After what has seemed to many people like a very long winter, spring is finally upon us. Crocuses and daffodils are flowering, the rhubarb and garlic are pushing up through the ground, and the greenhouse is already busy with activity. Much of the field has already been spaded, and by the time you read this, some of the first crops will be in the ground.

If you visit the farm this month, you’ll see some changes. The old pullet shed behind the information kiosk has been razed. The pullet shed will eventually be replaced with a new structure, but we need to make room this spring to add a 24-foot addition to the greenhouse. The expanded greenhouse will allow us to grow many more organic seedlings, which we need both for planting in the field and for our first annual Edible Seedling Sale on May 17. In the fall we’ll use the greenhouse to extend our growing season, providing us with a place to grow mesclun mix and other hardy greens. We experimented with mesclun this past winter and were able to harvest fresh salad greens right through Christmas!

Public volunteer hours have begun at the farm. With spring here, there’s much work to get done. During the month of April volunteers are welcome at the farm on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 to 12. What might you do? Well, there are seeds to plant in the greenhouse, mulch to pull off the strawberries, paths to mark before Newton Serves, tools to organize, and seedlings from the greenhouse to transplant into the field. We can’t guarantee what you’ll do any particular day, but we can guarantee that we’ll put you to work!

We’ll also be busy this month working to make the farm an even more beautiful place. We’ll be using old granite curbing that the city is getting rid of to make a low wall around the demonstration orchard; to create a raised planting bed in the circular drive by the farmhouse; and to make a series of terraced beds on the slope between the farm stand and the kiosk at the Winchester Street entrance. These projects will reuse a discarded resource (the old curbing), prevent erosion, and create new spaces for the farm to demonstrate beautiful—and edible—landscape plantings.

If you didn’t make it out to the farm last fall to see the newly renovated barn, spring is a perfect time to do so. The barn looks simply amazing, and the final touch—the exterior sliding door—should be installed by the end of this month.

Perhaps the biggest change to the farm this spring isn’t something happening in the landscape but in the staff. We’re in the process of hiring a part-time farm educator/coordinator (FEC). Over the last three years a great deal of energy has gone into making the farm operation a vibrant, thriving success. While we have offered educational programming all along, our goal for 2009 and beyond is to make our educational program as rich and well developed as our farm operation. The FEC will be a major component of this development, working in conjunction with me and our volunteer Education Committee. I am very excited to welcome the FEC to the farm and see our educational programs blossom. We’ll be sure to keep everyone updated about the hiring process.

Now that day dominates night, and new life is springing up everywhere around the farm, I feel the excitement for the coming season growing.

Click here for more on our FEC position

Our big spring event will be our Edible Seedling Sale on Sunday, May 17, noon to 4 p.m., at the farm. Come and select from among our varieties of heirloom tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, basil, and many more vegetables and herbs. We are sprouting the seeds on the farm now, and in a few weeks they’ll have grown into seedlings ready for transplant to your home garden.

Bring questions for our gardening experts, watch a gardening demonstration, or just come enjoy the farm and the food we’ll have for sale. For more details and a full list of available seedlings, go to our Web site.

We still need a few volunteers on the day of the sale. If you are interested in helping out, please email Peter Barrer at pbarrer@gmail.com

Seedling Sale Link

This year we are launching a new membership program. Membership fees will help us continue to offer valuable services such as providing staff for farm volunteer days, conducting educational programs and community outreach, and growing food for the Newton Food Pantry.

Member benefits include:
 Invitation to members-only events
 Discounts on educational classes
 10% off farm merchandise (T-shirts, tote bags, and more)
 5% off garden carts
 A members-only preview hour and a free herb at our Edible Seedling Sale on May 17

Please consider joining us! You can find membership forms and more details at

Farm Membership Link

Newton Community Farm is taking preorders for garden carts made in the U.S. by Carts Vermont. We use these carts at the farm all the time and love them. They are exceptionally well balanced, making it possible to move heavy loads quite easily. We have four sizes available. You can find product descriptions, prices, and the order form on our Web site. Send in your order form and payment by April 25 and have your cart in time for spring chores.

Garden Cart Link

Newton Community Farm is looking for volunteers to lead or assist in teaching adult and children’s classes in organic gardening. Most classes involve hands-on learning on the farm. Our educational coordinator will match you to an existing class or work with you to plan a class that highlights your particular area of expertise or interest. Training is available, if needed.

For more information, please contact Janet Springfield at jjkas@aol.com.

We are pleased to open enrollment for a weekly fruit share and a weekly flower share for 2009. Fruit shares are offered in conjunction with Autumn Hills Orchard in Groton, Mass. Each weekly share consists of a five-pound bag of fruit, which may include apples, pears, plums, possibly grapes, and possibly peaches. The fruit share costs $70 and will run for nine weeks—September 2 through October 28. Shares will be available for pick-up at Newton Community Farm on Wednesdays between 2 and 7 p.m.

Flower shares are offered through The Natick Community Organic Farm. Flower share purchasers will receive a fresh, seasonally changing bouquet of flowers grown at The Natick Community Organic Farm in Natick, MA. The bouquets will be delivered to Newton Community Farm on Wednesdays and will be available for pickup in the lower level of the barn between 2 and 7 p.m. The flower share costs $140 and will run for 14 weeks starting June 17 and ending September 16.

Enrollment is first come, first served. Details and enrollment forms are available on our Web site.

Fruit and flower share link

APRIL
April 15, May 26, June 30, Aug 11: Get Growing! (4-part series)
April 27 & May 4, 11, 18 (4-part series): Creating an Urban Vegetable Garden

MAY
May 2: Whole Foods Kids’ Craft (Event at Newtonville Whole Foods)
May 8, 9: Permaculture Boot Camp
May 16: Natural Architecture for Your Garden
May 21: Potato in a Box

For more information, please see our Web site.

Spring Classes Link

Farm board member Ted Chapman will be participating in a panel discussion entitled “Organic Gardening 101: Sustainable Practices” at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 27, in Druker Auditorium at the Newton Free Library. The discussion is part of the Environmental Speaker Series sponsored by Green Decade and the Newton Free Library. For more details, check out the Green Decade Web site.

Green Decade Speaker Series Link

Since asparagus is starting to sprout on the farm and there is over-wintered spinach in the field, here are two family-tested recipes for each of these green vegetables.

 Quick Low-Fat Cheese Pie – easy, delicious, and healthy, with spinach and smoked fish variations
 Spinach-Cheese Calzone – veggies and cheese in a pocket, a favorite of kids
 Thin Spaghetti With Asparagus – simple and with tasty results
 Citrus-Dressed Asparagus – lemon juice and orange juice yield elegant asparagus

All the recipes are on the farm’s wiki.

See the recipes

* wood picnic tables in good condition
* digital camera

If you can help us with this, please contact Greg Maslowe at 617-916-9655 or newtoncommunityfarm@comcast.net. All donations to the farm are tax-deductible.