Dear Friends,

As I look back on the past decade of growth and change at Codman Community Farms, I am struck by how far we have come—and by how the journey has been shared and supported by you, our community. Ten years ago, we were a small staff with a handful of dreams and a deep commitment to keeping Lincoln’s agricultural heritage alive. Today, thanks to your support, those dreams have grown into real places, real programs, and real progress for our community.

Over the years, we have worked tirelessly to strengthen the home farm infrastructure and care for our land in ways that honor our history while preparing for the future. We’ve transformed our pastures with rotational grazing, moving animals across more fields than ever before. It’s healthier for the lands of Lincoln, better for the animals, and deeply aligned with our sustainable mission. In our Market Garden, we are growing more healthy produce than ever while welcoming hundreds of visitors and volunteers to help plant, weed, and harvest.

Our physical infrastructure has grown alongside our farming program. We started with a simple mini-store ten years ago, quickly added a new walk-in freezer to increase our provision of sustainably raised proteins, and then came an array of essential improvements to the farm's core operation. We installed one of the largest rooftop solar arrays in Lincoln and added solar hot water systems. We built a new driveway and Community Courtyard, new greenhouses for season extension, and of course, our vibrant Codman Commercial Kitchen. We added a root cellar under and a fire suppression system in our barns. We constructed the stunning Educational Pavilion, which was first a dream, then a blueprint, and is now a welcoming space where we gather, teach, eat, and celebrate our community. Soon we will embark on another exciting, long-awaited project: renovating the interior of our rear barn into a permanent Farm Store. 

As many know, the genesis of the current Farm Store began during the pandemic, when we created a rare space where folks felt safe to shop at any time–24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Our unique offerings of farm-fresh proteins, produce, and a wide variety of other locally made products began slowly, one table or cooler at a time. The store grew organically to meet demand and reflected the type of unique shopping experience our customers wanted. 

We are all connected by the same mission to create healthy food that nourishes the soul and offers an alternative to the industrial, conventional food system. At Codman Farm, we are guided by our deep desire to offer the highest quality products grown with integrity by our incredibly hard-working farmers, fishers, and local food entrepreneurs. As my incredible wife Jen always says: The intentionality you have about how you spend your hard-earned dollars has a direct impact on our flourishing farm and our community.

Recently we had the incredibly good fortune to receive a $600,000 grant through the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources’ Food Security Infrastructure Grant to help us realize our dream of a permanent Farm Store. We are proud that our state has faith in the valuable role Codman Farm plays in strengthening and supporting our local food system. While this grant is critically important, we need your support to help us create the store and space we need.  

Our new four-season Farm Store will not be fancy. Trust us; no one wants that!  But it does need to be a little less freezing in the winter and a little less roasting hot in the summer, and we could use fewer birds flying overhead, too!  The new store creates a food-safe environment, an improved workspace, and the opportunity to offer more bulk food items at greater value. It will also allow us to build a new conditioned staff room for our hard-working team–a space that does not currently exist on the farm. Lastly, relocating the Farm Store will, once again, open up the front barn and link it to the kitchen and courtyard. This move literally opens the door for community gatherings and celebrations, food events, educational programs, cooking workshops, and more.

We are asking for your support to help us achieve this big dream. Your generosity has made so much possible for Codman Community Farms. Please make a gift to strengthen all we offer the community–from our education programs, to our land stewardship, our care for animals, to the bounty we grow and local food we provide through the entirely unique, entirely Codman Farm Store.

Codman has always been about community—about keeping Lincoln rooted in active agriculture, and about connecting people to the land and to each other. With your support, our store will be an improved place where those connections grow every day. Thank you for being part of our story, our growth, and our community. We can’t wait to welcome you into the new Codman Farm Store very soon.

With deep gratitude,
Farmer Pete and all of us at Codman Community Farms

2025 marked our tenth season raising animals regeneratively on pasture, providing them access to fresh grass and forage which increases soil fertility and carbon storage across Lincoln. We grow crops in our 1.5 acre Market Garden using organic and low-tillage methods and fertilize the beds with compost from animal bedding and organic waste.

