| Sunday May 03, 2020 1:00 PM - Sunday May 03, 2020 5:00 PM | $25.00 - $35.00 |
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Event
Inviting Pollinators to Your Farm
COVID-19 update: We are cautiously optimistic that we will be ready to host group events by the first week in May. Cedar Rock Gardens is a beautiful location with plenty of space for physical distancing practices. Attendance will be limited based on current state recommendations.
Join us at Cedar Rock Gardens, a vegetable farm and seedling nursery open to the public in Gloucester, to learn from Elise and Tucker Smith about how they are helping pollinators flourish on their farm.
Tour the farm and see how they provide a variety of habitats for beneficial insects
Learn about perennial plants for cut flowers
Discuss the value of intercropping and which crops they are planting together
Learn more about low-till and no-till farming practices
Cedar Rock Gardens comprises 13.5 acres in Gloucester, Massachusetts where they grow a large variety of vegetables on 2.5 acres of land utilizing crop rotation schedules and cover crops to ensure good soil practices. They operate a retail stand on the farm, sell directly to local restaurants and have an 80 member CSA. Additionally, they currently have about 7,300 square feet of heated greenhouse space where they grow herbs, vegetables, and a variety of annual and perennial flower seedlings. They practice shallow-till and no-till farming practices to preserve habitat for beneficial insects and maintain biological diversity in their fields.
When we design for increased pollinator habitat we also increase the overall resilience of the farm, specifically with the addition of native perennial plants that add both above-ground and below-ground (rhizosphere) diversity, which increases the carbon sequestration capacity of the landscape. With many populations of pollinator species on the decline, it is important to build buffers and organic landscapes that can provide refuge for a variety of organisms. With a bit of knowledge and design you can have a biodiverse farm that utilizes marginal areas of your farm to grow new crops for your market.
Instructors:
Elise Smith was raised on the north shore in Ipswich, MA. She graduated from Umass Amherst in 2011 with a degree in corporate finance. She made a trip to Guatemala in college and realized the entire culture there was built on local agriculture...and what a terrific culture it was. Elise began working outside in the dirt alongside a knowledgable gardener doing annual and perennial flower garden design and maintenance. Learning about many different flower types and having a blast. She was inspired to plant a small plot of cutting flowers and began selling bunches, realizing the importance of growing local flowers and teaching the community about how fresh local flowers are. She was taught about wedding arrangements, bridal party pieces and bridal consultations by an experienced florist in the area. She has been growing produce and flowers since 2013. Elise and Tucker began Cedar Rock Gardens as a flower farm in 2014 and have molded it into a diverse vegetable, flower and herb farm since then. The seedling nursery was added in 2016 with a high demand from the community for seedlings grown locally with good growing practices.
Ford Tucker Smith was born and raised on Cedar Rock Farm in West Gloucester. His working career has always involved hands on outdoor labor, split between farming and different trades. Over the course of the last ten years he has apprenticed on many farms around the country and world. Throughout his travels he has always been drawn back to Cape Ann and in 2009, finally accepted that there is no other place that he would rather settle. In 2010, he started working alongside Noah Kellerman building and managing Alprilla Farm to produce grain, hay, flowers, herbs and veggies. In 2013, he graduated from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at UMass Amherst with a degree in Fruit and Vegetable Crop Production. The garden and farm have always provided a space for him to slow down and face the needs of life directly while producing delicious food for himself and others. Tucker believes that gardening is an important dynamic to a strong community.
Our tour of the farm will likely cover uneven, occasionally rough terrain. We want to make sure your accessibility needs are met during the event. Please share with us your needs regarding (but not limited to): physical accessibility, allergies, noise, scent, gender; intellectual accessibility, and any instructions or tips to help you fully participate.
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LocationCedar Rock Gardens (View)
299 Concord St.
Gloucester, MA 01930
United States
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