HISTORY — Boston Area Farm Gleaning Project - page 2

Dick's Market Garden

We did better in 2006, digging 16 boxes of carrots and 8 turnips in Parker Farm fields in Lunenberg, harvesting 34 boxes of kale, 35 cabbages (boxes), 16 brussel sprouts at Dick’s Market Garden (farmer Steve Violette) also in Lunenberg. Farmer Steve Verrill in Concord planted too many collards — we harvested 74 boxes, into December! Very much welcomed in the African-American neighborhoods of Cambridge. Totals added up to 232 boxes, approximately 6,000 pounds.

In 2007 we gleaned about the same amount, 233 boxes. Brighams and Hutchins Organic in Concord were new farms we gleaned from, Brighams letting us harvest the remaining lettuce in their fields after their farm stand closed (12 boxes), also Hutchins after theirs closed — 29 boxes of greens including Chinese cabbage. Parker Farm let us pick their corn — 15 bags, 5 dozen each bag. Then Nicewicz Orchard in Bolton invited us out to pick apple drops, mostly Macs. The drops were not being used so much for apple cider production, perfectly good apples lying on the grass under the trees. We collected 45 boxes of apples, 10 boxes of peaches. Then the Nicewicz brothers donated 14 boxes of Macoun and Fugi apples. Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell invited us out to pick their Spencer drops, and later from their extra apples in the storage rooms.

Nicewicz Orchard / Grateful Farm

In 2008 we essentially tripled 2007 totals, Hayden Crilley, an amateur farmer with business experience partnering with founder Plimpton. Hayden also initiated produce store salvage, collecting 4,500 pounds of good quality potato 2nds from Wilsons Farm and 1,600 loaves of artisan breads, and he started collecting bananas and other food salvage from Arlington Trader Joe’s.

The farm gleaning season started out with Steve Violette of Dick’s Market Garden offering us a share of his abundant strawberries. Our crews picked 200 quarts, most of which we delivered to Rosie’s Place shelter for women and the Pine Street Inn in Boston. Steve also offered us a field of red and green peppers for the gleaning — 41 boxes we harvested along with 14 boxes of tomatoes, 20 eggplant. Fran Busa of Battle Road Farm leased from Minuteman Park offered us green beans and carrots to glean — 30 boxes of carrots and 10 bushels of beans. A new partnership with the Gore Place was started, Scott Clarke, grounds keeper, planting a field of winter squash (Waltham butternut) for B.A.G.; we collected 40 bushels of squash, 5 of pumpkins. Then B.A.G. crews assisted Pam Thornton, Andover farmer and organizer, glean 30,000 heads of lettuce (not all!) offered by farmer Rich Bonanno of Pleasant Valley Farm in Methuen for the gleaning—for Merrimac River valley food pantries (ie: Bread and Roses in Lowell, the Brown Bag Senior Nutrition Program); B.A.G. brought back to the Boston area food pantries and shelters three van-fulls of lettuce. Then in December Tim Garboski of Grateful Farm in Franklin offered B.A.G. two greenhouses and a refrigerator full of produce — winter squash (spaghetti, butternut, delicata, Hubbard and butternut) in one, planted heads of lettuce in another, broccoli in the cooler. In 4 trips out there, aided by Franklin volunteers, we collected 42 boxes of squash, 40 boxes of lettuce and 10 boxes of broccoli! The squash was a little small, and a lot of spaghetti squash (hard to market).

We had some trouble with the spaghetti too, but at Germaine Lawrence School for troubled girls in Arlington, the cook had taught his girls to like spaghetti squash and they took a number of boxes!