| Upcoming Events! | NEW!
Sunday Night
All-Family Farm Table Buffet
January 30
5:30 and 7pm
Josiah Smith Tavern
Price: $25/adults; $15/kids (kids under 2 Free)
A new twist on our popular Supper Club series: Land's Sake and chef Sam Hunt invite you to gather your family and join us at the Josiah Smith Tavern for a Rustic Italian themed dinner. Enjoy hearty salads, warm soups, baked pasta, wood oven braised meats and a delicious dessert.
To make a reservation, for the 5:30 p.m. seating, please click here.
To make a reservation for the 7 p.m. seating, please click here.
For more info, call the office at 781.893.1162.
Supper Club
February 17
7pm
Josiah Smith Tavern
February's farm-to-table meal will focus on food from the winter pantry. To make a reservation, please click here. Our Supper Clubs are scheduled monthly all year long. Please check our website for the full schedule.
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Land's Sake Volunteers
| Ever thought about volunteering for Land's Sake? If so, let us know! Your skills and enthusiasm are welcome.
In particular, we are looking for database and writing skills. If interested, please email Eric Krelick at eric@landssake.org. Thank you!
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Land's Sake Membership
| One of the best ways you can support Land's Sake is to become a member, or renew your membership. Our work would not be possible without the help of our generous members. In addition to supporting the mission of Land's Sake, members receive benefits including complimentary admission to certain events and discounts on services and education programs.
We are most grateful for your support!
For information about membership, click here. All membership donations are tax deductible.
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Community Green Team
| The Community Green Team is a coalition of parents, students, and community members, in collaboration with Land's Sake and the Weston Climate Group, that will support teachers in their work on green initiatives within the Weston School District.
We need your ideas, enthusiasm, and energy to help make Weston schools even greener! Please join us. For more information, email Alyson Muzila at alyson@muzila.net.
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Hello Land's Sake friends,
As I walked the Case 40 early this morning, I was struck by how quiet and still the farm felt. Only a few months ago when the harvest was still coming in, the farm had a much different feel. This morning all of that seems a very long time ago. The air is cold and life seems hunkered down for a long, cold winter.
I feel out of step with this world as I turn and head for our office in the historic Melone Homestead. At the office nothing is hunkered down. A long string of emails awaits. We have ambitious plans for the future and there is much to do. We will be working hard this winter.
Our heartfelt thanks to all of you who participated this year in our CSA, shopped at our farmstand, purchased firewood, became a member of Land's Sake, came to a Supper Club, participated in one of our education programs, joined us at an event or made a donation. Financial contributions are a critical component of our operating budget so if you have yet to make your end-of-the-year contributions, we hope you will consider Land's Sake when you do so.
Happy Holidays from all of us at Land's Sake.
Eric Kreilick, Executive Director
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Winter Work Days
After the holidays, many of you will no doubt be looking for some opportunities to get back in shape after a season of festivities. From January 22nd through April 30th 2011, Land's Sake will be hosting bi-weekly Saturday work days from 9am-4pm. These days are open to all volunteers willing to get their hands dirty and work hard! No special skills required; we'll teach you what you need to know. Activities include splitting and stacking cordwood in the woods. If it is a good maple season we also will collect and boil maple sap, and as spring rolls around we could use some help with the annual pruning of our perennial fruits. To volunteer or for more information please contact Dave@landssake.org.
Also, our Junior Apprentice program coincides with our volunteer work days. The Junior Apprentice program is vailable to high school students who are able to commit to the entire season. JAs receive $8.00/hr for their contribution. Anyone interested in the Junior Apprentice program should contact Doug@landssake.org.
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Join us for our first All-Family Sunday Night Farm Table Buffet!
Come in out of the cold, and let someone else cook for you! A new twist on our popular Supper Club series, Land's Sake and chef Sam Hunt invite you to gather your family and join us at the Josiah Smith Tavern for a Rustic Italian themed dinner. Enjoy hearty salads, warm soups, baked pasta, wood oven braised meats and a delicious dessert.
