Planning for the future

With Ward the farm steward gone at a Farmer's conference for the rest of the week, the residents began planning for the future. With the summer being so hot, one cannot help but wonder will this winter be just as cold? Therefore, the guys began stockpiling wood as well as building a shelter for the wood in the coming months when snow begins to fall. In the picture on the right you can see Joe M and Dan building the shelter, while on the right Joe S. and Brian D. are moving the wood closer to the shelter. Not pictured is Jim, who was an instrumental part of this process. Work doesn't stop on the farm when Ward's not around. Make sure you stop by the Hopkinton Farmer's Market tomorrow! We'll be there from 12-6pm with all you're favorites!

Lots of hay!

With over 400 bails of hay already tucked into the upstairs of barn, one would think that the haying must be done. But that is not the case. A few more fields to go Ward said after Monday saw the guys bringing in over 70 bails. In these pictures you can see on the left, Ward driving the tractor and bailing the hay. The hay goes into the machine and comes back in a neat twined regtangular prism weighing about twenty pounds. The guys on the right, Dan, Brian D, and Brian B, then load the bails onto the truck and they are brought down the hill to the barn. It's quite a process, and these three guys worked hard to get it all done in under an hour.

Residents learn a little history!

Last Thursday Night the residents of Dismas Family Farm, took a wagon ride through the canal district of Worcester. Part of the "Free the Blackstone Canal" movement, South High alumni and current students put on a wagon ride about the history of the canal. Throughout the wagon ride the students impersonate different people, giving their side of the story. The movement is part of a project calling for the canal to be "freed" from underneath Harding street, beginning a revitalization for the section of Worcester from Union Station to Kelley Square. While the guys were a little hesitant at first about the wagon ride, they enjoyed it and were even referencing the impersonated people in the fields the next morning.

Thank you Jericho Road!

Jericho Road has been a great addition to the Worcester community. At Dismas, when we launched our new Dismas Family Farm project, we set an agenda which included a goal of generating revenue from farm product sales, as a new way of powering the program financially. We assembled a great team including local churches, staff, and volunteers to push this project forward. Everyone we talked to seemed to have an idea they wanted to share on how to generate a profit, from starting a petting zoo and dog kennel, to housing horses and starting a Community supported agriculture model of farm. Luckily, Jericho Road helped provide some excellent advice by the way of short term committed volunteers who brought some diverse expertise to the table, and merged our efforts and ideas with practicable advice earned in the private sector. One volunteer helped create a blueprint for farm revenue that included experimenting with some crafts such as candles, wood products, soaps, and cheese. She worked with the farm manager on a herd-management idea to focus energy on reducing type of sheep for lamb production and wool. Another volunteer brought regular marketing expertise to the table at our regular meetings, helping to close the loop on what was practicable for this project. And finally, a craftsman helped Dismas staff experiment with several on-going ideas on what products could make the woodshop run by ex-offenders a success, including expanded birdhouse options, decorative tomato stakes, wood window planters, and toys for the holiday season. We have appreciated the committement of these volunteers in the sense that they helped to craft a direction for the profitability of the farm for Dismas.

Popcorn with a View!

Ever wonder where popcorn comes from? Well when you buy it from the Dismas Family Farm, it comes from atop our hill. The pictures you see are of our popcorn. Of course right now it would not be ready for you to throw on your stove in a pan with some oil, but it will be in a few short months. Soon, we will harvest the corn, then for several months we will dry it out so that come spring time, our newest batch of popcorn will be ready. I don't think the popcorn wants to be harvested though, right now its enjoying this amazing view atop the hill(See first picture). We also want to thank the Young Neighbors in Action group again, (Derek, Zach, Maria, Joey, Brighton, and Mike), for installing the wonderful fence that we are sure will keep the animals at bay and out of our popcorn. If you simply cannot wait for our popcorn, we do have one bag on sale, so stop on by the farm and we'll take you up the hill to check out the "popcorn view."

As you know it was a beautiful weekend and that meant that people flocked to the farmer's market. This week the market welcomed back many of its regular vendors who may have been turned off by the rain, the week before. Dismas Family Farm was there of course with a plethora of vegetables to sell. And sell we did. We even featured a drive by egg delivery, for those of our customers who simply could not leave their car. We'll be back in Hopkinton next Friday, hope to see you there!

Young Neighbors in Action bring the energy!

