Natick Community Organic Farm: CSA, Mower, and Dave Mathews Band

It’s been a wonderfully busy and productive week at the Natick Community Organic Farm. Summer programs started, and hundreds of kids aged 3 to 17 are now learning, exploring, and working every week on the farm. Farm staff are in teaching, growing, and planning mode, and contributing towards eco-friendly farming, sustainability, and agriculture for the community.

The farm’s CSA share program started this week as well. Standing for “Community Supported Agriculture,” CSAs are an effort between growers and consumers to make fresh local food available and more sustainable for all involved. By buying a share at the beginning of the season, before crops are planted, NCOF CSA members invest in the farm’s future harvests. They then get a weekly pay out in the form of fresh, seasonal vegetables for 20 weeks of the growing season. This week, CSA members received certified-organic lettuce, napa cabbage, basil, garlic scapes, kale, and seedlings; some members opted for beautiful flowers too. The farm still has large vegetable shares, which can be split between partners, as well as flower bouquet and delivered vase arrangement shares. For more information, and for prorated rates, please email trish@natickfarm.org.

Through the generosity of BCS America and Progressive Grower Agricultural & Turf Supply of West Weymouth, NCOF was able to purchase a heavy-duty farm machine, called a flail mower, at cost. "The flail mower is the last piece of our no-till puzzle that we have been waiting for," explains NCOF Executive Director Casey Townsend. “Over the past few years, we have been expanding our no-till crop production, which is a form of regenerative agriculture that stimulates soil life, sequesters carbon and produces high quality, nutrient dense food. The whole process is better for our soil, our farmers, our vegetables, and ultimately, our customers.”

Unlike a rotary mower, the flail-mowers cuts and then shreds weeds and spent crops into a fine mulch. This mulch layer then bakes in the sun, which kills the annual weed seeds in it and quickly decomposes, returning nutrients to the soil. “We are so thankful to the staff at Progressive Grower, and BCS, the manufacturer, for partnering with us to make this happen,” said Townsend.

If mowers don’t excite you, perhaps this will: NCOF will be supplying vegetables for Dave Matthews Band’s caterer at the concert in Mansfield on June 21 thanks to REVERB, a nonprofit that helps large concert venues and music tours reduce their environmental footprints. REVERB’s Farm to Stage Program sources food from local farms for musical artists the likes of Guster, Jack Johnson, Maroon 5, John Mayer, and the Barenaked Ladies. Musical stars reading this, take note: if you’d like more veggies, our on-the-honor market stand is open every day during daylight hours for purchases. Just don’t bring your tour bus down the farm driveway.