June 2014 Newsletter

Northeast Organic Farming Association/ Massachusetts Chapter

Inside this Issue:

Alleviating hunger by increasing urban farm

productivity

page 15

GMO labeling bill gaining support

page 20

Proposed gas pipeline threatens farms, conser-vation land in Northern

Massachusetts page 18

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Northeast Organic Farming Association/ Massachusetts Chapter, Inc.

411 Sheldon Road Barre, MA 01005 978-355-2853 (p) 978-355-4046 (f)

nofa@nofamass.org www.nofamass.org

NOFA/Mass Board Meetings are open to all members. For more information please contact:

Executive Director, Julie Rawson julie@nofamass.org

978-355-2853

© 2002-2014 NOFA/MassachusettsNOFA/Massachusetts is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit

organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Not a member yet? CLICK HERE

The NOFA/Mass Newsletter is published eleven times per year by the Northeast Organic Farming Association/

Massachusetts Chapter, Inc. Circulation: 5,000

Newsletter Editor: Nicole BelangerCirculation: Rebecca Buell

Submissions: Nicole Belangernicole@nofamass.org

Advertising: Bob Minnocci bob@nofamass.org

Design: Nicole Belanger

From the EditorNicole Belanger, NOFA/Mass Public

Relations Coordinator

What a month! With CSA shares coming and going at full force,

transplants and succession seeds breaking ground, keeping unwanted

critters at bay (thanks to my coworkers for helping protect my

fledgling community garden plots by sharing their cutworm prevention strategies), and the sun rising at 5am, there’s no shortage of things to do this time of

year.

To the mix, as I add the daily flow of personal interests and an infinite curiosity about growing

projects and environmental issues across the state and nation. I’m blessed to do this work!

This month I was able to work on two such stories. Digging into background on Springfield’s Gardening

the Community, their history with NOFA/Mass and current project with us and Project Bread was

inspiring and illuminating. How can we come together to feed people, educate our youth, most effectively

utilize available land, and tell the story in compelling ways? Read about this project on page 15 - “Alleviating

hunger by increasing urban farm productivity.”

Editing and working with Phyllis Kirkpatrick on her “Proposed gas pipeline threatens farms, conservation

land in Northern Massachusetts” story was eye opening. I’m left still working to find the balance

between alarm and the possibility of people’s movements while educating myself. I hope you’ll read

Phyllis’ story on page 18.

We’re getting really excited about the 40th NOFA Summer Conference. As your summer plans gel, we

hope the August 8-10 conference is on your calendar. It’s not too late to apply for a Beginning Farmer

or Farmer Education Fund scholarship. Check out workshop highlights and tracks on page 5.

Happy growing, bountiful in-season eating, and swimming hole seeking!

Nicole

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Permaculture, commercial growing, lowering CO2 levels, Christine Jones and myccorhizal fungi

Julie Rawson, NOFA/Mass Executive and Education DirectorSeptember 1 Dr. Christine Jones will be in Boston. The location is yet to be determined. Save the date. On September 2 she will be in Amherst. We will start the day at Immanuel Lutheran Church for a classroom session from 9-12:30. A potluck lunch will follow and then a 2-hour field walk at Simple Gifts Farm, run by Jeremy Barker-Plotkin and David Tepfer. Check www.nofamass.org/events for registration details.

Check out this short video interview that she ran with Rural Delivery in New Zealand: www.youtu.be/MmtUfU3ZQTg

If you are a NOFA/Mass member you will have received the Summer 2014 issue of the Natural Farmer by now. There are a number of articles by Dr. Jones, including one on mycorrhizal fungi that is reprinted in this month’s NOFA/Mass Newsletter. According to Dr. Jones, and many other prominent soils experts, it is the mycorrhizal fungi that are the key to our salvation – agriculturally and climate-wise.

Below are some quotes from a recent email from Christine Jones. Don’t miss her!

Says Jones, “I love your clover idea. It’s highly mycorrhizal. Mulch is great stuff too; it’s just that you have to keep replacing it and it doesn’t do anything for the sub-soil. There has been some talk of breeding non-spreading turf-grasses for use on the permanent wheel tracks in controlled traffic farming for commercial cash cropping here in Australia… “I can’t help noticing as I walk around the streets, that the soil is a lot higher where there is thick turf alongside the footpaths than where the ground is bare… “We often unwittingly remove plants we consider to be ‘weeds’ without considering their value in channeling energy to the soil ecosystem and hence maintaining or restoring soil structure. I have clumps of non-spreading perennial native grasses throughout my veggie garden - will send some photos one day. Last summer I planted a mixed cover crop of sunflowers and two kinds of millet because I

was going to be away from home most of the time and this winter I’ve planted oats and peas for the same reasons.”

None of this is news to permaculturalists, of course. We commercial vegetable growers who feel reliant on our tillage and clean cultivation need to look for and learn new ways to keep those green plants always growing in our systems while still making a living.

As I have pulled my head out of the sand and started to embrace taking my part in lowering CO2 atmospheric levels. I like many of you, I suppose, have been looking for small ways in my own space to do my part. I have been struggling with the choice of mulch vs. clover in our tractor wheel paths in the vegetable fields. I learned this method of under sowing clover from Eliot Coleman more than 20 years ago. But I have found over the years that planting of the Dutch white clover is time sensitive – it “takes” better when planted early. And then annual weeds sometimes overtake it. And with the crush of all the work to be done on the farm, pathways can take a back seat – which they often have. This year we will purchase a weed whacker and mow those pathways when necessary. The clover and other perennials, under this type of management, will take over. Regular mowing of them will keep them from overtaking the vegetable beds – which are mulched as much as possible to keep the bed soil covered.

And we are going more permaculture in our CSA. I think it is hard for us commercial vegetable growers who feel the pressure to produce copious amounts of vegetables each week for our CSA members, to

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“mess around” with perennial crops in our systems. Slowly, but surely, they are starting to become more frequent in our bags. This week we harvested a highly nutritious mix of dandelion, yellow dock, and violet leaves (they went wild near our grapes, which we had heavily mulched with chicken bedding), plantain, comfrey (we are slowly planting this all over the farm), clover from last year’s bed pathways, and some lambs quarters thrown in. Shareholders also received rhubarb, asparagus, spearmint, and chives. And the exciting thing about these perennials is that they are imminently more nutritious than the annual

crops because of their intricate and deep root systems (which are highly adept at gathering nutrients). Eric Toensmeier, you would be down right proud of me! Another thing we are doing is letting our blueberry pathways, which have previously been heavily mulched with hay and woodchips, grow up into grass and perennial “weeds”. We will mow pathways as necessary, weed right around the plants, and mulch with wood chips. It is only June, but I am noticing that this new system (for a hardheaded annual grower, that is) frees up all sorts of time to do other forward work on the farm.

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NOFA Summer Conference updates & highlights

The 40th annual NOFA Summer Conference is coming up this August 8-10 at UMass Amherst and we could not be more excited! Registration is now open, with an early bird registration discount available until July 11. Beginner Farmer and Farming Education Fund scholarships are available, as are

Work Exchange arrangements and discounts for five or more people registering at the same time.

Watch our new video to get a taste of what the conference is all about: www.youtu.be/UXypwHBTfZk.

With so many workshops to choose from, check out the schedule (now online) to plan your conference experience.

Some workshop highlights:

• Tory Field from Next Barn Over Farm will present her research on Food Sovereignty movements, connecting movements for food justice in the U.S. with allied movement all over the globe.

• Aaron Englander will be presenting on Korean Natural Farming, a topic on which he recently presented for NOFA/Mass on May 3rd at Heifer Farm.

• Richard Wiswall will be returning to give three different workshops on farm management, profitability, and farm employee management.

• Matt Wilkinson, a newcomer to the conference will present on on-farm animal processing. • John Kenny will be reprising a workshop of growing brassicas, which he first presented to

great acclaim at the 2014 NOFA/Mass Winter Conference. If you missed it in January, you won’t want to miss it this summer.

