Author: Student Merrimack

As an aspiring environmental scientist and policy maker, nature has always held a strong hold in my day to day life in one way or another. Ever since before I could walk, my parents have had a house on Cape in the town of Yarmouth which further cemented the roots of my love for the outdoors. We are a three minute lengths’ walk to the beach, and a ten minute drive to the local park and bike trail, allowing my childhood to have been filled with ‘the best of both worlds’. As you may imagine I was very ecstatic when I discovered the course Garden Memoirs here at Merrimack College seeing as it incorporated two main things that I love: gardens and reading! My mother and father have always made a point to tend to our gardens in both the front and back yards of our summer home. Over the years we have planted fairy roses, hydrangeas, ‘butterfly plants’ which attract Monarch’s to our garden every year, geraniums, and inpatients. As a kid and still to this day I’ve always enjoyed watching the butterflies flutter around the mini ecosystem we created while sitting on the grass in the sun. 

Though gardening can be viewed as an individual activity in some ways, I’ve found through both my own personal experiences as well as through reading Farm City that it does in fact also possess an element of community and ‘socialness’. At our local Mahoney’s, which is essentially a gardening shop with plants galore, my mom and I always run into fellow neighbors and gardeners alike on our trips there. Another instance would be on sunny, summer days when people walk past our home on their way to the beach many people in our association stop by and talk to my parents about our front yard garden and its aesthetic. 

Gardening of all kinds is a great way to spend time with your family and friends outdoors, as well as a great way to give back to your landscape. By creating a garden of flowers and or vegetables, you start to notice different types of insects and creatures that find comfort and homes within the mini world you’ve handmade. We notice a lot of baby bunnies sleeping in the shade of our rose bushes, butterflies as I previously mentioned, and plenty of pollinators such as bumblebees that spend their days bouncing from petal to petal all within the confines of our very own front yard. When I have a home of my own, I fully intend on having a garden like the one my parents have as it has provided me with so much more than just a pretty, aesthetic view.

Written By: Joshua Dennehy

Seed savers Exchange is an organization from Decorah Iowa that connects thousands of home gardeners, farmers and many more through the worlds largest exchange open to all. Seed Savers Exchange collect, store and regenerate rare heirloom seeds. These seeds are collected so that they can be preserved and grown the right way. With proper education Seed Savers Exchange want everyone to have the same option to grow rare heirloom seeds. While doing so, this is to help educate all types or famers or gardeners, then distribute to gardeners everywhere. Everyone from all over will be able to grow such rare seeds.

Organizations that are here to educate young and eager gardeners are such a big part of society. Without true education people would not know how to plant and harvest rare seeds. Seed Savers Exchange is crucial to all gardeners because they inform you about how to preserve and seed save. Not wasting seeds is what will help the environment. The youth need to understand the right way to plant a seed then when the crops are ready harvest while saving seeds as well. Programs like these want to help exchange many types off seeds for everyone to use. Teaching not only kids but young adults, will help change the outlook on seed saving.

Seed Savers Exchange program can develop such education in farm towns that needs it. Anyone who looks into there website to gather information on how to plant seeds the right way or even save seeds will learn valuable information. Information that can help the environment and especially creating healthier crops. Seed Savers Exchange is another organization that wants to educate and help many communities.

Check “Seed Savers Exchange” website below to learn more.

https://www.seedsavers.org

Written By: Joseph Jorgenson

Love and Carrots is an organization located in Washington D.C that provides, installs, and teaches people how to tend to Gardens. It is a non-profit organization that helps less fortunate communities in many ways. One of them is growing their own produce in a healthy and natural way so that people don’t have to buy it from a grocery store. Another way “Love and Carrots” helps to better the community is it aims to keep kids off the streets and gives them a hands on learning experience that will teach them valuable skills to better themselves and their community.

Programs like “Love and Carrots” are so crucial for spreading knowledge of gardening while also helping less fortunate youth population. These programs are so crucial to inner-city neighborhoods because of the lack of “green space” in cities as well as the stereotype of inner-city behavior of these kids. It is so important to find these kids meaningful and healthy activities to participate in. By giving valuable lessons on how to tend to these gardens, it spreads loves and distracts inner-city kids from the troubling world around them.

