Work has been taking place over at the 32 acres of land now known as the Holliston Community Garden and Nature Preserve, according to Holliston Community Farm board member Amine Benali. The group has a Facebook page at which Holliston residents can see photos and get updates in addition to a page on the town website.
“We have been doing a lot of cleanup, with the most significant physical work taking place in April,” says Benali, of the group that has been together since March. “It’s a vast amount of land, so it was a lot of cleaning that needed to be done.”
Much of the property had had trash and junk that would have made it unsafe for visitors. That included the house on the property. The group envisions the property not just as a farm, but as a nature preserve.
“There will be trails, hiking trails, and people can use them for bicycles, cross country skiing. It’s going to be a much-used property for passive recreation,” says Benali.
In addition to cleaning, Benali said, the group took soil samples in the area.
“The soil quality was very poor, deficient in nutrients,” says Benali. “What we have done is we have planted some cover crops. It’s been a difficult summer, but we were still able to have a pretty good cover crop, and our plan is to go back in, plow the land and plant another round of cover crop. The idea is to provide the soil with nutrients and nitrogen, so it will be adequate for planting.” The second round of cover seeding will likely happen in October, says Benali.
Over the summer, the group added a small number of community garden beds, 10’x10’ boxes such as the ones over behind Pinecrest Golf Course. Community members were invited to rent the beds.
“It was a very successful year, for people to be able to grow there,” says Benali.
In addition to cleaning and getting the soil ready to the point where its farmable, Benali says the group has put out a survey on its Facebook page to community members, to see what they’d like there.
“Community events and classes came up high on the list,” says Benali, who says it’s still early on. Right now, the group is working on an RFP to present to farmers, which they hope to have relatively soon. Members are considering various local community farm models, such as the Natick Organic Farm and the Medway Community Farm. Working on the RFP and cleanup take a front seat to any community outreach at this point.
“We’re looking at all these models and trying to come up with something that is adapted to what Holliston needs,” says Benali.
On October 29, the Holliston Lions Club will hold its Haunted Walk at the property.
Issue Date:
October, 2016
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