In addition to breaking the workshops into time and category, we’ve also created tracks to help those looking to get the most on specific topics! Workshop tracks include the following:

• Beginning Farmer: A range of technical and farm-planning topics of particular interest to farmers with fewer than ten years of independent farming experience.

• Cooperatives: Sponsored by the Neighboring Food Co-op Association, these workshops explore promising cooperative economic models.

• Dowsing: Sponsored by the American Society of Dowsers, this track of workshop explores the use of dowsing in organic agriculture.

• Draft Horse: These workshops provide hands-on experience working with draft horses, as well as presentation on the economics and techniques of farming with horses.

• Organic Land Care: Attendance qualifies AOLCP (Accredited Organic Land Care Professional) participants for credits in the NOFA Organic Land Care Accreditation Program.

• Permaculture: Permaculture-based approaches to organic agriculture and ecological design that offer perspectives, skills, and ideas for regenerative land use and creative community building.

• Soil Carbon and Climate: These workshops provide information on farming practices that return carbon to the soil from the atmosphere, and build humus for the long term.

For more conference info, registration, ride shares and more, visit www.nofasummerconference.org. See you in August!

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Scholarships available for Beginning Farmers to the NOFA Summer Conference!

Apply now for a scholarship to the NOFA Summer Conference. Beginning Farmers (those who have been farming for less than 10 years) who are also NOFA/Mass members qualify to apply for 50% off of the Saturday/Sunday registration cost.

Application DEADLINE is July 11, however applications are accepted on a rolling basis, so the sooner you apply the better your chances! Applications can be found here: www.nofa.wufoo.com/forms/nofamass-2014-summer-conference-scholarship

Only NOFA/Mass members are eligible for our Summer Conference Scholarships. It is easy and quick to become a member, and you receive a full-year of discounts and information. To become a member, follow this link: www.nofamass.org/membership.

Contact suzy@nofamass.org with any questions.

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An interview with Jason Cucciaria of Many Hands Organic FarmJamie Lombardo, Statewide Education Events Coordinator

I recently had a chance to connect with Jason Cucciaria who has been an integral part of our Hands-on Hog Slaughter on the Homestead coming up on June 29. Jason is the Assistant Manager at Many Hands Organic Farm in Barre, MA

Jason had a lot to share with me about hogs and what he enjoys most about his work.

Jamie Lombardo: How long have you been working at MHOF? What is your favorite part?Jason Cucciaria: I started in 2009, and I like it all. I used to be a machinist and though I don’t have a background in agriculture I just think it’s the “bee’s knees”. In the machine shop you pretty much do the same thing every day. Here everyday is new. You never do the same thing and sometimes you never know what you might have to do. I think the pigs are just the coolest part about the farm.

JL: What especially is it about a pig that intrigues you?JC: The pigs work for you on the farm - they are little tractors you know. Pigs will trample and can dig just about anything with their snouts. They eat roots and insects and when you let them free range you can cut back on grain for feeding. Pigs can clear an area, a really good area.

JL: Have you ever slaughtered a pig before?JC: No, I’ve slaughtered chickens here with Julie. I’m a little nervous about slaughtering a pig, but I am excited too. I don’t want to bring any of my animals to the slaughterhouse. Doing it yourself is more economical in my mind and maybe kinder, at least more self-sufficient. It probably saves you aggravation too.

JL: What made you interested in a hog farming?JC: Well I get really interested at the Summer Conference. I learned from Dominic Palumbo about making a larger area for the pigs to roam, then you really only have to move them once or twice. You don’t want to have to work harder than you have to in farming.

JL: You want to run your own hog farm? Where?JC: My dad left me a house when he died. When I’m ready I want to borrow against it and invest in some land too. Anywhere maybe, but I really like God’s country in upstate New York.

JL: What else do you do to take care of the pigs daily? How many do you have at MHOF. JC: We have 14 pigs right now on about ½ an acre of land. I feed them every morning and I have to check the lines daily. The electric fencing is about 7500 feet; it goes around twice and always needs to be live.

JL: I know you are part of the Beginning Farm program, has it been helpful?JC: The Beginning Farmer program has helped me out a lot! I love meeting new people and the education events and Summer Conference are really good. My buddy is real interested in cows and he is going to come to the Hog Slaughter workshop.

The Hands-on Hog Slaughter on the Homestead workshop will be lead by Jake Levin of the Roving Butcher. Andrew Kelly and Jason Cucciaria will assist him. To sign up, visit www.nofamass.org/events/hands-hog-slaughter-homestead. The workshop is from 10am-4:30pm with a potluck lunch. The cost for NOFA members is $40, and for non-members, $48.

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Lessons from top grazier, Greg JudyWinton Pitcoff, NOFA/Mass Raw Milk Network Coordinator

Graziers interested in restoring and improving pastures can find lots of online resources from Greg Judy, a livestock farmer from Missouri. His work is dedicated to showing how high density grazing “can revitalize hayed out, scruffy, weedy pastures, and turn them into highly productive grazing landscapes that grow both green grass and greenbacks.” It’s all about what the animals do to the soil, he explains – things that haying and mowing simply can’t do.

Start with this short video introduction to Judy’s farm, complete with some spring management tips: www.onpasture.com/2014/05/12/a-spring-visit-with-greg-judy-at-green-pastures-farm/.

Judy further elaborates on what he has learned from many years of managing pastures in the spring, in the article “Maximizing Spring Green Up Without Destroying Summer Pastures” at www.onpasture.com/2013/04/09/maximizing-spring-green-up-without-destroying-summer-pastures/

For a graduate-level lesson on Judy’s grazing techniques, watch his 2011 video presentation “The Healing Effects of Holistic High Density Grazing on Land, Livestock & People’s Lives” at www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6HGKSvjk5Q.

Greg’s two books, No Risk Ranching: Custom Grazing on Leased Land and Comeback Farms: Rejuvenating Soils, Pastures and Profits with Livestock Grazing Management www.greenpasturesfarm.net/store.php?cat=59&title=Books offer a complete overview of his methods, learning “how to work with nature without costly inputs, and let the animals be your labor force.” His lessons include tips on stockpiling grasses for winter grazing, and how to manage forage during droughts.

Coming to the 2015 NOFA/Mass Winter Conference

Greg Judy, rotational grazer and carbon sequestration advocate, will

join us on January 10, 2015.

Save the date!

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www.nofamass.org 10 June 2014 Newsletter

NOFA/Mass outreach updateSharon Gensler, NOFA/Mass Outreach Coordinator

Here’s a THANK YOU to our volunteers who helped out in May: Alex Houtzager, Lorrie Dahlen, Susan Lozoritis and Barbara Pantos. They were valiant in their perseverance through rain and shine!

I need your help, not only volunteering for any of the events below, but to also inform me of events not listed. It would be great to know about more local events in your community. There are a lot of things happening… so, please enlighten me!

Let’s talk! You’ll receive a bit of training, maybe learn more about NOFA/Mass, and feel good about doing good work! Plus, don’t forget the free NOFA hat OR the $25.00 discount on a NOFA sponsored event you can receive for helping! More info at www.nofamass.org/programs/nofamass-outreach. Sign up or find out more by emailing me at outreach@nofamass.org

OUTREACH CALENDAR

June 21 Solstice Riverfest Orange June 22-5 Revisioning Sustainability U Mass Amherst July 5-6 Permaculture Convergence Unity, ME August 8-10 NOFA Summer Conference Amherst August 15-17 Boston GreenFest Boston August 15-17 Heath Fair Heath September 14 Boston Local Food Fest Boston September 27-28 Garlic & Arts Festival Orange

Building bridges between those who care

The State Agriculture Councils of The Humane Society of the United Statesseek to ensure that animal production is

humane and environmentally sustainable.

To learn more, visit humanesociety.org/agcouncils.

