike area over the shed roof will be built for expanded programming. A second-floor loft will be built for the farm office. On the CSA level there will be a new concrete floor, a produce washing station, a three-season toilet for people working in the field, and space for a produce cooler.

Funding for the project is provided by a grant from the Newton Community Preservation Committee. The farm will need to raise some additional private money to pay for furniture and equipment that is not covered by the grant.

Peter J. Barrer

Wanted: Apple Enthusiasts and Volunteers for the Farm’s Apple Team

If you’re curious about apples or would simply like to volunteer in the orchard, then join the farm’s Apple Team, led by orchard expert Sam Fogel. Sam will teach team members about growing apples. You can also volunteerto help with pruning as well as planting five new disease-resistant dwarf apple trees, including Goldrush (a late October, very crispy, long-storage apple), Galerina, Crimson Crisp, and Florina Querina varieties. Contact Sam at sam@fogel.com as soon as possible.

Susan Weiner

Orchard Survives Snow and Rabbits

Rabbits and snow killed one apple tree and damaged about a dozen of the orchard’s 22 apple trees, according to a report by orchard expert Sam Fogel. The two sour and two sweet cherry trees came through unscathed.

Bunnies may be cute, but they’re tough on apple trees, especially because a 2010 explosion of the rabbit population combined with the snowy winter to make food scarce. Undiscouraged by our trees’ two-foot-high plastic trunk protectors, the rabbits scaled snow drifts to chomp on the bark of lower branches. As a result, our four-year-old apple trees will be a little less productive this year. We’ll try to graft the dead tree with a related variety, so it may rise again. Luckily for our cherry trees, rabbits don’t find their bark appealing.

Susan Weiner

Top Three Mistakes People Make after the Seedling Sale

You want your purchases from the Seedling Sale to thrive. So avoid these common mistakes described by Farm Manager Greg Maslowe.

Mistake #1: Planting too early

If you plant your seedlings right away, they may succumb to frost. Herbs such as basil sustain damage at temperatures of 45 degrees or lower.

You have three options for managing the risks of low temperatures. First, keep your seedlings inside until the risk of frost has passed. If you do this, place them in a window facing south, so they get plenty of light, and don’t forget to water them. Second, leave the pots outside, but bring them in at night. Third, plant your seedlings, but monitor the temperature so you can cover them when cold weather is predicted. A five-gallon bucket makes a good cover. You can use other materials, such as a plastic sheet, as long as you use a hoop―or some other support―to make sure the material doesn’t touch the plants. Any material that touches will transmit the cold and damage your seedling.

Mistake #2: Watering too little―or too much

After being pampered in the farm’s greenhouse, plants don’t do well if their watering needs aren’t satisfied. It’s better to water them deeply one or two times a week than to water them a little every day. This will help their roots to grow deep. On the other hand, roots that are constantly damp will rot. One of the best things you can do is to water in response to the condition of your soil. Stick your finger in the soil to see if it’s dry. Mindless watering endangers plants.

Mistake #3: Ignoring pests that feed on plants

Hungry chipmunks, groundhogs, squirrels, rabbits, and other wildlife abound in Newton. Fencing may deter rabbits and other pests. However, squirrels and chipmunks will clamber over your fence and groundhogs will tunnel under. You may need to adapt your planting to local animals’ food preferences.

Flea beetles delight in vegetables such as cabbage and broccoli. To deter them organically, the farm uses floating row covers made of lightweight material. Seal the covers carefully, lifting them as briefly as possible for weeding and other maintenance.

Avoid these mistakes and you’ll boost your odds of a great harvest!

Susan Weiner

Appealing Time

Twice a year the Newton Community Farm asks the Newton community for supporting contributions. The end of April is one of those times.

Our farm operation is very efficient and productive, even enabling us to donate to the Newton Community Pantry. However, we need additional funds to expand our educational programs. This outreach, to teach the wider public about sustainable farming and how to integrate that knowledge into your home gardens, is an important part of our mission. The Farm is self-funded―we do not receive any government money for operations―so please give generously. Your contribution is tax-deductible.

After April 29 you will be able to donate through our Web site, newtoncommunityfarm.org; otherwise please send your contributions to 303 Nahanton St., Newton MA 02459. Thank you for your interest and for supporting our work.

Jerry Regosin

Recipes

This month is the season for asparagus, rhubarb, and artichokes. On the farm Greg reports that the cold spring has delayed early vegetables. But when they do appear, there are some interesting recipes for asparagus and rhubarb in the farm wiki. Artichokes don’t grow in New England, but if you indulge in these luscious buds, a low-fat dipping sauce for them is Low-Fat Vinaigrette. It can be found in the farm’s recipe wiki under Two Low Salad Dressings.

Click here for the farm’s list of recipes.

Susan Tornheim

Volunteer Hours

Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 9 to 12 starting the last week of April.

