Gaining Ground

11/10/2025

Are you looking to shop local this holiday season for special gifts that benefit your community?

Gaining Ground hunger relief partner, UTEC, based in Lowell, offers handmade items from their own wood shop through their Madd Love Market. Every purchase from UTEC’s Madd Love Market helps young adults build brighter futures.

UTEC's Madd Love Market is more than a shop; it’s a social enterprise that provides paid job training and second chances for young adults. Every purchase helps young people gain skills, stability, and a foundation for their future.

Check out their beautiful options for holiday, hostess, or corporate gifts!

Breaking Barriers to Youth Success

11/08/2025

Between the cuts to nutrition assistance programs and government furloughs, people have not been able to afford food. Gaining Ground continues to grow and donate fresh produce each week to help people in need.

11/07/2025

With the help of our amazing Community Farm Team, today we planted our 2026 crop of garlic!

These alliums will eventually yield green garlic, garlic scapes, full heads, and the seeds will be used for future harvests, continuing the beautiful cycle of growth on our farm. For now, the garlic will rest under a blanket of salt marsh hay, nestled in the earth through the cold months ahead.

Readying garlic to ‘overwinter’ is a reminder of the hope and abundance that spring will bring—more nutritious, organic produce to share with our neighbors in need. We’re grateful to be able to steward this land, farming for hunger relief with the support of our dedicated volunteers, partners, and donors.

11/07/2025

We’re sharing our heartfelt thanks to The Cabbage Hill Farm Foundation for generously supporting our sustainable agriculture and hunger relief missions at Gaining Ground!

As a nonprofit farm, Gaining Ground relies on the generous support of individual donors and grantmakers to uplift our work. We’re so grateful for your partnership in helping to nourish our community!

11/06/2025

No matter what happens at the federal level, Gaining Ground is committed to being a stable, reliable source of nutritious food for people experiencing food insecurity.

This week, hundreds of pounds of carrots, turnips, spinach, kale, and lettuce were harvested on the farm!

Today, this fresh produce, plus stores from our winter squash harvest, were distributed to help feed people who need it in Ayer, Bedford, Devens, Groton, Harvard, Littleton, Shirley, Westford, and Lowell.

11/05/2025

Here is a list of items needed by Gaining Ground partner, Loaves & Fishes Pantry in Devens, MA in Devens, MA. They are experiencing the highest demand they have ever seen, and even established a Special Federal Employee Pantry Session to serve people affected by the shutdown.

Here is the updated list of our most needed non-perishable items for November and the Holiday.
We would love to have holiday items at the Pantry by Dec. 1 🍂🌾
We are so grateful for your continued support through personal donations and community food drives. Be sure to check expiration dates to ensure our neighbors in need are given fresh food. 💛

We can also use clean paper grocery bags.♻️

Please visit our website for drop off times or to find a donation box near you.
loavesfishespantry.org

11/05/2025

Gaining Ground partner Open Table in Maynard is accepting food donations to help meet unprecedented demand. Note - Drop offs Monday, Wednesday, Friday (and weekends) are preferred as not to conflict with busy distribution days.

We are anticipating busy pantry distribution times on Tuesdays and Thursdays at our site at 33 Main Street in Maynard. If you are coming to drop off food donations, we ask that you please try to do that on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, or in our bin over the weekend. This will help us greatly reduce traffic issues on Main Street during pantry distribution times. Thank you to all of our generous donors. We are very grateful for the support.

11/05/2025

We’re so grateful to our friends from Bluewave Energy, , for continuing to join us out in the fields and support our efforts of sustainable agriculture!

With their help, we were able to clean up the last of our paste tomato beds in our fields at the Minute Man National Historical Park! All of this to begin letting the fields rest and rejuvenate for the winter months, to then be ready for new growth in 2026!

Our community’s many hands and hearts help bring our mission to life!

11/03/2025

We don’t grow bananas at Gaining Ground, but banana *boxes* are an integral part of our work on the farm!

We utilize loads of these cardboard boxes each week to pack our abundant harvests and donate the bounty to food assistance programs.

And we’re in need of more!

So...we have a special favor to ask our community.

Could you help Gaining Ground by collecting clean, empty banana boxes from your local grocery store(s) and bringing them to leave at the barn during our working hours? Our Fall hours on the farm are Tuesday through Friday from 8:30a.m. to 3:30 p.m.!

If you have any questions and/or would like to help, contact Operations Director Allison Goodwin at allison@gainingground.org.

Note: please do not drop off any boxes other than those specifically designed for bananas.

We hope to see you soon, coming up the driveway with banana boxes in tow. Thank you!

Photo credit: #2 Tony Rinaldo

10/31/2025

A Special Farmer Spotlight!

Please join us in giving a heartfelt farewell with much gratitude to one of our talented Field Crew Members, Skylar Cheng, as she embarks upon the next steps of her journey!

Skylar joined the team last spring bringing her passion for sustainable agriculture and understanding of the deep need for equitable, nutritious, food access. She received her BA in Environment/International Development prior to working on the farm, and with a steadfast dedication, arrived to expand upon her knowledge of land stewardship, organic, no-till farming practices, and community building.

Skylar has been a wonderful addition to the team and anyone who has worked with her knows of her grounded nature and kind demeanor. Whether working with the farm crew, teaching future farmers, or guiding our community of volunteers, her thoughtful and centered communication remained a treasured constant, embodying what it means to be a farmer with honor and respect to the craft.

Skylar, thank you for growing with us! We will all miss your presence on the farm and look forward to seeing how your next chapter unfolds!

We wish you all the best!

Please visit our website, gainingground.org, to read more about Skylar in her bio, and to learn about our programs, growing practices, and how you may become involved! Link in bio!

10/29/2025

We’re sharing our gratitude to The Doing Circle, , for their generous donation to Gaining Ground and their continued support in the fields all season long!

Last Saturday, with their helping hands, we were able to harvest many beds of spinach for our hunger relief partner organizations!

Gaining Ground relies on the generosity of organizations and individual donors allowing us the ability to grow and distribute healthy, organic produce to those experiencing food insecurity.

We’re so grateful to the many supporters who help bring our mission to life!

10/28/2025

We are deeply grateful to the Nash Family Foundation!

Their commitment to sustainable agriculture and food security helps us continue growing fresh, organic produce for those who need it most. With partners like the Nash Family Foundation by our side, we’re able to expand our impact and provide nutritious food to our community—all at no cost to those in need!