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Mycorrhizal fungi: powerhouse of the soilDr. Christine Jones, www.amazingcarbon.com

The soil foodweb of microflora and microfauna constitutes an underground engine of fundamental significance to plant productivity. Mycorrhizal fungi play a key role in the functioning of this foodweb, drawing down plant sugars derived from photosyn thesis and providing much needed energy for the soil ecosystem. Mycorrhizal fungi also improve aggregate stability, enhance soil structure, build stable soil carbon, improve plant water use efficiency, and increase the efficiency of utilization of important nutrients like phosphorus, sulfur and nitrogen.

Agricultural research tends to focus on convention-ally managed crop and pasture lands where loss of diverse perennial groundcover and/or intensive use of agrochemicals, have dramatically reduced the number and diversity of soil flora and fauna, includ-ing beneficial microbes such as mycorrhizal fungi. As a result, the potential contribution of soil biology to agricultural productivity has been greatly under-estimated.

What are mycorrhizae and how do they work? Arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) are ‘obligate fungal symbionts’, meaning they must form an associa-tion with living plants. They acquire their energy in liquid form, as dissolved sugars, siphoned directly from actively growing roots. Mycorrhizal fungi cannot obtain energy in any other way. They have mechanisms enabling them to survive while host plants are dormant but cannot survive if host plants are removed.

Mycorrhizal fungi produce thin, hair-like threads of cytoplasm (hyphae) with a hyphal tip at each end. One tip enters a plant root and the other tip explores the soil matrix. Although the hyphae are small in diameter – usually less than 10 μm (micrometers or microns – a millionth of a meter) – the mycelial network can extend across many hectares.

Mycorrhizal fungi have a fan-shaped architecture, with long runner hyphae branching into networks of narrower and narrower absorbing hyphae. There can

be over 100 hyphal tips at the end of each run ner. These networks extend from the root system into the bulk soil, well beyond the zone occupied by the roots and root hairs. The absorptive area of mycorrhizal hyphae is approximately 10 times more efficient that that of root hairs and about 100 times more efficient than that of roots.

An amazing symbiotic relationship Plants colonized by mycorrhizal fungi can grow 10-20% faster than non-colonized plants, even though they are ‘giving away’ up to 40-50% of their pho tosynthate to support mycorrhizal networks. (Photo synthate is the soluble carbon the plant fixes from CO

2 and sunlight). One of the reasons for this appar ent paradox is that plants colonized by mycorrhizae exhibit higher leaf chlorophyll contents and higher rates of photosynthesis than non-colonized plants. This enables them to fix greater quantities of carbon for

transfer to fungal hyphae in the soil.

In exchange for soluble carbon from their host, my corrhizal fungi supply nutrients such as phosphorus, zinc, calcium, boron, copper, and organic nitrogen. It’s an

amazing symbiotic relationship. Mycorrhizal hyphae have a tubular vacuole system that allows bidirectional flow. That is, sugars from the host plant and nutrients from the soil can move rapidly and simultaneously in opposite directions.

All groups of mycorrhizal fungi require a living host, but there’s more to it than just plants and fun-gi. A wide range of associative microflora are also involved. For example, colonization of plant roots by mycorrhizae is enhanced by the presence of cer-tain ‘helper’ bacteria. There are also active colonies of bacteria on the hyphal tips, producing enzymes which solubilize otherwise unavailable plant nutri ents.

Mycorrhizae and soil carbon Glomalin, a long-lived glycoprotein (protein con-taining plant sugar) is a highly stable form of soil carbon that provides a protective coating for the hyphae of mycorrhizal fungi. Networks of fungal hyphae also provide an important first step for the polymerization of plant sugars, ultimately leading to the formation of humus, a high molecular weight gel-like substance that holds four to twenty times its own weight in water. Humic substances significantly

Mycorrhizal hyphae (white) colonizing the roots (yellow) of a pine seedling.

Photo courtesy Aberdeen Mycorrhiza Research Group

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improve soil structure, porosity, cation exchange capacity, and plant growth.Both glomalin and humus are of significance to the current debate on soil carbon transience, as these stable soil carbon fractions cannot be lost from soil during droughts or fires.

Marie Spohn from the Universität Oldenburg has identified mycorrhizae (and the glomalin they produce) as the primary soil carbon stabilization mechanism in sandy soils. Previously, soil scientists have considered carbon sequestration potential to be constrained by the soil’s clay content. The new find-ings are good news for Western Australia farmers, opening the way for much greater levels of carbon increase in agricultural soils than previously thought possible.

Land management impactsIncreasing the amount of stable carbon stored in agricultural soils via mycorrhizal fungi will require a redesign of many current land management tech-niques. Factors negatively impacting on mycorrhi zae include lack of continuous groundcover, single species crops and pastures (monocultures) and ap plication of herbicides, pesticides or fungicides. Mycorrhizal fungi are also inhibited by the appli cation of large quantities of inorganic nitrogen or water-soluble phosphorus and by the presence of non-mycorrhizal crops (such as canola). Tillage has a less detrimental effect than previously assumed. Recent studies have shown that the use of chemicals is more harmful than moderate soil disturbance. Biology friendly farming practices based on living plant cover throughout the year (e.g. cover cropping or pasture cropping) and the use of biofertilizers, enhance mycorrhizal abundance and diversity and are more beneficial for soil health than chemical farming systems based on intermittently bare soils and minimal soil disturbance.

Due to their low abundance in annual-based or conventionally managed agricultural landscapes, the important role of mycorrhizal fungi in nutrient acquisition, plant-water dynamics and soil building processes has been largely overlooked.

The types of fungi that tend to survive in conven-tionally managed soils are non-mycorrhizal, that is, they use decaying organic matter such as crop stubbles, dead leaves or dead roots as their energy source rather than being directly connected to living plants. These non-mycorrhizal fungi have relatively small hyphal networks.

Mycorrhizae and waterIt is well known that mycorrhizal fungi access and transport nutrients in exchange for the carbon from the host plant. What is less well known is that in

seasonally dry, variable, or unpredictable environ-ments (that is, in many regions of the world), my-corrhizal fungi play an extremely important role in plant-water dynamics. The hyphal tips are hydro philic (both the end in the plant and the end in the soil) enabling both water and nutrients to diffuse from one end to the other along a moisture gradient.

Mycorrhizal fungi can supply moisture to plants in dry environments by exploring micropores not accessible to plant roots. They can also improve hy draulic conductivity by bridging macropores in dry soils of low water-holding capacity (such as sands).Further, mycorrhizal fungi can increase drought re-sistance by increasing the number and depth of plant roots.

Perennial grasses and mycorrhizaeHigher densities of mycorrhizal hyphae are found in healthy perennial grasslands than in any other plant community. It has been estimated that the hyphae in the top 10 cm of four square meters (4m2 ) of peren nial grassland, if joined end to end, would stretch all the way around the equator of the earth.

Cash crop enterprises could benefit enormously from widely spaced rows or clumps of long-lived perennial grasses and/or mycorrhizal fodder shrubs. As yet we do not know the required critical mass to improve soil ecosystem function, but it might only need to be 5-10% perennial cover. In diverse plant communities, individual plants are connected by mycelial networks called guilds, enabling exchange of nutrients and water. This may help explain why mixed plant communities often perform better than monocultures.

In addition to the resilience conferred by mycor rhizal guilds, the benefit of permanent mycelial networks in terms of aggregate stability, porosity, improved soil water holding capacity, reduced ero sivity and enhanced nutrient availability in soils are immense. Soil benefits in many ways from the presence of living plants year-round, due to reduced erosion, buffered temperatures, enhanced infiltration and markedly improved habitat for soil biota. Signifi cantly, it is the photosynthetic capacity of living plants (rather than the amount of dead plant material added to soil) that is the main driver for soil carbon accumulation.

Management techniques that improve the vigor of groundcover, foster mycorrhizal colonization, in crease glomalin production, and enhance the humifi cation process, will contribute to long-term carbon storage, improved soil function and markedly in creased resilience to climatic variability.

Article reprinted with permission from The Natural Farmer, Summer, 2014.

