ORANGE — To raise awareness about healthy, affordable food available in the North Quabbin region, Quabbin Harvest is partnering with Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust to host free workshops with farmers on how to use local products to make various foods and crafts. “Eating more locally helps create a network of producers and customers who know and support each other, which translates into stronger rural communities overall,” said Cathy Stanton, chair of Quabbin Harvest’s board of directors. “We’re working to be a local food hub that can serve as an outlet for small-scale producers so that they can spend a little less time on the road doing all of the directing marketing themselves.”
Quabbin Harvest will host six workshops at its 12 North Main Street location in downtown Orange on the first Tuesday of each month from November to May, with the exception of January. The workshops begin at 3 p.m., are free to attend and each participant will receive a free reusable tote bag in addition to the food item, craft or plant created during the workshop. The member-owned cooperative sources as much food as they can from the greater North Quabbin area. Members and volunteers invite the community to shop Quabbin Harvest year-round and see it as a grocery store with an emphasis on local sourcing.
“Buying locally grown food supports our local farmstand enables them to stay in business in our communities,” said Jamie Pottern, farm conservation manager with Mount Grace. “Supporting the local food economy keeps more dollars in our local towns and cities.”
Eating and shopping locally promotes community resilience by building local economies, keeping businesses closer to home instead of buying into distant corporations. And not only does locally sourced food make sense financially, it’s also good for the environment.
“We’re increasingly recognizing the ecological benefits of having a diverse patchwork of farms and forests,” Stanton said. “As the climate becomes more volatile and long-distance, oil-dependent food chains more fragile, strengthening our local farms and food production is even more important.”
Daniel Botkin of Laughing Dog Farm in Gill will lead a Dec. 4th workshop on garlic wands, using leaves, berries, and recycled materials to create edible pieces of art. Inspired by the folk art practice of garlic braiding, Botkin’s garlic wands can include everything from dried flowers to feathers and salvaged cotton t-shirts.
“It’s wonderful to sit around and work on another project with people and chat and schmooze, it lends itself to a community building,” Botkin said. “We’ll walk you through the process, and everyone gets to express their own creative bent.”
Laughing Dog Farm grows a wide array of foods with an emphasis on permaculture, practical gardening and experimental growing techniques. Botkin started the farm over 20 years ago and enjoys the varied, seasonal bounties of fresh fruits and vegetables from his subsistence style of living.
“We haven’t made much money, but we’ve made a lot of friends,” Botkin said. “Community has been the main focus.”
The goal of the workshops is to help support farmers year-round after the growing season has ended, while providing fun, family-oriented educational opportunities that help people connect with the farmers producing their food. The workshops are funded in part by a grant from the New England Grassroots Environmental Fund. All necessary tools and materials will be provided, and anyone from the community is encouraged to attend the free workshop.
Workshop Schedule (all from 3-5 p.m.):
November 6 — Fresh greenery holiday wreath making with Rachel Gonzalez from Rachel’s Everlastings farm: Make a decorative holiday wreath using fresh evergreens of pine, spruce, hemlock, balsam and berries, finished with a red velvet bow.
December 4 — Wrapping festive garlic wands with Daniel Botkin of Laughing Dog Farm: Create a decorative and edible treat from fresh garlic using herbs, flowers and recycled materials.
February 5 — Valentine’s Day chocolate shortbread cookies with Mary from Sweet Cottage Farm: Learn how to decorate homemade shortbread cookies for a Valentine’s Day treat.
March 5 — Intro to Herbalism with Community Herbalist Carol Joyce of White Buffalo Herbs: Learn how to make herbal tea, tinctures and oils in this introduction to herbs class.
April 2— Seed starting with Tony Leger of Foothill Farm: Learn how to jump-start your own garden with, herbs, perennials, flowers, and heirloom plants.
May 7— Local Smoothie Making with Rachel Gonzalez of Rachel’s Everlastings Farm: Make delicious and nutritious smoothies for the coming summer months with local ingredients.
About Quabbin Harvest
Quabbin Harvest began as a farmshare program in 2009 organized by a loose group of volunteers committed to locally sourced food. As the operation gained popularity, staff were hired and the group acquired a small storefront at the Orange Innovation Center in 2011. Three years later, Mount Grace purchased the former Workers’ Credit Union Building in downtown Orange and Quabbin Harvest relocated to their current site in the center of Orange. “Mount Grace’s leadership saw that just keeping farmland open wasn’t enough in itself to foster a thriving agricultural sector—there also need to be places where farmers can sell what they’re growing!” Stanton said.
Today the market sells food from over two dozen farms from Orange to Greenfield, Hadley and elsewhere, selling fresh produce, meats, dairy and prepared foods. The member-owned cooperative food market is located in the center of Orange and open six days a week. They source as much of their food from local producers as they can, even selling farm shares to members who pick up fresh produce weekly at Quabbin Harvest.
Mount Grace Trust
Mount Grace works with local farmers and communities to permanently conserve farmland for the future and address farmland affordability and housing. Mount Grace sponsors the Greater Quabbin Food Alliance, a coalition of farmers, community organizations, and others working to address challenges that face the food systems in the Greater Quabbin Region.
“Mount Grace sees this partnership as a way to create new market opportunities for local farmers, increase farm viability, and increase access to local food for the community; while supporting local jobs and fostering community support for local farms and food,” Pottern said.
For more information contact Quabbin Harvest at 978-544-6784 or the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust at 978-248-2043. Quabbin Harvest is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.