Sunday, January 30
5:30pm and 7pm seatings
Josiah Smith Tavern
Price: $25 adult; $15 kids under 12 (kids under 2 yrs. old are free; no high chairs available but you can bring your own). BYO for grown ups (there will be at least one kid-friendly beverage) To make a reservation, for the 5:30 p.m. seating, please click here.To make a reservation for the 7 p.m. seating, please click here. |
Farm report
Despite the drought this season, there were many successes at Land's Sake Farm in 2010. Here are the highlights!
- Our crew excelled, even shined and the entire full-time farm staff is returning for 2011!
- Tomatoes were a welcome (and delicious) sight after the sad tomato blight last year.
- We met and even exceeded most of our financial goals.
- The flower garden looked beautiful.
- We have donated thousands of pounds of veggies to area food pantries and food access organizations, and exceeded our goal of $25,000 in food donations. We are grateful to Weston's Conservation Commission, which helps underwrite the cost of this program.
Sometimes, nothing is as impressive or fun to look at as numbers. Thanks to the dedicated record keeping of Hilary Crowell, this year's harvest manager, we have a detailed record of what was harvested this season. At the suggestion of some of our favorite CSA work-for-share harvesters, we want to share some of these numbers with you! Wow!
- Carrots: 4,742 lbs
- Kale/Collards: 3,354 lbs
- Summer squash/Zucchini: 6,387 lbs
- Tomatoes: 12,851 lbs
- Eggplant: 4,342 lbs
- Summer turnips: 924 lbs
- Beets: 3,932 lbs
- Cabbage: 3,420 lbs
As it happens in any farm season, nothing was perfect and we also learned many lessons this year. As a result, we have a long list of things we want to improve in future seasons. This winter we will be taking time to make those improvements realities. Thank you for your support!
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Education Update
New Beginnings for Land's Sake's education program!With guidance from consultant Pat Gray, formerly Director of the Food Project, the Education Committee is conducting a comprehensive program review and refocus. Land's Sake will emerge from this process with a stronger, more focused and capable education program. Winter Junior Apprenticship program begins- Jan. 22-Apr. 30; every other Sat. from 9am-4pm
- Cost: none for the 9-week session
- Stipend paid to students: $8.00/hour
- Maximum of 5 apprentices during the winter
The Junior Apprenticeship (JA) program is our winter program for students in the 9th through 12th grades. Through this program, participants are exposed to the Land's Sake forestry operation in the Town of Weston. Participants will be asked to meet for two Saturdays a month to help the Land's Sake staff. On these Saturdays, participants will predominately cut and stack firewood but will also help work on the town's trail system which Land's Sake maintains on behalf of the Weston Forest and Trail Association. Other work-related tasks may include maintaining the local orchards or preparing the greenhouse for the spring season. Throughout this experience, Land's Sake staff and volunteers will also lead discussions ranging from forest succession to silvicultural techniques so youth fully realize the impacts of their work on the immediate surroundings and beyond. Interested students must be available for the entire 9-week period. For more information, please contact Doug Cook, Education Director, doug@landssake.org. Register here. |
Field Edge work
The Land Management Crew (Dave, Ben, Jordan, Hilary, Josh) has been hard at work over the last month clearing around the edges of "80 Acres" field in Cat Rock Conservation Area, which has become overgrown with trees, shrubs, saplings and invasive species. Funded through the Community Preservation Act, the project aims to keep Weston's conservation fields open by pushing overgrown areas back to the original stone walls to keep the woods from encroaching and to allow for easier mowing in years to come. Land's Sake maintains approximately 25 fields throughout the Town of Weston on behalf of the Conservation Commission and the Weston Forest and Trail Association.
To learn more about Land's Sake's Land Management efforts, please email Dave Quinn, dave@landssake.org.
Photo (top): Dave Quinn (barely visible) saws away at an overgrown section of "80 Acres" field. Photo (bottom): Same areas as above, after being cleared out.
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Once again, thank you for your ongoing support of Land's Sake. We are so proud of our work and of what we have accomplished together with you. Happy Holidays and New Year to you all!
cheers,
the Land's Sake staff
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