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Homesteading observations: Visiting Malabar FarmSharon Gensler, Homesteader and NOFA/Mass Outreach Coordinator It’s such a beautiful day today, it’s hard to sit at my desk rather than be out enjoying the homestead. However, I’m all set to do my big vegetable “fruit”

crop planting this afternoon and tomorrow. Being that I use the Biodynamic Astrological Planting Calendar, I plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, winter and summer squash, and cucumbers on days that are beneficial to fruiting plants (corn, beans, and peas, too, but they were planted earlier). In years past, I would

have planted these crops around Memorial Day, but lately, the unpredictable

spring weather with temperatures and rainfall fluctuating widely, I’ve been planting later, hoping for some stability and warm soil. This means I won’t get the first tomato in the neighborhood, but hopefully I’ll get a more bountiful late crop.

I’ve been playing catch-up, as we were away attending the graduations of three nephews. It’s amazing how the “weeds” thrive in the cool wet spring. It’s a good thing we like to eat many of them! One of the graduations was at Kenyon College in Ohio. We were lucky in finding a hostel for our stay - even more amazing that it was located at Malabar Farm which is now an Ohio State Park. I had heard of the farm at several of NOFA’s soil/human health conferences. It was famous as a showcase farm for soil conservation and health.

Louis Bromfield acquired the depleted, eroded, run down farm in the 1930s. He used many techniques based on work by Sir Albert Howard, Carl Reims, and others looking at holistic approaches to successfully restore soil health and thus, animal health. As chemical, industrial agriculture grew, especially after WWII, these techniques lost favor. However, the recent renewal of these theories and research are the sparks igniting the growth of the movement to grow more nutrient dense food. Mr. Bromfield was also an author – the farm is the subject of several of his books. The one I read, Out of the Earth, was an easy read about his farm, his ideas and how he arrived at them.

Now that Malabar is owned by the state, many of the soil regenerating practices have fallen by the wayside, but it was still impressive to walk through the fields and to think how to bring the ideas home. Though, climate change and carbon sequestration were not issues in Mr. Bromfield’s time, his ideas to devote acreage to deep rooted forage certainly apply and are relevant to these topics. The longer a crop has to grow, the deeper the roots, allowing for the “mining” of minerals. When the forage crop is either eaten by animals or cut to serve as mulch, the minerals are made available. This year, we are only pasturing poultry, so I’ve decided to allow portions of the pasture to grow more before mowing. This will increase root development, put more carbon into the soil and make more minerals available. I’m also going to have a more varied mix of cover crop varieties, allowing for root growth in differing zones. Who knew traveling away from the homestead for a college graduation could actually be inspiring!

Here is the view around the homestead: The re-fencing project has stalled due to travel and prime planting time; the garlic is growing well and young “volunteers” are delicious; we’ve been eating and freezing tons of asparagus; the greens are up, plentiful, and tasty; carrots and beets have been planted in succession; chickens are in their summer quarters on pasture; we’ve been eating greenhouse-grown carrots since March; we have sprayed the orchards following Michael Phillips’ Holistic Orchard methods. We missed seeing the fruit trees flower, but did get home in time to see the paw paws in full bloom.

My partner Pru heard a report about attitude and work that I wanted to share. Studies have shown that attitude affects our bodies and emotional well-being. I don’t think that’s news to many of us who go joyfully into the garden for a full, rich experience that some call work. However, something that struck me as a new point of view was to view much of the garden experience (all the squats, bending, lifting and hauling) specifically as exercise. In so doing, it supposedly will help one’s body to receive the effort as exercise rather than as body abuse! Wishing you continued joyful garden exercise!

Paw paw blossoms, pollinated by carrion beetles

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Donegan Family Dairy, VT. One of the Organic Valley family farms that supply milk for our yogurt

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Alleviating hunger by increasing urban farm productivityNicole Belanger, Public Relations Coordinator and Newsletter EditorNOFA/Mass, Gardening the Community (GTC), and the innovative, statewide anti-hunger agency Project Bread are working together on a collaborative project, focusing on building the agricultural capacity of GTC. GTC, a thriving Springfield-based food justice organization, has for 12 years successfully worked with young people, teaching them job, leadership, and gardening skills, while also growing food to sell at affordable prices to members of the community.

Over the next year Project Bread is funding and offering technical assistance in telling the story of GTC, offering evaluations of the program, tracking production, soil improvements, and how many people are being impacted by the program (both teens and recipients of the food they produce). NOFA/Mass is facilitating a mentoring relationship between a local farmer and GTC, as well as a two-part workshop series focusing on farming best practices like building soil, reading soil tests, irrigation, seed selection and saving, transplanting, etc. The workshops took place in April and June of 2014.

This is not the first time Gardening the Community and NOFA/Mass have combined forces. In 2002 NOFA/Mass member Betsy Corner and Springfield resident Ruby Maddox partnered up to create GTC, which began as an educational gardening project in a vacant lot near the Elias Brookings Elementary School in Springfield. NOFA/Mass helped GTC get off the ground, and for its first eight years, GTC fell under the umbrella of NOFA/Mass. In 2010 GTC went under the fiscal sponsorship of Third Sector New England, having outgrown the organization support available from NOFA/Mass.

Youth development and food justice are at the core of GTC’s work. The program serves as many as 30-35 youth during the summer (and 15-20 youth during the school year). On several

plots in a Springfield neighborhood and food desert, participants grow vegetables for CSA shares, the weekly Mason Square Farmers’ Market, and an on-site farm stand. Young people in the program are also involved with GTC’s Board of Directors and are food justice organizers, advocating for the return of a full-scale supermarket to their area among other projects. Alleviating food

insecurity is a big part of their work, as well. They purposely make their high-quality produce available at affordable rates by pricing their vegetables competitively with local supermarket produce. The youth learn job and entrepreneurial skills, gain a greater familiarity with producing and eating healthy vegetables, and are mentored to become leaders in their community.

Kristin Brennan, Development Director at NOFA/Mass and former coordinator of GTC, recognizes the existing successes of GTC and sees the potential for increased vegetable production and community empowerment through this partnership. “GTC is a great community organization. They have built strong relationships and capacity. NOFA is trying to provide technical agricultural expertise that compliments their community relationship building and permanence on local land.”

“People think you put a seed in the ground and it grows, but a lot of work has to get done beneath the surface to develop the kind of food that is not just nice looking, but also is high quality produce,” says GTC Project/Youth Director Ibrahim Ali. “When visiting programs in different parts of the country, we came to realize that one of the most important things [for growing healthy food for our constituents] is soil. We wanted to do this program

Dan Kittredge leads Urban Agriculture Soil Restoration workshop at Gardening the Community - June 1, 2014

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because there’s always room to grow and learn more about agriculture.”

Anne Richmond, GTC Program Director, often sees people coming from the outside into communities like Springfield to do urban ag and food justice work. That is intentionally not the case for GTC. “We don’t tend to hire people who have farming experience,” says Richmond. “We hire people in our community who are passionate, have a hunger to learn, and are connected. We want to make sure we have strong accountability back to the residents of our neighborhood and community.”

Recognizing the importance of local ownership of local projects (and that its strongest knowledge base is in agricultural production), this project was a natural fit for NOFA/Mass. “Supporting folks in their development as growers is central to who we are as a community,” says NOFA/Mass Executive Director, Julie Rawson. “Working with Project Bread, a relatively new partnership, and GTC, a long term collaborator of ours, will help us continue to hone our skills and effectively support those who would grow their own food – on any size piece of land.”

This collaboration comes at a critical time for GTC. They farm on three sites with year-to-year tenancy (and on two smaller satellite sites). GTC is in the final stages of negotiating the purchase of a 2/3-acre site from the City of Springfield. Land security will allow them to invest in soil improvements and infrastructure like a high-tunnel and training site. They hope to own the land outright in late June or early July of this year and will be embarking on a campaign to raise $300,00 for infrastructure costs. Their day-to-day operations are funded in large part by foundations, but they’re creatively diversifying by branching out into restaurant sales, value-added products, and a monthly sustainer program (currently consisting of 20 sustainers up and down the Pioneer Valley).

