Southside Community Land Trust

11/09/2026

Who's ready to party?! Mark your calendar for our Year End Celebration on Friday, December 4, from 4 to 8pm at the South Providence Healthy Food Hub, 404 Broad Street, 2nd floor.

We're celebrating the 2026 growing season and the winter rest ahead, honoring all the earth has given us and all we can give back. This celebration is for farmers, gardeners, staff, board members, partners, youth staff and alums, friends, family, neighbors, compost enthusiasts, environmentalists, conservationists, food business owners, and you!

The harvest table will be filled with dishes from around the world, all specialties of the farmers, gardeners, and folks in our network. If you're able, bring a dish to share, but come hungry either way. After the feast, there's karaoke, dancing, and kids' activities.

RSVP at https://bit.ly/SCLTCelebration2026 or just show up.

Watercolor by Jordan Ramos

Join the SCLT community at South Providence's Healthy Food Hub to honor the 2026 growing season at this welcoming potluck!

11/07/2026

Wait...what kind of veggie is this?!

Meet Pippin! Pip popped out of a patch of dill at Good Earth Farm in Cranston on a late July afternoon, a tuxedo kitten in a very sharp outfit. He was all alone in the big wide world, so farmers Christina, Philip, Vue, and Cheryl fed and loved him for as long as they could. With the growing season at its peak and pets of their own to care for, they put out a call for help, and one of our staff, Sam, was happy to answer.

Three months later, Pip has doubled in size and is a practicing daredevil. He loves a long car ride and has visited 5 of 6 New England states so far. He’s still working out his feelings about water but is generally in favor. His favorite vegetable is a sugar pumpkin, his favorite foods are tuna, prosciutto, and human ankles, and his favorite spot is a sunny windowsill, though he also enjoys the view from his cat backpack. His favorite time of day to vibrantly express his zest for life is 3:46am.

He has a little more energy than his 14-year-old sister Beebees likes sometimes, but he’s settling into life as a spoiled little sweetie quite well.

Things worked out for lil Pip, but remember: if you can’t keep a pet, please don’t abandon it. Rhode Island has several caring and capable animal care organizations that can help!

Huge thanks to Christina, Philip, Vue, and Cheryl for setting this little pal on the right path.

11/06/2026

💚🥬🫚🧄💚

Sanctuary Herbs of Providence

11/05/2026

Save the date: December 1 is Giving Tuesday, and we’re asking you to fuel our Farmer Services & Support program.

Rhode Island has the most expensive farmland in the country, which makes it nearly impossible for a beginning farmer to get started. Our two incubator farms in Cranston, Urban Edge Farm and Good Earth Farm, change that. Farmers lease land at low cost, share equipment, and get hands-on training and help reaching markets as they build their businesses.

This year, 45 farmers ran 17 small farm operations across the two farms and grew 335,000 pounds of produce. Through our Healthy Food Access program, we bought produce from 28 local farmers at fair prices and got it to neighbors who needed it.

Your Giving Tuesday gift helps us keep that land, equipment, and support available to the next farmer who needs it. Give on Tuesday, December 1 at southsideclt.org/donate.

Photo: Trenton Saleeba

11/04/2026

Our Healthy Food Access program has had a busy season. Here’s an update.

One in three Rhode Island households is food insecure, and rising prices and cuts to federal food assistance stretch families even further. This season, three partners helped meet the nutrition needs of thousands of people by purchasing produce grown by farmers in our network. Healthy Food Access Program Manager Kakeena Matos built a new partnership with Urban Greens Co-op Market, South Providence’s community-owned grocer, which has stocked its shelves with network-grown produce from July through November. Brown University Health distributed shares of our veggies through its Food Is Medicine initiative, a produce prescription for patients who manage an existing health condition. The Rhode Island Community Food Bank purchased produce that we then distributed to hundreds of families in our network.

Our Free Farm Stands Project, started last year, brings the harvest directly to neighbors by joining resource and celebration events hosted by community-based partners and open to everyone. This year, 16 stands served 1,275 people and distributed more than 7,650 pounds of produce at no cost. When Partnership for Providence Parks surveyed people who took home our produce at Providence recreation centers, they called it “a lifeline,” “fuel,” and “a treasure.”

Crops at the stands have included cilantro, parsley, basil, collards, kale, amaranth, potato greens, tomatoes, beets, chayote, peppers, pumpkins, eggplant, garlic, ginger, onions, squash, and honey. People choose what they want, with no strings attached, and many fill bags with their children, an elderly parent, or a neighbor in mind.

We’re also glad to have Farah Figuereo on the team. She joined us in July as our Seasonal Food Access Associate.

11/04/2026

🥬 UPDATE! Saturday's Free Farm Stand will now start at 2pm instead of 12.

Excited to gather with you at Open Valley on November 7, but we're moving the free farm stand start time back a bit. There's lots going on in the valley on Saturday! Be sure to visit the opening winter market at featuring local farmers and artisans, kicking off at 9am. Then make your way to Open Valley at to explore art, culture, and community.

Open Valley artwork by

11/04/2026

Come get free, fresh, local produce at Open Valley this Saturday, November 7!

SCLT will have a free farm stand at 50 Sims Ave in Providence, in partnership with the Rhode Island Land Trust Council, whose offices are right there. Stop by, grab a bag, and pick your own produce, all grown on land managed by SCLT. Seasonal produce at this time of year typically includes garlic, ginger, onions, potatoes, squash, chayote, herbs, and cooking greens. We’ll be set up at 12pm and will stay until the produce runs out.

SCLT is just one of Rhode Island’s 54 land trusts, and the produce is one example of the work a land trust can do. The Council will be tabling all day from 12 to 5pm, so come learn more about the Council and about what SCLT and the other land trusts do to conserve and steward lands and waterways across our state.

Open Valley is a free, open-studios-style celebration of art, culture, and community in Providence’s Valley neighborhood, put on by 50 Sims. It runs rain or shine from 12 to 5pm, so you can pick up some produce and spend the afternoon exploring.

Saturday, November 7
SCLT free farm stand: 12pm until the produce runs out
RI Land Trust Council table: 12 to 5pm
50 Sims Ave, Providence

More about Open Valley: https://www.50sims.com/open-valley

11/03/2026

Many of you gathered on Friday at our South Providence Healthy Food Hub to wish Margaret well and to celebrate her 14 years as Executive Director.

Today, we begin the next chapter in our long history, with the same work ahead of us. Now with Ben Torpey as Interim Executive Director, we will continue to deliver programs that build sovereignty and equity into the local food system, create access to land, markets, and opportunity, and steward partnerships with our neighbors so that we can respond to community-identified needs.

Ben has been in SCLT’s orbit for over 20 years, first getting involved as a City Farm volunteer in 2003 while an undergrad at Brown. He established a small farm operation, Scratch Farm, leasing land at Urban Edge Farm, which he would later manage when he joined the SCLT staff in 2020. Most recently, he’s served as Director of Programs, overseeing program staff and serving as project director for several of our long term initiatives. Ben steps in with the full confidence, trust, and support of the staff and Board of Directors, which will begin the search for our next ED.

Staff gathered on Monday to share breakfast and set intentions together for this next phase.