GREENHOUSE RISING!
As we make our way through another season on the farm, we often find ourselves dreaming up new projects to better meet the needs of our small, but growing farm. Plus, as everyone knows, farming is so easy, that we just need more and more projects to keep ourselves entertained, lest we grow tired and lazy. So, our latest and greatest farm project is a new 20'x64' heated greenhouse, next to our existing high tunnel. Four years ago we built our first unheated high tunnel to serve as a home for our laying hens in winter and to grow heat loving crops during the summer (think tomatoes, peppers, etc..) As we have slowly grown our market garden over the last few years and as veggie sales in the Farm Store have increased, we figure it's time we grow a bit more of our own crops to sell. This new greenhouse will allow us to grown our own vegetable and flower seedlings early in the spring for transplanting into the fields. This, in turn, will allow us to harvest crops much earlier in the season then we do now. In addition, we will grow a small amount of vegetable transplants for sale to community gardeners in the spring and the greenhouse itself can be used for educational workshops, year round. Our goal for next season is to finally hire staff dedicated to vegetable and fruit production and expand our market garden footprint. We also plan on improving our growing methods, moving towards a reduced tillage system and also hope to engage more volunteers in the process. Keep an eye out for the greenhouse bows going up this week!
Hunter and Turner proving us with much needed brute strength!
BEEF IS BACK!
(more pork is coming soon, too!)
Over the last several months we have tried wicked haad to keep all of our tasty, Lincoln grown proteins in stock. Thanks for hanging in there with us during these challenging periods of low inventory! We are happy to announce that our freezers will begin filling up once again in the coming days and weeks! We will be restocking a wide array of steaks and other beef cuts this weekend and next week we will be restocking lots of pork cuts including an assortment of links, boneless chops and other items. We have many critters growing nicely and hope that as the months progress we will gradually refill all the freezers to capacity.
SHOUT OUT TO....SABRINA!
The Farm Store has been busta moving this season and we have several staff to thank for keeping it so well stocked - but the main person to thank for keeping it all up to snuff and tidy is.... Sabrina Hoenig! Sabrina started volunteering here in the time once known as pre-Covid and as the store became busier and busier she became a very dedicated full time employee. Sabrina will be leaving us to head to Oberlin College in a few weeks and so we wanted to express our thanks and appreciation for all her hard work. We were lucky to have her during such a trying time and we will miss her good cheer, bright spirit, and can do attitude!
Photo by Abe Lowy!
PICK YOUR OWN FLOWERS
Our Pick-your-own area is finally producing loads of zinnias, cosmos, snapdragons and other beautiful field flowers. Last year we relocated the Pick-Your-Own Patch to the center of the farm, from the community garden area where it had been for many years. Integrating the flower garden into the farm and near our other crops just made sense. We have laid down black ground cloth to keep the area tidy and easy to navigate and walk and we are still developing and refining the entire area. But for now, it has quite a few nice flowers growing and wou can find them down the farm road, near the white shed. Starting this weekend we will have scissors and the signage up for folks wishing to cut a few. Pay by the stem on the Farm Store terminals or pay cash. We will be adding signage soon!
FRESH PRODUCE- THIS WEEK
Each week availability of produce and fruit shifts a bit. From now on, we will provide a "potential" list of veggies we will have for sale in the Farm Store. Availability will vary but we hope and plan to have these items fresh and in stock! Some of these items are grown by us using organic growing methods (We are not certified organic), most of the other veggies we buy in from local farms ARE certified organic and most fruit is NOT certified organic, but IPM (which means low spray or low use of chemicals, when possible).
