Photo of Lane Gardens at St. Anne's Farmers' Market in Fall River

Calling all farmland owners & seekers! Join us, Land for Good, and other service providers on Thursday, November 17 to discuss succession planning, land sale & leasing, and determining which transfer option suits your needs. We'll also hear from farmers & landowners who've been through it before. We'll have a session for land seekers in the morning, one for landowners in the afternoon, and a catered lunch for all! Register Here!

Please note: attendance is offered at a sliding scale of $0–30. Whatever you choose, you will be encouraged to join us for all relevant sessions and our networking lunch. We welcome your participation regardless of your financial contribution!

Later that evening, stick around or come by for SEMAP's Annual Meeting for 2022! Join us to celebrate SEMAP's accomplishments this year, look ahead to the year to come, and offer your feedback on where we can grow! After a delicious catered dinner, we'll be talking about all the progress we made in the past year, and everything we have in store for 2023.

We are thrilled to announce the return of our Twilight Grower Series events this fall, starting this month with a soil microscopy workshop!

Want to take a look at your own soil under a microscope, learn what value microorganisms offer, and connect with farmers & ag students? Join us at Norfolk Aggie to look under the scope with NOFA/Mass! John Duke and Ruben Parrilla join us again to train participants to evaluate their own soil samples. Drop in with a soil sample, questions, and your appetite! We'll have snacks, pizza, and fun merch available. This event is FREE.

We are also excited to share our plans for November's Twilight event, featuring our friends at Skinny Dip Farm! Ben and Hannah received a SEMAP TIE Award in 2018 to study the use of low tunnels for winter greens, and they are excited to share their findings! Mark your calendars for November 1st at 5pm in Little Compton, RI.

Make sure to keep an eye on our Twilights page, as well as our social media, for dates, times, more details, and future event announcements.

Take a look at a few of the currently open grant, reimbursement, and award programs below, then check out a complete list on our webpage.

Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources has opened registration for two winter courses through the Agricultural Business Training Program (ABTP). Applications for these winter courses will be accepted until December 2, or until each course is full.

Growing Your Farm Business Planning Course will run from January 17^th  – March 14^th, 2023, on Tuesday evenings from 5:30 – 8:30pm at the MDAR office in Southborough, MA. This will be a hands-on course to help established farmers develop a business plan and financial projections for their farm business, and covers topics including resource assessment, marketing strategy, financial management, risk management, quality of life, and goal setting. The course is taught by a professional business planner with years of experience working with Massachusetts farms and guest speakers on topics such as succession planning and online marketing. Enrollment is open to farmers who have been operating a farm business in Massachusetts for at least the two prior years. If interested, please complete the brief Growing Your Farm application and email it to [email protected], or mail a hard copy to: MDAR, Attn: Diego Irizarry-Gerould, 138 Memorial Ave, Suite 42, West Springfield, MA 01089. For more information, see ABTP program webpage or contact Diego Irizarry-Gerould at 857-248-1671. 

Exploring the Small Farm Dream Course will run from January 12 – February 9, 2023, on Thursday evenings 6:00pm – 9:00pm at the MDAR office in Southborough, MA. This 5-session course provides guidance to aspiring farmers through the decision-making process of whether to start a farm business. Participants will learn about the many aspects of starting a farm business, assess their own skills and knowledge, and get help finding resources for support, including marketing, financing, and regulations. The course utilizes the Exploring the Small Farm Dream curriculum and workbook developed by the New England Small Farm Institute. Through four guided group sessions and a farmer panel session, participants will analyze the feasibility of their small farm dream and clarify their vision together with other class participants. If interested, please complete the brief application found here: Exploring the Small Farm Dream and email [email protected], or mail a hard copy to: MDAR, Attn: Jessica Camp, 138 Memorial Ave, Suite 42, West Springfield, MA 01089. For more information, see ABTP program webpage or contact Jess Camp at 617-823-0871.

The Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Resources is currently in the process of developing its mental health services program for farmers, farm workers and our agricultural community. To help inform this program, the department is seeking input from folks with agricultural experience via a short survey.

From the Department: "MDAR values your earned insights and vision. We would appreciate you taking a few minutes to complete our online survey to better understand the challenges you’re facing, your view of current mental health services for the Commonwealth’s agriculture community and the beneficial services MDAR can offer you." 

