A Summer at Waltham Fields Community Farm

This summer, I worked on the weed crew at Waltham Fields Community Farm.

Founded in 1995, Waltham Fields Community Farm is a nonprofit organization "engaged in food production, hunger relief, and education." The farm consists of 11 acres, it supports a 500-share CSA, and it offers various other programs. Some of the produce grown at the farm this season included kale,

Kale. Harvest from the bottom up, and it continues to grow and produce new leaves!

swiss chard,

Swiss chard was everywhere

a variety of flowers, and much more.

 

 Fresh flower bouquet

I saw okra growing for the first time, too!

 Okra flower

The weed crew position was part-time, Mondays - Fridays from 8 am - noon, from June - August. The crew consisted of four members, and from Tuesday - Friday we worked with drop-in volunteers, from 9 am - noon. It was great to meet and to work with volunteers of different ages and backgrounds! Most of the work that we did was by hand, and we occasionally used hand-tools. The weeding we did ranged from detailed work such as weeding carrots, to weeding weeds that were taller than me (I am five feet tall).

One great benefit of the job was receiving fresh produce from the farm. I fermented both pickling and salad cucumbers using the recipe from the book Real Food Fermentation (a book that I contributed writing to), and both batches of fermented pickles came out very crispy. I had grape leaves on hand to add to the fermenting jars as well, which are supposed to help pickled cucumbers to keep their crunch.

Fermenting cucumber pickles

Other ways I preserved the harvest included making sauerkraut and a variety of pestos, freezing, and canning tomatoes with other members of the weed crew. To make the tomato sauce, we modified a recipe from Pick Your Own, took the appropriate precautions in order to avoid botulism, and with three people, six hours of work, and a water bath canning set, we had canned 10 pint jars of tomato sauce.

Canned tomato sauce

 Cantaloupe ice cream

(Recipe from Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book) 

Despite Waltham Fields Community Farm's abundance of tomatoes this year, this has been a tough tomato year for some farms in the area because of late blight. Late blight appears sporadically in the northeast, and unfortunately returned this season. Also known as "Phytophthora infestans," late blight caused the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s, and it infects tomatoes and potatoes. If late blight is not managed, it can destroy entire crops in days. While some farms in the area lost crops due to late blight, others who have been able to manage the disease have had a very productive tomato season. Read more about late blight in this handout, and for photos and for more information, visit this webpage.

Another crop we weeded was parsnips, a crop that we needed to weed in long pants, long sleeves, and gloves! Why? Because parsnips contain furocoumarins, a photosensitive compound that can cause phytophotodermatitis. If the plant juice from parsnips gets on your skin and the skin gets exposed to sunlight, it can cause serious burns and blisters that can last even up to a year. Although many people are already familiar with these burns from wild parsnips, the burns can occur with cultivated parsnips, as well. Luckily we were warned about the dangers of parsnip beforehand! For more information and pictures regarding parsnips burns, check out these articles: "Burned by wild parsnip," "Parsnips gave me blisters! Gardener covered in sores after brushing against vegetable leaves," and Parsnip Dangers from Wikipedia.

Over the summer, I also attended several meetings with Emasscraft, the Eastern Massachusetts Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training. "CRAFT is a free, collaborative group...From April through October farmers, farm workers and apprentices from CRAFT farms gather at one farm for a visit and/or workshop. Each visit includes an overview of the farm as well as a discussion about one or two specific topics. CRAFT discussions are also scheduled November through March if there is sufficient interest" (http://emasscraft.org/wordpress).

I went to three CRAFT meetings this season. At the meetings, I learned about weed management techniques at Drumlin Farm, tomatoes at Wright-Locke Farm (a farm that I also wrote an article about for the Lexington Farmers' Market), and irrigation systems at Moraine Farm. I enjoyed visiting new farms, and seeing how each farm operates differently from one another. The schedule for Emasscraft meetings can be found here, and I would highly recommend signing up for their listserv.

It was a great summer working on the weed crew, and also with the wonderful staff at the farm.

Waltham Fields Community Farm Staff of 2012 (minus Marla)

(photo courtesy of Waltham Fields Community Farm)

Although I am sad to no longer be working at Waltham Fields Community Farm, I am looking forward to sharing a winter CSA with some of my fellow weed crew members this winter. Waltham Fields Community Farm's annual Waltham Farm Day is also coming up on Saturday, September 22! For more information about Waltham Fields Community Farm, visit their website.

