News and blog
We acknowledge the devotion and hard work of our founding farmer, Brittany Sidway Overshiner and wish her every success and happiness as she moves on to new opportunities in her career. Brittany's enthusiasm is contagious and she has inspired many people of all ages. We shall miss Brittany greatly and we thank her for all that she has given to all of us, and for her contributions and efforts that have made Medway Community Farm a success.
We also recognize the service and leadership of Jeanne Raffa who, as a Member of the Board of Directors and President, served from 2011 to 2015. We salute Jeanne for her hard work and steadfast dedication to MCF.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, our Farm Manager, and the entire farm staff, we wish you an excellent 2016 and we hope that you will make MCF an important part of your year.
MCF Board of Directors
(An excellent opportunity to complete your CSA volunteer-hours!)
The Fall Festival is a great family activity for participants, but also a great volunteer activity for families! We need help setting up, running and taking down our event on Sunday, September 27th at the Farm (50 Winthrop St). We are happy to accept help from all ages (we’ve had lots of parents enjoy volunteering with their middle school and high school aged kids!). An adult should accompany anyone under the age of 14. Sign up for multiple shifts or just one shift and then enjoy the Festival!
Saturday Farm Clean Up/Fall Festival Set Up!
9am-Noon: Help us complete our clean-up/preliminary set-up to-so list!
Sunday, Fall Festival
10am-Noon: Set-Up, 10 volunteers
11:30-2:00: Running Events/Crafts, General Help, 16 volunteers
1:50-4:10: Running Events/Crafts, General Help, 16 volunteers
4:00-6:00: Clean Up! As much help as we can get!!!
Email volunteer@medwaycommunityfarm.org, to sign up! Please forward to anyone you know who might be interested in volunteering!
Blueberries from Jane and Paul's in Norfolk, MA
marcone almonds and fig glaze
Vegetarian Option: Zucchini noodles with eggplant meatballs, slow
roasted tomatoes and peppers
¬ Red Barn Coffee & Tea
Details for the event are here: Farm to Fork Tickets: Get them while they last!
Last week we were able to donate nearly 1000 pounds of food to the Boston Area Gleaners, a nonprofit organization that coordinates volunteers to come and harvest extra produce on farms around Boston and then distributes the produce to local food pantries. They are a fabulous organization making sure good food gets to people who need it!
We are hosting our second gleaning day on Monday, July 27th from 9am-noon. We'll be harvesting cucumber, zucchini (wear long sleeves - they are spiky), summer squash, peas and scallions. Email volunteer@medwaycommunityfarm.org to RSVP. Or just come by. Even if you can only come for an hour, your help would be greatly appreciated. Please no children under the age of 14 unless they are supervised by an adult. Parking will be by the farm stand. Check our facebook page for updates about construction and best ways to access the farm.
We also donate weekly to the Medway Food Pantry and Ashland Food Pantry. We are looking for someone who could deliver the produce on Wednesday to the Medway Pantry any time between 2:00 and 3:00pm. Please email volunteer@medwaycommunityfarm.org if you are interested!
Brittany celebrates our largest donation since the start of the farm, 6 years ago!
Here is the letter of gratitude we received from the Boston Area Gleaners after this visit:
Hello Brittany,
Thank you for taking the initiative to contact us to glean at Medway Community Farm on July 15, 2015. We were able to harvest a total of 235 pounds in 10.50 cases with the help of 3 volunteer gleaners. This donation consisted of:
Peas, sugar snap: 75 pounds in 2.50 cases.
Scallions: 160 pounds in 8.00 cases, in addition to (our estimates): cucumbers: 500 pounds in 10 cases. and summer squash/zucchini: 240 pounds in 6 cases.
Your timely and generous donation will help nourish many hungry families in the greater Boston area. Most of this load will go to our distribution partners, Food For Free in Cambridge and the Greater Boston Food Bank, and they in turn will distribute the produce among 600+ pantries, shelters and meal programs in and around Boston.
