The VINE - e-Newsletter |
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Dear Friends and Supporters:
I hope you have all been enjoying our beautiful weather and local bounty! As our local food naturally ripens to perfection for you to eat up days after harvest, we encourage you to think ahead and try preserving, so you can enjoy what Massachusetts produces year-round.
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Sincerely,
Bridget Alexander
SEMAP Executive Director
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First Annual Gratitude
Harvest Festival
Saturday, September 7, 2013
The Holy Ghost Grounds
2 Allen's Neck Way
South Dartmouth, MA 02748
Imagine Woodstock Meets
Taste of South Coast!
Gratitude Harvest Fest is a South Coast Music, Food, Arts & Culture Experience
benefiting SEMAP.
Featuring:
Live Music on 4 Stages with Bands performing all day
A Diverse Local Food Bazaar Presenting Farm-To-Table Food Tastings by the Area's Finest Local Chefs
Local Beer and Wine Producers Offering Their Best Selections
Live Dance Performances and Art Exhibits
Speakers and Educators Presenting on a Variety of Sustainability and Wellness Topics
 Overnight Camping on the Pristine Grounds of Round the Bend Farm
Swimming, Hiking Trails, Yoga, Paddling, Rock Climbing, Birding, Farm Tours, Bouncy Houses, and more!
Don't Miss Out: Join Us in Celebrating All That Makes This Region Beautiful, Fun, and Appetizing!
This is a ticketed event and over 2,000 attendees are expected.
Use t he code SEMAP at checkout and receive a discount on your tickets.
For more information, call 774-473-1411 or email gratitudefestival@gmail.com.
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Saturday, September 14, 2013
9:00am - 1:00pm
Makepeace Farms
146 Tihonet Road
SEMAP is excited to work with our friends at A.D. Makepeace to create this all-ages family event as a healthy and positive way to support SEMAP's work with local food and sustainable farming in Southeastern MA.
 Bog Jog 5k Run/Walk: Run or walk through the A.D. Makepeace property andbogs. Run through wooded trails, break in and out of the dense forest into the sunshine, around a bog and then back into the tree-covered trail. Adult registration is $25 and includes your ticket to the Picnic Lunch and Seafood Throwdown! The Veggie Stampede! A short-distance run and obstacle course on the grass for children ages 4 to 9. Each Veggie Stampede runner will get his/her own Veggie Stampede race shirt if registered by Labor Day. Registration per child is $15 (includes lunch!).
VOLUNTEER AT THE BOG JOG!
If you are interested in volunteering at SEMAP's 3rd Annual Bog Jog and Veggie Stampede, please contact race coordinator Bridget Alexander at
balexander@semaponline.org.
Register for the Bog Jog Here
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Join the Massachusetts Farm to School Project
The Massachusetts Farm to School Project works to build sustainable relationships between farms and a variety of institutions in order to improve access to healthy, locally-grown foods and to strengthen the regional economy.
The Project's Mass Harvest for Students Week has contributed to increased buying and eating locally grown food in cafeterias and dining halls in preschools, school districts, and colleges all over the state. This success has led to the creation of Harvest of the Month.
Harvest of the Month promotes a different Massachusetts-grown crop each month in school cafeterias across the state, from September 2013 through February 2014. Harvest for Students Week (September 30 - October 4, 2013) is a highlight in this ongoing campaign and kicks off National Farm to School Month this October.
It's an annual celebration of Massachusetts agriculture as celebrated by schools and colleges throughout the Commonwealth. 
These campaigns provide wonderful opportunities for collaboration among school food and nutrition staff, educators, school administrators, parents and students, and for celebrating your commitment to serving local foods with local press and legislators.
Mass. Farm to School Project will provide participating schools and students with procurement assistance, free display materials, and links to resources that connect these cafeteria campaigns to the classroom and community. These resources include curriculum and classroom activities, home-scale recipes and nutrition information.
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It's Farmers Market Season!
SEMAP 2013 Member Markets:
The Marketplace at Simpson Spring
719 Washington St., South Easton
Saturdays, 10am - 2pm
Simpson Spring, the oldest bottling plant in the country, hosts a marketplace every week for local vendors to showcase their goods.
Local produce and dairy farms, the Oragami Owl, Hillcrest Farms with alpacas, soaps, candles, handmade jewelry, coffee roasters, bakeries, organic cleaners and even a bee keeper.
Finberg Field, 732 Park St.
Saturdays, 9am - 1pm
 | | Attleboro Farmers Market |
25+ vendors selling local,fresh and organic produce, artisan breads, seafood, grass fed beef, baked items, cheeses, eggs and more. We also have local artisans selling woodworking, pottery, recycled jewelry, artwork and more!
