| Upcoming Events | |
Adult Workshop
Organic Lawn Care
May 3
7pm, Weston Public Library
Come learn about the proper lawn care techniques necessary for having a beautiful and environmentally sound lawn without relying on the use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers. Please RSVP to save a spot. For more info, please visit us online.
Adult Workshop
Managing Invasive Plants
May 10
7pm, Weston Public Library
Exotic invasive plants are the silent and secret invaders of our neighborhoods, communities and country. Come learn control techniques for the top 16 exotic invasive plants plaguing eastern Massachusetts. Please RSVP to let us know how many to expect. For more info please visit us online.
Supper Club
May 19
7pm, Josiah Smith Tavern
Sam Hunt, our featured chef, is a Weston native and Executive Chef of 15 Walnut in S. Hamilton, MA. For this dinner, he will prepare dishes featuring early spring vegetables--Mother Nature's tender first offerings! Sam's meals are always delicious and the casual dining experience is fun and friendly (bring your own wine and sit family style at our long farm table). To make a reservation, please click here. Our Supper Clubs are scheduled monthly all year long. Please check our website for more information including the full schedule.
Adult Workshop Coop Loop is back!
May 21
7pm, Land's Sake Farm Ever thought about raising chickens in your own backyard? Wondering how to get started? Already have chickens, but interested in how others raise theirs? Curious about chicken tractors? Please join us for this popular tour of chicken coops right here in Weston. All ages are welcome; however, strollers are not recommended. No dogs, please. Download our registration form here. Reminder! Backyard Beekeeping #4
May 21
3pm, Land's Sake For those of you who have signed up, May 21st is the 4th session in the five-part Beekeeping Workshop series. See you there!
Save the Date!
Strawberry Festival
June 18
10am-2pm Land's Sake farm Come for pick-your-own berries, strawberry shortcake, burgers and dogs, live music, hay rides and plenty of farm games and activities for children. Land's Sake strawberries are grown without the use of pesticides. Admission is $4 for adults, $2 for children. Children under two and Land's Sake members are free. |
Wanted
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Wish list
Help us do our jobs even better! Land's Sake is looking for donations of the following items to assist us in our farming and education work. This spring, please consider a small donation to help us acquire one or more of the following items:
- 15 quality hand trowels for diggin' in the dirt! To view our dream trowels, please click here - 4 x 50 foot sections of lead-free hose, the better to irrigate safely with!
See here. - 8 Tubtrug harvest bins, in which we can gather the fruits of our labor.
See these brightly colored tubs here.
For more information or to make a donation, contact greenpower@landssake.org
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Did you know?
| Land's Sake has a blog!
Check it out each week for a new post. Our blog is a great way to get the inside scoop on what life is like for our farmers, educators and staffers.
You can also subscribe to our blog's RSS feed and get the latest updates as soon as they are posted. Just click on the orange RSS button in the top left corner. Let us know you're reading our posts by leaving comments. We appreciate your feedback!
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Hello Land's Sake friends, This past Monday marked a significant transition in the organizational life of Land's Sake. After 10 years of remarkable service, Ned Rossiter stepped down as President of the Land's Sake Board of Directors. Ned, with his life-long commitment to education, his attachment to Weston's landscape, his love of community and his passion for both farming and forestry epitomizes the essence of Land's Sake. Ned will remain on the board and continue to play an important role in that capacity. At the insistence of the Land's Sake staff, we have bestowed upon him the highest honor that we could think of: we named our new John Deere tractor "Ned".  | | Ned Rossiter working along side one of our Green Power students. |
The governance committee nominated Alyson Muzila to become Board President and she was unanimously voted in. Alyson has worked closely with Ned over the years serving as Vice-President. Alyson's passion and inexhaustible energy have been critical to Land's Sake and will help propel us into a bright future. In addition, Kirk Jensen was re-elected as Treasurer and Barbara Keller was re-elected as Secretary. We also elected four new members to our board: Holly Ameden, Matt Mitchell, Miriam Stason and Nathalie Thompson. We are excited to work with our new board members and look forward to their contributions. I would also like to introduce Jordan McCarron, our newest staff member who is taking on the role of Conservation Land Manager. Scroll down to read more about Jordan and the impressive experience he brings to Land's Sake. Welcome, Jordan! Spring is always an exciting time for us. Many programs and events are beginning and of course, the farm is bustling again with activity. Please join us for one of our upcoming workshops or events. In the spirit of spring and renewal, this is also membership season at Land's Sake. Please look for our membership renewal letter coming to you soon, or you can renew or become a member now on our website: www.landssake.org. Be a part of the exciting Land's Sake community! Best Regards, Eric Kreilick, Executive Director
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On the Farm: Spring, a time of preparation and hope
Fava beans
For those of you who drive past the fields of Land's Sake, you may have noticed the blank, brown canvases that are our freshly disked up fields. Those empty fields are why this time of the year is, to me: a.) when I love most how the farm looks, for there is barely a weed to be seen, and b.) in a way the most terrifying time of the year as we have invested a considerable amount of time and money in purchasing seeds, compost, and fertilizer and have nothing yet to show for it!
