Our new goat yard has certainly created a buzz in Lexington…first an article in the Minuteman on Thursday and today an article in the West section of today’s Boston Globe.
Are you interested in visiting and learning more?
Contact us here and spread the word!!
Here’s what Lauren Yaffee had to say about her experience at the Northeast Organic Farming Association Summer Conference this year. Lauren manages Meadow Mist Farm, a wonderful small farm in Lexington.
“When the second week in August rolls around, my thoughts typically turn to the NOFA Summer Conference. This year, as a result of a most generous scholarship funded by The Lexington Community Farm Coalition, I was able to attend the full three days of the conference.
I’ve had a lot of fun the last few days trying to keep up with different kids on farms, as LexFarm organized some education and volunteer programs at two farms.
First, on Thursday we had about 20 kids and their parents visiting Waltham Fields Community Farm for a Kids Farm Tour. We separated into two groups according to age: I decided to hang out with the littlest ones. We learned about the “Fab Five” things that plants need to grow (can you name all five?), made hummous that included fresh-picked cucumbers, and did some 
planting in the Learning Garden.
Today, I met about 35 adults and kids down at Busa Farm and we helped harvest potatoes. There were very few people who knew what a potato plant looked like, so we had a fun time trying to identify all the wonderful vegetables, until Jane led us to the potatoes. For their hard work, everyone got to take home a half-lunchbag of potatoes.
Here’s a wonderful description of what’s going on at our favorite local farm, from Jane Hammer:
“The fields are filling up with spectacular greens and many of them are being harvested. Peas are flowering now and beets are on the way. Tomatoes, squash, onions, eggplant, flowers, and more are being transplanted into the beds, seed potatoes are in the ground – it’s a very busy time of year.
The greenhouses and the area around the stand are overflowing, positively gushing with color in the beautiful variety of flowering and ornamental plants–annuals, perennials, ornamental grasses,
hanging petunias, and more–gracing the benches and greenhouses. We still have some vegetable plants left including plenty of heirloom, hybrid, plum, and cherry-size tomatoes and also some very healthy patio tomatoes that have green fruits already on them. Read the rest…
It’s been two years of forums, blog postings, letters to the editor, proposals and presentations…but Verena Wieloch from Gaining Ground already said everything that needs to be said about what a community farm would bring to Lexington – back in May, 2009. Everyone should watch this video (two parts totaling less than 12 minutes) …she’s amazing.
LexFarm members Beo and SweeCheng Lim plant trees
We had an exhilarating morning at the Lexington Tree Farm today..planting about 70 trees along with members of the Lexington Tree Committee, Field and Garden Club and Conservation Stewards. Those who have been doing this for several years now said this was the best turnout ever. Good thing, because without the 20 or so people, we wouldn’t have finished when we did – around 10:45, right when it started pouring rain.
The Citizens for Lexington Conservation Annual Meeting will be held tonight at 7pm in Cary Memorial Hall. This is an event that you don’t want to miss…
Professor Brian Donahue
The featured speaker will be Professor Brian Donahue, of Brandeis University, with a talk entitled, “The Future of Farming and Forests in New England”. His book, Reclaiming the Commons: Community Farms and Forests in a New England Town, tells the story of the early years of Land’s Sake farm in Weston, placing it in the context of the general history of farming and forestry in the area. The book was a great inspiration to to many of us when LexFarm was first forming.
Here is the text from the CLC announcement with more details:
The Citizens for Lexington Conservation (CLC) is pleased to invite the public to its Annual Meeting on Tuesday, April 12 at 7PM in Cary Memorial Hall . The speaker at this year’s meeting will be Brian Donahue, Associate Professor of American Environmental Studies at Brandeis University, with a talk titled, “The Future of Farming and Forests in New England”.
Patricia Gray
…our first Annual Meeting:
March 27 at 2:30 pm
Cary Memorial Library, Lexington
Please join us as we…
Look Back: We’ll take a quick look back at all we’ve accomplished together (including a video…)
Look Ahead: We’ll share our plans for the coming year, and get your ideas too!
Grow: We’ll let you know how to get involved, become a member and help us grow (both vegetables and our organization!) and
Learn: Our special guest speaker will be Patricia Donahue Gray, founding staffer and former Executive Director with the Food Project, who will share her thoughts and experiences in a talk entitled “Community Farms: Reflections of their Towns”.
There is a nice article in the Waltham paper entitled, “Healthy Waltham: Our Farm is Your Farm,” written by Claire Kozower. Claire is the Executive Director of the Waltham Fields Community Farm and also a friend of mine.
I don’t, of course, intend the title of this post to be taken literally. I’m simply hoping that Lexington could someday enjoy and learn from it’s own community farm. I encourage you to visit Waltham Fields on a busy day sometime this season–it’s no more than a 10 minute drive from just about anywhere in Lexington–to get a sense of what a thriving, fun environment it can be.
Most people probably have not seen this letter that was sent in support of our work for a community farm on the Busa Farm property. It was sent in November to the Busa Land Use Proposal Committee. Thank You, Commissioner Soares, and all those who work at the Mass. Dep’t of Agricultural Resources. (MDAR) in support of farms and farming in Massachusetts.