Available this week
July 18-25th
FRUIT
- Blueberries, Raspberries
VEGETABLES
Fresh Scallions and Onions, Bunched Carrots, Fresh Green Beans, Broccoli,
Beets, Chard, Kale, Lettuce Mix, Arugula, Eggplant, Cucumbers
CODMAN FARM @
MINUTEMAN NATIONAL PARK
Last year Codman Farm signed a Special Use Permit with Minuteman National Park to assume management of almost 30 acres of land within the park. Minuteman National Park is a huge park with over 1000 acres. The park has been in search of partners to help redevelop some of the agricultural land that historically had been farmed for hundreds of years before the park was established. Codman is just beginning to establish plans to bring some of the fields back into production and this season we have over 60 pigs in a field behind Carty Barn, which is located on Lexington Road. This field had been used quite a few years ago for grazing cattle but it has since become overgrown with invasive plants. The pigs love to root and dig in the rich soils and so we are using their innate desire to dig to help reclaim this beautiful field. We will be moving the pigs and their mobile feeders, water wagon and shed through the field as the season progresses. Stop by and say hi to the piggies to see for yourself what amazing field renovators they are! A huge thanks to the Minuteman Staff who helped make this possible - Landscape Architect, Margi Coffin Brown and Superintendent BJ Dunn! Without their hard work and dedication to revitalizing the agricultural history at Minuteman our work there would not be possible.
A BIT of NATURE, UPDATE
As we mentioned last week we have a very nice little nest of Robin eggs in the orchard we have been monitoring daily. Last week it had three little beautiful blue eggs in it. A few days later we checked again and two of the three eggs hatched out to two very hungry big eyed, yellow beaked birdies. Two days later I went to check on them again and they were no where to be found! They had not fallen out of the nest so I can only assume they were taken by a hawk or some other predator. One egg remains and we will see what comes of it! That's nature I guess. You win some....
FARM STORE DELIVERY and SCHEDULE
As we get into more of a routine we wanted to share what to expect each week as far as product arrivals and days to expect certain items...here goes!
MONDAY
High Lawn Farm (early morning)
Fresh milk, cheese, ice cream deliveries
Myers Distributor (early afternoon)
Our local distributor from Massachusetts grown farms - we normally receive fresh veggies, cider, donuts, flower, and other items
TUESDAY
Bread Obsession (by 11 am)
Fresh bread baked in Waltham; baguettes, whole wheat slicing loaf, durum levain, sourdough, multigrain
WEDNESDAY
Bread Obsession (by 11 am)
Fresh bread baked in Waltham; baguettes, whole wheat slicing loaf, durum levain, sourdough, multigrain
Cape Ann Fresh Catch
Fresh local fish usually including haddock, scallops, salmon, swordfish, grey sole, and catch of the day
THURSDAY
High Lawn Farm (early morning)
Fresh milk, cheese, ice cream deliveries
Myers Distributor (early afternoon)
Our local distributor from Massachusetts grown farms - we normally receive fresh veggies, fruit, cider, donuts, flowers, and other items
FRIDAY
Bread Obsession (by 11 am)
Fresh bread baked in Waltham; baguettes, whole wheat slicing loaf, durum levain, sourdough, multigrain
Mi Tierra Tortillas (by 11 am)
Fresh, local, organic corn tortillas
Sweet Tahini
Fresh, gluten free breads, and Israeli inspired pastries, breads and cookies
Local Veggies
We will be harvesting our own veggies and buying seasonally available produce from local farms, as available
SATURDAY
Bread Obsession (by 11 am)
Fresh bread baked in Waltham; baguettes, whole wheat slicing loaf, durum levain, sourdough, multigrain
C&C Fresh Lobster and Fish
Fresh fish and lobster, 10am- 12pm
MISC INFO...
1. We remain OPEN 24/7, so if you want to avoid contact with others, visit in the wee hours of the night!
2. MANDATORY MASKS: Please wear MASKS in all public places so be sure to have one on when you visit the store. They are a pain for sure but JUST DO IT! ;-)
3. THANKS: Farm store sales remain brisk and we appreciate your support!
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please contact pete@codmanfarm.org.
WEEKLY PICS
Photos by Pete Lowy
Lazing around at Codman North Field
Hanging out with the goats!
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