Introducing our "Neighbors!"

This week you will have a taste from The Neighborhood Farm in your share!

Here at The Trustees of Reservations, we try to be very good neighbors in the local farming community.  We love helping small family farms and community farms out in a number of ways; from sending our crews to volunteer on small local farms, to purchasing value-added products from local bee keepers and maple syrup producers to offer to our CSA members, to leasing land to small family farms.  Let me introduce you to one such farm - The Neighborhood Farm from Needham, MA!  The Trustees has been partnering with this farm for several years now, who mission is to grow food in backyards and other small plots of land.  They have been leasing a small plot of land in Medfield from the Trustees for a couple of years now.  They sell their food at farmer's markets in Dedham, Roslindale and Needham.  When Moose Hill Farm was building their greenhouse this past winter, we knew we were going to have some extra space for the first few years.  We have been able to lease half of our greenhouse to The Neighborhood Farm this season and probably will be able to for the next couple of seasons as well.  Having a large enough greenhouse is not an easy feat when you grow in someone's backyard, so we were very happy to help out.  Plus it makes our greenhouse much more energy efficient when it is completely filled with plants.  A win-win for everyone!

Well, it turns out that The Neighborhood Farm is really great at growing garlic.  In fact, they are obsessed with growing garlic and are currently growing dozens and dozens of different varieties.  We were lucky enough to snag some garlic scapes from them this week, because as you recall from a previous blog, we won't have garlic until next year.  Hope you enjoy "meeting" The Neighborhood Farm!

Besides those tasty garlic scapes, you will also find under the tents lettuce, cabbage, kale, Swiss chard, dill, basil, beets, carrots, summer squash and potatoes.  Sorry, but there isn't anything available in the PYO fields this week - turns out fava beans hate being in soggy soil :(  Hopefully the bush beans will be available in the next week or so! 

Farmer Molly and the crew