The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) is seeking applications for qualified contractors to provide access to a groundwater supply suitable for livestock watering, fire control, and other agricultural uses on state owned land in Lakeville, MA to prepare the land for commercial agricultural use in the Spring of 2023.

The subject property consists of two lots located south of Main St. in Lakeville, MA: a 68.65 acre parcel west of Bridge Street and a 12.2 acre parcel east of Bridge Street in Lakeville, MA which is historically agricultural land and is under the care and control of MDAR. The investigation, design, and installation of an agricultural water supply well must comply with all applicable governmental regulations, laws, permits, licenses, and registrations.

Believe it or not, we are already making our way into the Winter and holiday season. This means it's time to let us know what your plans are for the next few months as we build out our seasonal Farmers' Market Guide.

Winter markets are an important way to keep local farms and food top of mind for families and consumers during what can be a down season, and we want to make sure we can help send people in your direction. Please send an email to James, [email protected], to update us on your plans so we can have our Guide ready by the end of October.

If you are looking for a market to get your Fall, Winter, or Holiday needs, be sure to check out our current Farmers' Market Guide, which includes Summer markets still running, as well as last year's Seasonal Guide until updates are completed for this year!

October is Massachusetts Cranberry Month! While the traditional growing season is inching towards a close, there are still some great local crops to enjoy - and some are event entering their prime season, like cranberries! Cranberries are a staple of Massachusetts agricultural identity and history, especially in our region. With so many incredible growers and such a rich history, local cranberries are a must this time of year!

Look for fresh cranberries from some of our local bogs, including:

For more information on cranberries, and the incredible folks growing and harvesting them in our region, be sure to keep up with the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association through their website and social media.

Check out SEMAP's virtual Local Food Guide to find farm stands, farmers' markets and more across Southeastern MA! If you need to find farms from another part of the state, Check out the MassGrown Map, which lets you sort by region, business type, crop and more.

As we close in on this Fall's General Election on November 8, we are excited to share our plans for two Candidate Forums to discuss issues around food, farming and agriculture with state House candidates in Bristol and Plymouth counties.

On Tuesday, October 25, SEMAP and the Southcoast Food Policy Council will host candidates in the 8th and 10th Bristol districts for a virtual forum discussing food insecurity, infrastructure for the food system, and more crucial issues to our work and community. This event will be hosted by SFPC over zoom, with more event details and a link for registration to come soon.

Then, on Thursday, October 27, SEMAP will host a forum for House candidates running in Plymouth county. We will be discussing similar issues on this night with more candidates, all as part of our effort to continue educating lawmakers on our food system and ensuring they are thinking about local farms and food as they serve in the State House.

Be on the lookout for registration details for both of these events in the coming weeks, either through our social media, our Events Calendar, or other email communications.

We've got some more great food systems content to share with you all this month, and this time it's more than just one book or video - and it's going on right now!

Last month, the University of Rhode Island Honors Colloquium launched their ongoing lecture series, "Just Good Food: Creating Equitable, Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems." The series features speakers from across the food system discussing ways to reconnect with our food systems through topics including: food history and culture; social-ecological impacts and planetary limits; food, race, and gender; political economy of food systems; indigenous foodways and food sovereignty; agroecology; and urban agriculture, innovation, and social entrepreneurship.

Lectures are streamed live on Youtube most Tuesday evenings from now until December 13. The first two presentations are already available for viewing as well, featuring Winona LaDuke discussing indigenous foodways, and Vanessa Garcia-Polanco on being a food justice advocate. We hope you will consider viewing some or all of these lectures as we work to build a community of strong food system advocates.

SEMAP is always looking to build up our reading, listening and viewing list. If you have a recommendation you would like us to share here, send an email to [email protected].

With the growing season hitting its peak this time of year, we want to make sure all of our readers and local eaters know what fresh finds you can find at your local farm or farmers' market. We hope this helps you plan recipes and get the most out of local food!

Throughout October, be on the lookout for...

And don't forget about year-round local products like meat, dairy, eggs, and seafood!

Have you checked out our Local Food Jobs page recently? You'll find local food and farm job listings relevant to Southeastern Massachusetts. Here are a few picks currently on the page. Want to share a listing? Email [email protected].

Urban Farm Manager at Haley House in Boston

Program Coordinator at CISA in South Deerfield

Multiple Positions at World Farmers in Lancaster

Co-Executive Director at National Young Farmers Coalition, Remote