Notes from the Field - February Newsletter

A beautiful summer day in 2022 at Patterson's Field. We look forward to longer days! Image Courtesy of C. Wager.

Our Impacts in 2022

As we finalize our 2022 Annual Report, which we will present to you next month, and look towards our fourth year of operation, we would like to take a moment to share some of the impacts we were able to make in 2022. All of these are made possible by the great folks who have contributed to and supported our work for the past three years!

11,188lbs of produce donated: our produce filled over 1100 bags of food that were distributed to our food-insecure neighbors
Food pantry partnerships increased: We forged relationships with two new food pantries this year. With four total food pantry outlets, our produce reached more communities and people in need
Environmental health: We continue to focus our farming practices such that they improve the environment around us rather than extract from it.
- We are particularly proud of our Soil Health initiative which has improved the water and nutrient-holding capacity of our soil. This allowed us to raise exceptionally healthy crops last year with a drastic reduction of irrigation. In total, we ran our irrigation system only 7 times during the entire growing season without compromising the health and productivity of our crops!
- We are also so pleased to see the results of our invasive plant eradication efforts along our field’s edges! We will be planting native perennial plants and shrubs this spring that will provide habitat for local wildlife, including our pollinators!
Infrastructure: 2022 saw the completion of our beautiful new Storage Shed and Field Pavilion allowing us to organize and safely store our equipment and providing a highly functional base of operations within the field. The Field Pavilion, in particular, was a highly rewarding project. Our farm is entirely “off-grid” with no outside power or water source. For the pavilion, we were able to design a solar-powered water treatment system to provide potable water for our brand new Wash-Pack station! The success of this project was made possible by several great minds and bodies working together and we are beyond excited to be able to now provide washed produce to our food pantry partners!
Outreach: This year we were thrilled to begin mentoring organizations interested in creating a volunteer-based food pantry farm/garden similar to Aurelia’s Garden. We met with some amazing groups from the East Quabbin Land Trust; Damien’s Kitchen and food pantry in Wareham, MA; and the Peace Lutheran Church in Wayland. In the future, we will further develop our mentoring capability, broaden the scope of outreach, and begin producing supportive literature and media for our website!
Volunteerism: Volunteerism is the core concept of our organization. Every single one of us is a volunteer, without exception!
- This year we welcomed 52 volunteers to both our Medway Community Farm and Patterson’s Field sites for a total of 2435 hours spent farming!
- We were also beyond thrilled this year to begin partnering with local corporations and to offer them opportunities for ‘Days of Service’. We look forward to welcoming even more local corporations this year!
  - In April of 2022, we welcomed 24 volunteers from IPM Corporation through their Project Mercy Program. Led by Wayland resident John Gracia, the IPM team helped us get off to an incredible start to the growing season as well as donating nearly $3000!
  - In August, we welcomed 9 volunteers from Ameresco! Helping with late summer field work, we were able to get a nice jump on fall farm projects. Ameresco donated the solar panel and charging system for our potable water treatment system as well as the engineering expertise to properly install it!

Brief outlook for 2023:

Build stronger partnerships
- Volunteers: We hope to welcome even more volunteers to our field this summer. We are always looking to add a few folks to our core team of volunteers; the most dedicated folks who show up every week in all types of weather and have ensured our success! We also are excited to build stronger partnerships with local corporations and offer more opportunities for them to give back to their communities through local volunteerism!
- Food Pantries: This year will see the addition of one more food pantry partner in Chelsea, MA. La Colaborativa is an incredible community support organization and we are so pleased to be able to grow special, culturally relevant crops for their clients!
- Environment: Our dedication to farming in the most ecologically sound way possible remains strong! With an incredible equipment grant from the Barbara Haas Blydenburg Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation, we are purchasing equipment that will help us achieve our goal to reduce and eliminate soil tillage. These funds are also purchasing much-needed insect exclusion netting; a very expensive form of row cover that will enable us to manage insect pests on our crops in the most environmentally sound manner possible!

Snow and ice on the pathway to the Wayland Aurelia's Garden. Image courtesy of C. Wager.

Notes from the Field - February

Both of our fields remain quiet this month. The days are growing noticeably longer, but the temperature is cold and the ground remains too cold for growing. Medway continues to sleep, but there are still bits of activity on warm days in Wayland. Volunteers continue to wrestle with oriental bittersweet vines and share good company.

Notably, we have begun spreading the seeds of native perennials around the edges of the fields and have plans to plant dozens of native shrubs to fill in the spaces left by our removal activities. Seeds such as [goldenrod and asters] and shrubs such as [elderberries, button bushes and gray dogwood] will support our efforts to create a sustainable agricultural system for Aurelia’s Garden. The National Audubon Society provides a list of reasons why native plants are needed for restoring and preserving native biodiversity. Native plants provide food, shelter, and breeding space for native animals of all sizes. These plant species are adapted to our climate and require little maintenance once established, which reduces the workload for our volunteer organization. And, very importantly, they provide a great deal of beauty in our field. Our groups often admire the flowers and butterflies on our walks into the field, and the sounds of birds are our musical accompaniment. Our winter work is very important for supporting the plants and animals that provide us with much joy during the growing season.

A sweat bee on a native goldenrod on the edge of the Patterson Field. Image courtesy H. Traggis.