Twitter

Dear Farm Friends,

As harvest time continues, the size of our shares becomes a little smaller than the giant bags that we were toting home in September. Things are winding down. I’m cutting up tomatoes and freezing them, and there are herbs drying in my kitchen. It’s time to preserve the summer bounty so we can enjoy some of it later in the year. It’s an attempt to put a little bit of summer in a jar.

Your editor,
Susan Tornheim
sftornheim@yahoo.com

Notes from Greg Maslowe, Farm ManagerI have a love and not exactly hate—perhaps melancholy is a better word—relationship with October. I love the cool days and crisp nights. I love the stunning display New England woods put on at this time of year. I love that the end of tomato picking is in sight! But I also get a serious case of the fall blahs around this time every year. I suppose that if I were more prone to jargon and our penchant to label everything, I’d find that I suffered from seasonal affective disorder. Whether it’s the change in temperature, the decreasing hours of daylight, or simply the fact that I spent too many years in school so I still associate fall with the return of papers and exams, I find October to be a month when my energy levels go down, even while there’s still work to be done. Like for many kindergartners, October is a time when the farm staff is planting garlic. As kids in schools throughout Newton put garlic in the ground as part of a unit on life cycles, we’re busy planting our first crop for 2011. Garlic is one of the most winter-hardy crops we grow and is usually planted in late October or early November. Once it’s in the ground, we cover it with a thick blanket of straw and don’t really do anything with it until the following July when we harvest it. (Okay, there’s cutting the scapes in May or June, but that’s not a whole lot of work, and we get to sell them.) This summer, while a great year for tomatoes, was not such a good year for many garlic growers. Seed companies all over are sold out of garlic because of shortages from their suppliers. We, for example, buy a portion of our seed garlic direct from a garlic grower in upstate New York. When he sent us our shipment it was with a refund check for the 30% of our order he couldn’t fill. Fortunately, we had a pretty good year with garlic and saved a bunch of it for seed, so we’ll be able to plant our 3,000 or so garlic plants for next season. Most of the rest of our field—other than garlic and cold-hardy greens like kale, spinach, and cabbage—is slowly but surely being planted with cover crops for the winter. After planting as much as possible with oats and peas (like the tomatoes I talked about last month) we’re on to planting winter rye, simultaneously the savior and scourge of many an organic farmer. Winter rye is a wonderful plant that can germinate (that is, sprout or start growing) in temperatures down to 32 degrees! This incredible feature allows farmers to plant winter rye very late in the season (often in late November) and still have a crop protecting their soil over the winter. Why would you want to wait so long to plant a cover crop? Because that allows you to keep cash crops in the field longer, which is good for your bottom line. The problem is that unlike oats and peas, which are killed by a hard frost (but continue to protect the soil because they don’t really rot over the winter), winter rye never dies. Okay, maybe never is an exaggeration. But if you’ve ever planted winter rye in your garden, you understand the sentiment. Not only is winter rye not killed by cold weather but it comes roaring back with a vengeance come spring. This makes preparing beds for planting a real pain. Or I should say can, as we at Newton Community Farm have been doing some experimenting with alternative ways to handle winter rye that make it a much more attractive cover crop. But since I’ll need something to write about over the winter, I’m going to leave that as a cliff hanger for now. One of the great joys of October for organic farmers, and anyone who has a home garden, is the gold that rains down from the sky: those golden (and red and brown) leaves falling from the trees that literally (at least in New England) grow anywhere you don’t keep mowed. Leaves form the basis of our fertility program at the farm. We take in over 100 cubic yards of leaves each fall from landscapers whose clients don’t seem to realize what they’re giving away. Actually, they’re not even giving it away. They’re paying someone to give it away for them. We use these leaves as the basis of the compost operation that ensures that our soils continue to be enriched every year rather than worn out by constant farming. We’ll spend the next few weeks slowly moving our current compost pile to make room for as many leaves as we can possibly fit onto the farm. Over the next year we’ll mix these leaves with crop residues; some very select grass clippings (to avoid herbicides); rotten fruits and veggies; kitchen scrapings from many of you; and a healthy dose of mussel shells from a local restaurant to make a nutrient-rich compost for our field. That huge pile will have shrunk by 80% but in the process will have turned into black gold. Before signing off, I wanted to pass along some wonderful news. Megan Talley, our intrepid intern with whom many of you had the great pleasure to work, will be returning to Newton Community Farm for the 2011 season as our assistant grower. Megan’s return will be a great boon to the farm, and I’m very excited to have her coming back. Greg Maslowe

Please contact us if you have any questions about this newsletter or ideas for future issues, or if you want to be added to our mailing list. Just e-mail Susan Tornheim at sftornheim@yahoo.com. For more information about the farm, e-mail Greg Maslowe at greg@newtoncommunityfarm.org or check out our Web page at newtoncommunityfarm.org (or click on the image at the top of the page).