After a typically unpredictable New England spring, the weather this early summer so far has been good to us. Unlike last year's drought, the beginning of this growing season provided us with well-timed rain to water our crops. Just as important as the rain have been some generous stretches of dry, sunny weather that have allowed us to gleefully terminate the lives of millions (billions?) of weeds. As a result of the cooler and wetter spring, along with a much more aggressive and intentional planting plan, our lettuce finally has been as amazing as it should be. We're hoping for a summer of consistent rain showers so that our lettuce can remain at least slightly sweet through the summer; intense heat typically gives lettuce a bit of a bite.

Along with cooperative weather, a winter spent fine-tuning our staffing plans, along with our field management and crop/greenhouse plans  is paying off in increased efficiency and productivity at the farm. A veteran, full-time farm crew doesn't hurt either, and actually is a farm manager's dream! It is exciting to think about continuing to build upon our successes, and every new day gives us the opportunity to plan a better year in 2012.

Come check out the results of all of our hard work, and meet your farmers, at the Land's Sake Farmstand. Our hours of operation are Tuesday through Sunday, from 10am - 6pm. We are closed on Mondays.

Check out these amazing sets of photos taken by Anisha Palmer, one of our CSA shareholders. Anisha photographs the farm nearly every week when she picks up her share. Highlighted in these sets are our carrots and beets at the stand, our new dahlia garden, and the end of this season's pea patch (Late June) (Early July). 

If you'd like to join us in the fields, email farmvolunteer@landssake.org for more information. We'd love to have you!

Did you miss the Green Power feature on WBZ this past week? Check it out here or click on the image below. We had a lot of fun showing them around the farm, explaining what Green Power is all about and setting up shots. It was a great promotion for our program and interest in the last few weeks of our summer program has jumped up.  If your kids need a bit more outside time, a bit more discovery time, or just a change from camp, considering registering today to join the Green Power crew for this amazing farm experience.

 There are so many things packed into the Green Power program. So far, the crew's favorite morning chore is taking care of goats. Not everyone loves mucking out the stall, so the task rotates. I want to extend many thanks to John Burress and Nina Danforth for their contributions toward creating a successful Community Grazing Project right here at Land's Sake. Their support enables us to model one form of sustainable land management by rotationally grazing privately-owned animals on public land.Check out our great pictures on Flikr and Facebook. And come by and visit the goats!

Milkweed Islands 

Jordan McCarron, Conservation Land Manager 

Cut Flowers and Floral Designs at Land's Sake

At Land's Sake, you'll find a variety of fresh, organic flowers available now through late September. Pick-your-own flowers as well as pre-made bouquets are available at our farm stand during business hours. We also offer our floral design services for a limited number of weddings and special events. Design work is done with flowers and greens grown on site, which sometimes limits the availability of our products and services. Because of the unpredictability inherent in farming, we cannot always guarantee a specific flower will be in bloom at the time of your event, but we can work with you to come up with a design that suits your needs and our seasonal availability.  

When you are planning your next event, consider local, farm-raised flowers as an alternative to imported flowers. When you buy local flowers you are not only supporting local agriculture and environmentally responsible farming, but locally grown blooms are fresher, their vase life is longer, and the carbon footprint is smaller. Please contact Nina Zinsser Booth at Nina@landssake.org to see if we would be a good fit for your flower needs at your special event.

The Pick-Your-Own Flower garden is now open during farm stand hours at Land's Sake (weather permitting). Come visit us and make your own fresh farm bouquet.

...to Amie Smith for securing a grant from the Wellesley Gardener's Guild which will be used to purchase mulch for our herb garden

... to Kara & Tim Gavin, our friends and neighbors, who purchased a lovely new microwave for our staff!

...to the Weston Garden Club Provisional Group for their generous gift in support of our Educational programs 

...to Banter Creative for donating design services to the Land's Sake strawberry festival and Growing the Roots campaign

...to the Keurig Foundation for its generous support of our Kids Café and Healthy Champions programs

...to Anisha Palmer for all of her beautiful photos of the farm 

...to our "growing" list of donors to the Growing the Roots campaign

...and to our many Community Leaders that are leading the way in fundraising efforts.