If you come by the farm on a spring morning, you will drive down the winding dirt driveway through rolling green hills. The golden morning light catches in each dewdrop and glows through the translucent walls of the high tunnels. You’ll be greeted at the green Garden Shed before joining the morning’s mixed crew of farm staff, volunteers, and interns to water seedlings and get started on the morning’s work. In late spring, typical tasks include reminding our vigorous wild plants that they can live in the lawn and hedgerows but not in the garden beds (thank you for being here dandelions, dock, and plantain – we appreciate the work you do, but this bed is for carrots), preparing dormant plots for planting, and transplanting seedlings into the soil.
While harvests aren’t happening as frequently as they will be during the main season, we’ve been picking plenty of root vegetables (stunning pink radishes and salad turnips) and head lettuces to send out to our community partners. We’ve loved welcoming gleaners back onto the farm along with school groups, corporate groups, seasonal interns, and many new and returning volunteers. We couldn’t do this without you!
One of my favorite moments in early May was witnessing a group of fourth graders harvesting radishes and turnips for the first time. They pulled up gleaming pink, purple, and white roots as if it were a treasure hunt, delighting in each one and asking so many wonderful questions. They were chuffed to be able to donate over 100lbs of produce to MCHPP after their hard work and got to have a little farm snack from the roots they harvested. Many kids have never had a fresh radish or a salad turnip before, and it clearly sparked a lot of joy.
Thank you all for supporting our work! I have been amazed at our volunteer community who came out in all the wild spring weather – pouring rain, actual snow storms, sleet, more rain, and surprising heat – to accomplish all that we have so far this season. We look forward to seeing more of you on the farm as the days warm up.
With care,
Lindsay Wasko
Farm Director
P.S We hope you can join us for Growing to Give’s Open Farm on May 17!