Kristin Brennan, who authored the grant, envisions that this mentorship and technical growing support will increase production capacity and become a model for other programs in cities in Massachusetts. Public presentations on the project will take place in several cities across the state next winter or spring, and the team will also host a workshop titled “Cross-sector Collaboration in Urban Ag” at this year’s

NOFA Summer Conference (August 8-10).

For over 10 years, Project Bread has been funding, among its other work, organizations with an agricultural mission in urban settings. This spring Project Bread is funding 20 such projects, with sites across the state in places like Boston, Pittsfield, Haverhill, Worcester, Dartmouth and Springfield. This is their second year funding Gardening the Community.

Project Bread began in 1968 as The Walk for Hunger, and is now the oldest continual walk for charity in the country. Many think of Project Bread as a Greater Boston focused organization, but their work spans the entirety of Massachusetts. According to Scott Richardson, Project Bread’s Interim Director of Development and Director of Research and Strategic Initiatives, their mission is to “alleviate and ultimately end hunger in Massachusetts.” While Richardson admits it’s a “pretty big, audacious goal,” their strategic focus on policy work, direct technical assistance, outreach, education, and collaborative partnerships approaches hunger from a systemic perspective, which Richardson sees as being different from traditional anti-hunger work, often focused on giving away food.

“Our work is much more about education and empowerment. It’s a safety net as well as resources that can help pull people up out of hunger,” says Richardson. “Our model is more holistic. It takes into account that hunger has many different faces, that hunger is not a constant in many people’s lives, that it is a transitional state, and that it can take many forms.”

Richardson notes that urban farming does a host of great things. “It beautifies neighborhoods, it creates a collaborative environment of community, it provides a source of community engagement and education, it provides healthy food locally, and it provides education about the importance of healthy eating. It does a good job of lowering the barriers to healthy eating. And it can serve as a source of local income for a community.”

Though urban farming (and its acceptance) is increasing, with local zoning changes happening in several Massachusetts cities, Richardson recognizes that there is more to be done. “We expect and

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hope to see [urban agriculture] increase, and our investments are reflective of that. In Boston last year they just lifted the ban on sale of city grown produce. We’d like to see happen statewide. And we’d like to see more interest in local agriculture.”

Funding local, innovative projects compliments Project Bread’s state and national policy work. “State policy work is a critical component to change,” says Richardson, but accelerating that change does require implementation on the ground. That’s where the real impact happens.”He also highlights two ways rural farmers can support anti-hunger work. The first is asking farmers to be aware of hunger as an issue related

to appropriate farm hiring and compensation practices. The second is collaboration. Whether it’s opening your farm to gleaning or tours, or volunteering to speak at a local school or offering surplus food to a local food pantry, Richardson sees a lot of potential. “We should both be looking for opportunities to collaborate.”

For more info visit, Gardening the Community at www.gardeningthecommunityblog.wordpress.com, Project Bread at www.projectbread.org, and NOFA/Mass at www.nofamass.org.

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One morning in early March of this year, I received a phone call from a man who seemed rather young and uncertain about what he had to say and how to say it. He started to tell me that there was a planned “natural” gas pipeline that would “hug” the corridor between the towns of Ashfield and Plainfield, a magnificent, hilly, and sparsely populated agricultural region in western Massachusetts. I own a 43-acre farm in Ashfield – a town with a population of about 1,100.

I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, until he told me he was calling to make an appointment so he could come and explain the details and get me to sign a permission agreement allowing his company to survey my land. By now I was definitely getting it, and I did what any sane person would. I put him off by telling him I was extremely busy, which was true. When he called again in a few weeks, I told him the same thing.

I have not talked to him again but I have received mail from him. I did not reply. His letters were followed up by letters from someone from the company’s next rung up, someone who had been given permission to start threatening people. I received two more letters reminding me that I had not complied with recent demands for my signature. I finally wrote Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (TGP) a letter saying I would not let them on my land to survey.

By now I was well connected to a dozen or so neighbors (there are 79 in all) who are in line for this invasion. It took no time for people to check in with each other, trying to identify allies. We are not all allies in this and, ironically, some who support the pipeline are farmers. This seems at odds with a farmer’s need for clean water, soil, and healthy

animals. I don’t yet know exactly what home owners would be paid to allow their land to be forever maimed – could be a pretty handsome amount,

as I understand it, for those who are impacted. Or they could be motivated by a conviction that this is really for the greater good of society. In a free country they are entitled to their views, but I think they are in the minority.

I assumed there would be a united front in opposition – we’ve fought hard to evade many a would-be invader in the past, as rural towns too often seem soft targets to mighty corporate and military entities. In 1985 we stood up to U.S. Air Force communication towers planned for all over our prized potato fields. This would have been a huge loss for farmers, the land forever off limits to agriculture. Senator Ted Kennedy is said to have remarked that no other issue during his

term provoked as much opposition as the threat of the Air Force towers here in Ashfield and the neighboring town of Hawley. They went away, tails between their legs because of relentless popular opposition and a stalwart defense of our right to say no to things that plainly were not good for us, our land, or our way of life (which is about as good as it can get).

We put a stop to the regular trucking of nuclear waste materials down our Main Street from the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor in Vermont in the 1980s. A couple of years ago we repelled a row of wind turbines, which I don’t oppose on principle, but you can’t put them where people are trying to sleep at night. We haven’t sat still on these (and countless other) issues and been had when we knew there were forces afoot that could destroy what was precious to who we are and what we value.

It’s ironic that there was one battle – one significant battle – we lost (if a battle there was). I wasn’t here when the miles and miles of over-head, high-tension electrical wires were erected through our whole region and that of many others. They didn’t follow any pre-existing pathways for other utilities

Proposed gas pipeline threatens farms, conservation land in Northern Massachusetts

Phyllis Kirkpatrick

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or other rights of way as far as I know. But that parade of high-tension wires is EXACTLY where the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company has decided to bury their pipes, as there is already an easement there by the electric company.

Give or take a foot (we keep getting differing estimates) the pipes will be approximately 3.5 feet in diameter, buried just a few feet beneath the ground. The pipeline will be spaced approximately four to five feet away from the electrical towers. The easement goes through our rich, certifiably organic pasture land. About 13 years ago, we became host to what was then a fledgling organic yogurt plant, SideHill Farm. We have a beautiful century-plus old barn with a step-down milking parlor (very rare around here). SideHill Farm thrived here for 12-13 years until they acquired their own additional land. We have never used chemical fertilizers. We never put chemicals on gardens or pasture. We raised sheep here for several years, had seasonal pigs for meat for a while, raised ducks, and never didn’t have chickens, until last fall when it got to be too much for me, now that I am alone and definitely no spring (fill in the critter). I have been forced to accept the facts as they are now; I can only do what I can do.

Last spring I decided to put my home on the market. My house was built in 1797. It’s a beautiful classic Cape with all the original masonry, three fireplaces, paneling, etc. This kind of house is and always has been right up my alley. I had a lot of lookers, most loved the house and the land, but they weren’t crazy about the power lines through the property. There were close calls but nobody bit until a successful artisanal cheese maker, originally from these parts, decided he’d like to return. There wasn’t anything he didn’t like about the place. One of our barns is from the 18th century. He came two or three times and then made me an offer. I countered. I was not-so-patiently-waiting for his next bid when the rumor of the pipelines was followed by its confirmation that the gas people were really coming! We, as we were obliged to do, informed him of the new turn of events. He withdrew the offer instantaneously.

At a recent Plainfield town meeting, in response to a woman’s question about the possible devaluation of her home, one of the Kinder Morgan reps said that he knows of no home whose value has been reduced

by the presence or construction of a gas pipeline underground, carrying hundreds of toxic chemicals including radioactive radon. Although the company claims the pipes never leak, they leak.

