Jones Farm

One of the things I most enjoy about my work is the chance to speak with people about things that really matter to them. Whenever you speak to someone about their landscape, the place where they live, you get into what's most important to them -- solitude, play, gathering, health, productivity.

Today, while looking for a nearby place to dispose of soil and sod for an installation we're doing in Chelmsford, I happened on Jones Farm, and had one of those conversations. (I should first say that I got there via another of those conversations, where I asked the cashier at Agway where one could dump soil. He pointed me to Jones Farm, with an aside about the other places one could have gone once, before X nursery chain and Y box store took over.)

The whole conversation with Phil Jones, the proprietor of Jones Farm, was facilitated by the 22-month old's paradise: an indoor sandbox stocked with "dig-dig, [cement] mix[er], dump t[r]uck, and bobcat." This is set up in the Cafe area, along with a coloring area, blackboard, and, for the moms, a fair-trade espresso machine, which I'm told they may have to close down for political reasons. Two laid-back, toddler-wary dogs wandered in and out while we talked.

Jones Farm has been doing organic farmstand production since before it was cool, and has recently added landscaping service. Phil says he got NOFA-accredited because he was "tired of getting lied to at trade shows" by sales people who were unconcerned about the healthfulness or sustainability of their products. Now, he runs both formal classes and Sunday drop-in sessions to educate locals about organic landcare, and gladly shares tips and ideas with his customers.

A college-age woman who came in seeking "cheap grass that will grow through anything" left with compost, endophytic grass seed tailored to her site, and instructions for use of pre-emergent weed control in the spring. She also got an earful of warnings about 4-step chemical treatments and the hazards of pesticides.

Me, I saved a bundle on disposal fees, and got a great mid-day working mom break.