February 25, 2010

“Perfect time for community farm”

“Let’s talk about your farm. The one you just bought: Busa Farm at 52 Lowell Street in East Lexington. Eight lovely, rolling acres of tillable, productive soil. You own it. I own it. We all own it.

Now that we own this farm, what should we do with it? We can’t do just anything because the Town purchased the land using Community Preservation Act funds. However, since agriculture qualifies as “open space” under the CPA guidelines, we don’t actually have to do anything at all to the land. It could stay a farm. A farm owned by and serving the whole community.

A community farm? Maybe some of you are thinking, crazy talk. Let me assure you, this is not a crazy idea. It’s not even a new idea. Successful examples are all around us.

Just ask the folks over in Weston with their Land’s Sake Community Farm. They’ve been teaching middle-school-age kids the basics of agriculture, ecology and land history since 1991. Concord high schoolers satisfy community service requirements at Gaining Ground farm by planting, mulching, watering, weeding and harvesting all manner of vegetables and fruit. You don’t have to live in Lincoln to sign up for the bee-keeping and backyard-chicken-raising workshops offered by Codman Farm. The Waltham Fields Community Farm has a farm-to-school produce distribution program. Similar educational programs are being offered at the the Newton-Angino Farm, Natick Community Farm, Drumlin Farm, and the list goes on.

We are surrounded by community farms, and the truly amazing thing about it all is this: they can’t keep up with the demand. This is a club that Lexington deserves to be a part of, and Busa Farm is the perfect opportunity for us to join.

We can make it happen, folks. If you’d like to know how you can help visit http://lexfarm.wpengine.com”

-Jay Luker