Non-profit urban gardening companies are vital to the development of healthy foods as well as healthy behaviors in the community. If everyone had a garden to tend to it would help the community in varies ways. “Love and Carrots” is just one of many companies looking to better the community and the future.

https://www.loveandcarrots.com/services

Above is the website for “Love and Carrots”. Give it a look.

Written by Eliza Whitfield

Pies are a type of food preservation that my family has utilized for years. Pasty has been a much-loved meat-based pie that originated in Cornwall, England. Pasty is an affordable, long-lasting meal that was originally used by miners and their families. In the past, pasties were served in the shape of a semi-circle for the convenience of a handheld meal that could be easily taken into the mines. Pasty usually consists of a small portion of meat or beans and a variety of vegetable choices that can easily be grown in a home garden: potatoes, carrots, onions, turnips, parsnips, etc. 

My family has passed a pasty recipe down for more than five generations. We make the pasty in a pie tin as opposed to a traditional semi-circle. I cannot count the number of times I made pasty with my grandma and my mom. We would spend all day making dough and slicing vegetables, then sit around the table to share the delicious meal. On occasion, we would drive to my uncle’s house and deliver him a pie or two for his family. It is a tradition that brings my family together and provides happy memories that we all cherish.  

My family’s recipe: 

• ½ lbs meat — usually beef
• 5-6 potatoes — cut into thin slices
• 2-3 carrots — shredded
• 1 onion — diced, then mixed with the meat
• Pie crust:
  • 2 cups flour
  • ½ cup shortening or butter
  • Pinch of salt
  • Enough water to make paste

To make the pie crust, combine the ingredients in a bowl, using the water to make the dry ingredients stick together. Once the ingredients are mixed, place the dough in the refrigerator to rest while slicing the vegetables and browning the meat. The meat should be cooked, before being placed into the pie to ensure the pie will not contain raw meat, as well as a way to drain excess grease. 

Once all the ingredients are ready, separate the dough in half. Roll both halves of the dough into a circle and place one half in a nine-inch pie tin. Then layer the vegetables and meat repeatedly until the pie is rounded at the top (potatoes, carrots, meat, potatoes, carrots, meat). Finally, place the remaining dough on top of the pie, crimp the edges, and slice 2-3 air holes atop the pie. 

Cook the pie at 350* for roughly 45 minutes.

This pie, if sliced moderately, can provide multiple meals a day for 2-3 days. Pasty tastes delicious when it is eaten both hot and cold. 

Written By Drew MacInnis

This summer I was lucky enough to meet a coworker named Layne with an incredible little farm at his home. Layne and his family had moved to New Hampshire a few years ago all the way from Oklahoma. Living in a more rural area of New Hampshire with an abundance of land they realized the wonderful opportunity they had to start raising animals. There was already a barn on their new property and with a preexisting love for horses and horseback riding, horses had to be the first animals in their new chapter. Instead of going out and purchasing young foals they decided to go and rescue two adult horses to give them a fresh start at life. 

Horses if you didn’t already know eat a lot. Whether it be vegetables or loads and loads of hay they eat, and this is where Layne steps in. He is the oldest of all his siblings and takes on a lot of responsibility when it comes to caring for the horses. He is often the one making trips to go pick of hay bales and other resources for them.

After having the horses for a while an opportunity presented itself for the family to also rescue two ponies, one of which lost an eye. After seeing the beautiful ponies, they knew they had to have them. In order to do so they had to build a separate enclosure for them as they couldn’t be housed with the horses, which Layne had a big part in building. Once this was finished they added the two ponies to their family.

It doesn’t stop there though, as there was another addition to their growing animal family. A little farm surely wouldn’t be complete without some chickens. This too required some more building for Layne as a chicken coop needed to be made. Once this was completed it was time to add some more rescued animals into the picture. At the current moment they have 17 chickens in which they harvest the eggs from. They do not harvest the chickens for meat, as they truly love animals and just want to give them a happy life for however long they have left. It is great to see the difference Layne and his family have made in the lives of animals who at one time had no hope and no sense of belonging.

