Spring At Natick Community Organic Farm

NATICK, MA — Spring is the season of new life and growth and nowhere is that more evident than on the Natick Community Organic Farm (NCOF). Every corner of the farm is bursting with growth, from the seedlings and vegetable gardens to the chicks in the barn and the piglets in their pens. Baby season is a busy time on the farm, but as Assistant Director Audrey Fergason says, it's always busy.

The bustling farm is tucked next to Memorial Elementary School on Eliot Street and is open to the public seven days a week from sun up to sundown. It's not unusual to see families and residents taking a stroll through the grounds and peeking in on what life is like for the animals on the land. In fact, the farm sees about 20,000 visitors a year. The location is pretty perfect since NCOF's main focus is as an educational farm. "Education is our biggest crop," reads the NCOF website, and Fergason said it couldn't be more true.

"We work and use the land just as any other working farm would but our education programs are where we make the revenue to sustain the farm," Fergason said. Programs range from preschool play-based learning to teen apprenticeships. "It's all meant to teach kids and their parents, how a farm works and the value of farming and knowing where your food comes from," said Trish Wesley Umbrell, Director of Operations.

Spring is an especially busy time as NCOF gears up for summer activities to start, gets seasonal products ready for sale and tends to the newborn animals crawling from each end of the property.
Some of the newest additions to the farm include a litter of piglets born from a few of NCOF's breeding pigs, at least three baby goats, two litters of newborn bunnies and 103 chicks. That's a lot of babies to keep up with and they all require different care. For babies like the piglets who still have their mom to take care of them, a bit of the weight is lifted from the staff's shoulders — mama pig will nurse the piglets for several weeks before they head off to their new home to a nearby farmer who bought them.

While walking through the pig pens and animal enclosures — petting the curious little creatures anxiously awaiting a treat — Fergason points out that while many of the animals are available for purchase as pets, they are also sold for meat. She added that it's an important conversation for people to have when thinking about the food they consume. "That's why we want people to see the work we're doing," Fergason said, "You can get your chicken from here, a place where it's lived out in the open and probably had one bad day in it's life," or get it from a mass producer, she said. "All of our livestock is humanely raised — we care about what we do here," Umbrell said, adding that she's watched both children and adults faced with this reality on the farm, "The kids tend to observe the lesson first and pick up on it, their parents follow suit."

Animals sold as pets on the farm include bunnies, chicks and goats. That's right, goats. "They make great pets if you have the time and space," Fergason said, "I joke with people all the time that if they need a lawn mower, just get a goat!"

While things can get hectic, thankfully, Umbrell said, there are plenty of hands in the spring to help. "Around this time we have a lot of high school students volunteering to fulfill their community service hours for graduation," Umbrell said. Along with high school volunteers are a fleet of volunteers from MathWorks.

"I think working and volunteering on the farm is really empowering for many volunteers — they learn a lot about leading and delegating," Umbrell said.

MathWorks volunteers hurried in and out of the barn carrying trays of seedlings. Springtime is a big season for seedling orders and customers who pay premium can have the seedlings delivered to them. The volunteers counted out trays and organized each order, ready for shipment.

Flowers are another hot commodity on the farm in the spring. The organic flowers are sold in farmer's markets, in bulk and in arrangements for special events.

What's in season at NCOF?

Along with the hustle and bustle of daily chores, the NCOF is getting ready for the Spring Spectacular and 5K race. The spring Spectacular is an annual event on the farm that features live music, crafts a petting area and family friendly activities. The event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 19 and is right after the trail run 5K on the farm.

The NCOF has been in existence since the 1970's and Umbrell said it's not going anywhere. "We recently had a leadership change and I think people were a little worried how the farm would take it," Umbrell said. Executive Director Lynda Simkins retired last year after 38 years on the farm. Umbrell said Sinkins taught the team at NCOF well and left things in good hands. "We're continuing to thrive and we just want people to know they have a treasure right here in their backyard," Umbrell said.