agriculture and flora

Letter to the editor: be on the lookout for the Lindentree robin

July 14, 2015

To the editor:

At the end of one of the June rains, I found a very “dead” little juvenile robin in our storm drain—except that he wasn’t, as I discovered when fishing him out. I dried him off, scraped off the unseemly gob of blood and something smooshing together the toes on his right foot, and took care of him. He willingly survived and became a personality at the farm for adults and children alike as they fed him worms, stepping around him as he hopped on the ground doing robin-like things. He was named Albert.

On the night of July 3, several days into his adolescent freedom stage, he disappeared, and we hoped he wasn’t part of someone else’s meal. However, I received a call from our neighbors several days later describing the visit of a robin who landed on their guest’s head, causing consternation and entertainment as he stayed for awhile. And then he moved on—so we are hoping that he’s appeared elsewhere in Lincoln.

Albert’s habits may change as he grows older and more birdlike; however, he is prone to landing on heads and shoulders and seemed to be comfortable with people. If he visits you, we all here at Lindentree Farm would love to know where he has been—sort of tracking him. He has deformed toes on one foot and slightly bent ones on the other where one of them has healed up. Please drop us a line at lindentreecsa@gmail.com if you should happen to see him. Thanks!

Sincerely,

Moira Donnell (co-owner, Lindentree Farm)
10 Old Concord Road

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to news@lincolnsquirrel.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Five Corners flora (Lincoln Through the Lens, 7/1/15)

July 1, 2015

Axel and Maite Fay prepared the historic Five Corners flower pot for Fourth of July festivities. Photographer Rob Jevon writes, “There has been lots of thoughtful commentary on improving signage at Five Corners. But I think many would agree we are fortunate to have a centerpiece that is pretty close to perfection. Thanks to all the neighbors and generations who help maintain an endearing emblem of what makes Lincoln Lincoln.”

Readers may submit photos for consideration for Lincoln Through the Lens by emailing them to news@lincolnsquirrrel.com. If your photo is published, you’ll receive credit in the Squirrel. Photos must be taken in Lincoln and include the date, location, and names of any people who are identifiable in the photo. Previously published photos can be viewed on the Lincoln Through the Lens page of the Lincoln Squirrel.

Milk it for all it’s worth at Dairy Day

June 8, 2015

dairy Drumlin Farm is celebrating National Dairy Month with Dairy Day on Saturday, June 13 (rain or shine) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The barns will be open on this special day for up-close access to our favorite dairy animals and the tasty treats they help us produce.

Highlights include exclusive milking access to Drumlin Farm’s dairy cows (while milk supply and cows’ patience last!); crafts and games for kids in our Get Moovin’ zone; cheese, butter, and ice cream making demonstrations; up-close viewing of our heritage breed cattle; and free hayrides to celebrate the crowning of the Drumlin Farm Dairy Princess. The Posto Mobile wood-fired pizza truck will be on hand to provide tasty picnic lunch options for purchase made with fresh Drumlin Farm produce, and Reasons to Be Cheerful will have plenty of local ice cream to enjoy.

Schedule of activities:

All day – Ice cream and pizza truck; farm stand and country store; Get Moovin’ crafts and games; livestock display
10-11 a.m. – Cow milking (while supply lasts)
10 a.m. to noon – Ice cream making demonstration
11:30 a.m. to noon – Dairy Court hayride
Noon to 2 p.m. – Cheese-making demonstration
12:30-1 p.m. – Goat milking demonstration
1:30-2 p.m. – Dairy Court hayride
2-3 p.m. – Cow milking (while supply lasts)
2-4 p.m. – Butter-making demonstration
3:30-4 p.m. – Goat-milking demonstration

Tickets for this special fundraising event are $8 for Mass Audubon members, $10 for nonmembers, children under 2 free, and can be purchased by calling 781-259-2206 or online at www.massaudubon.org/drumlinprograms.

Lincoln resident dies in tractor accident

May 6, 2015

Lenore Travis

Oxbow Road resident Lenore Travis, who died unexpectedly late last month, was remembered for her agriculture-focused volunteer work and as a longtime member of the Shady Hill School community.

Spotlight on CCF volunteer Savannah Snell

January 2, 2015

Savannah Snell and her porcine pals at Codman Community Farms.

The following item is reprinted from the Codman Community Farms newsletter with permission.

Savannah Snell, a Lincoln resident and senior at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, is a volunteer animal feeder at Codman Community Farms and has been coming in once a week for the last two years. Savannah connected with the farm when she participated in the Farmer’s Helper program through the Lincoln Parks and Recreation Department in grade school.

As she got older and would stop by to buy eggs and milk for her family, she realized what a great community resource CCF is. One day she decided to check off the volunteer box on the payment envelope. Office manager Barb Rhines called and farmer Eric Robichaud trained her to work with the animals.