Dismas Farm residents work hard, but its been a little bit easier to work this week because of the help of the Young Neighbors in Action. While their work ethic is appreciated and welcomed, their enthusiasm and energy has been the greatest gift they could give to the farm. Everyday they come in ready to work! They are excited, and their smiles and songs bring a new life to the farm. Throughout the week they've been giving the barn a much needed facelift with a paint job. Yesterday, they were up in the fields lifting large bails of hay onto the truck. And today, they've been in the kitchen with Joe making candles for our upcoming farmer's markets this weekend. We could not have asked for a better bunch of young people to help work on the farm this week! Thank you!

Dismas welcomes Young Neighbors in Action!

Dismas Family Farm welcomed a new group of farmers this morning. A group from St. Mary's Church in Huntley, Illinois will be working at the farm from 9am-3pm this week as a part of the Young Neighbors in Action program. This morning they were out in the garden weeding the pole beans. You almost couldn't see them hidden among the weeds! This afternoon found them scraping and priming the barn. You can be assured we'll keep them busy this week and we appreciate their help. Check back for more projects the Young Neighbors are working on.

Delicious Dinners and a Bountiful Harvest

The residents of Dismas have been blessed this past week with a wonderful harvest and a wonderful week of dinners. Each night has featured amazing individuals sacrificing their time and money to provide delicious meals and desserts for the residents and staff. The particular group featured in this post is from St. Bernadette. They provided a delicous chicken and mashed potato dinner and quite possibly the best Strawberry Shortcake dessert, this blogger has ever taseted. We offer them many thanks and our appreciation.

On Friday, John and I attended the Hopkinton Farmer's market. The day began promising with a little bit of sun and mild temperatures. As you can see from our picture we had a lot to sell. We brought grape tomatoes, vine tomatoes, cucumbers, golden zucchini, sicilian eggplant, onions, bell peppers, beats, and lettuce. The beats sold like hot cakes and most everything else sold well. The late afternoon was a wash, but sales continued slowly. It was a wet but successful day in our eyes. We look forward to next week and continued success!

Who are we? The Dismas Family Farm

If you've been driving up Lincoln Road in the past six months, you might have been wondering who are the new owners of the Lincoln Farm, also formerly known as Ed's Place. You will not be wondering any longer as a new sign has been placed above the large hay barn that reads the "Dismas Family Farm." The sign is made of wood with each letter individually made and sanded down. It was then screwed onto a board which was put into place above the barn. All in all it was a group effort to make this beautiful looking sign. If you're around in the area, please stop by and we'll give you a tour and welcome you to the old farm with a new name.

Cleaning up the yard!

It's the prime time for vegetables! Last week at our farmer's market we sold over 20 sicilian eggplants! That being said, with all that harvesting and work in the garden, we can't forget to keep the yard around the house look nice. In the picture to your left Rob is weeding a small garden in the back of the house.

In this picture, Kevin is seen meticuously weeding a flower garden off to the side of the house. Kevin's attention to detail and patience makes him one of the best weeders on the farm.

Working on the sign.

yeah we had a great day here on the farm. we did a lot of weeding today as well as setting up for new sign for the barn, thats what I was doing in the picture. sanding. one thing I love about this place is the sense of accomplishment. we all take a step back and look and its just a beautiful sight to see what we are a part of.

-brian b.

Dismas Family Farm store opens and chickens keep laying!

Eggs have been a hit for the Dismas Family Farm. We are often sold out of them before the chickens even lay them and when we have enough to bring to farmer's markets, they sell out there too! The young rhode island reds have mostly been laying pullet eggs (which is regular egg just a little smaller, they are the eggs that come out of the chickens when they first start laying), but in this picture John is washing some of the first regular size eggs of the rhode island reds. It is a good sign that there are many more eggs to come! There's nothing like a farm fresh egg in the morning.

The newest thing in the farm house is the opening of the Dismas Family Farm Store! The farm store, which was set up by co-executive director Dave, sells all of our products to anyone who happens to stop by the house. We have birdhouses, bathouses, french vanilla and lavender candles, popcorn, vanilla-pomegranate and lavender soap and jam. Our newest products soap and jam are very popular at our farmer's markets right now. If you're in the area, or maybe just feel like taking a drive, come on down to the farm to check it out. We'll even throw in a free tour of the barn and garden, you can't beat that deal!

Dismas is bailed out and cooks keep coming!