Kinder Morgan, the mammoth owner of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, is plundering through most states and delivering toxic fractured gas beneath our soils. Remember, “this land is my land, this land is your land”? NO! This land is theirs any time they feel like taking it. I am just so grateful that nobody can commodify chunks of the sun and sell them in the “free and open” marketplace. These guys would be right there.

We await our fate, and there will be a fight.

About the author: Phyllis Kirkpatrick has lived in Ashfield since 1976, where she started a still-thriving community newspaper, The Ashfield News. Her many pursuits have included quilt maker, beeswax candle maker, antiques dealer, mother, farmer, and fashion model. She’s currently a music teacher and collaborator on a history of Ashfield from 1960-2010.

Editor’s Note: The proposed Northeast Expansion Project would run from New York State into Massachusetts, where a 129-mile pipeline would span from Richmond to Dracut. The proposed pipeline path runs through hundreds of private properties and through public land, including land and waterways that are protected from development under state law. This project is still in the exploratory stage and public hearings are happening in affected towns, attended by abutters and others concerned about the potential impacts of this development.

Communities in affected areas are organizing themselves to resist this development. To find out more, visit www.nofrackedgasinmass.org.Two additional pipeline expansions are also proposed for Massachusetts, one increasing the capacity of an already existing pipeline in Southern Massachusetts and another newly proposed through Connecticut, Rhode Island and Southeastern MA.

Sources www.lowellsun.com/breakingnews/ci_25862152/official-natural-gas-pipeline-an-absolute-disaster-groton; www.nofrackedgasinmass.org and www.archive.org/details/happinesspony

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GMO labeling bill gaining supportJack Kittredge, NOFA/Mass Policy Director

House 3996, the bill which NOFA/Mass, MassPIRG, MoveOn.org and Massachusetts Right2KnowGMO have been pushing, is gaining steam. The coalition was just joined by the Chef’s Collaborative, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting sustainability among chefs in both restaurants and institutional food service. We also sponsored a showing of GMO OMG, a new film exploring the corporate takeover of seeds, with director Jeremy Seifert in Boston on June 11. Finally, at a State House press conference on June 4 we announced that a majority of legislators in both houses of the Great and General Court of Massachusetts have signed on and are supporting the bill!

That list continues to grow daily. If you want to check if your legislators have signed on, go to www.marighttoknow.com/home/legislative-support/endorsements for the latest listing. You can find out who your legislators are at www.malegislature.gov/people/search.

Of course, as Thackery observed, “there is many a slip twixt the cup and the lip” and having majority support in both houses does not automatically mean that we will see passage this year. The legislative session expires at the end of July and the bill currently sits in the House Committee on Ways and Means. It must move out of committee, win a vote in the full House, and travel all the way through the Senate by July 31.

The bill calls for mandatory labeling of foods sold in Massachusetts containing GMO ingredients (as well as requiring labeling of GMO seeds) and would go into effect upon the passage (the “trigger”) of similar legislation by at least four other states representing a total population of 20 million or more (as counted in the 2010 census). Connecticut and Maine have passed similar laws already, and Vermont just passed one without such a trigger. It is scheduled to go into effect July 1, 2016.

If you want to help move our bill (House 3996) forward, calls and letters to your legislators are always helpful. Especially helpful right now would be calls and letters to friends on the House Ways and Means Committee.

The legislators on that committee come from: Haverhill – Chair Brian Dempsey, Worthington – Vice Chair Stephen Kulik, Hyde Park – Angelo Scaccia, Roxbury – Gloria Fox, Ludlow – Thomas Petrolati, New Bedford – Robert Koczera, Brockton – Christine Canavan, Lynn – Robert Fennell, Lowell – Kevin Murphy, Milton – Walter Timilty, Waltham – Thomas Stanley, Lenox – William Pignatelli, Dennis – Cleon Turner, Methuen – Linda Campbell, Dedham – Paul McMurtry, Marblehead – Lori Ehrlich, Arlington – Sean Garballey, Brockton – Michael Brady, Holliston – Carolyn Dykema, Nantucket – Timothy Madden, Boston – Nick Collins, Hanover – Rhonda Nyman, Plymouth – Viriato deMacedo, Bridgewater – Angelo D’Emilia, Shrewsbury – Matthew Beaton, Whitman – Geoff Diehl, E. Falmouth – David Vieira, and Saugus – Donald Wong.

If you are from one of those districts, it would help a lot to mention to your representative that we sure would like food companies be required to tell us when they put GMOs in the food we feed our families. Thanks for your help!

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If you are, or would like to be a grower of:• organic broccoli• organic blueberries• organic strawberries• organic melons

Come grow with us: In 2012, we purchased more than $37,000,000 worth of local produce and flowers in our North Atlantic and North East regions—and we’re not stopping there!

Please contact Mike Bethmann, Rich Thorpe or Brian McKeller regarding potential opportunities: • mike.bethmann@wholefoods.com• richard.thorpe@wholefoods.com• brian.mckeller@wholefoods.com

…to help build our local food supply!

wants YOU

Supporting local farmers, producers and vendors for 30 years and counting.

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Atlas Farm635 River Road, Deerfield, MA413-695-2728, farmersmarkets@atlasfarm.com, farmstore@atlasfarm.comwww.atlasfarm.comThe Atlas Farm Store (218 Greenfield Road, Rts. 5 & 10, South Deerfield) is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. We’ll also be at the Copley Square Farmers Market, Tuesdays and Fridays 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Certified organic strawberries, greenhouse red tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, greenhouse cucumbers, head lettuces, arugula, bok choy, herbs (dill, parsley, cilantro), harukei turnips, scallions, radishes, carrots, beets, bunched greens (kale, chard, collards, dandelion greens), and certified organic plant starts for home gardeners. At the Copley Square Farmers Market, we also offer flowers and baby greens from Old Friends Farm.

Bay End Farm200 Bournedale Road, Buzzard’s Bay, MA617-212-8315, erin@bayendfarm.comwww.bayendfarm.comFarm stand mid-June: Wednesdays and Thursdays 1 to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. In June we look forward to spring garlic, bok choi, arugula, broccoli raab, radish, spinach, chard, kale, lettuce, and escarole. We also have CSA memberships available.

Billingsgate Farm6 County Road, Plympton, MA781-293-6144, farmgirl@billingsgatefarm.comwww.billingsgatefarm.comMonday-Friday 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Saturday & Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Baby beets, Baby pak choi, Broccoli, cucumbers, garlic, kale, lettuce, radish, rhubarb, spinach, summer squash, zucchini.

First Root FarmFarm Location: 955 Lexington Road; Mailing Address: 949 Main St., Concord, MAfirstrootfarm@gmail.comwww.firstrootfarm.comLexington Farmers’ Market, Tuesdays 2 to 6:30 p.m. We grow over 30 kinds of vegetables, so look for our spring kale, chard, cabbage, broccoli, bok choy, radishes, salad turnips, scallions, head lettuce and baby greens at the Lexington Market. Our summer CSA is sold out, but fall shares (November, four weeks) and winter shares (two bulk pickups November/December) are still available. Read all about it at www.firstrootfarm.com.

Green Meadows Farm656 Asbury St., South Hamilton, MAfarm: 978-468-2277, office: 978-468-3720, admin@gmfarm.comwww.gmfarm.comOpen Tuesday-Sunday, April through December, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. 2014 Vegetable, Flower, and Fruit Shares Available.

Heritage Fields309 Gidney Road, Orange, MA978-544-3282, rachelscherer@yahoo.comBy Appointment Only. Closed June 5-20. Pastured Chevon/Cabrito/Goat meat; Pastured Beef.

High Meadow Farm28 High St., Hubbardston, MA978-928-5646, jassy.bratko@gmail.comwww.highmeadowfarms.comFarm stand open 9 a.m. to dusk daily. 100% grass-fed beef, woodland raised pork, pure maple syrup and honey.

From Field to FridgeFarms listed in the NOFA/Mass Organic Food Guide have the opportunity

to highlight here what they currently have available for sale. Pick up some of their goods and help support your local organic and sustainable farmers today!