Savannah makes sure all the animals have food and water and has gotten to know them. Opal the Donkey is a favorite and she will spend up to half an hour scratching and playing with Opal. The pigs get to know her too and enjoy having their snoots rubbed. (Note to casual visitors: please don’t try this yourself; a finger through the fence can look like a carrot to a pig!)

At L-S, Savannah started the L-S Aid for Animals club, which raises money for local shelters and whose members volunteer at domestic animal shelters and farm animal rescue organizations. She rides horses and can’t remember a time when she didn’t love animals. Savannah is a great volunteer upon whom the Codman staff and animals depend.

When the cows come home (Lincoln through the lens, 11/25/14)

November 25, 2014

Jim, an English Lineback ox, takes a snack break during his recent walk from Minute Man National Historical Park, where he and some other bovins graze on open space, back to their home with the Travis family on Oxbow Road. Jim and another calf were a birthday surprise for George Travis 13 years ago; he now weighs about 3,400 pounds (Jim, not George). The Travises own several other English Linebacks along with some Highlands and Irish Dexters and periodically move them back and forth to the Minute Man land. — Photo by Harold McAleer

Website offers images of autumn around Farrar Pond

November 13, 2014

Here are some photos and captions by Alaric Naiman, who edits an online journal about the Farrar Pond area at https://fpond.org with pictures, maps, history and geography of the pond and its environs. Click on one of the small images below to see a larger version as well as the entire slideshow.

“There’s no meditation more enriching than just being (or looking) outdoors, in stillness and presence, with intention but no expectation,” said Naiman, who collects natural views of plants and animals in much the same way that fellow Lincoln resident Norman Levey does with videos on his own website (see the Lincoln Squirrel, October 5, 2014).

The Farrar Pond blog has dual purposes of inviting community around a shared delight for place and encouraging deeper engagement with the nature of that place, Naiman said. “The hope is that more people will look at what’s right in front of them in a slightly different way, and thereby exalt their relationship with our environment… and the dramas are playing out every place in Lincoln,” regardless of whether one might have deep forest, open field or a pond in view, he said.

All are invited to submit photos, tales, reflections or useful information by clicking on the “Participate” link.

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Moo is the fairest of them all? (Lincoln through the lens, 10/19/14)

October 20, 2014

“Mary Belize,” a cow owned by Ken Bassett, admires herself in a truck mirror at Codman Community Farms while snacking on some hay. According to photographer Hannah Stevenson, the cow, who is about 13 years old and “runs the show, alpha cow style,” was named after Bassett’s wife Mary Helen Lorenz and was born while Ken was in Belize.

Readers may submit photos for consideration for Lincoln Through the Lens by emailing it to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. If your photo is published, you’ll receive credit in the Squirrel. Photos must be taken in Lincoln and include the date, location, and names of any people who are identifiable in the photo. Previously published photos can be viewed on the Lincoln Through the Lens page of the Lincoln Squirrel.

Columbus Day foliage (Lincoln through the lens, 10/15/14)

October 15, 2014

“Columbus Day in Massachusetts” by Harold McAleer.

Following are some words written in the 1970s by Harold McAleer that he recently submitted to the Lincoln Squirrel along with this photo.

It’s not just the color, actually. After all, the colors are all bunched on one side of the color wheel – greens, and yellows and oranges and reds. And it’s not just the brilliance, mostly pastel – although shafts of occasional sunlight do make the colors glow. What it is is the surprise of it all. The same thing that makes a Fred Allen joke, or a Fats Waller solo, or a Sinatra song – the unexpected twist.

You round a bend or top a rise and there it is, visual overload. A field of weeds backed up by a row of pines and maples, a rather bland vista during most of the year, now shimmers and vibrates, shouting at the senses and tugging at the tear ducts. Even the dull old oak tree assumes a saucy demeanor, as if the washerwoman had suddenly become Kim Novak. And the gnarled and stunted apple tree is transformed into a tapestry. Your entire span of awareness becomes an event, a happening, and this remarkable feeling gets branded into your memory.

It fades, however gradually, until almost forgotten. Then when you find it again in a later season, it returns with that sudden rush and the poignance that accompanies a sweet surprise.

Words come close but pictures don’t. You have to see it.

Readers may submit photos for consideration for Lincoln Through the Lens by emailing them to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. If your photo is published, you’ll receive credit in the Squirrel. Photos must be taken in Lincoln and include the date, location, and names of any people who are identifiable in the photo. Previously published photos can be viewed on the Lincoln Through the Lens page of the Lincoln Squirrel.

Drumlin Farm hosts behind-the scenes wildlife tours

October 6, 2014

Lincoln residents are invited to learn more about Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary‘s planned New England Wildlife Explorations (NEWE) exhibit at one of two behind-the-scenes tours (adults only, please) of Drumlin’s wildlife exhibits and wildlife care facility on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 8 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 2 at 1 p.m.