Braintree Town Hall Mall
Saturdays 9am - 1pm
Featuring locally grown and produced fruits, vegetables, hormone & antibiotic-free meats, seafood, prepared foods, flowers, plants, preserves, creative cookies, spa products, gourmet cupcakes, fresh eggs, award-winning pies, honey, breads, nuts and nut butters, granola, cheeses, handmade pastas, sauces, cranberries, fair-trade coffees, teas, chocolates, and much more.
 | | Carver Farmers Market |
Across from Carver Town Hall
Sundays, 12pm - 4pm
Open-air market selling a variety of fresh produce, including cranberries, cut flowers, value added items, baked goods, and craft items including metal works, jewelry, leather goods, body products/soaps, paintings and more!
591 Depot Street, North Easton, MA
Tuesdays, 2pm - 6pm; Saturdays, 10am - 2pm
The Easton Farmers Market, formerly the North Easton Farmers Market, has operated continuously for the past fourteen years. Come by for fruit, veggies, eggs, breads, meat, cheese, and flowers!
Makepeace Farms Farmers' Market 
146 Tihonet Road, Wareham, MA
Wednesdays, 2pm - 6pm
Farmers offer the freshest local produce and specialty food products including
flavored olive oils, savory jellies, gluten-free baked goods, soups, cheese, and so much more!
140 Main St. Marshfield, MA
Fridays, 2pm - 6pm
The Marshfield Farmers' Market offers a
 wonderful array of products from fresh, local produce to seafood and dairy, to local home goods and artisans. There's also live music, kids actitvities, and demonstrations.
Plymouth Farmers' Market
at Plimoth Plantation
137 Warren Avenue, Plymouth, MA
Thursdays, 2:30-6:30
CELEBRATE 10 YEARS OF LOCAL FOODS! In its 10th season, the market is held year round at Plimoth Plantation: weekly June 6 thru October 31 and moves indoors monthly November thru May. This vibrant mix of 4 certified organic farmers, 4 conventional growers, meat, pork and poultry farmers, food-makers who source locally, artisan food crafters, local earth based artisans and musicians, and committed community groups working to promote and support local agriculture is sure to please on multiple levels.
Provincetown Farmers Market
Municipal Lot off Ryder Street, next to Town Hall
Saturdays, 11am - 4pm
A very popular market with a little bit of everything: wine, oils, cheese and chocolates, veggies, herbs, eggs and pastries. A treat for your palate and your eyes.
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Scituate Farmers Market
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Front St. and First Parish Rd.
Wednesdays, 3pm - 7pm
Many vendors selling fresh peaches and a large assortment of other fruits and vegetables, fresh cut flowers and herbs, live lobsters and other seafood, dairy products, baked goods, custom woodwork, organic soaps and scented products, and much more.
Taunton Farmers Market
First Parish Church in Taunton, at 76 Church Green
Sundays, 11am - 2pm
Come checkout this market at a new location, time and day!
It's time for cukes and tomato sandwiches and the Taunton Farmers' Market is the place to get all you need! Not to mention, a great opportunity to get to know your community. This market is looking for vendors...is that you?
Let us know.
This is a list of SEMAP member markets.
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Introducing a new feature to the On-Line Farm Guide:
A guide to local community gardens, brought to us by the U-Mass Dartmouth Sustainability Office, funded through a grant from the Island Foundation
Community gardens are essential to people and places in urban environments. They provide food access, open space, greenery, recreation, education, economic, and social opportunities. Community gardens foster the development of community identity and spirit. Gardens have the ability to evolve into cultural spaces, flower gardens, and areas for community gatherings and festivals. Community garden spaces also allow for interaction with nature and the productive use of land. Within high-density development, community gardens improve air quality, reduce noise and air pollution, and create environments hospitable to plants and animal species.
This database gives you the opportunity
to find one nearby and get involved.
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 Massachusetts is home to 154 dairy farms and 15% are in Bristol, Plymouth, and Dukes Counties. Our dairy farmers run small, often multi-generation, family-farms. They produce a wide range of dairy products from milk to yogurt and ice cream to cheese, and they supply fluid milk to regional processing plants that bottle milk and cream and make ice cream, butter, and milk powder. Dairy farming is a 7 day-a-week/365 day-a-year job. In addition to milking cows, many of the dairy farms in our region also produce and sell other agricultural products.
It's important to stay informed about why and how local dairy should be supported, where nearby dairy farms are located, and the kinds of issues the industry faces. Buying from your local dairy farmers will help keep the farms on the land and the cows producing for years to come. The link below will take you to SEMAP's webpage where you will be provided with ample information to help you on your journey.