Red sunflower

I am also excited for some new opportunities that are coming up. I will be participating in Goldthread Herb Farm and Apothecary's Farm to Pharmacy Intensive this September 22-28. This week I also begin working at Blue Heron Organic Farm in Lincoln, and in addition to my waitressing hours at the Spanish wine and tapas restaurant Taberna de Haro, I will be working as a cook. Stop by the farm or the restaurant sometime and say hello!

Getting Involved with the Food Movement: Careers and More

I am very excited to be joining the Weed Crew with Waltham Fields Community Farms this summer, from June through August! (And for those of you interested in volunteering with us, volunteer information is here!) In addition, as former president of Slow Food Boston University, I've had many individuals ask me, "How do I find a job related to sustainable food, or become involved in the sustainable food movement?" From my experiences, and after attending the Real Food Challenge's webinar, "Cultivating Food Movement Careers," I felt inclined to share some resources and tips.

Below are several resources to get you started. Because I live in the Greater Boston, Massachusetts area, you will notice that many of the resources may be focused on the northeast region of the U.S., although not all of them are.

Resources for sustainable food-related jobs and opportunities:

• Good Food Jobs
• BostonEco on Facebook and on Twitter
• Real Food Challenge Alumni Network (even if you were not previously involved with the Real Food Challenge)
• Listservs, such as:
• COMFOODJOBS
• NEFOOD: The Northeast's Food and Farm Network
• BFS (Boston Food System)

General listings that may include opportunities related to sustainable food:

• AmeriCorps
• Peace Corps
• Idealist.org
• Craigslist

Interested in farming? Farm positions may be found in the resources listed above. However, here are some farm-specific links:

• Eastern Massachusetts CRAFT listserv (and additional resources recommended by emasscraft here)
• ATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service - Sustainable Farming Internships and Apprenticeships
• NOFA Directory of Organic Farming Apprenticeship Programs
• Volunteer through WWOOF: World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (read about my experience WWOOFing)

Additional suggestions:

• Get on LinkedIn
• Visit individual websites of farms, companies, and organizations to find postings
• Contact a farm, company, or organization that interests you, asking if they have any job and/or volunteer opportunities
• You may find opportunities through social media, such as Facebook and Twitter
• Consider doing a paid or unpaid internship
• Volunteer! For example, with a local Slow Food chapter, a local farm or farmers market, and more
• Meet, talk, and network with people through everyday conversations, events, conferences, and even Meetup groups, such as The Urban Homesteaders' League based in Greater Boston
• Let people know that you are looking for opportunities to get involved. This can include friends, family, mentors, past and present colleagues, and more
• Take classes (the Boston Natural Areas Network, for instance, offers gardening education)
• Start your own business (this may seem a bit daunting, and will of course require some thought and planning. However, if the job that you would like is not out there, why not create it?) Read these articles: Forget a desk job: Young foodies are betting that their bright ideas are their ticket out of the rat race, and Boston food entrepreneurs: Food fighters who are uprooting an empire. One local resource is Boston Young Entrepreneurs.

Remember, these are just a few resources to get you started. If you know of any other helpful resources, please share!

Master Urban Gardener

I was very fortunate to be able to participate in the Boston Natural Areas Network's Master Urban Gardener (MUG) Program this winter!

MUG is an intensive "horticultural leadership training course for community garden volunteers."

In the class, we covered numerous topics related to community gardening, including garden operations, community garden design, plant growth, soil and soil health, pests, plant maintenance, the vegetable garden, and nutrition.

Because I have WWOOFed (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) and interned with CitySprouts in the past, MUG was the perfect program for me to fill in some gaps in my gardening knowledge.

Although the classes were intense, every Saturday from 10 am - 3:30 pm with a half hour break for lunch, the classes were designed well and included a combination of lectures and interactive sessions, in which we did small group problem-solving activities with our fellow classmates. Many of the activities included scenarios that you would encounter in the community garden, such as determining which pests were attacking the cabbages (was it the flea beetles or the aphids??), and what the appropriate recommendation would be to deal with such pests.

In one class, we learned about seed starting, and we planted our own seeds to begin indoors.


Different topics were covered in the AM and PM sessions, and it was a lot of information to take in. Luckily, we were given a pretty thorough manual (which we also received a CD version of) that we used in class, that covered all the topics that we discussed in class, and that we can refer to for future reference. In addition, the 40 hours of community service required to validate the Master Urban Gardener Certificate is a great way to apply the concepts that we learned and to get more involved in community gardens and gardening related activities.

Yes, you will need to bring this manual to every class.

This program is free and open to the public! It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to take this class, and I enjoyed MUG not only for the concepts that I learned, but it was also great to meet fellow urban gardeners in the area.

