Farmed locally... the old-fashioned way
Bellingham Community Farm offers cornucopia of organic, pesticide-free produce
BELLINGHAM — If you love the taste and health benefits of locally-grown organic vegetables and fruits, but don’t have the space to grow your own, the new Bellingham Community Farm on Center Street is offering Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares for town residents that will feature a bounty of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, potatoes and other pesticide-free produce.
Launched in March, the community garden located at 200 Center St., is a new collaboration between the Town of Bellingham and the Hockomock Area YMCA. Startup costs were provided by the Greater Milford Community Health Network (CHNA 6), which serves 13 neighboring communities, including Bellingham, Blackstone, Millville and Uxbridge.
The farm is also partnering with the Bellingham School District. Seedlings for the garden were grown in the high school greenhouse and students, including students with the Bellingham BELIEVE special education program, volunteered countless hours helping to build the garden, which has now been planted.
The Bellingham farm mirrors the Mansfield
Community Farm and Garden, another Hockomock area YMCA project in partnership with the Town of the Mansfield. The Hockomock Area YMCA has facilities in Franklin, Mansfield, Foxboro and North Attleboro.
Martha Foley, director of marketing and communications for the Hockomock Area YMCA, says the mission of the Bellingham community farm is to educate and involve the community in learning about fresh produce, and to promote healthy and active lifestyles through reconnecting individuals to the food they eat and grow.
“The farm team abstains from using any pesticides or chemical fertilizers and uses organic growing practices,” Foley said. “We’re also offering community members a veggie share CSA program, which is a great opportunity to receive fresh, local produce on a weekly basis from June to October.”
The target date for the first CSA share is the week of June 25. In July after things are running smoothly the farm stand will open for general public sales as well. The farm stand will carry product from both the Bellingham Community Farm as well as products from it’s sister farm in Mansfield.
For over 25 years, Community Supported Agriculture has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer.
Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share through a membership or subscription and in return receive a box, bag or basket of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.
The Town of Bellingham is a key partner for the community farm project by providing the land and infrastructure. That work began last fall in preparing for the this year’s planting season, which kicked off in May.
“The Bellingham Community Farm is yet another successful collaboration between the Hockomock Area YMCA and the town,” said Town Administrator Denis Fraine. “The YMCA has become an enormous part of our community through their work in our schools, managing our Summer Parks program at Silver Lake and now assisting in the development of a community farm for our residents to enjoy. We are all looking forward to a great harvest this summer.”
Fraine said the the town helped clear the land, which entailed removing brush and stumps, and trucking in sandy, clay soil and more than 900 yards of compost to provide a base for the garden.
Local public health organization, CHNA 6, provided grant funding for many of the startup costs.
“CHNA 6 is pleased to have supported the Hockomock Area YMCA’s Bellingham Garden project as part of its commitment to addressing the health needs identified in the Greater Milford Community Health Improvement Plan,” said Rebecca Donham, co-chairwoman of CHNA 6. “Increasing access to healthy foods is one way the CHNA is helping residents to live healthier lives.”
The Farm team is headed by project manager Todd Sandstrum , who is also oversees the farm in Mansfield.
According to Sandstrum, the farm team will strive to produce a typical CSA share of produce each week (approximately 5-8 pounds). Crops planned for distribution throughout the season (June-October) include lettuce, kale, chard, bok choy, arugula, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cabbage, squashes, cucumbers, broccoli, melon, beans, peas, onion, potatoes, radish, beets, turnip, carrots, herbs, and more.
The farm uses Organic Materials Review Institute approved field amendments and does not use genetically engineered seed. All produce is grown without chemically derived herbicides or pesticides.
“This site will be able to produce enough food for 40-plus families,” Sanstrum said. “This site for me is really unique because the tie-ins to the community are massive. There are so many places here where we can fit in anyone to help.”
The entire fenced in area of the garden is just over 22,000 square feet with 89 50-foot long production beds.
“Depending on the crop that 50-foot bed could result in anything from 50 linear feet of crop or 200 linear feet if we can plant more then one row in a bed,” he said.
Sanstrum said more than 350 cloves of garlic were planted in the Fall that will result in about 350 garlic scapes (flower bud) followed by 350 heads of garlic later in the season.
“Garlic is a two-crop production crop and part of that harvest will then be used for seed garlic for next year’s crop,” he said.
Due to the unpredictability of the growing season, varieties and quantities of vegetables may vary. The cost to enroll is $525 for YMCA members and $550 for non-members.
CSA pick up will take place at the farm from 3 to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays for participants to choose what works best for them. Or, they can choose to pick up your share right at the Franklin Y on Wednesdays. Shares are harvested and prepped for pickup before members arrive.
To sign up visit www.hockymca.org/ veggie-share-summer-2018 or email communitygarden@hockymca.org.
Anyone interested in volunteering at the garden and want to meet the farm staff are asked to meet at the garden this Sunday between 1 and 3 p.m. and on Thursday, June 21 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.