Paintings of Sergi Farms

Come see the evocative series of oil paintings of Sergi Farms by Adrienne Landry, on display in the lobby and reference room of the Library through October to celebrate One Book One Belmont.
     The paintings capture the beauty of a working farm at different times of day and in different seasons. They portray  buildings nestled among glowing fall trees and empty fields, a flower garden with pale yellow sunflowers, neat rows of beans, carrots and beets ripening in the sun. Also on display is an eight-foot panel of brilliantly-colored zinnias, dahlias, snapdragon, and sunflowers set against a turquoise background, all flowers that are grown at Sergi Farms.    
      Landry, a practicing artist who teaches art at Butler Elementary School, first exhibited the paintings in 1999 at Mass Audubon's Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary. A price list is available at the circulation desk.

Shown: A portion of "Flower Sampler" by Adrienne Landry, 11" x 96", oil on panel

From Farm to School

Did you know that Belmont Public Schools are serving locally grown food this week? Public School cafeterias statewide are participating in the Mass. Harvest for Students Week by purchasing, serving, and highlighting locally grown food. According to the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, "there are about 100 public school districts, private schools, and colleges in the Commonwealth serving local food, over half of which have received assistance from the Mass. Farm to School Project." To see how Belmont Public Schools are participating in this project, look for "Farm to School" food listed in the school menus from Sept. 21st through Sept. 25th.

Panel Discussion Tonight on "Farming in Belmont Today"

Please join us tonight at 7 pm in the Assembly Room at the Belmont Public Library for a panel discussion on the challenges and opportunities faced by Belmont's last working farm and other farms around the state - and what you can do to promote and raise local food. The discussion includes Kent Lage, the Director of Forestry Programs at the Massachusetts Farm Bureau; Henry Ogilby, whose family has owned Richardson Farm, aka Sergi Farms, since the 1600s; Sal Sergi, whose family has farmed the land at Sergi Farms since the 1940s; and Joan Teebagy, who keeps bees at Sergi Farms and raises vegetables and chickens in her backyard.

Please note that unfortunately, Nathan L'Étoile, Assistant Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, is unable to attend this evening's discussion. Kent Lage, Director of Forestry Programs at the Massachusetts Farm Bureau, has graciously offered to fill in.

Farming in Belmont Today

Please join us on Tuesday, September 22nd at 7 pm in the Assembly Room at the Belmont Public Library for a panel discussion on the challenges and opportunities faced by Belmont's last working farm and other farms around the state - and what you can do to promote and raise local food. The discussion includes Nathan L'Étoile, Assistant Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, Henry Ogilby, whose family has owned Richardson Farm, aka Sergi Farms, since the 1600s, Sal Sergi, whose family has farmed the land at Sergi Farms since the 1940s, and Joan Teebagy, who keeps bees at Sergi Farms and raises vegetables and chickens in her backyard.

When Belmont was a Town of Farms

Jane Sherwin is a Belmont resident and trained historian who for several years has researched and spoken about Belmont's rich history as a town of farms and market gardens. Working with Historian Richard Betts and the Belmont Historical Society she has gathered oral histories and images that help to illuminate this remarkable story. In her talk she will present highlights from her research, including a close look at the day-to-day challenges of governing a town of farms when greehouses and orchards covered the landscape and market wagons carried Belmont's bounty to Quincy Market. Join us on Tuesday, September 15th at 7 pm in the Assembly Room at the Belmont Public Library to learn more about Belmont's rich agricultural history.  

See a preview of Jane's talk right now! Click here for a video preview showing a sample of these historic images and hear narration by Jane Sherwin.

Walk through the Past: from Habitat to Rock Meadow and Back

Join us for a "Walk through the Past: from Habitat to Rock Meadow and Back," a three-mile walk guided by Roger Wrubel, director of Mass Audubon's Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary. Walks begin at the Habitat's Visitor's Center at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12.

