Farm Report 7/5/23 – Level 1 FUN!
It’s been an interesting week of continuous rain with 24 out of 30 days in June with a shower, a drizzle, a deluge, fog (100% humidity) or a combination of the above.
I keep telling everyone, “at least it’s warm.”
Wednesday was the “Perfect Storm” for all of us to get soaked. I always check the weather forecast in the morning and on Wednesday, we were due for heavy showers around 9 a.m.
Since it was a big gleaning day we all hustled to harvest what was outside in the fields so the gleaners could go into the tunnels and stay somewhat dry.
The following photos pretty much sum up the rest of the story.
Dave, from MCHPP, took this cool shot of us from the tunnel he was working in.
Genevieve forgot her raincoat (again) and concocted this elaborate rainsuit made out of Vermont potting soil bags and duct tape! She completed her ensemble with a plastic bucket for a rain hat. She gets an A for originality and for continuing to smile.
Which brings us to Level 1 Fun.
I have so much fun working with younger people. At lunch, while we sat in our wet clothes, Megan informed us that our morning of working in the rain was a level 2 (of fun). Level 1 is fun at the moment, level 2 is looking back on it later as fun, and I added we need a level 3. Level 3 would be looking back on it after a hot shower!
Tuesday, Carrie and I loaded up our cars with the parts for two of our (new to us) tomato trellising systems. The interns watched the YouTube assembly video and got right to work getting the first one up. The Fix-It Team helped us with the second one, and we put lots of volunteers on getting the tomatoes strung up. We have 3 more to go and since Megan informed me she “likes” stringing up tomatoes, I am sure we will get this accomplished in a few days.
Friday was great! It didn’t rain until later in the day, and we had lots of volunteers to help us get the very last of our winter squash planted. Tarps were removed from the crimped rye. A beautiful site to see–no weeds and a pre-laid mulch. Zoey is very serious about her job of checking the newly-exposed rye for voles!
Shannon and two of her co-workers from Colby Co. Engineering came to volunteer for four hours Friday morning. Along with our staff, Hannah, Sorrel and Silvo, Denise and David, we planted 200 winter squash, 200 zucchini, and an interplanting of 266 peppers and amaranth. The seedling greenhouse is almost empty.
We also had a gleaning on Friday. Bob and Susan loaded up their Mini to the max and drove off to deliver to MCHPP. We added garlic scapes to the mix this week along with herbs, lettuce, kale, the last of the Hakurei turnips and tons and tons of peas! Since Monday is a holiday, Judy came to harvest for her recipients on Friday. Judy is so dedicated to getting fresh food to these people who have to stretch their food budgets. She knows what they like and will use. Right now chard is their favorite. If a vegetable is left over due to it being something new or unfamiliar, such as garlic scapes, Judy will make pesto out of it and take it back for them to try.
Judy, I hope you know how much we appreciate you with the mowing, the gleaning, and the tasty treats you make us.
A final Friday note.
It was Friday Potluck! All things alliums was our theme. (Alliums?) You know–onions, scallions, garlic, garlic scapes, chives, chive blossoms. Your food contribution just needed to have one of those ingredients in it.
I must say, we outdid ourselves! It was a gorgeous and delicious display of food, and it wasn’t raining! I could name everything, but that would not be fair to those of you who live away. Neena’s mom, Mona, joined us as a volunteer and added palak paneer to our eclectic spread. For those of you who live in Maine, maybe you might want to volunteer on Fridays? We always have plenty to share!
Sophie from Johnny’s Seeds visited the farm on Saturday. She brought donations of equipment that we are excited to try and utilize. She also brought a lot of enthusiasm toward the connections she is making around the state. She told me she is inspired by the people she is meeting, the farms she is touring and the work that is being done to fight food insecurity. She Is hoping to develop a community of volunteers in Albion like we have at G2G. I shared what came to mind about how our community has grown and developed. We will stay in touch and continue to share ideas and information.
Luckily the rain held off Saturday morning, so we did more tomato trellising and lots and lots of weeding. This rain is causing an explosion of weeds. Weeding can be therapeutic if anyone is interested.
A group from Apogee came on Saturday. Carrie taught the group of nine 11- and 12-year-olds how to plant zucchini seedlings into the killed-off winter rye. After they planted and covered two full beds, they enthusiastically engaged in removing some bolting napa cabbage that was leftover in plot 15 and then shared it with the goats.
Megan, one of our Bowdoin interns, has chosen for her summer project to have conversations with G2G volunteers to better understand the volunteer experience and why they chose to engage with G2G. Those of you who are used to me saying, ”can I take your picture?” might now hear me ask you to help Megan gather the data she is trying to collect. This will benefit G2G, Megan, and maybe Sophie up at Johnny’s! Thanks, ahead of time for putting up with me.
This is our first year growing fennel. The seed was donated from (can you guess?) Johnny’s Select Seeds. I am unfamiliar with the growing of this vegetable. All I could find was that it needs a lot of space and LOTS of water. I think we have that one covered.
Other veggies that are looking really good are the early cabbages. The eggplant started out sad because of the slugs and snails, but the cornmeal seemed to help take care of most of them and now they look much better.
Our greenhouse tomatoes are producing, and we’re looking forward to harvesting them later this month.
It is amazing to me that the farm is doing as well as it is. As I sit here on a Sunday afternoon writing the farm report, the constant patter of rain on my roof, I think–well at least it’s warm. 🙂
Always grateful and a little damp,
Theda