EASTON -- A program that harks back to the town's agricultural roots is under review, with a proposal that would restore farming to town-owned property on Morehouse Road.
The Board of Selectmen is evaluating the plan to return a portion of the town's Morehouse Road tract to farming activity that could include garden plots for children as well as a source of vegetables for the lunch program at town schools.
Wilfred Tressler, a longtime advocate for preserving the town's heritage, and Sal Gilbertie, who operates an herb farm on Adams Road, teamed up to present the proposal to the board last Thursday. They proposed cultivating a section of unused town land on Morehouse Road for the mixed-use farming venture.
"Land would be leased to interested growers, a small portion would be set aside as a student garden and an area would designated for farm-to-school production," Tressler said.
Gilbertie presented a schematic for a 100-by-350-foot piece of the Morehouse tract at Banks Road. That section of the land, now covered by weeds, was part of the larger tract purchased to build the new Samuel Staples Elementary School in 2001.
He said the site could be divided into 54 20-by-20-foot plots, which Staples students could plant as early as April 15 and cultivate into June.
Tressler said a management team, composed of farmers, educations, garden club members and teachers, would have to oversee the plots and make sure they were maintained through the summer until the students return at the start of the next school year.
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