On your visit
Natick Community Organic Farm is open every day with no admission fee for visits from 8 am until dusk. Our farmers work “in the public eye” on purpose so that when you visit, you can see how a real working farm operates, and how communities like ours can grow food sustainably and in harmony with nature year-round.
Farms are dynamic places, meaning they are constantly changing. For example, in order to keep our pastures healthy, we rotate where the animals are grazing every day or two. Please use your powers of observation to figure out where they are today!
Farmers are always busy. They drive big trucks and tractors, operate chainsaws and power tools, and have to move and work with sometimes unpredictable animals. Farming can be hard, dangerous work. It takes concentration.
With all of this in mind, please note and follow rules and listen to all directions given by staff.
One of the great things about the farm is the fact that something new is happening every day. While things change rapidly here and it can be hard to predict exactly when things might occur, we also have a rough idea of the yearly events in life of the Natick Community Organic Farm.
One thing is for sure, you will rarely experience the same visit twice!
Buildings
Our main office and education center is one of many buildings built by youth labor, in this case almost entirely by students from Keefe Tech.
Home to greens in the winter, basil in summer, and trays of seedlings in the spring, this stand-alone greenhouse is one of the major ways we extend the limited New England growing season.
The small hoop house near the market stand is used by our Flower department to both extend the season and grow temperature-specific crops. Feel free to poke your head in the door, but as with all our growing spaces, please don’t enter.
Out behind the farmhouse and next to our flower fields, the large hoop is home to salad greens in the spring and winter and tomatoes in the summer. The large hoop is a massive boost to our year-round vegetable production.
The sugar shack is where we boil sap into syrup in the early spring. Typically active early February to mid March, depending on the strength of the season and the impact of climate change, we boil all day and into the night when the sap is running. Join us on Maple Magic to learn more or book a tour!
The barn, in many ways, is the heart of the farm. It is used for hay, grain, and tool storage, shelter on rainy and snowy days, and as a warm and safe start to life for many, many seedlings.
For the full story and updates on the barn, please see our Rebuilding Page.
Fields
- Our fields are 100% no-till, meaning they are no longer rototilled. No-till methods aim to increase yields and decrease weeding by increasing soil health through not disrupting the micro-ecosystem of the soil.
- Feel free to take a closer look, just stick to the major greenways through the 4 quadrants- walking rows within the growing beds are narrow and missteps kill plants.
Click play to watch our farmers explain no-till
- Using traditional organic methods such as aggressive composting and crop rotation we aim to maximize the productivity of every bed foot we have!
- Feel free to take a closer look, just stick to the major greenways through the 4 quadrants- walking rows within the growing beds are narrow and missteps kill plants.
Out behind the farmhouse is where you’ll find our major flower production field. Rows upon row of color and shape to smell and admire. Feel free to wander but stay on the walking paths.
Animals
At NCOF we have a selection of farm animals to see on your visit.
- Rabbits
- Layer chickens + Rooster
- Broiler Chickens (Seasonal)
- Turkeys (Seasonal)
- Pigs
- Sheep
- Goats
Please do not feed our animals or go in the pens unless accompanied by a farmer.
The animals are out and about every day until about 4:30pm when we finish our afternoon chores.
Market Stand
The Market Stand is located across from the farmhouse, and is open all daylight hours. Throughout the year, you can find whatever is in season as well as farm-fresh eggs. As with all of our products, they represent what a small diversified farm can produce and as such, supplies are always limited.
The Market Stand runs on the honor system. We’ve got a cash box and a “what did you buy” sheet to help keep track of things, so even if you don’t see anyone around, the stand is still open for business. If you have a question about something that isn’t answered by our signage, pop on over to the farmhouse.
The building itself was constructed by the Teen Work Crew in 2008.
Visit the Woods & Trails
Much of the land that the Natick Farm sits on is forest and wetland. Davis Brook winds its way through the property. At the North-Western corner of the farm is a trail that leads into the woods, where it joins up with the Eisenmenger trail along the Sudbury Aqueduct.
You can access the woods trails on your visit but going past the farm house to the flower fields, and then following the path beyond the tool shed. Please note that our Forest Gnomes program takes place in the woods and our playground is not open to the public.
