HBI Visits Newton Community Farm

07 Aug HBI Visits Newton Community Farm

Last week, HBI joined staff from the Urban Farming Institute to visit Newton Community Farm (NCF). Located on the historic Angino farmstead in Newton, MA, the city-owned site spans nearly 2 ? acres. Newton Community Farm is a nonprofit organization that strives to educate the community on sustainable agriculture and provide fresh, locally-grown produce through a CSA program and farm-stand. The tour helped inform planning of the Fowler-Clark-Epstein farmstead in Mattapan, recently acquired by HBI, which will be rehabilitated as a working urban farm site.  

Built in the 1880s as a dairy barn, the historic barn was refurbished as programming space for NCF and houses a certified kitchen, staff offices and miscellaneous space available for community groups to rent.

The certified kitchen inside the barn offers space for culinary classes and workshops.

In the basement of the barn, refrigeration space, washing stations and scales allow for produce to be stored and packaged easily and efficiently.

There are three greenhouses on site, which provide valuable space for seed propagation and extend the growing season and market sales into December.

About one acre of land is used for farm production which is managed by the resident farmer and a small staff of seasonal employees, interns and volunteers. Produce from Newton Community Farm supports summer and winter CSA programs, and is sold at an onsite farm-stand and local Farmer?s Market.