Scaling No-Till Vegetables: Farm Tour & Networking Event - Sep 2026

📅 22 September 2026 | 📍 Gaining Ground Farm, 341 Virginia Rd., Concord, 01742

Join us for a farm tour at Gaining Ground highlighting no-till vegetable production at scale. Gaining Ground has expanded vegetable, flower, and cover crop production from 3.5 acres in 2023, to around 4 acres in 2024, 5 acres in 2025, and 8 acres in 2026. Farming in partnership with Minuteman National Historical Park, the Gaining Ground team has transformed former parkland into a highly productive vegetable operation rooted in soil health principles. This event will center on the team’s approach to growing at scale while staying rooted in no-till principles. This will include a discussion of Gaining Ground’s processes for putting new land into production, their staffing structure and volunteer programming, as well as their general systems for bringing beds from seed to harvest to rest.

During the tour, participants will hear about the evolution of the farm’s systems and staffing, key decisions that have shaped production and expansion, and lessons learned during this first season growing on all 8 acres that they have in production. They’ll briefly touch on the unique experience of farming on public land before wrapping up with shared food and open networking time to connect with fellow farmers and growers.

About:

Gaining Ground is a non-profit, no-till, organic farm in Concord, MA. At their flagship farm and satellite fields they actively cultivate 8 acres of land to grow over 50 varieties of vegetables, herbs, fruit, and flowers in fields interspersed with perennial hedgerows. They produce for 18 hunger relief organizations with the help of a community of volunteers and donate 100% of the food they grow. They harvest over 133,000 pounds of produce annually, supplying more than 2,100 food-insecure households each week in the Greater Boston region. They also welcome over 3,500 volunteers of all ages and abilities to the farm each season.

About the Instructors:

Mark Congdon (he/him) – Director of Agriculture and Volunteer Experience: Born and raised in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, Mark(he/him) joined Gaining Ground as our first Director of Agriculture in 2023. He received his two years of farmer training as a farmer’s apprentice at Caretaker Farm in Williamstown. Mark continued to grow as a farmer managing Saltbox Farm in Concord for 9 years and then Honey Nut Farm in Hopkinton prior to bringing his experience here to Gaining Ground. He is excited for the opportunity to direct Gaining Ground’s expansion onto newly leased land in the Minuteman National Historical Park. Mark loves to travel and experience unique plant life all over the world. He also enjoys hiking, meditation, supporting local farmer’s markets, and being part of a food movement that brings sustainable agriculture to local communities.

Maddie Weikel (she/they) – Assistant Grower and Education Coordinator: Maddie (she/they) joined the Gaining Ground team in 2023 after three-ish growing seasons learning about organic, no-till systems at a different farm in the area. They find joy and power in farming and in the notion that cultivating deep connection to land offers us tools for dismantling systems of harm and for building the world that we want to live in. Maddie believes that we all have a role to play in the work to nourish our communities and that it is our duty to take care of each other and of the land. Since graduating from New York University in 2020, Maddie’s farming journey has moved alongside a reintroduction to Judaism. She is inspired by the many lessons that ever-evolving Jewish tradition has to share about liberatory land stewardship, and vice versa. When not out in the fields, you can find Maddie making to-do lists, collaging, yelling, vacuuming, and sharing meals with friends.

Registration opens July 14th.

About the Project:

This event is sponsored by the Transition to Organic Partnership Program and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and co-sponsored by NOFA/Mass.

Accessibility:

Gaining Ground is most accessible via car. The farm is also a few miles away from the Concord commuter rail stop, as well as the “Hanscom Field Dr @ Old Bedford Rd” stop on the 76 bus. There are two bathrooms on site—one Port-o-potty that is serviced biweekly, as well as a bathroom connected to the barn and kitchen. Please note that Gaining Ground is located next to an airport, so there are frequently loud planes flying overhead. There are four picnic tables with benches and up to 15 chairs available for seating.

The pavilion at Gaining Ground, where we will be gathering prior to and after our farm tour, is located off of a loosely paved gravel road, and there is a wheelchair accessible bathroom about 100ft from the pavillion (people who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices visit the farm on a regular basis throughout the growing season).

Please share if you have any additional accessibility concerns.

Refund/Inclement Weather Policy:

We will still meet if there is a rain shower. In case of dangerous weather (lightning, high winds), we will reconvene on Thursday, September 24. For information on our refund and inclement weather policy, click here.

Capacity:

Capacity for this event is limited to 25 people. Register ahead of time to secure your space!

Registration opens July 14th.

Questions?

Contact Randy at events@nofamass.org