Some days when I arrive at the farm my day starts with a hello to our goat friends. One day this week they were especially comical, posing on their tree stumps. Our smallest goat, Dotty, was right up there with the big boys, Edison and Einstein. She was up front and center showing off her balancing act. I am often asked what our goats provide. Do we milk them or do we make cheese?  My answer is no–they provide a little bit of manure and a whole lot of charm!
We had a lot of school activity this week with Harpswell Coastal Academy coming back to help, and we met a group of 17 college students from Seguinland Institute. They harvested, washed, and processed an entire bed of leeks. This enabled us to have their help with composting and cover cropping another entire plot. They were with us for a big part of the day, and it was interesting to hear them share their farm experiences at the end of it. I asked how many wanted to go out and start a food bank farm–lots of hands went up! It’s good to know we made a positive impression, and there are lots of young people who care about the world we live in.
There is still a lot of harvesting going on, and I want to give special thanks to our dedicated Monday group of gleaners from Androscoggin and Cumberland counties. They have helped to harvest and deliver an incredible amount of food this season from G2G to those in need.
I often have volunteers tell me how they love being part of what we are trying to accomplish at the farm, and they would love to hear how it makes a difference in people’s lives.  Judy, who delivers weekly to Woodside in Lisbon Falls, shared a story with me this week. One of the residents of Woodside commented that she feels she has no food when she has no fresh vegetables–she loves them.  The residents of Woodside have not wasted anything we have sent their way. They have received over 1,000 pounds from G2G. What is not eaten fresh has been canned, frozen, or dried. When Judy delivers her boxes of fresh vegetables on Monday mornings, Sarah lovingly displays them in their common room. We all feel such pride in this photo of our food on display.
I believe we will soon be picking lettuce and spinach from those 1,200 seedlings that were donated and planted just a few weeks ago. These continuing mild temperatures are making for happy plants and happy volunteers! Carrie and I are not sorry that our hands are not freezing while we are finishing up the season.
I took advantage of the many volunteers on Friday and Saturday. The garlic plot is now ready for planting at the end of the week after being weeded, broadforked, and topped with compost. We started “lasagna gardening” with another plot. It is a scaled-down version with only one layer of cardboard, compost and leaves. We then pull row cover over it and secure it against winter winds. Our other trick is to transplant in as many worms that we find from other locations on the farm. This worked really well for us last year. The cardboard was broken down enough so we could directly plant into the bed in June.
I’d also like to acknowledge the Fix-it Team who show up on Fridays and quietly “FIX STUFF”! Thanks so much for making the farm run smoothly.
Well, it looks like I’ve babbled on enough! It was a great week, thanks to all of you who helped us accomplish a tremendous amount!
Sincerely,
Theda