Volunteers of the Season!

Growing up on a ¼ acre lot in the suburbs of Long Island, Loring Schwarz’s auspicious introduction to gardening was planting and tending roses with her dad, sprinkling HollyTone on the rhodies, and mowing the lawn. Vegetables were present and plentiful, every dinnertime, in her Italian household. Studying botany and ecology at Tufts, Loring was always a ‘plant nut’, managing the greenhouse at Tufts, classifying orchids and medicinal plants, and always having plants in her room “like everyone did in the 70’s.” She didn’t grow food until she and Andy had kids; living in Virginia, she tended a small garden “to show my kids where food came from”. She scored her dream job with the Nature Conservancy and spent most of her career promoting biodiversity protection.

Today, Aurelia’s Garden wouldn’t be the same without married volunteer duo Loring and Andy Schwarz. Serving currently as a Director, Loring was instrumental in securing the Wayland site at Patterson’s Field and has been a regular helper in the field since then. She also helped facilitate our connection to the Sudbury Community Food Pantry in 2022; we started donating to them mid-season and are going to continue to work with them in the future. She's also been very important in connecting us to local fundraising opportunities and local libraries and nonprofits. Finally, Loring helps to organize our volunteer appreciation events so we can all come together outside of the field to have fun!

Husband Andy has shown his support and dedication when we have heavy lifting, building, or painting to do. Thanks to Andy, our construction projects have run smoothly and our structures please the eye. According to his wife, Andy “isn’t really a gardener, he’s just a guy that likes to help people… and keep people laughing”.

The lovely Loring and Andy. Courtesy L. Schwarz.

While the couple “got [their] start on the first Earth Day in 1970” they have each worked regionally, nationally and internationally in environmental policy and biodiversity protection but are really enjoying working more now on a local level, where they have a personal connection and can see their impact. When describing what she likes most about Aurelia’s Garden, Loring shared: “The people are smart, fun and dedicated; the purpose is admirable from a food security and land conservation perspective. I love the goal of doing something for other people in times that are really tough. I love the notion that in a difficult time, this beautiful restored field feeds nature with its bounty and nature supports it as well: it’s the real deal - an unusual example of private conservation being used for both people and nature. At the lowest point ever [during the height of Covid in 2020], it provided a seed of hope that pulled us together to do something good. Its success is so inspiring, and it’s replicable!”

Have you thanked a green plant today? – Loring’s favorite 1970s bumper sticker

Sustainability in Action

The darkest part of winter is behind us, and every day there is a little more sunshine. Our field planning and seed-starting activities are beginning to gear up. We make plans with our food pantry partners at the forefront of our minds. We intentionally plan our spaces to grow produce that is exciting and interesting to our communities and to avoid food waste at every step of the farm-to-client stream. Feeding America reports that 119 billion pounds of food are wasted every year, with 60% of that waste occurring before the food makes it into homes. Sustainably providing fresh, diverse, and local produce to our partners in Medway, Sudbury, Chelsea and Wayland with minimal waste requires a commitment to growing the food most desired by these communities.

Spring onions from the Medway site. Image courtesy T. Ashok.

Trista Ashok, one of the lead volunteers at our Medway site, had the opportunity to speak with Paul Galante, director of the Medway Food Pantry at Mahan Circle which is one of the five food pantries served by Aurelia’s Garden. Their conversation provided valuable information to Trista for planning the 2023 season for our Medway site. The Medway Food Pantry has 356 clients, serving about 75-100 people weekly. The clientele includes many seniors and several local low-income housing communities. From May through Thanksgiving, they offer fresh vegetables donated by local farms and gardens. Their clients especially love the tomatoes, greens, and garlic provided by Aurelia’s Garden, as well as eggplant, sweet peppers, and cucumbers. They have been less enthusiastic about the spicy peppers and vegetables they are not familiar with. Paul ended the interview by saying “We are open Tuesdays and Thursdays… any Massachusetts resident in need is welcome.”

Beautiful mixed greens from the Medway site. Image courtesy T. Ashok.

Each food bank we work with is committed to providing for their unique communities to the highest degree. The relationship the pantry has with their clientele informs our planning to ensure we grow the produce that is most enjoyed by each community. We are grateful for this valuable feedback provided by our partners so that we can focus on growing the preferred vegetables for these clients in the coming season. The US EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy chart shows that reducing the amount of surplus food generated is the first step towards reducing food waste. By focusing our growing efforts on food we know will be utilized and appreciated by our clients, we work towards our sustainability goals by reducing wasted food right in the field.

Support Aurelia’s Garden!

Donate to our Annual Appeal! We are still looking for support to help us reach our $15,000 Appeal Goal!
Paypal Favorite Charity: 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.
Our Gift Registry: Aurelia’s Garden now has an online registry wishlist! Farming requires a lot of tools and equipment, some obvious and some less so. The 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.
Donation of Spare Equipment: 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!

We are looking forward to warm weather to plant more native.shrubs along the forest edge. This photo is from the summer of 2020. Image courtesy of H. Traggis.

We deeply value your support. Contributions can be made securely online
or by sending a check to:

     Aurelia’s Garden, c/o K. Martin
     40 Beaver Pond Road
     Lincoln, MA 01773

Donations to Aurelia’s Garden are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.