Hello Dear Growing to Give Community,

These are truly the golden days of summer. The mornings now carry a whisper of fall in their coolness and that special slant of the light. Flowers bloom all around and monarchs dance above their petals. These last few weeks on the farm have been quieter than usual without the happy chatter of interns. We’re incredibly grateful for all of you who showed up a little extra these last few weeks to pitch in some additional hours.

While we are sowing the last successions of autumn crops, dreaming of the slightly cooler days, and readying ourselves for the joyful school groups that will be joining us next month, we have our hands full keeping up with the bustle of high summer. The tomatoes are in full swing along with eggplants, peppers, and okra. Our last round of summer beets is ready for harvest along with our collard greens and our second successions of kale and Swiss chard. Sweet potatoes are not far off, and we have lots of lettuce on the way along with quite a lot of carrots if we catch the rogue woodchuck that somehow got onto the farm and seems particularly taken with them.
Some recent summer harvests: kohlrabi, Swiss chard (washed by awesome volunteer Jan Johnson!) and an assortment of eggplants, peppers, and parsley.
We’ve been in a battle of wits with the crows, and it’s unclear who is winning! Earlier this month, they hollowed out every single one of our watermelons and pecked at every single even slightly ripe tomato. We’ve had to adapt to harvesting our tomatoes at the first blush of pink and letting them finish ripening off the vine. We have tried all sorts of strategies to deter the crows including shiny ribbons and CDs, netting, and billowing row covers. After learning that one reason crows sometimes peck melons and tomatoes is that they are trying to quench their thirst, we recently introduced bird baths with solar fountains to give the crows an alternative water source. It’s too soon to tell if this will yield long term results, but there do seem to be significantly fewer pecked tomatoes. Another promising solution has been hanging row cover directly over the watermelon beds so that it billows in the breeze and limits access to the fruit – this has made a huge difference. We are also spraying a farm concoction of garlic, thyme, and cayenne on the melons to deter the voles that were tunneling in that plot. So far, so good!  With a little luck, hopefully some of the few remaining melons now have a shot at maturing.
A watermelon pecked by crows and a variety of crow deterrent strategies: reflective CDs, billowing row cover, and a bubbling fountain.

We are always in awe of what a group can accomplish and want to thank some of the teams that have come out multiple times this summer: the St. Paul’s group that has been visiting monthly and recently re-seeded a plot of carrots by hand (seriously, thank you SO much!); the Work Opportunities Unlimited group that has been coming every other week and has done everything from starting seeds, potting up seedlings, transplanting, watering, weeding, and harvesting onions and beans; and a group from Cor Health that also re-seeded a plot of carrots (yes, there are two carrot plots!)
From left to right: volunteers from St. Paul’s, Work Opportunities Unlimited (hard at work picking beans!), and Cor Health.
It’s also the very sad time of year where we say farewell to many of our regular volunteers who are summer residents. Thank you all for sharing parts of your Maine summers with us, for wholeheartedly joining in the work, for embracing our interns and joining us for meals, for telling us stories and sharing your amazing artwork, and for bringing along your neighbors, children, and grandchildren! It has been such a delight to meet you all, and while we will miss you, it helps to know that we’ll see you again next summer!
A stone fountain carved by our amazing volunteer Mark (and appreciated by my son, Asa!) and volunteer Sharon Cohen who brought along her hardworking neighbors, children, and grandchildren for a day.
With great gratitude,
Lindsay Wasko
Farm Director
P.S. Don’t forget to mark your calendars for our fall fundraiser, Dancing to Give, happening the evening of October 11th at Maine Coast Waldorf School in Freeport for those age 21 and up. Stay tuned for more details!