Farming is a year-round labor of love that keeps us busy each day and 2025 was no different. In late winter we planted spring cover crops like rye, oats, peas, and clover to support soil health and provide nutrient-dense forage for our grazing animals. In February Farmer Aimee bred our sows who later delivered litters of adorable piglets to visitors’ delight. Mid-winter, our Sasso meat chicks arrived and the team moved our laying hens from the delivery truck to our mobile coops. March kept us busy filling the greenhouse filled with seedlings and harvested the first tender mixed microgreens of the season. By April, our meat birds headed out to the fields, we prepared land for growing, and shared flowers, herbs, and veggie starts with the community. May brought sunshine and lots of Codman Grown greens before spring crops–like strawberries, peas, fresh basil, fennel, summer squash, cucumbers, garlic scapes, radishes, and scallions–popped up. With June’s arrival came a flock of Pioneer Naked Necks–a new-to-Codman breed of meat chickens. Throughout early summer we drove our tractors over, around, and through Lincoln cutting hay for winter. In July and August, we enjoyed an abundance of Codman Grown crops–like fresh garlic, green beans, tomatoes of all kinds, eggplant, potatoes, peppers, tomatillos, sprouting broccoli, and herbs. Our U-Pick flower patch opened as Farmer Eugenie waged a valiant battle against Japanese beetles, grasshoppers, earwigs, and caterpillars in the dahlias. All-hands were on deck in September to pick the summer bounty before October’s first frost covered hearty and storage crops. It was then time for our heritage turkey harvest. In November, volunteers caught our laying hens and brought them home to settle in for the winter.

In 2025, we offered cooking classes from soup to pie dough; growing workshops like seed starting and composting; skill shares on plant dyes, medicinal herbs, and goat milk soap-, bouquet- and wreath-making; programs for our youngest agrarians like Farmer’s Helper, Barn Buddies, and music, art, and storytimes.

We also expanded opportunities to collaborate with area schools and organizations throughout the year. We deepened our partnership with the Lincoln Public Schools by hosting the fifth-grade class for an on-farm field trip to learn about maple sugaring. We also worked in collaboration with the Lincoln METCO Coordinating Committee, Lincoln Garden Club, and Lincoln Land Conservation Trust to install and manage native plantings in a raised garden bed at school. We forged a new connection with LABBB Collaborative to welcome student volunteers for work that promotes academic, social, and career independence. We offered summer programming for Elevate Youth from Boston to dig their hands in the soil and care for growing plants, meet and learn about livestock, and build responsibility and pride through farming. We hosted a third annual session for Massachusetts Institute of Technology freshman orientation to learn about the Farm’s climate mitigation and resilience through rotational grazing and planting for biodiversity and to enjoy a Codman Grown lunch. We co-presented Agriculture in Lincoln in 1775 in partnership with Lincoln Historical Society and Historic New England which explored agriculture in Lincoln at the time of the Revolution.

In 2025 we centered our community with longtime Codman Farm traditions, including: Breaking bread and enjoying farm fresh food during our Sunday Suppers and Pizza in the Pavilion. Tapping trees, boiling sap, and tasting the liquid gold during Maple March. Busting a move in wigs and platforms on the dance floor at Club Codman.  Pitching tents side-by-side with friends old and new for a special–and sleepless–Codman Campout. Decorating the hay wagon and showing off Codman Farm pride in the Lincoln July Fourth Parade. Joining in the good old fashioned farm fun and games at the Harvest Fair. Tucking into the Codman Grown home-smoked pulled pork and hearty sides under the twinkle lights at the Harvest Feast. Crushing jack ‘o lanterns to combat climate change at the 5th Annual Great Pumpkin Smash. Digging in and volunteering thousands of hours across the farm throughout the season.

Codman Grown Product Sales
8% Pork
7% Eggs
6% Prepared Food
6% Poultry
4% Fruits & Vegetables
3% Beef
1% Flowers
1% Other