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Community Events, Members and Announcements
Saturday, August 17 and Sunday, August 18, 2013 
Adopt your ducks today! The ducks will paddle on the incoming tide from Buzzards Bay into Allens Pond. The race will be followed the next day by a festival, which will include BBQ, live music, an auction, and other activities. Be sure to visit the SEMAP table at the festival! Learn more here.
Brix Bounty Farm's Free Organic Gardening Workshop
Saturday, August 17, 2013, beginning at 9AM
This FREE workshop will be located at Helfand Farm Community Gardens, located at 318 Chase Road, Dartmouth, MA.
Maximize your gardening potential for this fall and next season! 
We'll cover the best options for late summer sowings and discuss the use of fall transplants to improve yields in your garden. Demonstrations will include a seed starting exercise so that participants may take home a newly seeded flat for September transplanting. We'll also demo the use of floating row cover to create micro climates for the fall and to extend the harvest season beyond frost.
A Day of Bluegrass Music at Tihonet Village
Saturday, August 24, 2013 
Band Performances begin at 11 a.m. with the sounds of Crab Grass, followed by Changing Strings and ending with Four Bridges. Wicked Smokin' BBQ will offer some of their delicious slow cooked favorites including Pulled Pork Sandwiches, BBQ Ribs, Italian Sausage and their famous "Wicked Big Dog". Makepeace Farms will offer a Make Your Own Sundae Bar as well as many other delicous treats including fresh produce, New England inspired products, deli sandwiches and fresh baked goods. Open Picking from 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. Paddle Boat Rides and other events 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Learn more here.
SAVE THE DATE:
Brix Bounty Farm's Free Organic Gardening Workshop
Wednesday, September 11, 2013, beginning at 6PM
This FREE workshop will be located at Helfand Farm Community Gardens, located at 318 Chase Road, Dartmouth, MA.
Fall & Winter Fertility in Focus - Amending Your Garden Plot, Wintertime Mulches, & Cover Crops. This hands on workshop will include a review of common mineral amendments for improving the fertility in garden plots. We'll also discuss the use of cover crop & mulching techniques to protect the soil during the winter months. For more information please contact 508-992-1868 or visit www.brixbounty.com
Cranberry Harvest Bog Tours - Open to the Public
September 28 at 1 p.m.;October 5, 19, or 26 all at 10 a.m.
A.D. Makepeace Farms/Tihonet Village is located at 146 Tihonet Rd. in Wareham. The bog tours last approximately an hour and a half. Very little walking is required. Be prepared for wet or muddy conditions. Tours are held rain or shine but severe weather may postpone or cancel a tour. Tickets are $12; kids under 7 are free, but you still must register. Guests will be transported by bus to the cranberry bog areas. You can register here.
Grumpy's Cranberry Harvest 5K Trail Run/Walk
Saturday, November 2 - 9AM
A.D. Makepeace Company, Tihonet Village, 146 Tihonet Road, Wareham
Enjoy this nature lover's trail run/walk around the cranberry bogs during cranberry country's favorite time of year! Children, adults, runners, walkers, nature enthusiasts, environmentalists, and cranberry lovers will enjoy this beautiful route while learning some berry fun facts along the way! All registered participants will receive an event t-shirt. Cranberry themed refreshments will be offered after the race for all to enjoy.Children will enjoy making their own "Cranberry Bog in a Cup"! Learn more and register here.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
Request for Proposals for Farm Use and Management of Border's Farm in Foster, Rhode Island
Border's Farm Trust Inc. (BFTI) chartered objective is to provide citizens with a living example of a 20th Century working Rhode Island farm. The Border's Farm Trust, Inc. is seeking through this announcement farm  operator proposals based on this mandate. A successful applicant shall have use and responsibility of the farm and support buildings. Applicants must submit a written proposal for consideration by the Board of Trustee's.
A successful proposal must include but is not limited to the following:
- Description and documentation of the proposer's skills, education and achievements in managing successful farm operations.
- Clearly establish the proposer's thoughtful address of the multiple missions of BFTI.
- Demonstrate proposer's knowledge and capacities to function with State and Federal programs governing agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry.
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Expected to be aware and engaged in drafting submissions for Board approval for participation in State, Federal and NGO programs of benefit to the Farm.
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Demonstrate the financial capacity to successfully execute proposal
Expressions of interest and additional details expected in all proposals can be obtained by contacting bordersfarm@gmail.com or youngfarmernight@gmail.com.
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Please contact us with any questions, suggestions or concerns. We want to hear from you!
Bridget & Kristen
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to Chef Rosa Galeno of 
