Just because summer is over doesn’t mean the outdoor fun has to stop. We have a plethora of events, programs and more this fall, including many special events for you, our Founders Circle members. Exhibition openings, farm-to-table dinners, and special Winterlights nights all await in the months ahead!
Read on to learn about our full slate of events and hear from one of our growers at Powisset Farm, the site of an upcoming farm dinner.
Fall fun at last year's Weir River Farm dinner.
As the summer recedes and a crisp chill enters the air, we begin our journey into the season when New England truly shines, the fall. From farm festivals to forest hikes, there is no shortage of exciting events and programs taking place across our 123 special places.
In addition to our fall events schedule, we are thrilled to offer special gatherings for Founders Circle members like you, in appreciation for your year-round dedication to The Trustees.
If you’re an art lover, join us at deCordova on October 6 for our opening reception of New Formations, a multimedia exhibition considering the power and grace of human bodies and our need for performance and ritual through athletics, dance, and pageantry. If you’re interested in learning more about how we are protecting our precious coastline, come to Ipswich on Sept. 21 to see our Great Marsh restoration work and meet with Trustees ecologists.
And of course, be on the lookout for your invitation to our Founders Circle Winterlights Nights, offering Founders Circle members special access to our Winterlights experience. Registration will open next month for Founders Circle Winterlights at The Bradley Estate on December 1, Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens on December 8, and Naumkeag on December 15.
Visit our Founders Circle events page for a full list of upcoming Founders Circle events, including our Annual Meeting and Dinner on November 3.
Coming up later this month is our special farm-to-table dinner at Powisset Farm on September 30. Tickets to the event are still available. To learn more about our work on the farm, read on to hear from Powisset Assistant Grower Aubrey Dority.
The following is excerpted from a Q&A with Aubrey, which you can read in full here.
How did you get into farming?
I actually graduated in mechanical engineering and then I was working for a building energy efficiency program for a while in California. I decided I wanted to get outside and that farming is another way to pursue sustainability, one I have always been kind of personally into.
The idea appealed to me a lot, I wanted to see what the day to day looked like and kind of learn hands on about sustainable agriculture and why certain decisions are made. That’s how I got from mechanical engineering to here.
Assistant Grower at Powisset, Aubrey Dority
– Aubrey Dority, Assistant Grower
Do you find farming connects to your own interests, passions, things you’re excited by or things you want to do?
I surprisingly have found a lot of cool connections to the engineering mindset that I developed in college. The approach to problem solving that you find in farming is really kind of urgent and straightforward.
For example, when an implement for the tractor goes down, it needs to be fixed right away. On one of those days, we went over and had to search through this whole bin of rusty parts for things that might be able to help make this implement work for the time being, you know, and just cobble together a solution. I really love that type of problem solving. And I think it’s helped me grow, too, in my engineering mindset and in my problem-solving mindset. That kind of tied back to what I was doing before.
Another thing that really appeals to me is the sustainability aspect of things. The fact that this is an organic farm was pretty cool and I would love to learn more about how to work with the land and with the soil and the microbiome and all of that to produce food for everyone. There’s a really cool systems approach to things.
What’s the most surprising or challenging thing you’ve encountered in that variety of tasks?
I was really scared of the tractors at first, it took me a while to kind of get used to them. I was also discouraged because it’s kind of hard to drive straight in a tractor, harder than I expected. There were definitely some beds I made that are crooked in the middle and I’ve wiped out some vegetables.
Everything else has been a joy. It’s really cool to be able to grow a plant from a seed, be a part of that whole process, and then see it get harvested. And to talk with everyone who’s going to eat it. Some people have really cool recipes for things that I haven’t eaten before.
