Farm Report 10/24/23 – October Skies
The farm had some really dramatic skies this week and, on the sunnier days, the Fall flower colors really popped.
We had more help from the Waldorf 4th graders and from our group of young adults from Seguinland Institute. This was their last visit for the year, and we took full advantage of their time with us. Seed saving, cleaning sweet potatoes, and bed clearings were all in a morning’s work. The garlic got planted, and an entire grow tunnel got cleared out and the plastic removed. This will be left open for the winter season to let all the rain and snow wash out any build-ups in the soil.
We sent out our 61st gleaning for the year, and Hakurei salad turnips were added to the harvest.
Still no frost!
Genevieve did five soil tests from different locations around the farm. We are mostly curious about our pH level and hoping we were able to bring it down from 7-7.5.
Hanging out with young people like my friend/co-worker Genevieve always keeps life on the farm interesting. I went to join her for lunch and was surprised to see her squirting ranch dressing on spinach leaves–not spinach in a bowl, but individual leaves (our spinach leaves happen to be extremely large). The conversation went like this. “What are you doing?” “It’s a free-range salad. I forgot my lunch.” She does happen to think outside the box a lot.
Carol and Monique helped me get ready for our wreath making workshop on Saturday by harvesting lots of gorgeous amaranth. It was a fun workshop, and everyone seemed pleased with their creations. We will definitely schedule time to do it again next year and discuss some other flowers that would be fun to grow specifically for this workshop. The money plant seemed like a good choice. Our new seedling greenhouse was the perfect spot to hold this workshop. We all stayed nice and dry from the endless drizzle on Saturday. I can see this space being utilized for many more workshops in our future.
Another fun thing that happened this week was our volunteer appreciation gathering at Flight Deck Brewing last Sunday. Thanks to our friends at Flight Deck for allowing us to gather there, share fun stories, and enjoy some great pizza and brews. Carrie brought our newest volunteer, Baby Arden. Welcome, Baby Arden. Can you feel the love?
Flight Deck Brewing has also graciously added us to their Brews for a Cause calendar. On November 15th, 20% of all beer and pizza sales will be donated to Growing to Give. Another fun way to support G2G.
As our season winds down, I would like to mention a few end of the season requests and offerings.
1) We’re still accepting cardboard (black ink only), glass jars for next year’s flowers (most sizes work), and newspapers (no glossy please) for our pot making parties. One of our volunteers mentioned throwing her own paper pot party this winter–asking her hooked rug group to come over and roll a couple thousand pots! What a great idea, Sue! So, I was thinking, how about all you book clubs out there in G2G land? You could discuss your book, sip your wine, and maybe roll paper pots? I am guessing we will need 6 to 7 thousand. Yes, that’s thousands! We hope to be able to start some specially requested vegetable seedlings to give away next year, so that bumps up the number of pots needed from last year.
I have some gently used clear plastic that is free for the taking with more to come from the Rimol greenhouse. We will be opening it up for the winter, and the plastic is being replaced in the spring.
We have garlic available for planting or eating, and garlic braids to use and enjoy. The variety is Music.
We also have cool G2G bags available for a suggested donation of $10.
As our season finishes up and our staff starts to leave, we have adjusted our days at the farm. We are now there Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. If the temperature is in the 30s in the morning, we will not be there until 9am, trying not to freeze our hands and taking advantage of a little warmth from our morning sunshine. We have already lost 5 hours of daylight, and it sure feels that way in the morning!
So as not to bore you with repetitive reporting, I think we will take a week off from the farm report. I am sure Mike and Cathy (my support team) will be just fine with that!
We are very lucky to get to enjoy the fall colors here in Maine. Lots of people travel great distances to experience what we sometimes take for granted. Get outside and look around!
Always grateful,
Theda