The 401
RHODE TRIPS
BY JAMIE COELHO
PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF ASHAWAUG FARM AND JAMIE COELHO.
Preserving the Past
Dawn and Cassius Spears cultivate Indigenous crops and host sharing workshops for seed saving, floral preservation and crafts at Ashawaug Farm.
T
OMATO SEASON MAY BE COMING TO A CLOSE, but at Ashawaug Farm in Ashaway, squash harvesting and seed saving is just beginning.
The focus here is on cultivating more than fifty varieties of heirloom tomatoes, plus Narragansett Flint Corn, squash and beans— known as the“ three sisters” in the Indigenous community. The small-scale commercial heritage farm specializes in heirloom, culturally relevant and Indigenous varieties of vegetables and serves as an outdoor educational classroom to teach workshops in seed saving, floral preservation and art.
The land is cared for— notice I didn’ t say owned— by an Indigenous family, Dawn and Cassius Spears, and their children and grandchildren, who grow with love and respect
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: The honor system farmstand at Ashawaug Farm; the building where seed saving, art and floral preservation take place; Dawn and Cassius Spears; Narragansett flint corn; Ashawaug Farm cultivates fifty varieties of heirloom tomatoes.
for the land. Their six-acre parcel is part of the homelands of the Narragansett-Niantic Tribal community, and is also the home of the Narragansett Food Sovereignty Initiative and the Northeast Indigenous Arts Alliance.
On an early October day, driving up to the rose-pink-painted homestead, located off Main Street, there’ s a small, welcoming shed that serves as an honor system farmstand. Guests can stop in to purchase whatever produce is in season along with bouquets of dried flowers. On the day of my visit, the end-of-tomato season is represented by more than twenty different varieties— from Pink Oxheart( bulky and
46 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I OCTOBER 2026