But I have faith in nature, in things balancing themselves (with the help of hard work and commitment) and in the resiliency that a diverse crop plan provides. We plant a vast array of crops and often a number of successions of each. This way, we can be sure that if the peppers are not doing well, the potatoes might be seriously producing. Or if the lettuce bites the dust, either the next planting of lettuce, or the kale, is there to save the week.
Our volunteer hours have started and will continue throughout the season! Come witness the farm unfurl into its next season, get to know your farmers and give us a hand in the process. Click here for more info about volunteering at the farm.
Green Dollars and CSA Shares
There are two opportunities for you to support your farm in advance and to save money on Land's Sake produce once it starts rolling in off the fields.
Email the farm manager at melanie@landssake.org if you have any questions about either program. |
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Meet Forestry's newest staff member
by Dave Quinn
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Please welcom the newest member of our staff, Jordan McCarron, Conservation Land Manager. Jordan will oversee all of Land's Sake's land management activities on behalf of the Town of Weston, including managing our firewood and timber harvesting operation in Highland Forest, open field preservation and mowing, tree care at the Farm, and trails projects on behalf of the Weston Forest and Trail Association. Jordan brings experience working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine, an interpretive Park Ranger with the Massachusetts DCR and a farmer at Lindentree Farm in Lincoln. We are grateful for the experience and enthusiasm he brings to the Land's Sake team. If you see him working in the woods or fields, be sure to say 'hello' and introduce yourself!
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Young Farmers return to the Farm!
by Douglas Cook, Education Director
All of us at Land's Sake are welcoming the sights and sounds of Spring on the farm. Peas are popping, cabbage seedlings are transplanted and deer fences are powered up. Everything seems to be charging ahead and, as warmer days approach, the Land's Sake hub will bounce back to life before our eyes. Proudly integrated into the workings of the Land's Sake Farm are our After School Farmers.
Strawberry Raking
Taking care of organic strawberries is a lot of work. With care, the Farmers pulled back the layers of matted straw to expose tender young leaves. Working together, this work crew of six After School Farmers can rake a row clean in about 20 minutes.
Wooly Pocket Peas
The After School Farmers also planted peas, onions, carrots, and chives in these cozy Wooly Pockets. Made from recycled plastic bottles, these hanging gardens are a great example of using vertical space to grow food. Soon we will plant beans, nasturtiums, marigolds and tomatoes in the same way.
Our 4th and 5th grade After School program has room for a few more students for the 8 week Spring session. When school is dismissed, a Land's Sake Educator will meet students outside of the Field School and walk across the street to Land's Sake Farm. Students help with the evening animal chores and preparing the new Education Garden to get ready for the summer.
One last bit of news... Green Power Summer is filling up! Take this opportunity to check out our brochure and register today for this truly unique and inspirational program that grows students and food, now more than forty years 'strong' since Bill McElwain started farming with kids here in 1970. See you on the farm!
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And, our thanks go to....
Weston School kids: for helping us pick rocks from the fields during the PTO Community Day (4/6). Your hard work helped rid us of those pesky rocks that can do damage to our tractors. Thank you! Karma Coffee in Sudbury: for donating coffee to our Sugaring Off festival Sugaring Off Festival volunteers and performers: who braved chilly temps for multiple hours Maple Sugaring helpers: for all of you who helped throughout our maple sugaring season tapping trees, hauling buckets and boiling sap at the Sugar Shack. With your help we:
- put up 460 taps
- collected 3,200 gallons of sap
- produced 45.5 gallons of maple syrup
- worked alongside 21 hard-working Weston middle school students
Thank you! |
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Membership renewal letters arriving soon!
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. You can become a member of Land's Sake or renew 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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