Notes from the Field
Spring is starting to creep in for Aurelia’s Garden. Both fields have begun the early spring work of preparing beds and battling the winter weeds. Bright spots of green are appearing in the form of spring greens and peas. Homes are filling with baby plants for the season ahead, and we are looking forward to another productive year.
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Peas and chard getting settled in our Wayland field.
Photo courtesy of C. Wager
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In Wayland, the team is working to broadfork and weed rows for planting peas, beets, Swiss Chard, spinach, and radishes. Rows are being marked out and final plans are being made. By the end of the April, we have planted several rows of peas flanked by swiss chard, and a plethora of lettuce varieties mingling with fennel and bok choy. A big push was made to get over 2500 onion seedlings in the ground for fall harvest. The team is also working to acquire at least 200 bales of stale hay to use as mulch for the season. We will be announcing our SUG sign ups for Wayland very soon!
In Wayland we are pleased to announce we received a grant for $2500 from the Sudbury Foundation, alongside Drumlin Farm and Gaining Ground Inc. “The Sudbury Foundation is proud to fund and partner with these impressive organizations. This first round of grants for 2023 provides broad support for nonprofits based in Sudbury, the Town of Sudbury, as well as targeted support for local hunger relief organizations,” said Sudbury Foundation Executive Director, Sonia Shah.The Sudbury Foundation is a private foundation working to transform lives and strengthen communities through grantmaking and scholarship programs... to organizations in communities surrounding Sudbury focused on Children, Youth and Families, and to organizations throughout the state of MA engaged in Farm and Local Food initiatives.
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The Medway plot ready for the season, with garlic, lettuce and more tender crops under cover. Photo courtesy T. Ashok
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In Medway, we are also pleased to announce the team has won a $500 grant from the Massachusetts Master Gardener Association to construct a rabbit fence around the plot. The construction for the new fence will begin in the next few weeks, just in time to protect spring plants.
In the field, the team has also prepared the beds for the coming season of growing. They have completed their plantings of spring garlic, and have planted seeds for radishes, beets and peas. If you would like to help build the fence or plant more seeds, you can sign up at the Medway Field SUG for sessions on Fridays. We would love to see you!
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Trays of beautiful plants getting tucked into the field for the season ahead.
Image courtesy of H. Traggis.
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Volunteer Spotlight: Judy Levine
The term “renaissance [wo]man” is officially defined by Merriam-Webster as, “a person who has wide interests and is expert in several areas.” Judy Levine comes to mind as a perfect example!
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Photo courtesy of C. Wager
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Judy has lived in Newton for 32 years, working first as a teacher in Boston and then later, armed with her MBA in non-profit management, she worked for the Arthritis Foundation for 15 years. She’s a mother to one, grandmother to four, accomplished vocalist with the Boston Cecelia, notable home chef, frequent world traveler and of course, devotee of gardening.
Judy first discovered her love of gardening as a young child “at the knees of [her] dad”, recalling how much he loved it. Over the years, she gardened at home and at various community plots, and several years ago met someone who described themselves as a master gardener. That “mastery” appealed to Judy, and she applied to the MMGA and completed her master gardener certification in 2016. She began as a regular volunteer at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, where Hannah Traggis worked at the time and created a beautiful kitchen garden providing vegetables to local food pantries.
While Judy wasn’t involved in the initial founding of Aurelia’s Garden, she’s been a regular gardening volunteer since the beginning in 2020. When her husband died in June of 2021, Judy was incredibly touched by her master gardener and Aurelia’s Garden friends, who came and held what she called a “gardening shiva” at her house. “They brought food…really good food…and tools!” The group spent days at her house, getting the yard and garden into shape at a very difficult time for Judy. Feeling so loved and supported, Judy was inspired to become more involved and joined the board of directors in 2021. She brings with her a great deal of expertise in grant writing and grant management, critical skills to a small non-profit.
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Judy and fellow volunteers Carolyn (back left) and Susan (right) working on seed starting with president Hannah (front left). Photo courtesy of C. Wager
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While many aspects of gardening appeal to her (“I actually like weeding!”), Judy really loves the life cycle process, especially now that she starts many plants from seed. She loves fruits and vegetables, and loves to cook, so enjoys the fact that she can use things she grows herself in her cooking. Lastly, Judy appreciates the sense of calm, quiet, reflection she enjoys while gardening. Aurelia’s Garden appeals to her because of the community, the opportunity to learn, and the fact that she can use her time to help others. What keeps her coming back? “I know if I go there, I am going to feel better afterwards.” While she aspires to become “a better gardener”, she knows that every day she spends at the garden, she learns at least one new thing about botany, horticulture, or just “how to do things better.”
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Sustainability on the Farm - Silage Tarps
Silage tarps are very important for our work at Aurelia’s Garden. Reusable tarps are popular on small farms, and have become an important way to manage weeds, crop residue, soil moisture, and nutrients. In our fields, we use heavy-duty plastic tarps that are white on one side and black on the other for occultation and weed suppression. Occultation is the practice of preventing any light from reaching the soil, preventing any weed photosynthesis. Extended periods of occlusion eventually kills any weeds under the tarp, but the duration of time needed for full removal depends on the temperature, plant species, maturity of the plant, and whether the plant has rhizomes or tubers that have stored energy. For more information and details about silage tarps, the Cornell Small Farms Programs has a wonderful document about these tools.
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Our silage tarp in action, weighted down by burlap bags filled with stone.
Photo courtesy of T. Smith
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We primarily use the tarps for the suppression and hopeful eradication of field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis L.) in our field. According to the Native Plant Trust, field bindweed is an aggressive and persistent invasive species of morning glory, primarily found in human-disturbed sites including agricultural fields. Some reports say that field production is reduced by 50% if field bindweed is not controlled. Established plants produce thousands of seeds each season, and seeds have been recorded to remain viable for 50 years. Hand weeding is not a tenable solution as the plant can regrow from root fragments as small as 1 inch.
All of these factors make it very important for us to control this weed before it becomes an unwieldy problem. Silage tarps are our first line of defense against this pesky weed. In our effort to move away from excessive plastic, we are using these tarps for many years and devoting our efforts to holding them in place as sustainably as possible. We use a combination of biodegradable burlap sandbags, large rocks and old weight plates to hold down the tarps. The burlap sandbags are closed with wire ties, moving us away from plastic bags closed with plastic zip ties. If you have any extra weight plates you would like to donate to Aurelia’s Garden to help keep this weed at bay, please let us know! We would be delighted to accept donations of heavy objects to keep our tarps in place and keep the field bindweed at bay.
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A hardworking crew of volunteers on a sunny April day in Wayland.
Photo courtesy of C. Wager
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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!
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A fabulous donation of tools! All of these items will be put to good use!
Photo courtesy of H. Traggis
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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.
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