It's interesting how one word can mean so many things. The residents of Dismas Family Farm have heard the word bail before, but it wasn't used to describe a square block of hay. This morning the residents of the farm, collected over 200 bails of hay! With Ward as the trusty tractor driver, the residents flung bails of hay onto the trailer while Kevin and Joe M. stacked them high. The bails were then unloaded onto the second level of the barn (see picture). It was one heck of a morning, but after it was all done, the residents felt accomplished and surprised that it had been done so quickly. In the afternoon, several residents pounded the pavement in search of jobs, while others collected blueberry bushes that were generously donated to the farm. Many are anxiously awaiting the weekend.

We want to continue to thank our cooks. Tuesday night we were served a delicous meal of chicken, creamed corn, pasta salad, and ice cream for dessert. Thank you to the folks from the Brookfield Unitarian Univeralists. We would also like to thank Gale, Dick, Martha and Dave who cooked a wonderful meal of tacos and oriental coleslaw. The residents keep talking about how good it was!

Dismas turns summer heat into Spring Cleaning!

If you live anywhere in the New England you know that the past two days have been HOT! With no air conditioning and the scorching temperatures, the residents have been searching for any way to cool off. A local swimming hole, Brooks Pond, in North Brookfield, has provided some much needed relief. Instead of farm work the residents and interns have set to work cleaning and reorganizing the kitchen. The pantry has new labels, pots and pans have new homes. In the picture above you can see Brian B. and Intern Robin moving out a box of surplus food into the barn. That was one heavey box!

Each night we'll be featuring our cooks on our blog! We cannot thank them enough for all the hard work they do in preparing food for us each night. Last night we were blessed to have the cooking of Kathy, a local Oakham resident. She brought with her, her son Taylor and his friend George. It was a delicious meal of pulled pork, baked beans, and coleslaw. We look forward to their next visit!

What is that?

What is that you may ask? It's only Dismas Family Farm's newest creation. Vanilla scented soap. It is an all-natural soap that is made right here at the farm. It comes in three sizes and will be available at our Farmer's markets Friday and Saturday.

But that's not all. At Dismas House (in Worcester) today, another new product was being made. Intern Katie and Bill were creating jam! This will also be sold at our Farmer's markets. So you bring the toast, and we'll bring the spread! Everybody wins!

Heated Literally

Well as you can see mowing in the heat isnt that fun, but a duty i like to perform here at the farm.

Now if you noticed the ear piece to the ipod im listening to its why i love doing the lawn. I be in my own world and still get the job done.

all in all today was a great day to be here and am still lovin it!!!!

brian b.

Peas Sell Quick!

It was a beautiful day at the Hopkington Farmer's Market. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and to the delight of many, the lobster man returned! But the real story of the afternoon was Dismas Family Farm's Peas! By 2pm, the sugar snaps were gone, and by 4pm the shell peas were sold out as well. As the afternoon wore on, most of the farm's vegetables sold out. What was the key to the success? The friendly smiles of Joe and the interns, or the taste of our vegetables? I'd say a little of both. Come see us next Friday, but don't forget to get there early!

Farm Steward in the News!

http://www.worcestermag.com/home/top-stories/96992129.html

Dismas Family Farm's Steward, Ward Halloway, is in the news.

Check it out!

A Mucky Thursday

It has been a week of cleaning up at the farm. The guys have been in the barn all week mucking out the stalls. What does that mean? It means they clean out the stalls from all the animal waste. Whatever they take out of them is used for manure for the fields. Have you ever smelled manure? If you haven't you don't want to. It's doesn't smell like roses. After a mucky morning, a few of the guys went out to harvest for our upcoming farmer's markets. Tomorrow we'll be at the Hopkington Market at Weston Nurseries with a batch of freshly picked peas (see pictures) as well as lettuce, beet greens, radishes, and more. We'll also have a couple of freshly made bathouses. So if you're wondering what to do tomorrow, head on over to Hopkington, we'll be happy to see you.

Dismas Survives the Heat!

It was a hot start to the week. Monday found many of the residents sweltering among the tomato and bean plants. Alex tried to convince Ward that the greenhouse was well over 100 degrees, which Ward brushed off with a laugh. Let me tell you though if it wasn't 100, it had to be close. The construction of bat houses resumed with our master carpenters, Danny and Joe. After a cool lunch indoors, the wool room in the upstairs of the barn was cleaned out, with hopes of turning it into a space for case management. The day ended with some hay bailing with the help of the newly refurbished bailer. Finally, some wonderful ladies from St. Richard's church brought a delicious meal of barbecue chicken and potato salad. We ended the night with some team pool play and a movie, The Hurt Locker. As we awoke this Tuesday morning, we were happy to see it would not be as hot as Monday