Fresh produce is one of the first items people have to forgo when they become food insecure. But it is probably the most important part of anyone's diet in order to remain healthy. These choices especially impact the elderly and the young. According to Project Bread, Massachusetts has one of the widest income gaps in the nation (tied with Arizona for first place), and more people in the Boston area are food insecure now than at any time since this data has been recorded (2013 Status Report on Hunger).
With your donation of fresh produce, you helped us put a significant dent in those figures, and, with your continued support, we will continue to build this important new supply chain that enables the recovery of fresh nutritious produce from the waste stream and redirecting it to our neighbors in need in the Boston area.
To the Harvest!
Duck Caldwell, Executive Director
Matt Crawford and Dylan Frazier, Gleaning Coordinators
Follow this link to check out the newsletter! As soon as I figure out how I'll make the whole thing available right away so you don't have to click through. Worth the dig though! Lots of fun information and great pictures.
Here's the sample to get you to click through, more where this came from!
The stand will be stocked some time after lunch, starting at around 2pm week days and will be open until 7pm. Weekend hours are 10:30 until the veggies are gone. Leave cash or check in the metal box bolted to the stand, we empty it daily. An attendant will be at the helm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday (most produce will go to the Medway Farmer's Market this day) and Saturdays.
Join us on Thursday, June 11th, for a free tasting of Bushel + Crumb pies. Bushel + Crumb will be offering Medway Community Farm members a pie share this year as an add on to your veggie share. Pie share members will receive one sweet and one savory pie a month, fromJune 18th through mid October. The pies feature all locally grown fruits and vegetables as well as local dairy, eggs, and grains. Pie shares are a delicious way to further your support of local farms!
- Spinach, green garlic, and goat cheese tart (June)
- Apricot almond frangipane tart (July)
- Tomato, basil, and mozzarella tart (August)
- Cardamom-spiced plum crumble pie (September)
- Butternut squash, caramelized onion, and sage tart (October)
Thanks for reading, happy eating!
Try this "recipe" http://www.epicurious.com/
Thanks for reading. Pardon the spelling mistakes, no time! Got to go fetch Morgan still.
Hello Farm Supporters!
We're so happy it's finally behaving like spring outside, and we've got a lot of catching up to do with this late start to spring planting. We need some help making improvements to our Education and Community Garden Plot areas and are looking for volunteers to help!
Kids Under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.
or email: bsidway@medwaycommunityfarm.org
Dates and Times:
Tuesday, 4/21, 2:00-6:00pm
Wednesday, 4/22, 2:00-6:00pm
We're excited to complete this phase of our Seeds of Change Grant and be ready for a great growing season! We hope to see you on the farm.
11am - 6pm, March 17th, extra on sale 11am - 6pm March 18th!
Anyone out there craving fresh greens? There nothing like the crunchy sweetness of a local salad after a long New England winter. We’ve got just what you need.
Spinach and Claytonia on Sale at Medway Community Farm!
Also: eggs, honey, maple syrup, greeting cards and green t-shirts!
Claytonia is the PERFECT green to eat on St Patrick's Day (balance out that heavy, boiled dinner!) Claytonia grows wild in California. It’s tolerance for cold conditions make it available outside all winter long in their warmer climate. During the gold rush miners used to eat Claytonia to stave off dysentery and scurvy – it’s got loads of vitamin C! – giving it the nick-name “Miners Lettuce”.
What could make a better salad ingredient on a holiday themed with green and gold than Miners Lettuce? Greens will be harvested and stored in bags in coolers in the front entryway of the Farm Community Center – use the honor system!
Spinach is $3 for a ½ lb bag and Claytonia is $4 for a 5oz. bag.
We accept cash or check. As always, be careful pulling in and out of the farm driveway.
We need to clear out these over-wintered crops to make room for plantings in our hoop-house for the Spring Share!
Enjoy! Your Farmers, Kevin and Brittany
- Spinach, green garlic, and goat cheese tart (June)
- Apricot almond frangipane tart (July)
- Tomato, basil, and mozzarella tart (August)
- Cardamom-spiced plum crumble pie (September)
- Butternut squash, caramelized onion, and sage tart (October)