On May 14, 2013 a group of Kronites descended on Sunny Meadow Farm in Chelmsford to construct and paint a fence for the Chelmsford Open Space Stewardship. It was a nice spring day and everyone enjoyed building and painting the fence that borders the property line along the road. Ultimately, the Open Space Stewardship would like to entirely enclose the property with a fence, but so far, only a small portion of fencing has been completed. Our goal for the day was to build and paint an approximately 240 foot section of fencing. Phil Stanway from Chelmsford Open Spaces hoped we could get it halfway completed in the time we had and then have another group complete it. Nothing doing, the fence was completed by this high octane team and Phil was in awe and said we have moved to the top of his list of groups to reach out to for additional opportunities.
We had a great day and everyone walked away with a sense of accomplishment. The following gives you some background on Sunny Meadow farm. Please enjoy the pictures taken by our great photographer Alicia, although Jerry the dog seems to have stolen the spotlight.
Background Info About Sunny Meadow Farm
Sunny Meadow Farm was originally owned and farmed by Walter F. Lewis. After his death, the land on Robin Hill Rd was used for a horse farm, greenhouses and fields rented by Jones Farm. In 2008, the Town of Chelmsford purchased the land from the family of Walter Lewis. The Chelmsford Open Space Stewardship Program has been working closely with the Town to keep this land as open space and to develop it as a community resource. In the spring of 2009, the first section of community garden, occupying the former fenced-in horse paddock, was opened. This gated area now contains over 80 garden plots averaging 15' x 30'.
The farm is ADA accessible, with a handicapped ramp leading to gardens that can be tended while sitting down for the elderly and those in wheelchairs. Various food banks rely on the food from the gardens, such as the Congregational Church, which gathers 900 lbs. of food per year.