Making Home - my guide to the Nashoba Valley

So, coming off the note of my 12 mile bike ride yesterday, that I am still SO excited about and proud of myself for - I wanted to make a post about some great local gems I have found here in the Nashoba Valley.

For the first 18 years of my life I grew up in an area of Massachusetts called the Blackstone Valley - which is essentially a handful of small towns along the Blackstone River.  The house I grew up in was the house my dad grew up in, and both my parents spent their entire lives living in that same town.  The house my mom grew up in was less than mile away from my house, where my Oma and Opa still lived.  For a good amount of my childhood all of my aunts and uncles on both sides of my family lived within a 10 mile radius of my nuclear family unit.  Bellingham was home and it felt like something that would always be a constant - there to go back to, and forever unchanging.

Well, as Buddha so wisely pointed out, all things are impermanent and over the past 18 months much and more has changed - my mom no longer lives in Bellingham, my childhood home will soon be sold and now that I've been here in Bolton for 5 years its high time that I find a way to make this my home.  It has taken years to find simple things like good restaurants, grocery stores and local activities.

Farms

Pineo Family Farm - not sure if I mentioned this yet, but for my birthday my mom paid for my CSA share.  I was thrilled to find a local farm that offered a small share (good for 1-2 people, larger shares are for families of 4-6) for only $200.  Each Tuesday afternoon I go over and chat with my local farmer about what he's packed up for me that week, and it's an incredible thing to get my food directly from the source.  They also have a farmstand that is open 7 days a week, where they not only sell fresh vegetables but also eggs.  The farmstand is located right on their farm, and home at 41 Turtle Road in Sterling MA.

John Crow Farm - If you know me, you know I don't eat meat.  It's not something I really talk about here, and I've thought about making a post on the subject sometime in the future about it so lets save that for a different day.  That being said, whenever I find a local farm that is humanely, and sustainably raising animals for meat I love to buy something nice from them for my dad.  Its so important to me to support my local farmers, and I love to show my dad how much I appreciate all he does. Anyways, John Crow does a handful of CSA programs - you can get a meat share, a poultry share, and in Boston they also do veggie shares.  They have a beautiful farmstand 133 Old Ayer Rd in  Groton, MA that sells their meat AND veggie products, and if you stop by there you can also visit with the cows and farm dogs which I posted some pictures of yesterday.

Applefield Farm - This farm is absolutely beautiful - maybe its because the farmstand is attached to the greenhouse, so when you walk in you are breathing the best air on the planet.  Applefield is mostly a garden center, they sell tons of herbs, flowers and vegetable seedlings - but in addition to that they have a small selection of fruits and veggies that they grow, as well as a handful of local products such as honey and maple syrup.  I love stopping by just to see what they have for fresh veggies at least once a week in the summer, and because they grow a lot in greenhouses they tend to have things a few weeks earlier than larger farms (last week I brought home a HUGE bunch of kale and a zucchini)

Restaurants

Wholesome Cafe - a great (mostly) vegetarian cafe with plenty of vegan options (and vegan cheese) Located in downtown Ayer, which was once a crossroads of many train routes - and the remnants of that history are very apparent in its industrial architecture, the Wholesome Cafe is in a great mixed use/repurposed factory with high ceilings and industrial features.  Its about 2 blocks from the end of the Nashoba Rive Rail Trail, so you can walk over after a bike ride to get a smoothie, or light meal.  Their website says they are not open on Sundays - which is not true, on Sundays they are open for a la carte orders only - which means you can get a sandwich, a yogurt parfait, or some yummy baked goods from the case but you can't order off the menu.  They DO have smoothies on Sundays, which is def the route I would (and did) take.

Meadowbrook Orchard - here you can find pick your own berries, and apples as well as a cafe located in a large airy barn complete with woodstove.  They serve breakfast, and lunch - and they sell pre made frozen meals (shepherds pie, pot pie) and fruit pies.  If you go for breakfast - definitely get the apple cider donut french toast.

Harvest Grille - Now honestly, I haven't been here yet.  Its in (really quaint) Sterling center, and I drive by it on my way to Pineos on Tuesdays - however, after seeing it I checked their menu and saw that they have  a handful of vegetarian lunch/dinner items.  I emailed them to see if they would be able to sub tofu (which is found on the dinner menu) for eggs at breakfast, to make a tofu scramble, and I got the sweetest e-mail in response saying that they are more than willing to try new things and are always happy to get suggestions from customers.  Anywhere that values good customer service as much as I do is a place that I am happy to support.

Things to Do


Nashua River Rail Trail - I know I keep talking about this, but its seriously the bike path you imagine when you imagine a bike path.  It's flat, paved, clean, and scenic.  We went on a beautiful Sunday afternoon and while we saw a lot of people, it was not crowded and as a novice bike rider, I never felt nervous.  There are multiple parking locations along the route, the pot holes (which are few, and not dangerous) are marked by spraypaint and there are benches, and rest spots at scenic overlooks along the trail.  It's open to bikes, walkers/joggers, rollerbladers, and equestrians.

Nashoba Valley Winery - This place is seriously beautiful, its an apple orchard and fruit winery atop a hill about a stones throw from my house.  In the fall, it gets influxed with yuppies from New York but the secret is that the store and grounds are open year round.  This is what you do: go on the website and order a picnic lunch, put your dog in your car, pick up a friend.  Park at the winery, grab a bottle of wine, pick up your picnic lunch and enjoy it on the farmers porch or at one of the picnic tables with a vista out to Mt. Wachusett.  Afterward, for $10 you can take a tour of the winery which ends with a four wine tasting flight.

So thats - my highlights of the Nashoba Valley.  A lot of people may not think to come out this way for a day trip, especially in the summer (most people come out here in the fall, during "apple season) when most think to flock to the cape or to the beaches, but I think that with this list you could definitely have a great day trip, while beating the crowds and the traffic.

Sunday v. final

Finally, on our way home we stopped at the Goodwill store in Portsmouth, where I found a few goodies to put up in the store.  After that, we stopped at the MOST AMAZING farmhouse, with two interconnecting barns that housed an antiques store and a seriously unbelievable used book store and art gallery.  This place was honestly indescribable, my photos do it little to no justice.  The entire thing is for sale, so if you have 1.5 million to spare, don't hesitate to snatch this one up.  See something in the photos that you're intresting in touching with your very own hands? You can search their entire inventory on the Drake Farm Books website!

So that's it - our weekend adventure come to a close.  Now we are on the couch, watching more Breaking Bad.  I'm blogging and working on my etsy, while Tre adds new records/shirts/things/stuff to his eBay