Yes, we are officially over 16,000 pounds (that’s 8 tons!) and still harvesting. We were able to harvest napa cabbage on Wednesday this week, and on Thursday, more spinach was picked by the Waldorf 4th graders so they could stay out of the early morning chill.
Our week really started on Tuesday morning when Claire (one of last summer’s interns) arrived with three other Bowdoin students to take soil samples. They are testing the soil samples from no-till (that’s us), low-till, and till. They will compare the cation exchange capacity in these soil samples, and they promised to share their results with us.
I wanted to taste one of our baby carrots that we still have in the ground. They are really delicious due to the cooler temperatures. Zoey always wants to see and share what we are eating, so she got a sample carrot, too. She has very good carrot eating manners.
Judy came to mow one last time this week. She stopped for a cookie break, and guess who thought she should have a bite, too! Judy is better at saying no to Zoey than I am.
We get lots of treats throughout the season from our volunteer-friends, and Wednesday we actually were treated to lunch by Carol and BJ. Thanks, you guys! What a thoughtful gesture. It’s okay BJ, we had lots to eat, but that 3-bean salad sure would have been yummy. 🙂 Carrie let everyone know that we don’t just eat healthy food, and all leftover Halloween candy could be left at the farm! Judy already did a drop off!
The Maine Coast Waldorf 4th graders came for the last time this year and after picking spinach while singing along with Ian, they began the process of preparing our final project for the season: a small native wildflower meadow. Located in the low grassy area in Lower Field, our hope is that sowing an abundance of native plant seeds will help with water drawdown in this often-soggy area, attract and support native wildlife, and overall cut down on our mowing. After peeling back the tarp that has been smothering the sod for the past 2 months, the students got to work removing the last few stubborn dandelions that survived the darkness with their incredible taproots. As they finished up, Ian led the kids in singing “The Cat Came Back,” a favorite of theirs. It has been incredible to watch this group grow and mature over a total of 14 visits to the farm this year!
On Friday, Harpswell Coastal Academy came and finished up what the 4th graders started–spreading a thin layer of compost over this new area, scattering the seeds, and pressing them in with rakes and shoes. They had so much energy and excitement, and this fairly big task was accomplished quickly.
As the kids were hauling wagons of compost, Scott, Denise, and Monique worked on taking out the last of the snapdragons in the flower garden. Here is Monique behind the wheel of the mower for the first time! The Fix-It Team was walking the farm with John and me, compiling a to-do list for the end of the season. John calls it “tidying up”. I call it “peace of mind”: securing the tunnel scissor doors against the Winter winds; simplifying the irrigation system; identifying leaks and possible blowouts; repairing tears in greenhouse plastic; and prioritizing the to-do list. We learn from our mistakes, and believe me mistakes were made! This year the fixers have helped us make the farm more like a well-oiled machine, allowing Carrie and me the ability to work on what we know best. Each one of you brings your own expertise to this team, with everyone listening to and valuing the others’ opinions. A lesson for all of us. Once again, thanks to all of you.
I am not sure if the Fixers would have been proud of my bucket solution on Saturday or not. I think most of us get ideas/solutions in the middle of the night when we should be sleeping. My latest was how to fix the issue of keeping the 5 gallon buckets that we use for so many purposes around the farm, from getting stuck together. Okay, so I lead a very unexciting life!
When the buckets get stacked, they become almost impossible to pull apart. We have tried education, rocks, small plastic pots–nothing works for the long term. We have a saying “duct tape is God; God is duct tape” (I hope I have not offended anyone). Could duct tape solve this issue too? If we put several layers of duct tape on one edge of the bucket, could it provide enough of a gap so the buckets would not create a vacuum? The answer is no. But that failure brought us to what I hope is a solution. With Andrew and Marsha’s help, and some old soaker hose and duct tape, we did it! Andrew thinks we should patent it! I told him he could, and we would split the profits. Then he was not so keen.
As we get ready to shut down, volunteers helped us with lots of tarp folding and labeling. Not a farm favorite job, but it’s so helpful to pull out a tarp that fits the plot. Not much fun hauling a tarp out to the field, battling the wind, only to have it be too short or not wide enough. Now we have nice piles of labeled tarps. Thanks, Amy and Karin, and later Amanda and Katy, who made Genevieve smile every time I told her “they are folding another one!”
I could have titled this farm report “Grubs and other creatures who freak out our volunteers.” Not wanting to alarm my readers, and since Halloween is over, I went with the more uplifting title. This did seem to be the week for squirmy, squishy creatures. We had a visitor who upon seeing a worm, cried out, “I have a worm phobia!” and started to hyperventilate. Hmmm, interesting.
Then I subjected many volunteers on Saturday to what I thought would be some easy weeding around the elderberry bushes. Seems this was an area that the brown grubs/cutworms deemed a very hospitable environment. There were lots, and stomping on them with your boots did not eradicate them. I became very proficient with my small clippers. No need to go into details, as I took care of the piles left for me. I later learned, when l was reading about brown grubs, that buckets of soapy water would have done the trick. Cleaning up around the base of the plants was the best solution for these unwanted pests, and since we are no-till, we will have to keep an eye out for them in other areas next Spring.
Looks like our warm weather will be leaving us next week and so will most of our volunteers. We have one more week of volunteering, maybe a couple of Friday Fixers days, and some pop-up harvests for remaining lettuce, cabbage, carrots, and spinach. I feel like we are leaving the farm in good shape, thanks to all the great help we had this season. If you came once or 30 times, I hope you feel the same pride and ownership in what we have accomplished and what we hope to accomplish. You all matter.
Thanks everyone,
Theda