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To access a farm’s full Organic Food Guide listing, click on that farm’s name.

If you would like your farm or business listed on the Organic Food Guide website, contact Rebecca Buell at foodguide@nofamass.org or 978-724-3561.

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p.m. CSA shares from our horse-powered farm are available (forms at the farm or on our website).

New Lands Farm593 Main St, Springfield, MA and 51 Union St, Worcester, MA413-787-0725/508-754-1121, stower@lssne.orgwww.newlandsfarm.orgFarm stand open Tuesdays 4 to 7 p.m. and at Merrick Neighborhood Market Thursdays 4 to 7 p.m. starting in July. New Lands Farm, a program of Lutheran Social Services, will sell fresh vegetables beginning in July at their farm stand on Tuesday afternoon at the farm and Thursday afternoon on Main Street at the West Springfield Boys and Girls Club. Try new ethnic vegetables like mchicha, bottle gourds, garden egg, and bitter melon. Help support local refugee and immigrant farmers and sustainable farming in West Springfield. For more information contact Sara Tower at stower@lssne.org or 413-787-0725 or visit our website.

Plough & Stars Project75 Capen St., Medford, MA617-852-4109, erik@ploughandstarsproject.comploughandstarsproject.comSaturday CSA distributions 9 a.m. to noon, June through October. Over 120 varieties of produce.

Robinson Farm42 Jackson Road, Hardwick, MA413-477-6988, info@robinsonfarm.orgwww.robinsonfarm.orgFarm Shop hours 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Check our website for retail cheese locations. Offering our 100% grass-fed, organic “Award Winning” Farmstead aged cheeses (cow), beef/veal, Raw Milk, Sidehill Farm yogurt, Westfield Farm goat cheese, Hardwick Sugar Shack maple syrup, High Meadow and Frolhoff Farm pork, local honey, jams, crackers, and “Real Pickle” fermented veggies.

SideHill Farm58 Forget Road, Hawley, MA413-339-0033, info@sidehillfarm.netwww.sidehillfarm.netOur farm shop is open year-round, seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and you can find us at the Amherst Farmers’ Market, Saturdays 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Raw Milk, yogurt, beef, our just-out-of-the-cave

Ladybug Farm Produce143 Williamsville Road, Hubbardston, MA978-928-3731, ladybugfarmproduce@gmail.comladybugfarmproduce.webs.comHours: Wednesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Café is serving fresh coffee, herbal teas, homemade breads, muffins, and cookies. The farm store carries Ladybug organic seedlings, organic vegetables, culinary herbs, and field cut flowers, jams and jellies, herbal vinegars, eggs, and homemade gifts. We also sell milk, fresh farmer’s cheese, local maple syrup, soaps and lotions.

Manda Farm25 Pleasant St., Plainfield, MA413-634-5333, manda@mandafarm.comwww.mandafarm.comOpen all year at the farm. Also selling at Farmers’ Markets in Florence, Wednesdays 2 to 6 p.m. (April 30 -October) and Ashfield, Saturdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (May -October). New stock of all cuts of organically fed, pastured, heritage breed beef and pork; new item: chorizo; plenty of eggs.

Many Hands Organic Farm411 Sheldon Road, Barre, MA978-355-2853, farm@mhof.netwww.mhof.netCall ahead to visit. Certified organic CSA shares, pork, chicken, turkey, and soup birds now available to pre-order. Comfrey salve at $8, eggs at $7/dozen, lavender and peppermint soap at $6/bar, and boneless half hams at $13/lb available at the farm.

Natick Community Organic Farm117 Eliot St. (Route 16), Natick, MA508-655-2204, info@natickfarm.orgwww.natickfarm.orgFarm open every day during daylight hours. Seedlings, salad greens, spinach, kale, collards, pac & bac choi, beets, radishes, carrots and other root crops, beans, soybeans, tomato, eggplant, peppers, herbs including parsley and basil, winter squash, eggs, turkey, maple syrup, woolen yarn, and woolen roving.

Natural Roots888 Shelburne Falls Road, Conway, MA413-369-4269, naturalroots@verizon.netwww.naturalroots.comStarting in June, open Tuesdays and Fridays 3 to 6:30

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Tracie’s Community Farm, LLC72 Jaffrey Road, just north of Winchendon on Rt 12, Fitzwilliam, NH603-209-1851, farmertracie@hotmail.comwww.traciesfarm.comFarm stand and farm store in barn open daily sun-up to sundown. Summer shares for the 2014 season. We’ll have vegetable, herb, and flower starts, hanging baskets, perennials and more out at our farm stand. All grown without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and with varieties that do well in our area. Check out our website for more information. We have greens, asparagus, Walpole Creamery Ice Cream, Smith Country Cheese, eggs from Monte Rosa Farm, raw honey, jam, maple syrup and soap in our farm store located in the barn.

Warm Colors Apiary2 South Mill River Road, South Deerfield, MA413-665-4513, warmcolors@verizon.netwww.warmcolorsapiary.comVarieties of Honey, beeswax candles, and beekeeping equipment and supplies.

Hawley Blue cheese, our farm-shop-only Sour Cream, and pork from the first SideHill Farm forest pigs. All from our grass-fed cows and forest raised pigs and available in the farm shop. Come visit! Yogurt and Solar Smoothies at the Amherst Market.

Small Ones Farm416 Bay Road, Amherst, MA413-253-6788, smallonesfarm@att.netwww.smallonesfarm.comFarm Stand opens in July. Our 2014 Fruit CSA’s are now available! We have a waiting list for our summer CSA, but we have openings available for our fall CSA. Contact us via our website or via email to register or get on our waiting list!

Sweet Autumn Farm180 Prospect St., Carlisle, MA978-287-0025, Sweetautumnfarmma@gmail.comFarm Stand: Tuesday 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (starting June 3). Chicken eggs, Duck eggs, Rhubarb, Herbs, Snow Peas, and more. Also Registered Nigerian Dwarf yearlings and babies available for sale. See capradiemndg.com for availability.

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Community HappeningsCommunity HappeningsEvents

Grain Grower’s Network: grain systems in the Hudson Valley, beginning farmer community and sharing what worksWednesday, June 18 - 10am - 2pm2409 US Route 9, Hudson, NY

Join Sparrowbush farmer Ashley Loehr and baker-miller Antoine Guerlain at Camphill Village in Copake for a rising discussion of milling grains in the Hudson Valley. Topics to be covered include overcoming the challenges of needed, borrowed and shared equipment to produce milling quality grains on a diversified vegetable and livestock farm and the needs and challenges of milling and baking with local grains.

Cost: $10.00 per person or $15.00 for two or more people per farm. To preregister and pay, visit www.tinyurl.com/shopNOFAevents or call Stephanie at (585) 271-1979 ext. 509.

Pandora Thomas to Keynote 2014 Revisioning Sustainability ConferenceSunday, June 22 – 7pm to 8:30pmUMass Amherst – Lincoln Campus Center 11th Floor

Celebrated teacher, speaker, designer, and co-founder of Earthseed Consulting LLC, Pandora Thomas will be delivering a keynote presentation entitled, We Are the Ones! The contemporary food system has become far removed from its sustainable legacy. This needs to change. Colleges and universities have a particular role to play in this work as the bridge to communities through service and educational outreach, and as leaders in the shift towards creating more sustainable food systems. Doors open at 6:00PM, hors d’oeuvres and light refreshments will be served.

The event is free and open to the public. To RSVP (required) or for more info visit www.j.mp/umasspandora Farm Succession Info NightWednesday, June 25 - 6pm to 8pmJohn W. Olver Transit Center, 12 Olive Street, Greenfield, MA

It’s never too early or too late to plan for your future and the future of your farm. If you want to exit comfortably from farming, pass the farm to your next generation, transfer to a non-family successor, or have other questions about this important transition, this low-pressure, informational gathering is for you.

