Off to OHIO!
But let’s start with what was happening at G2G while I was away.
The Brunswick 5th graders came to the farm on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. That was 320 extra hands! This was part of their science curriculum and learning about nutrient cycling. They first went to CREA (Cathance River Education Alliance), and then we were the lucky farm to host them on a later date. We had them build lasagne beds with cardboard, goat manure, and straw. They were good sports about shoveling that manure! They ran around the farm taking soil samples from various locations, including the woods, and discovered worms, beetles, bees, and, of course, the goats. Melanie reports that many asked if they could come back. Great job on everyone’s part to get that level of enthusiasm. The goats need to be thanked, too, for all they do as ambassadors for G2G.
I received more photos from our gleaners, including location sites for deliveries. Marjorie harvests and delivers to the Yarmouth Food Pantry on Mondays. She reports that it goes out the door to about 30 families on Tuesday morning.
Adelle delivers also on Mondays to the Freeport Pantry and two sharing tables outside Portland Health clinics. You can see our G2G logo on their Free Food Banner.
Our biggest recipient is MCHPP (Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program). From this food hub our organic produce goes to multiple locations in the greater Brunswick area. It also goes to their commercial kitchen at this same location to be processed into some kind of delicious, nutritious soup, sauce, or just as a vegetable to be frozen for later use.
Saturday most of my usual volunteer crew came to help prepare more plots for winter. The weather has been so warm and nothing has been killed by frost, so we have had to start to cut plants down. We cut the plants at ground level so the microorganisms can continue to feed on those roots throughout the winter. It’s getting a bit late for cover crop seeding except rye, so this plot got cardboard, manure, and straw. We layed tattered row covers over it with sandbags to hold it in place, otherwise the wind would blow everything all over the farm!
The volunteers also helped harvest some Autumn Frost winter squash, and no vine borers were in sight! Confusing, but I’ll take it!
The amaranth was just too pretty to put in the compost pile, so we hung some of it up to dry. It’s there for the taking if anyone wants to add it to a Fall bouquet or wreath project.
We also have an abundance of flowers for picking. Diane couldn’t resist trying for another “make a bouquet for a G2G donation” pop-up in Falmouth. I’m not sure how she made out, but, if nothing else, she got to enjoy picking and sharing flowers with friends. Mary goes for the honeycomb dahlias.
Okay on to Ohio.
My brother asked me to come to his farm and be part of his Field Day presentations in collaboration with Logan County Soil and Water Conservation and American Farmland Trust. He had two different events, and I was part of the Gardening Program. I spoke about our no-till methods, incorporating cover crops into your garden, companion planting, paper pots etc. Most of you know the drill.
There were also two people from an Ohio cover crop seed company who spoke about the benefits of specific cover crops.
I learned so much and will definitely be utilizing some of these new (to us) ideas into next season’s crop rotation plan.
There were talks and demonstrations on the principles of soil health, no-till farming, and cover crop termination. I showed a photo of our crimping method with a board and two volunteers. They thought that was pretty funny, but acknowledged how effective it could be on a small scale.
The evening ended with a drone demonstration. The drone flew over my brother’s field of sunflowers and planted a cover crop mix. This will actually be planted into the stubble after the flowers are harvested, but for demonstration purposes we got to witness this new technology ahead of schedule. It was actually kind of cool, but creepy, too!
I went shopping at a new friend’s garden in Ohio and came home with Chinese long bean seeds, a new beautiful dahlia bulb, and Mr. Stripey heirloom tomato seeds. We gardeners love to share, and Tonya was no exception! More varieties for our seed bank!
That is my news from last week.
Please join us at our Volunteer Appreciation Event on Sunday, October 15th, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Flight Deck Brewery in Brunswick. We need to celebrate our 2023 season together.
We will be drawing this years’ raffle winners at the appreciation event. You can still purchase tickets right up until midnight on the 14th! So many cool places to stay and dine. There is also a beautiful hand-made quilt to wrap up in, cool nights are coming!
Always grateful, and especially grateful to be back in Maine! 🙂
Theda