Just Roots/Greenfield Community Farm
The Greenfield Community Farm is a farm with a mission: to increase access to healthy local food by connecting people, resources, land and know-how. The 61-acre property consists of two crop fields, a pasture and woodland including a beautiful brook and the nearby Green River. The land is currently leased by the nonprofit Just Roots. Their CSA operation of nearly 250 members is notable for its flexible sliding scale and payment plans, which results in half its memberships going to low income households. Farm Field Trips demonstrate benefits of healthy food for visitors of all ages. Feastivals—free community monthly meals during the summer—offer up the farm’s bounty, cooked and available for pickup or delivery at several locations in town.
Public Access
Classes, community groups, work parties, and volunteers of all ages are welcome to sign up for a visit, May through October. Farm visits include a staffed tour and a work project. Contact Farm Manager Meryl to set up a visit.
Directions
34 Glenbrook Dr, Greenfield, MA 01301
From I-91, take Exit 26 and follow the traffic rotary to Route 2A East (Main Street) toward downtown Greenfield. After about 3/4 mile, turn left on Conway Street which later becomes Leyden Rd. After approximately 4 miles make a sharp left on Glenbrook Drive (look for the Just Roots sign).
Parking is available in the spots north or south of the large brown building (to visit the Just Roots office) and below the barn (for farm events).
Ownership
Town of Greenfield
Year Protected
2011
Property History
The property was once the heart of the town’s “poor farm” and for decades since had been growing primarily hay and cow corn. The idea of a protected community garden was first explored in 2008 when members of the Pleasant Street Gardens joined together with the Greening Greenfield Energy Committee and Mount Grace, hoping to identify and protect land in Greenfield to secure local food production by and for the community. Within weeks, the ad hoc discussion group had formed Just Roots, a community group named in honor of the original owner of the farm, Justin Root, who bequeathed the property to the town for agricultural use in 1849. Just Roots worked with Mount Grace and the Town to create a community garden on the Town farmland. Ultimately, in June 2011, the Town of Greenfield placed an agricultural preservation restriction on 32 acres at the old Town Farm, which became the Greenfield Community Farm.
