| Upcoming Events! | |
THIS WEEKEND!
Sugaring Off! Festival
March 26
9am-1pm
Sugar Shack at the Weston Middle School
We hope you'll join us at our annual Sugaring Off festival this Satruday to celebrate the Maple Season. There will be music, pancakes (with syrup of course!), tours of the Sugar House, and a chance to buy syrup to take home. Nothing is quite as sweet and wonderful as maple syrup, and you can't get much more local than ours! See you there!
NEW!
Backyard Beekeeping workshops #2 & 3
March 30 & April 9
7pm
Weston Public Library Community Room
Curious about keeping honeybees and making your own honey? Andy Reseska of Reseska Apiaries has built the region's largest beekeeping operation from the ground up. Now he is eager to share his wealth of knowledge in this five-session beekeeping course which will teach you what you need to know to skills to successfully keep bees in your own backyard. The program consists of two indoor sessions at the Weston Public Library and three outdoor workshops working with bee colonies at Lands Sake Farm in Weston. Educational materials and references will be provided. Registration is limited to 30 participants. To register, download the registration form. For more information about Andy and Reseska Apiaries, visit bostonhoneycompany.com
YOU ARE INVITED!
Annual Meeting
April 11th
6:30pm Josiah Smith Tavern Please join us for our Annual Meeting, open to the public. On the agenda: chili supper, business meeting, a special farewell to two of our faithful Board members and the welcoming of new members. Attending our annual meeting is a great opportunity to be a part of the Land's Sake family.
RESERVE A SPOT!
Supper Club
April 14
7pm Josiah Smith Tavern For this dinner, Sam Hunt, our wonderful chef, will prepare dishes featuring storage vegetables, as we use up the last of them and make room for spring! His meals are always delicious and the casual dining experience (bring your own wine and sit family style at our long farm table) is always fun and friendly. To make a reservation, please click here. Our Supper Clubs are scheduled monthly all year long. Please check our website for more information about these unique, fun events, including the full schedule. |
Wanted!
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Used Refrigerator
Do you have a gently used refrigerator that is looking for a home and is hopefully not an energy hog? We have a truck, and we'd be delighted to take it off your hands for use at the Melone House. We are running out of room due to a growing staff and their bringing-lunch-from-home habits! If you have one you'd be willing to donate, please call the office at 781.893.1162 or shoot an e-mail to us at info@landssake.org. Thanks, we'd appreciate it!
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Did you know?
| Land's Sake has a blog! Check out this week's beautiful post out maple syrup production written by our own Stephanie Andrews, Maple Production Manager.
We encourage you to check the blog each week. It's a great way to get the inside scoop on what life is like for our farmers, educators and staffers.
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Hello Land's Sake friends, Seasons are a fundamental part of life here in New England. Winters are long and dark. As I grow older, winter reminds me that life is short and precious. Thankfully the day light has begun its slow return and warmth is seeping back into New England. Melanie and Stephanie are in the greenhouse, maple season is coming to a close, and a new season is coming fast. We had a busy and productive winter, but spring brings the energy of new life and now we seem to be paddling with the tide instead of against it. We have made much progress in the improvement of our internal systems over the winter and better systems also mean better programs. This month I had the opportunity to work with the Green Power kids collecting sap for the maple program. They are a great group and I hope that you will join us to support their work at our annual Sugaring Off festival. The Green Power students will be earning money through the sale of maple syrup produced this season. Finally, I have the privilege to announce Land's Sake's Growing the Roots 30th Anniversary Campaign. This is a one year, $300,000 campaign to ensure that the vision, vitality and community created during Land's Sake's first 30 years will continue on for the next 30 years... and beyond. Thanks to your support at our fall barn party, we have been able to purchase a new tractor. Successful completion of our campaign will assure that we can:
- become a leader in hands-on, place-based environmental education;
- Improve the productivity, safety and public enjoyment of Weston's community farm;
- Raise awareness and engage more people in the care and enjoyment of Weston's remarkable natural resources;
- and develop our infrastructure and organizational systems to ensure a sustainable future.
This will be an exciting year at Land's Sake. Please join our Growing the Roots campaign. For more information, visit us online at www.landssake.org/joinus/roots_campaign or email Alyson Muzila or 30th@landssake.org. As you lend your support, you are certain to have fun, meet great people and help to ensure that Weston's special character only gets better. Thanks, Eric Kreilick, Executive Director
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CSA Shares still available!
Seedlings in our greenhouse
We still have a small number of CSA shares available. This is your opportunity to support your local farm in advance of the high growing season, when our costs far exceed our revenue. What do you receive in return when you pay for your CSA share? From early or mid-June, until the very end of October, you will receive a weekly selection of delicious, seasonal vegetables grown right here at our farm. We have pick-up days on both Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Shares cost $675 and include an individual membership ($50) which is tax-deductible. To learn more about our CSA program, please click here. Sign-up forms are available here. If you have any questions, please email the farm manager at melanie@landssake.org. We hope you'll join us!
Also, our greenhouse is full, the maple season is winding down, and the fields are looking more and more ready for plowing. With our core crew members returning, many for third seasons, we are looking forward to Land's Sake Farm 2011 with much enthusiasm and confidence, and we are curious to see what challenges it will bring weather-wise and otherwise! Starting in mid-April, we will have open volunteer days on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. We hope you will join us out in the fields this season! We like to share our love for the work we do with our community. For more information about volunteering, please click here.
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Forestry Update
 A snowy view from the forestry crewWith the end of winter, our forestry crew is getting ready for the transition from cutting firewood in Highland St. Forest to other land management projects at the farm and around Weston, including orchard pruning, open field mowing, and trail maintenance projects. This year's harsh winter and deep snow slowed down firewood production quite a bit, so we plan to stay in the woods a few weeks longer than normal this year to finish up. If you would like to help out with firewood splitting, we invite you to join us for a volunteer day in the woods on Saturday, April 2nd at 9am. It's a great way to help us meet our yearly production targets, get a great workout, and learn more about our forestry operation. If you are interested, contact Dave Quinn at dave@landssake.org for more details. |
Register now for Spring After School programs!
by Douglas Cook, Education Director
Green Power students assisting with maple sap collection
As I was taking a walk around the new education garden on the main farm, I noticed the first signs of life poking through the straw. There in the dark soil, a single little garlic sprout, green and tender, had just emerged from a snowy winter. I take that as a sure sign that I should be getting ready for another exciting growing season. This year, Land's Sake Spring After School programs will be integrated into the workings of the main farm. We will get our hands in the soil to help prepare the garden and the fields for a successful summer and fall. Every Monday and Thursday beginning on April 11, students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades can work on building raised beds, planting, and sowing cover crops. As part of our Farm & Forest Explorers program on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, students in 4th and 5th grades can experience the beginning of the farm season by helping out in the education garden and exploring the farmscape through fun activities. Sign up today at www.landssake.org/education
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It's Membership Renewal Time
Spring is also membership renewal season. Your Land's Sake membership helps support our programs throughout the year, provides you with special benefits such as discounts on our services, complimentary admission to our festivals and the chance to purchase Green Dollars. Membership also reminds us that the Land's Sake family is strong and growing. Please consider becoming a member of Land's Sake or renewing your membership by clicking here. Please check out our website, www.LandsSake.org, for more information and help spread the word! Many thanks,
the Land's Sake staff
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