Powisset Farm
GOOD FOR: Ages 0-4
RATING:


Source:Outdoors with Kids Boston (AMC Books)
Address:37 Powisset Street, Dover, MA
Hours:Dawn to dusk daily
Fee: Free
Contact:

[email protected]; 508-785-0339

Bathrooms: None
Water/Snacks: None
Map:

Powisset Farm features a gentle trail that takes you around the farm through fields, woods, and wetlands.

Programs at Powisset Farm include a how-to workshop about building bee boxes, bat houses, and bluebird boxes (seen here.)
Photo by: Kim Foley MacKinnon

If you have any would-be farmers in your family, Powisset Farm is a great place to let them get their hands dirty. This Trustees of Reservations property operates a popular community-supported agriculture (CSA), program: members pay for shares of fruits and vegetable that the farm produces, but you don’t have to be a member to visit the farm or volunteer to work in the fields.

The farm dates back more than 300 years. In the 1600s, colonists claimed the land and farmed it steadily until the 1800s. Eventually, Amelia Peabody, a great believer in public access to open spaces, purchased the land; later, it came into the Trustees’ hands. After you oink at the pigs and cluck at the chickens, you can take the 1-mile loop trail through fields, checking out what is growing, then head to an oak forest, passing two brooks, vernal pools, and wetlands on the 108.5-acre property. If you feel like a longer walk, a trail spur leads into the adjacent 1,200-acre Hale Reservation.

Every Saturday afternoon from May through September, the farm has drop-in volunteer hours, where you can help with a variety of farm projects. Kids are welcome to come with a parent.

Another program option for kids ages 3 to 6 is the Children’s Farm Fun workshop, which runs several times in summer. Activities may include making a children’s flower garden, doing farm crafts, or exploring the farm geared with shovels, trowels, and magnifying glasses. Check the farm’s website (thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/csas/powisset-farm-csa/our-csa) or call for details.

The public can buy some of what the farm produces on Tuesdays, June through October, from 1:30 to 6:30 p.m. You can also pick your own flowers and herbs from gardens found next to the main barn daily during the same months for a donation.

Remember: Warn kids that the fence around the cultivated fields is electric (to keep away deer), so they should stay away from it.

Plan B:

Noanet Woodlands (Trip 49) is just across the street from the farm.

Where to Eat Nearby:

Return to MA 109 and go west to Westwood Center, where you can find a variety of restaurants and convenience stores.



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