News

Full of Possibility

May 2, 2016
Spring at Gaining Ground reminds me of the beginning of Richard Wilbur’s poem “Seed Leaves:” Here something stubborn comes Dislodging the earth crumbs And making crusty rubble It comes up bending double And looks like a green staple. It could be seedling maple, Or artichoke, or bean That remains to be seen. Spring at the […]

Farmers’ Footprints

April 27, 2016
I wander around the farm as dusk settles in on this silent spring night, and I pause knowing this is the calm before the storm. This spring marks the beginning of my fourth season of growing at Gaining Ground. Which means I have walked all around and over this piece of land. Back and forth […]

Our 2016 Seasoned Farm Crew and Office Staff

April 22, 2016
We are a five-person farm crew again this season, with Doug and Kayleigh co-managing the farm, Coleman Wadsworth and Alexis Mantis as our two seasonal apprentices, and Paula Jordan as Head Start mobile market manager. Coleman grew up nearby in Newton, Massachusetts. College led him to the University of Vermont, where he studied zoology and […]

Quickly Sign Up to Volunteer

April 20, 2016
For farms, winter means more time to plan, and this year’s focus has been to streamline our volunteer sign-up process. We want our volunteers to spend less time in their planning and more enjoyable time in the planting and harvesting. Our website now offers real-time calendars so volunteers see what dates and times are likely […]

Many Thanks!

April 14, 2016
The Board and Staff would like to express our sincere gratitude to all those supporters who have given generously and shared their time and talents with Gaining Ground through the winter and early spring in 2016. Special thanks go to: Jeff Clements, Bouke Noordzij, and David Outerbridge for loading, unloading, and stacking all that wood […]

Spring 2016 Wish List

April 11, 2016
Please contact us if you would like to help with these or other donations! Vermont garden cart Supply of wax boxes and banana boxes DeWalt cordless drill Stihl chainsaw Stanley FatMax tape measure Klein 4-piece screwdriver set Tarps Felco hand pruners Small baskets

Tales for All Seasons

October 15, 2015
Everyone has a food story. It just seems to take a little talking to learn it. Working with Gaining Ground volunteers over the years, I have heard many stories that I collected like slips of paper. It was just this year that I realized how these food stories come from all types of people. There […]

Barn Raising and You

October 10, 2015
In the spring, we asked our community to help us raise funds to build a barn. New and long-time donors, foundations, and our Board have responded, and a barn is coming. A dedicated group of our Staff, Board, and consultants, led by Board member Jeff Young, has been working on design and siting all summer. […]

Harvest Fest 2015

October 1, 2015
Due to the pending construction of the barn, we celebrated our 22nd growing season a week earlier this year on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in mid-September. With tomatoes still in the hoop house and a large field of fall crops near the pavilion, musicians Ryan Thomson and his son Brennish entertained a welcome group of […]

Scout Projects Benefit Our Volunteers and Recipients

September 20, 2015
With so many volunteers, Gaining Ground has needed an additional picnic table and benches. This spring, high school student Santiago Benoit of Concord’s Troop 132 took on the challenge as his Eagle Scout project. In August, he and a team of Scouts spent the day putting together the many components just in time for September’s […]

A Farm Raised by a Village

September 15, 2015
Hi! My name is Ryan Devlin, and I was one of the apprentices at Gaining Ground for the 2015 growing season. I am from Framingham and have been working on small organic farms for the past seven years. Despite my previous experience, Gaining Ground was the first full-sized farm where I worked for the entire […]

Rosie’s Place: Our Newest Recipient

September 1, 2015
Another record-breaking harvest gave our farmers a problem that was a pleasure to solve: we had to find another group to receive the bounty from our fields. Rosie’s Place in Boston proved to be ideal. It meets our criteria for distribution—it is located within 20 miles of our farm, has a “choice” pantry and refrigeration, […]

Working with NetScout to Improve our Greenhouse

August 31, 2015
“I wouldn’t really call them mice. Definitely rats. House-cat-sized. This is one of the many trapdoors where they enter.” Enough! Gaining Ground Farm Managers Kayleigh Boyle and Doug Wolcik vividly brought to life our rodent-ravaged greenhouse in a video to NetScout employees during the final selection stage of their Heart of Giving Community Program. Westford-based […]

A Warm Welcome to our Newest Board Members

August 20, 2015
  Sue Mildrum I was bicycling down Virginia Road one day five years ago when I noticed the Gaining Ground sign. That very weekend, there was an article in the Boston Globe about the farm and I immediately contacted the office to volunteer. I fell in love with the beautiful surroundings, physical labor, and the […]

Thank You to Our 2015 Season Supporters!

August 15, 2015
he Board and Staff would like to express our sincere gratitude to all those supporters who have given generously and shared their time and talents with Gaining Ground throughout the 2015 season. Special thanks go to: Andrew Brockaway, for reviewing our barn design for building approval Applefield Farm and Nashoba Brook Bakery, for donating delicious […]

Winter’s Work

April 20, 2015
Don’t let anyone tell you that farmers have the winter off. Last year, we were installing our new irrigation system until the 21st of December. And for the first time, we were able to harvest greens in our new hoop house and distribute storage crops into December. Some of my favorite days as a farmer […]

Our 2015 Crew & Staff

April 9, 2015
We are delighted to have the seasoned team of Kayleigh Boyle and Doug Wolcik as our 2015 Farm coordinators. Kayleigh returns with six years of experience developing our farm programs, scheduling our volunteers, and planning our land improvements. Doug brings back two years with Gaining Ground; seven years farming in Massachusetts, California, and South America; […]

Visionaries in Hunger Relief

April 7, 2015
At the end of March at The Fenn School, Gaining Ground hosted a multi-generational panel focused on the issue of hunger relief. In a community like ours, hunger might not be obvious, but here are the numbers: 49 million Americans are hungry, and yet 40% of food in the US is thrown away during the growing, distribution, […]

In Giving, We Receive

March 31, 2015 • Lucy Rosborough, Board Member emeritus
As a long-time Board member and enthusiastic supporter of the Food for families program, I spend many Saturday mornings harvesting and distributing produce and flowers to Concord and Carlisle residents. Through the years, I have received so much joy from this community of recipients. Food naturally generates conversations and memories and has opened the door […]

Gaining Ground is Ready for a Barn

March 27, 2015
Even the old Greeks knew, “It will not always be summer; build barns.” (Hesiod) Over the years, volunteers, generous supporters, Board members, and staff have provided time and capital to help us “dig deeper” at the Virginia Road farm. Our goals have been to make our land more productive and to take good care of […]
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