Night Owl Farm: 2023 Workshops Are Open! (And Farm Update)

View this email in your browser 2023 Farm Plans ✨Happy New Year!✨ We have lots to update you on! We may have less to do at the farm this time of year, but that doesn't mean we aren't busy planning for the future! Take a look below to see our plans for some of the bigger happenings at the farm for the 2023 season. The biggest to note is the start of our very first workshop series! Workshops Our 2023 Workshop series is officially live! Keep a new year's resolution of becoming more self-sustaining by improving (or starting!) your own garden! Our workshops are open to ALL levels. Some will target those with experience, but we encourage beginners to join as well, and vice versa! :) We have included workshops on: Caring for Chickens Seed Starting Succession Planting Gardening for Beginner Common Garden Pests & Diseases Soil Health (Coming Soon!) View Workshops Copyright (C) 2023 Night Owl Farm, LLC. All rights reserved.

This newsletter was shortened for publication here. To review the full set of contents, visit this link ->  https://us7.campaign-archive.com/?e=9924a495b2&u=9e517f8ba72777e1fdd23368a&id=f297589f54

Night Owl Farm awarded $46K grant from MA Dept of Agricultural Resources

The Night Owl Farm in Franklin is to receive a $46,000 grant for help with their washing and packing facility per the announcement Thursday.  Senator Becca Rausch and State Representative Jeff Roy were both quoted in the announcement.

The Baker-Polito Administration today announced $1,000,000 in grants to 23 Massachusetts farms to implement practices that improve food safety within their operations. The Agricultural Food Safety Improvement Program (AFSIP), administered by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), is a competitive grant program that allows produce and aquaculture operations to address food safety on their farms, enabling the operations to meet buyer demands, increase consumption of local food, and protect public health by reducing food safety risks.

“The Commonwealth’s agricultural industry continues to grow and upgrade its practices to both meet marketplace demands and regulatory requirements,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “These grants underscore our Administration’s commitment to helping farmers implement important upgrades within their operations to ensure that food safety risks are managed, that their marketplace needs are addressed, and their businesses continue to grow.”

“Improving food safety practices is important for Massachusetts’ farmers in order to provide the highest quality produce and protein sources for consumers across the Commonwealth and beyond,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “These food safety grants provide a proactive approach for the sector to upgrade their practices to help ensure safe local food production continues for years to come.”

Continue reading the press release ->

https://www.mass.gov/news/baker-polito-administration-announces-1-million-in-grants-to-improve-massachusetts-farm-food-safety

Visit Night Owl Farm on the internet (http://www.nightowlfarm.org/) and at the Winter Farmers Market

Night Owl Farm awarded $46K grant from MA Dept of Agricultural Resources

Night Owl Farm announces a New Place to Buy Your Veggies

We have officially partnered with Fresh Start Market in Franklin to offer you better hours for grabbing your veg!

They have provided us with a produce display case that we will regularly fill with produce from our farm and others like us.

They are at 369 West Central Street (in the same plaza as Liquor World)

They are open Monday-Saturday, 10-7, and Sundays 10-6! Now you can shop for your produce according to YOUR schedule, rather than ours. 

Find out more about the produce and programs Night Owl Farm offers in their newsletter  https://us7.campaign-archive.com/?e=9924a495b2&u=9e517f8ba72777e1fdd23368a&id=a8e24fde49

partnered with Fresh Start Market

Thanksgiving Pop-up!! announced by Night Owl Farm

Thanksgiving Pop-up! Thanksgiving Pop-up! We may have closed the farm stand for the season, but that doesn't mean the season is over! We still have veggies growing in the greenhouse, they are just growing MUCH slower now with the reduced heat and daylight. This inspired our decision to have "pop ups" as the veggies mature rather than have a less than stunning selection for your each week. Our very first pop-up is live NOW! Our pop ups are all pre-order only, and the ordering window for this pop up is Monday, November 15th to Friday, November 19th at 7:00am. This gives us time to pack orders and then have your orders available for pick up by Sunday morning at 10am! We have LOTS of delicious veggies for sale (all organic!) as well as all of the items we had for sale in the stand. If you're interested, place your order using the link here -> https://night-owl-farm.square.site/   or below (in the button) Shop our Pop-up Sale Fall Farm Update I had these grand visions of sending a monthly update about the farm to our Newsletter sign-ups…. But seeing as it's now November, that clearly didn't happen! Haha So, instead, I'll just share a little bit about how this season went. This season was (and continues to be!) so much better than I could have hoped. We have had some struggles throughout the season, but that's to be expected with any first year farm. The good news is it was nothing we couldn't come back from. We've had some support and mentorship from really talented farmers in the area. I couldn't imagine doing this without them. Special thanks to Grateful Farm, Ramble On Acres, Upswing Farm, and White Barn Farm for the endless support, and for helping beef up my CSA when I've needed it! The truly incredible thing is that you all have been so supportive. I've been absolutely blown away by the amount of interest and encouragement I've received from the community. I'm so lucky to be starting a business like this in a community that cares so deeply about the local economy and great food. We have some VERY exciting plans in store for next year. More on those details as we get closer, but we are thrilled to be seeing the farm grow and expand so quickly. At the end of the day, this first year experience was better than I could have imagined. I am so thankful for you all for the support that's allowing me to do what I love. 2022 CSAs We had an overall excellent first CSA. I enjoyed packing each individual box for our members, and getting to know them a little bit more at each pick up. So much so that we will be expanding our CSA next year! 2022 CSAs will go on sale in January to those who are on our waitlist. If you haven't joined yet, please do so by following the link below! Sign up for the CSA Waitlist Copyright © 2021, Night Owl Farm, All rights reserved.

Night Owl Farm · 49 Prospect Street · Franklin, MA 02038 · USA