Lots is happening at the farm this past week. First of all, we harvested over 1,300 pounds of food. Part of that total was Paul’s summer project. Paul was trying to determine how different amounts of biochar in the beds affected the growth of the plants. Napa cabbage was the project vegetable. We needed to harvest all of the plot at once to get a bed average. This meant not only harvesting, weighing and cleaning, but finding a home for all this cabbage.
Lauren from the Cumberland County Gleaners took some for Wayside in Portland and for the Unified Asian Communities. The intention to provide culturally appropriate foods is something I think we should think about in next year’s crop plan. We always appreciate Colleen’s enthusiasm to help distribute food at the last minute. This time we filled up her truck! Our interns had the opportunity to do deliveries as well to Freeport and MCHPP. It was a big team effort to deliver 500 pounds of cabbage within a couple of hours. Thanks team!
Grace has been running our harvest board all summer. On Wednesday, we had 8 recipients and almost 500 pounds of produce. I came in from the field and asked Grace how she was doing. She had a look of alarm on her face and declared, “Theda, they just keep bringing in more and more food!” I was glad she got to experience such a bounty.
The heat and humidity was oppressive this week and it was also our Giving to Grow Fundraising Challenge. Lot’s of volunteers turned up to support and raise money for G2G. Most were familiar faces that brought family and friends. Everyone just jumped right in and helped with harvesting, weeding, tarping and getting ready for the end of the week’s Farmyard Jam. Participants got a t-shirt, massage, and a freshly cut bouquet of flowers. I heard many comments about how it gave everyone a new perspective on how it all works and comes together. I think we made an impression with our dedication to this project.
On top of all this, we had a creative writing camp with us all week. The Telling Room kids took a part of each day to learn about G2G with Tucker and Grace. These two Bowdoin interns were so great with all the kids who came to the farm this summer. I learned a lot from them. Grace and Tucker were presented with two special thank you gifts. A nature inspired thank you card for Grace and farm fresh eggs, individually signed by the campers, for Tucker.
This was our Bowdoin interns’ final week of their summer internship. Carrie and I are very sad to see them go. We have all had a fabulous summer, learning from each other, laughing, sharing food, stories and developing lasting loving relationships. This has been the case with our WOOFers this summer too. We are so lucky that we get to meet, and hopefully nurture such exceptional individuals.
Our Friday potlucks just won’t be the same! 🙁 I am so proud of Tucker, his usual plate of brown foods became so much more colorful as the summer progressed!
As new friends said goodbye, we welcomed two new WOOFers, Kitty and Kara. They jumped right into the mayhem this week and were so helpful in tidying up the farm for our farm tour on Saturday. They tackled the tarp and sandbag mess and now we have order again!
There is so much to share about the event on Saturday. It was a huge success and I think it will be best to save all that till next week.
Paul, Grace, Tucker, Nathan, Raizel and Sam, thank you all, for what each one of you brought to our mission of growing nutritious food for our community.
Love,
Theda and all of us at G2G