Master Urban Gardener Class of 2010
*Photo courtesy of BNAN*

Thanks to Jo Ann who runs the program, the guest lecturers, and the other volunteers who help to make the class possible.

I highly recommend the Master Urban Gardener program if you are involved in community gardening. However, if you have a backyard, MUGatHOME may be perfect for you. MUG and MUGatHOME both cover various gardening topics. But while MUG focuses on community garden leadership and organization, MUGatHome focuses on landscape training and residential gardening techniques. Other programs that the Boston Natural Areas Network runs include SLUG for those involved in urban school-based vegetable gardening, and a Seed, Sow & Grow program.

If you are looking for a community garden plot, look at BNAN's community garden plot listing. Although unfortunately I don't believe I will be receiving a plot at the Fenway Victory Gardens this year, I look forward to applying the concepts that I learned with CitySprouts and BNAN's Learning Garden at City Natives this upcoming growing season.

BNAN is a non-profit organization, and they also host various events every year and offer many volunteer opportunities. To learn more about the Boston Natural Areas Network, visit their website.

WWOOF! World Wide Opportunitites on Organic Farms

It's been awhile, but I wanted to say a few good words about WWOOF. WWOOF, or World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, is a world wide network linking individuals interested in volunteering on organic farms with farmers looking for volunteer help. In exchange for volunteering on a farm, room and board are provided for free! It's a wonderful and cheap way to travel, and there are WWOOF organizations all over the globe!

Last summer, I had such an amazing experience WWOOFing in Canada at the farm Artisans de la Terre. Located in Ste.-Marcelline, we were about 15 minutes away from the town Joliette, and about an hour away from Montréal.

What were my days like?
I was only required to work 5-6 hours a day, 6 days a week- although I often worked more than that because I wanted to. Growing a diverse range of vegetables (and a few fruits) was the focus of this farm at the time, although they are still expanding. The farm also had chickens and a few animals, and they distributed CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) baskets twice a week. Although every day was different, some of my daily activities included feeding the chickens, watering the plants in the greenhouse, weeding, harvesting, helping to prepare the CSA baskets, helping to prepare meals in the kitchen, and more.

The house, the kiosque (farm stand), and the greenhouse

The barn and the greenhouse

Time to weed!

Bringing the chickens water

Preparing the CSA baskets

Besides getting to work outside and being able to work with some fabulous people (including some fellow WWOOFers), one of my favorite things at the farm were the communal meals. At lunch, they were an absolute must. After working for the majority of the day, it was wonderful to enjoy everyone's company for a group meal of delicious and farm-fresh food.

Making chapati

And because we were in the Québec region, I was able to practice my French skills and learn various farming terms and expressions en français! In addition, I learned how to cook with all the new vegetables I was being introduced to. (I now love kohlrabi, my second favorite vegetable after carrots!)

WWOOFing is a great way to learn about farming, sustainability practices, and where your food comes from, and it's a great way to travel and to improve your language skills as well!

Interested in WWOOFing?
Every country runs its WWOOF network just slightly differently, so look them up at WWOOF.org. There is usually a small fee to get the detailed listing with the addresses and contact information of the farms, but once you receive the booklet/online access for the detailed listing, you're all set to go! From there, the only fees you should need to pay for is transportation to and from your farm.

My insights as a WWOOFer:

• It's usually recommended to stay at a farm for at least two weeks to get accustomed to it.
• Most WWOOFers only stay at one particular farm for a few weeks. (Farm-hopping is common). If you're interested in staying for longer, it's sometimes recommended to see how the first two weeks go first, before making that extra commitment. But communicate with your farmer - it will all depend on the situation! I ended up staying at my farm for 6 weeks.
• Farmers may be difficult to get a hold of. Don't give up, and be persistent! And don't always rely on e-mail, you may want to give the farmer a call (or 10 ;) ).
• Communicate with your farmer ahead of time to make sure that you're on the same page, and so that you know each other's goals and expectations.
• People's WWOOFing experiences vary, so you may also want to try searching online to see if the farm you're interested in has any past WWOOFing reviews.

WWOOFing again is definitely in my future! Please consider doing it, and ask me about it if you have any questions!

CitySprouts' School Garden Celebration!

Last Saturday, I volunteered at CitySprouts' School Garden Celebration (formerly the Harvest Festival), which was a blast!
Despite the rainy weather, we had a fabulous set-up indoors, which still allowed us a view of the Graham & Parks school garden.

I had the opportunity to work at the Stone Soup station with JJ Gonson from Cuisine En Locale.

The kids did a wonderful job chopping up the vegetables for the soup, the majority of which were a generous donation from Parker Farm!

Photo courtesy of Susan Young

Although most of the festival was indoors, we cooked the stone soup outside. The soup, which was mostly vegetables, salt and pepper, and just a little bit of stock, came out delicious and warm and was perfect for the cold, rainy day.

At the celebration, each of the schools set up tables, held activities, and sold various items to help raise money for their gardens.

Photo courtesy of Susan Young

Activities during the day included pumpkin decorating by the Haggerty School, and apple cider pressing!

Photo courtesy of Susan Young

There were various informational booths at the festival, including one with School Nutritionist Dawn Olcott. Dawn coordinates the Tasty Choices program in the Cambridge Public Schools, which helps to bring more local foods into the school lunches.

In addition, the King Open School will be involved with the program Food to Flowers, part of an environmental iniative by Compost That Stuff and the City of Cambridge.

And how could I not take a picture of this gorgeous broccoli?

Despite the rainy weather, the School Garden Celebration was very well attended by children, parents, and the community.

CitySprouts' is a nonprofit that now maintains gardens in ALL of the public schools in Cambridge, and helps to incorporate these gardens into the school curriculum. Read my previous post about interning with CitySprouts. Interested in volunteering? Find out more information here!

All photos taken by Annabelle Ho unless otherwise noted.

Gaining Ground and Time For Lunch!

On Labor Day, I had a wonderful time with Slow Food Boston at their Eat-In at Gaining Ground in Concord.

The pavilion

Begun in 1994, Gaining Ground grows fruits and vegetables using organic methods. ALL of Gaining Ground's produce is donated to food pantries and meal programs within 20 miles of the farm, and within 24 hours of harvest!!! With a small staff and most of the work on the farm performed by volunteers, it's great what Gaining Ground is able to accomplish! And anyone can volunteer - read more details about volunteering here.

What a huge scale!

Onions galore

Drying the garlic

Love the bees!

Slow Food Boston's volunteer day at Gaining Ground involved 1-2 hours of farm work, with plenty of weeding!

The Crew

Afterward, we broke for the Eat-In portion of the day with a delicious potluck that included potatoes with home-cured bacon, red quinoa, a beet salad, and much more! The Eat-In was a part of Slow Food USA's Time for Lunch Campaign.

The Child Nutrition Act, which governs the National School Lunch Program, is reauthorized in Congress every 4-5 years. Since school budgets have been cut, schools have been struggling to give children the real food they need. And because the Children Nutrition Act is being reviewed this fall, it's time to tell Congress that real food needs to be in school lunches! If you are concerned about the food that is in school lunch, sign the petition and read more about how to get involved!

CitySprouts (and The Food Project)!

This summer I had the fabulous opportunity to intern with the organization CitySprouts. Based in Cambridge, MA, this nonprofit will maintain gardens in all of Cambridge's public K-8 schools by this fall.

During the academic year, the CitySprouts' garden coordinators work with the Cambridge school teachers to incorporate the gardens into the school curriculum. Additionally, during the summer, CitySprouts runs a middle school intern program, in which middle school students learn, among other things, how to grow, harvest, and prepare food in an urban environment.

During my internship, I was able to assist two of the garden coordinators with their middle school intern programs, and I held two of the school garden drop-ins while the middle school intern program was in session. I also had the opportunity to work in the CitySprouts office, allowing me to see both sides of the organization.

















Working with the CitySprouts staff, and interacting with the other college interns, parents, students, and volunteers in the community was definitely an amazing experience! I would highly recommend volunteering with CitySprouts and volunteering at the CitySprouts' drop-ins, which are held at the various public schools all over Cambridge, from the end of April until mid-November.

And, as you can see, I also had a wonderful time taking plenty of photos during my internship. I am working on creating an online photo album with all of the pictures that I took- I simply could not resist taking pictures of all the beautiful vegetables, flowers, and plants that were in the gardens!!!

And if you do not live in Cambridge, there are plenty of other organizations to volunteer with to get your hands dirty, including The Food Project! The Food Project's mission is to "grow a thoughtful and productive community of youth and adults from diverse backgrounds who work together to build a sustainable food system." During certain times of the year, individuals can volunteer at their drop ins at their Lincoln and Roxbury locations on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. In May, I had the opportunity to volunteer at The Food Project in Roxbury with a group that I am involved with, Slow Food BU. Read about SFBU's experience at The Food Project here!

I cannot believe that classes are starting again and that it will already be September. But that also means that cranberries, pumpkins, and winter squashes will be in season!

Have a great week!