Happy Holidays from Aurelia's Garden!
The season is definitely shifting from autumn into winter, and the fields have slowed down. Our team in Medway has put that growing space to rest until early spring of 2023. In Wayland, the majority of the field is finished for the season, resting under blankets of cover crop and hay for the winter. But there are some sections of the field that are still producing cold-weather crops like spinach, Asian greens, turnips and kale. We are so pleased to be able to keep sending crates and bags of produce to our partner organizations as the year draws to a close.
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Our 2022 Retrospective
The slowing season brings us a chance to reflect on our 2022 growing season, and what a season it was! Despite a drought and numerous new types of pest pressure, we exceed the goals we set out for ourselves for the year. Between our two sites, we exceeded our goal of donating 10,000 pounds of produce. As of Thanksgiving week, we had donated nearly 12,000 pounds of produce, with more crates of onions, carrots and greens to be delivered to our partner organizations. All of this was done using less plastic, and more environmentally sensitive methods of farming, including reduced irrigation and increased use of plant-based mulches.
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We expanded our outreach efforts by increasing the number of organizations we deliver produce to, adding on two new sites for a total of six organizations we work in collaboration with to feed our communities. We also welcomed two new corporate partners for field work days in Wayland. Several large projects were finished, adding to the infrastructure of the fields in the form of a pavilion for shade and gathering. Our solar panel, donated by Ameresco of Framingham, was installed to make a fully functioning wash station in the field.
Aurelia’s Garden has grown so much since it was first conceived in 2019. As we start to plan for 2023, we hope to continue meeting our goals and following our mission of supplying our communities with the nutritious, fresh produce that everyone deserves.
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Wishlists, Donations and Ways to Support Us
Aurelia’s Garden now has a wishlist! Farming requires a lot of tools and equipment, some obvious and some not so much. Our new online wishlist at “My Registry”, has a variety of useful things that we would love to have, ranging from storage equipment for our tools to weights for holding down row cover cloth. All of the items on the list will support our efforts to become a more sustainable organization as well, moving away from single use materials and focusing on well-made durable supplies.
Have something in your garage that you see on the wishlist or think we might need? We welcome donations of used equipment as well! In line with our sustainability mission, we are always looking for used garden tools, old but functional power tools, and old weights no longer in use. Have something that you think we might like but unsure? Email us at aureliaspantrygarden@gmail.com and let us know! We’d love to hear from you!
Looking for an easy way to support Aurelia’s Garden while you shop? If you shop on Amazon, please remember that you can use Amazon Smile and designate Aurelia’s Garden as your charity of choice. What is Amazon Smile? This service is exactly the same as Amazon, except the company gives a small portion of your purchase to your designated charity. All of your Amazon Account information is automatically available in Smile, including your Amazon Prime account if you are a part of that program. If you are a regular PayPal user, set Aurelia’s Garden as your favorite charity to have the option to donate every time you checkout with PayPal.
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We deeply value your support. Contributions can be made securely online
or by sending a check to:
Aurelia’s Garden Inc.
40 Beaver Pond Road
Lincoln, MA 01773
Donations to Aurelia’s Garden are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
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