Green Newton

On Tuesday, July 19 the Newton Community Farm marked its tenth anniversary at its annual Dinner on the Farm. With over 120 attendees, Dinner on the Farm was an intergenerational celebration and featured kids taking their parents around the Farm to show them the work that they had been doing in their summer classes, and explaining how you plant and how you harvest.

The centerpiece of the event was the communal meal showcasing sustainably harvested ingredients. For the last four years, students from Newton South have worked with Jon Orren, a farm Director, teacher at Newton South, and former chef, to put on the event. This year included, Jon’s students, both current and former, worked in the kitchen for two days to put on the elaborate meal.

Details throughout the Dinner highlighted the Newton Community Farm’s commitment to sustainable food production and education. Through the summer months, the Farms’ produce is available to the community through its Community Supported Agriculture program, an on-site farmstand, and at the Elm Street Farmer’s Market on Saturday. It also makes weekly donations to the Newton Food Pantry and provides excess produce to the Boston Area Gleaners.

As for its commitment to education, farm programs attract kids who, right from the get-go, get really excited about seeing things grow, where potatoes and carrots come from, and what we can or cannot grow in New England. Some of the programs include “Sprouts” aimed at 2.5 to 5 year olds; a “Farmers in Training program (FIT)” is for kids entering grades 3-5 while a “Young Farmers Program” invites children in middle school. Internships are aimed at kids in high school.

NCF is located on land that had been farmed since about the mid-1600s, last owned and tilled for one hundred years by the Angino Family. The City of Newton purchased the land in 2006, over 2 acres with about an acre for gardening. A Board of Directors and a Farm Manager, Greg Maslowe, are its current managers.

Dinner on the Farm Photos and Post by Ken and Margaret Mallory