I was away last week visiting my family in Wisconsin. As many of you have experienced in your own gardens, the plant growth this time of year is amazing. Carrie, Annie, Claire, Genevieve and Sophia kept planting, weeding, fertilizing, watering, and nurturing these healthy vibrant eggplants, cabbages and all the rest of our vegetable collection. Thanks to them, and all the volunteers, I did not have to worry about any farm related issues. Thanks, Team!
The vegetable harvests are expanding, including scapes and beets. Annie was all smiles as she ran “the board” and filled the boxes headed out to 7 locations on Wednesday. Carol and Deirdra were forced by me to pose with vegetables we had just picked, but their smiles and enthusiasm were genuine. Vera came with her brother Finn and mom Emily. They were a great help picking beets and pulling onions. Here is Vera showing me she could almost hide behind this prize and who says you can’t harvest while sitting down?
I want to show our method of no-till planting into a crimped winter rye plot. The tarp is removed from the plot after about a month, and the soil is broadforked. Claire and Annie were doing the hard work. Then the plot was topped with a little compost and fertilizer. Finally the zucchini seedlings were planted 2’ apart with two plants per hole. We always water in with fish emulsion to help with transplant shock, then cover with row cover to keep moisture in and insects out! The joke in Maine during zucchini season is to keep your car doors locked and windows rolled up. Wouldn’t that be nice!
So…Carrots 🙁 Sometimes we hit it right, and sometimes we don’t. This is a “don’t” summer, and we had to go back and hand plant the rows where we have big gaps. It could be a number of things, but my favorite fall back excuse is our seeder. Carrots always seem to need to be weeded more than once a summer, and this was the week for that project. We tackled one plot on Wednesday and the other on Saturday. My Saturday volunteers always want to know why something didn’t work out the way I had hoped. I tried to explain to them that we were trying out a new variety that needed 6-8 inches of space between the seedlings because they were going to be extra large. Inexplicably, some of them didn’t buy that explanation and wanted to know the name of the variety. The rare Humongous carrot, I replied. Hmmm. Many did not buy into that explanation. We shall see what happens.
Flowers are now available in our Pick-a-Bouquet for a donation flower garden and all over the rest of the farm. We had our first customers–Sue and her granddaughter Addie. Flowers can be cut Monday-Saturday 8-2 at the farm. Jars and snippers are available if you forget to bring your own. Also, we plan to have bouquets available in 2 store locations each week. I am trying to recruit flower-loving volunteers to come pick and arrange bouquets for this project. Anyone interested? As the days and store locations are set, I will let you know the details.
While the Fix-It Team keeps plugging away at ongoing and pop-up irrigation issues (thanks, everyone!), we also had new volunteers this week. First we had Alyson who brought her mom Cindy. They came to help us string up tomatoes (we have over 1,000 tomato plants that need attention) and do some hand watering. Cindy happens to be a dear friend of ours, and she and her family own Curry Printing, one of our business sponsors. