Brookwood Farm rings in 20th growing season

Brookwood Community Farm, a nonprofit working farm located on Blue Hill River Road in Canton, has officially rung in the 20th growing season of its Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. With the renewal of land leases with both the Mass. Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR) and the Trustees of Reservations, the farm has made some much-needed improvements for production. The new Tilmore tractor has already made a huge improvement in the efficiency of field operations, and a new and permanent deer exclusion fence has been installed to help protect three acres of crops at the farm’s main site.

As we head into July, Brookwood is moving full speed ahead with field production, CSA, the Farm Stand, and vending at the Roslindale Farmers Market. This is the farm’s third season with the same core crew, consisting of Hannah, Deven, Megan, Sharon, Rachel and Marta. The farm is also thrilled to have a new assistant grower, Elise, on board as well as an intern, Kaylie, who is a biology/environmental science major at UMass Boston and is working at Brookwood as part of a fellowship program that seeks to increase health equity in under-resourced communities.

Brookwood’s approach to food access is multi-pronged and involves a spectrum of people from members to staff to board members to volunteers and outside organizations. The farm membership fee helps cover a portion of the cost to carry out Brookwood’s mission of building a farm-centered community united by a shared passion for sustainable agriculture, fresh local food, and a commitment to increasing access to healthy food.

The season starts with seedling donations after the big sale. Many community growers at libraries and gardens, growing for others, benefit from Brookwood’s well-grown seedlings.

For years the weekly produce donations have existed thanks in large part to the farm’s staff, who are responsible for communication, packaging and recording, but also the delivery drivers and the various ally organizations, including neighboring town food pantries, Rosie’s Place, St. Mathew’s Church, and Boston Area Gleaners.

Brookwood has also cultivated special relationships with various local nonprofit organizations, including a Mattapan organization that distributes its 10 CSA shares farmers market style — letting folks come to choose items and enriching the lives of three to four times as many people. The farm also has a longer-term commitment with Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition, providing their farm stand with produce for six weeks in the summer and welcoming the coalition’s youth to work with the staff.

Additionally, Brookwood provides access to its produce by accepting various alternative payments such as SNAP/HIP and Farmers Market coupons. For those receiving SNAP/HIP assistance, DTA allows some of their monthly benefit to be used as a partial payment for a half-veggie share, and the person/household receives the money back to their EBT card to use for other groceries. This benefit was reduced from $40 to $20 per month last November, but it has since been restored to $40 in the FY26 state budget, which took effect July 1.

To learn more about Brookwood Farm and its commitment to food access, email Cathy Smith at president@brookwoodcomunityfarm.org. Donations are also greatly appreciated and can be completed online at brookwoodcommunityfarm.org/donate.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Jul 4 2025. Filed under Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.