Written by Hannah Gibbs

When I was younger, my favorite sign of spring was when the crocus flowers would start to sprout in my parents garden. This is when my love for flowers began. It brought me so much excitement to know the spring and summer months were upon us. It also meant the peonies and lilacs would start to bloom and eventually our hydrangea bushes, which were all right in my backyard. 

Around three years ago, I got the opportunity to work for a local, established flower shop in Andover, MA that also specializes in indoor and outdoor plants. My knowledge of flowers, herbs, house plants, and more has greatly increased over the past few years. From the numerous flowers we use in our arrangements, to the multiple varieties of each flower and their flowering season, I’ve been able to learn so much. Through this job, the meaning of flowers has changed for me. I have been able to appreciate that floral design is a form of art and a creative outlet for the designers that can portray a strong message to others. Flowers can be used for many occasions: weddings, baby showers, funerals, birthdays, as well as just to make someone’s day a little bit brighter. I am always on the lookout for flowers blooming around me, and I love to share tips and tricks on how to care for them with others. 

Local floral gardens are places I enjoy visiting and supporting. One in particular, Tendercrop Farm in Newbury, MA, has the most beautiful dahlias in the late summer and early fall months. The Steven Coolidge Estate in North Andover, MA has gorgeous floral cutting gardens where my mom and I enjoy picking our own bouquets of flowers. 

Flowers are very universal and everyone can find joy in them. When I really think about it, it amazes me how the earth grows and provides us with such beautiful blooms to appreciate. Flowers are nature’s artwork. I am very grateful for my experience of getting to work with flowers, and I hope others can see how special they truly are.

Nessralla’s Farm of Marshfield Massachusetts has been a family owned and operated business since 1979. The farm was originally owned and operated by Nacklie Nessralla with the help of his son Paul, until Nacklie’s death in July of 2016. The farm is now run entirely by Paul Nessralla. Opened all year round the farm and garden center specializes in a variety of different plants, vegetables, shrubs, christmas trees, firewood, seasonal items, and so much more. The farm and garden center is known along the south shore for its vibrant and eye catching annuals and perennials. Although there is definitely a booming business all year round, the busiest time of the year for Nessralla’s Farm starts Easter weekend and lasts until Memorial Day weekend. The farm accumulates on average about 40-50 percent of their annual profits during this time period. Another huge part of their profits come from selling USDA certified kiln dried firewood due to their location on the south shore. This location has allowed for a booming firewood industry all year long because of the cold New England winter months, and because of the many beaches that allow for summer fire pits when it’s warm.

I personally have been around Nessralla’s Farm for almost 10 years now. Growing up I was and still am very close to the Nessralla family. Working around an environment like this has taught me a lot about gardening and how to run a business in an atmosphere such as this one, and I am very grateful for that. Cady Nessralla, the daughter of Paul, has been a sister to me. In talking to her about her experience at the farm and growing up around gardening, she decided to share her favorite memory; “My favorite memory of the farm was when I was a little kid. I have been going to the farm ever since I was born. My mom would bring me down when I was only a few months old, because all of the regular customers were so excited to meet me, because I was the first grandchild, and daughter within this family run business. When I started to become a little older (probably around 6) I would go to the farm with my dad and grandfather during my February break. I always loved going, because I was a daddy’s girl and anything my dad did was something I wanted to do. I got to spend all day planting flowers and vegetables, and I would listen to stories from when they were my age, and how they were doing the exact same thing. I loved going to the farm all year round but I especially enjoyed it during planting season. I used to love planting seeds and watching them grow over the next few months because as a little kid it would always be so cool to come back and see how much your hard work had paid off. I continued to do this over the course of the next 12 years until I left for college. Now that I am at college full time in Florida,  my favorite time of year at the farm is Christmas season. It gives me the chance to help out my dad during one of the busiest times of the year. And although my grandfather passed away a few years ago I know his presence is always with us when we are at the farm whether it is during planting season, Chrisrmas time, or all the days in between.”

If you would like to visit Nessralla’s Farm of Marshfield they are located at 1200 Ocean Street, Marshfield MA and are open Monday through Sunday 9 AM – 6 PM.

Written By: Jillian Dunn