By Abbey Basile, Contributing Writer
Southborough – Chestnut Hill Farm, a 170-acre farm in Southborough, has a plethora of agriculturally based activities planned for the fall; all of which will be in accordance with the safety measures necessary.
“We’re doing a program for little children called ‘All about Goats,’” said D.A. Hayden, director of the Trustee’s Charles River Valley Portfolio. “They learn about goats, they do a little goat craft, they get to see a goat up close and personal and sometimes even brush the goat.”
Chestnut Hill Farm is part of the Charles River Valley Portfolio, a land preservation organization.
Farm visitors may also participate in goat hikes, an activity in which a group of people can hike the trails on the farm with goats on a leash.
Hayden also noted the farm’s StoryWalk on the Trails, which occurs daily.
“The StoryWalk is literally a book where the pages of the book are posted along the trail, so this encourages children to read and get outside and spend time with their families hiking this trail,” said Hayden.
According to Hayden, another activity called “Fall Sundays at the Farm” will run from mid-September through early November.
“Those will include hayrides, a big hay stack for children to climb around in, and music, and food, and the ability to walk the trails to see the animals,” Hayden said.
All activities will follow strict protocols to maintain safety.
“It’s incredibly important to us to keep everybody safe, because that’s how they’re going to enjoy their experience and you know, that’s really important to us, because we want to continue to build relationships with the community,” Hayden said. “We are limiting the number of people who can attend a program, we’re doing timed ticketing so that we can track how many people are coming, we’re doing social distancing, we’re requiring both staff and visitors to wear masks, so we’re being very, very careful about all of this.”
Hayden also spoke about how Chestnut Hill Farm’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and Farm Stand will operate during the pandemic.
“In terms of our farming operation, we have very strict protocols in place to ensure the safety of our staff, and our visitors and our customers,” Hayden said. “CSAs are extremely popular, and they’re even more popular than ever during COVID, because people are really looking for fresh food. They like to know where their food is coming from, they want to be sure that it’s a safe food source. So we grow organic vegetables at Chestnut Hill Farm for our CSA program, and for our online retail farm stand.”
According to Hayden, the farm stand is now strictly online.
Whatever the reason for visiting Chestnut Hill Farm, Hayden urges people to come out and enjoy the fall season at the property.
“It’s a really wonderful place, so I would encourage people to come out,” Hayden said. “In these times, going to a farm and walking around either by yourself or with a friend or with your family is a very restorative experience. And, we’re finding that people are really looking for that.”
For more information, updates and event details, visit https://thetrustees.org/place/chestnut-hill-farm.
Photos/submitted
