ABOUT THE TWILIGHT SERIES

SEMAP’s Twilight Grower Series offers farmers and food producers the chance to connect with and learn from one another. This farmer-to-farmer educational workshop series takes place on farms across the region, allowing hands-on learning and networking opportunities. While this series is open to everyone, it is particularly geared towards commercial growers. Unless otherwise noted, all our Twilight events are FREE.

Previous topics for the Twilight Grower Series have included pest management, alpaca basics, high tunnel winter growing, soil health, and more! Childcare will be available for free at all SEMAP Twilight Events!

If you have a request for our next Twilight topic, or would like to host a workshop on your farm, please contact Heather Meehan at hmeehan@semaponline.org.

For more events, check out the farm visit series organized and hosted by our friends at Eastern Massachusetts CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training) and the Young Farmers’ Network Young Farmer Nights.

 

2026 TWILIGHTS:

Permanent Deer Fencing & Flower Pest Walk

Twilight

Langwater Farm, North Easton, MA

Thursday, June 18th, 5:30-7:30pm

Interested in the process of building and installing permanent deer fencing? Join us for a wagon ride around Langwater Farm in Easton to see their deer fencing in action, including post pounding and brace building demonstrations. Langwater farm has been building and maintaining permanent deer fencing on their 80 acre farm for many years. They also install fencing and other agricultural infrastructure on neighboring farms and for other clients. This is a great opportunity to get your questions answered and find out if a similar fencing system might be plausible for you. Also, UMass Extension will be leading us in a pest walk through Langwater's flower field and to help identify pests and potential issues to help you look for similar things on your farm! 
 
 
Following the Twilight, there will be delicious wood fired pizza and refreshments from the folks at Langwater! 
 
Permanent Deer Fencing
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Semi Permanent Pest Fencing

Twilight

Silverbrook Farm, Dartmouth, MA

Wednesday, July 22nd, 5:30-7:30pm

Our Year of the Deer rolls on! 

Interested in investing in a good fence solution to keep pests out of your farm, but can't invest in the cost of a permanent deer fence? A semi-permanent fence might just be the solution for you and your farm! A semi-permanent fence hits that sweet spot between the larger cost of what permanent fences cost and the minimal costs of a temporary fence system. With a smaller investment, a little bit of know-how, targeted maintenance, a semi-permanent system can last for many seasons and be super effective at keeping the pests out and your crops safe. Join us at Silverbrook Farm where farmer Andrew will share his very effective, and easy to install fencing solution. We will look at his system, talk about the components, how he goes about installing it, maintenance tips, and the general costs of installing this type of fencing system. This will be a great Twilight for farmers who are struggling with pest deterrent, who are ready to potentially step up from a temporary fence system but not ready to take the leap or have the space for a permanent system! 

 
Silverbrook
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Tomato Breeding

Twilight

Freed Seed Federation, South Dartmouth, MA

Friday, August 7th, 5:30-7:30p

Join us as Freed Seed Federation will discuss participatory plant breeding of tomatoes for flavor and disease resistance, as well as approaches and techniques for seed saving on-farm. This is great opportunity to learn from the experts and practitioners at Freed Seed about what it takes to save seed and the important work for keeping an open and secure local food system! 
 
Following the Twilight, there will be delicious wood fired pizza from our friends at Renegades Rising! 
Tomato Twilight
Small Scale Pest Exclusion & Pest Walk

Twilight with Young Farmer Network and Land & Sea Together

Southside Community Land Trust, Providence, RI 

Tuesday, August 18th, 6-8pm

Collaboration with the Young Farmer Network and Land & Sea Together. Fencing, whether it's for deer, rodents or other mammalian pests is very important to anyone growing things! Permanent or even semi permanent fencing is not always an option for farmers. Join us as Southside Community Land Trust and learn how the farmers there are dealing with pest exclusion and the challenges and solutions that are unique to their growing environment, but can be useful to anyone growing things anywhere! URI Extension will also be joining us to help identify pests and other issues in crops so you can quickly identify these similar things as they arise on your farm. 

 

Small Scale Pests
Temporary Fence Installation & Maintenance

Twilight 

Heart Beets Farm, Berkley, MA

Thursday, September 17th, 5-7pm

Don't have tens of thousands of dollars to drop on permanent deer fencing? Many farmers in our region find themselves in this situation or can't justify the cost of installing permanent fencing on leased land. Heart Beets Farm in Berkley MA installs and manages temporary electric fencing systems each season to protect their certified Organic produce from deer intrusion. Join us to see their setup in action and discuss the benefits and challenges of such a system. We will address fence installation, maintenance including keeping a "hot" electric line and managing weeds along the fence line, and what to do when deer intrude anyway. This is a great opportunity to see practical solutions you can employ on your own farm, and brainstorm strategies with fellow farmers. Also, UMass Extension will be joining to talk about Pepper Maggot, identification and strategies for dealing with this issue on your farm. 

 

Temporary Fencing