Farm Report 11/14/23 – A Sunchoke Tale
Nutmeg thought I might need some help writing the farm report this week. She was right.
This was her contribution:
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Thanks, Nutmeg, you are always such a big help with your cat perspective on life!
It’s getting harder to work outside in the cold, especially when the skies are gray, giant icicles are forming and the wind chill is now a factor. Still, we had three gleanings, finished prepping a bed, did our seed inventory, and dug a few Jerusalem Artichokes (585.1 pounds to be exact). It took us (Carol, Melanie, Genevieve, and me) two days with six volunteers to dig and wash all those tubers. I sent everyone out to dig, and I started washing the mud off. When David brought the 4th wagon load he reported back “Theda’s not looking too happy!”
I snagged Monique to help me, but it was slow going. “Monique, do you feel like a washer woman from the Middle Ages?” She agreed even though her pink down coat was a bit out of sync with my reference to that time in history.
Poor Genevieve! She could not get her hands used to the frigid water. She would not have made it as a washerwoman. Thanks, Denise, David, and Monique for your end of the season push to help us harvest all these chokes!
We were dreading day two of sunchoke prep, but it was really much easier. Sunshine and being in the seedling greenhouse with fresh washerwomen made all the difference! Thanks, Amy, Robin, and Lisa. You brought back our smiles.
The seedling greenhouse has become so much more. I never really envisioned all the uses it would serve. A warm place of refuge is its purpose right now.
In case you were wondering, the sunchoke story does have a happy ending.
Amelia came on Monday to cart them all away and donate to the Wabanaki Community Food Pantries. They are feeding 200-300 people. Sunchokes are native plants and were originally cultivated by indigenous peoples. Lots of information about sunchokes on Wikipedia and the internet has plenty of recipes to try. Amelia tells me “soup” is the traditional recipe with corn and salt pork.
When Amelia came to pick up the sunchokes, Aaron was at the farm, too. Aaron has a perennial edible plant nursery called Edgewood Nursery in Falmouth, Maine. He came to get a tour of G2G and advise us on how to move forward with our interest in expanding our perennial crops. The three of us are excited with the prospect of collaborating on plants, farming, and education.
Farm report will take a couple of weeks off. Still lots of end of season doings to report, but I want to build up some suspense, without Nutmeg’s help!
Don’t forget to join us at Flight Deck Brewing in Brunswick on November 14th from 4-9 pm. Flight Deck Brewing is donating 20% of all beer and pizza sales to Growing to Give.
Happy Thanksgiving. Please remember someone who might need a little extra love and support.
Always grateful,
Theda