Participants will walk through conservation land to Rock Meadow and back and look for clues to Belmont's agricultural past, such as the foundation of the Highland Farm barn, stone walls, and meadows where Holstein cows used to graze. The group will also visit the town's two community gardens, at Habitat and Rock Meadow. The walks are free and co-sponsored by the Friends of the Library and Mass Audubon's Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary. Please register at the library's reference desk or by calling 617-993-2870.

Photo: Highland Stock Farm gatepost.

Jane Sherwin shows us farming throughout Belmont's history

Waiting for the next One Book One Belmont event? Well do we have a treat for you! Click here for a video preview of Jane Sherwin's talk on Belmont's farming history on Tuesday, Sept 15th at 7 pm in the library's Assembly Room. Jane has been working on a presentation to show us some of her latest research into Belmont's history. This video has images of Belmont farms throughout history, including family photos from the Hittinger, Scarfo, and Heustis farming families, as well as other local farms, all narrated by Jane Sherwin. And that's just the beginning! Check out the Menu of Events for more information about all the good things to come in One Book One Belmont 2009.

A personal note

If  I had to pick a single book that has most influenced the way I think about food, it would have to be Frances Moore Lappe’s Diet for a Small Planet. I remember reading it in the summer of 1972, as I moved with four roommates into one of my first apartments. One point that struck me –at risk of oversimplifying – is that it uses a lot less of the earth’s resources to feed grain to people than to use it to fatten cattle and then feed them to people.

    Our group’s growing motivation to eat vegetables rather than meat fit nicely with another one of our goals: to feed as many friends as possible on as little money as possible. We joined a food co-op with rock-bottom prices and spent one afternoon a month packing up orders at a warehouse to qualify for membership. We switched from bleached flour to unbleached, white rice to brown. We paired the brown rice with our brand of “stir fry,” different vegetables that all ended up tasting like soy sauce.

    We eventually branched out, thanks to cookbooks like The Vegetarian Epicure and The Whole Earth Cookbook, both long out of print but still holding a place of honor on my bookshelf. I learned how to bake bread, all kinds of wheat and sourdough and rye, a habit I enjoyed for years until falling victim to the low-carb craze. It was the seventies – we were trying to solve world hunger and save the earth, just by our decisions in the supermarket.

    Although my good intentions of forsaking meat did not last very long, Lappe’s words have stuck with me for 37 years. I look forward to hearing what she has to say on Wednesday night, Sept. 9.  If you have similar memories, post a comment by clicking on “comment.”
– Belmont reference librarian

Author Frances Moore Lappé Kicks Off One Book One Belmont

Author Frances Moore Lappé will kick off the 2009 One Book One Belmont community-wide reading program with the talk, “Food Choices for a Small Planet.” This free talk will take place at 7PM Wednesday, Sept. 9, at the Town Hall auditorium. She will explore the ways that our food choices can be a powerful tool for affecting our bodies, the earth, and the people who tend it.

A Belmont resident, Lappé is a world food and hunger expert who has authored or co-authored 16 books, including the three-million-copy bestseller, Diet for a Small Planet. According to AP reporter JM Hirsch, this book, first published in 1971, has provided “the blueprint for eating with a small carbon footprint since long before the term was coined.”

In May 2008, Gourmet Magazine named her one of 25 people (including Thomas Jefferson, Upton Sinclair, and Julia Child), whose work has changed the way America eats. The article said:  "During the countercultural upheavals of the 1960s, she formed a forceful synthesis of beliefs about global resources, energy consumption, personal food choices, and moral responsibility. In the hugely influential Diet for a Small Planet (1971) she proposed a meatless diet relying on protein-rich food combinations as a practical means of addressing all these issues. World hunger and just food distribution have remained central concerns of her work."

Light refreshments will be provided after the talk, courtesy of Angelato and Kitchen on Common. For more information, visit the library Web site at www.belmont.lib.ma.us or call 617-993-2872.