You will learn about the farm succession and transfer process; where to start and how to take your first or next steps; key challenges and methods to address them; and tools and resources.

Cost: Free, w/ free supper. To RSVP call (603) 357-1600 or visit www.landforgood.org/RSVP

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Community HappeningsAnnouncements

Central Massachusetts Farm Survey The Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission is surveying farmers to determine how to better support agriculture and the local food system. If you’re a farmer in Central Mass, please make your needs heard by filling out this survey. Participants are entered in a drawing for a $200 gift card. www.svy.mk/RV5zA6

Farm Service Agency County Committee Nomination Period Begins June 15To be eligible to serve on an FSA county committee, a person must participate or cooperate in a program administered by FSA, be eligible to vote in a county committee election, and reside in the local administrative area where the person is nominated. Farmers and ranchers may nominate themselves or others. Organizations representing minorities and women also may nominate candidates. To become a candidate, an eligible individual must sign the nomination form, FSA-669A. The form and other information about FSA county committee elections are available at www.fsa.usda.gov/elections. Nomination forms for the 2014 election must be postmarked or received in the local USDA Service Center by close of business on Aug. 1, 2014. Elections will take place this fall.

FARMER-OWNED

Check the website to learn about the store,products offered through our members and information on becoming a member www.greenfieldfarmerscoop.com

Member owners include more than 700 people who are now or have been involved in agriculture from Franklin, Hampshire and Berkshire Counties in Mass.Windham County, Vt. and Cheshire County, N.H.

269 High St. Greenfield, MA (413) 773-9639

Feed, Fertilizer, Pet Food, Farm Supplies Many Organic Products

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NOFA/MAss WOrkshOps & EvENts

Visit nofamass.org/events for workshop additions and updates.

Food Forest Swales: Design and ImplementationJune 21 – 1:00pm to 4:00pm47 Union Avenue, Westport, MACost: $25 NOFA members; $31 non-members In this workshop participants will learn how to site swales in the landscape and lay out a swale on contour using an A-Frame level. They will then design a plant polyculture that is suitable for a Linear Food Forest Swale and help plant an existing swale with Food Forest trees and perennial vegetables! Wear your get dirty clothes. Instructor: Lydia Silva

Organic Growing 101June 21 & 22 - 9:00am to 4:00pmMany Hands Organic Farm, Barre, MACost: $244Jack and Julie, who have owned and operated Many Hands Organic Farm for over 30 years, will combine hands on work with discussion of principles of organic growing. Besides participating in daily animal chores and one or two specific field tasks, participants will harvest and prepare lunch on both days. Topics include sustainable farming systems, appropriate energy use, recycling and resource conservation. Offered in collaboration with Worcester State University. College credit available. Instructors: Julie Rawson and Jack Kittredge

Mushroom Log InoculationJune 28 – 1:00pm to 3:00pmNantucket Mushrooms LLC, Chatham, MACost: $32 NOFA members; $38 non-membersJoin Nantucket Mushrooms LLC Cofounder for an inspirational and educational, mushroom log cultivation workshop. Topics covered include: Hands on inoculation, fruiting, harvesting, choosing a location, force fruiting, pests, choosing your logs and building outdoor grow beds. Instructor: Wesley Price

Hands-on Hog Slaughter on the HomesteadJune 29 – 10:00am to 4:00pmMany Hands Organic Farm, Barre, MACost: $40 NOFA members; $48 non-members At this hands on workshop, with the help of Many Hand’s farm tractor and bucket, Jake Levin will lead us in the slaughter of a four month old pig, bleed it, scald it in a cast iron bathtub, eviscerate it, and eventually cut it into standard pork cuts. A tour of the Many Hands Organic Farm certified organic pig operation will be included. Instructors: Jake Levin, Andrew Kelly & Jason Cucchiara

NOFA Summer Conference August 8-10 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, MACost: Varies. Early bird pricing available through July 11.NOFA invites you to attend its 40th Annual Summer Conference, featuring 200 workshops on farming, gardening, land care, nutrition, & food politics; full and half day pre-conferences; and 100+ exhibitors. This is a family-friendly event with conferences for children and teens, a country fair, and organic meals! Budget

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conscious accommodations are available, including camping and dorms. This year’s keynote speaker Elaine Ingham is a soil scientist and researcher, teaching growers to foster microbial life in soils.

Registration and more info at www.nofasummerconference.org!

Growing Certified Organic Cut Flowers - Part 2August 29 - 10:00am to 12:00pmNatick Community Organic Farm, South Natick, MACost: $25 NOFA members; $31 non-membersIn part 2 of this two-part workshop we will explore harvest and post harvest of certified organic cut flowers, weed management, marketing and selling, and strategies for season extension. Attendance in part 1 is not necessary to attend part 2. Instructor: Lynda Simkins

Genetic Roulette Screenings Cost: FreeWant to learn more about GMOs? See the film! We are screening this film which cites evidence that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) may be a major contributor to rising disease rates in the US. In the one-hour film, doctors and other health practitioners discuss their clinical experience with patients who have disorders from eating GMOs. This sometimes shocking film may change your diet and help you protect your family. A question and answer period with Jack Kittredge, NOFA/Mass Policy Director, will follow the film.

• June 16 - 7:00pm to 9:00pm - Newton Free Library, Newton• June 18 - 6:30pm to 8:30pm - Brookfield Town Hall, Brookfield• June 23 - 6:30pm to 8:30pm - West Springfield Library, W. Springfield• June 24 - 5:45pm to 7:30 pm - Winthrop Library, Winthrop, MA

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New and Renewing NOFA/Mass Membersin May

Katherine AndersonRobert AyresPaul BenjaminLouise BerlinerJane BindleyFarlin BlackDee BlakeSierra Heath BrightCarrieSue BroderickStephan BrownTrina BryantHelene CahenAnna ChurchillJessica CookVirginia Culligan & Clarke LaszloLorrie DahlenDebra DeaneJason DurginMark Duvall & Diane Flynn

Peter EndicottJohn D. EngwerHenry FairlieLynn and Len FisherLisa FisherDonna & Richard GilmoreNancy GoldJessica GoldhirschEmily Hale-SillsSally HilgendorffIndia Hoeschen-SteinRuth & Michael IrelandSue ItoElizabeth JohnsonDavid KennardPhilip KenneyRuth Bailey LanghJohn & Martha LazarusJamie LombardoLeslie Malloy

Greg MasloweBob MinnocciKathy Morris & Larry SiegelJohn OlanderSuzen PerrySally & Steve PullenAndrew Mark Quillen, OSBMary RobinsonChristine SamoiloffSandy Sheble-HallRos & Dan SmytheLucy StocktonSarah Stockwell-ArthenSteve SwansonEmily SwartzMax TraunsteinDorothy WeaverSeth WilkinsonThomas Willits

Thank you to Spring Appeal Donors in MayRobert BanningJane BindleyBetsy Corner

Duncan & Cynthia CoxTaylor KaneBruce Quevillon

Alison RobbDorothea SotirosMartha Gilpatrick Wolf

Seeking Herd Manager or Herdsperson, Sidehill Farm, Hawley MA

Sidehill Farm is a small dairy in western Massachusetts, producing yogurt and raw milk from our grass-fed cows. We are seek a full-time herd manager, or an experienced herdsman, familiar with organic practices and rotational grazing. Responsibilities include milking, feeding, herd health, breeding, maintenance of milking equipment, calf and barn chores. Also fencing, paddock sizing, haymaking, pasture clipping, tractor maintenance. Minimum of 2 years experience with organic dairy (3-5 years preferable). Must be able to handle animals calmly and gently, and be skilled with tractors and equipment. Cleanliness and attention to detail are critical. Competitive salary based on experience, 6 day week, paid time off. Send a resume, and 3 references to amy@sidehillfarm.net.

Looking for help? Have something to sell? Have land to lease?Place a classified ad! Find out more at www.nofamass.org/classifieds Classifieds

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NOFA/ Massachusetts411 Sheldon Road Barre, MA 01005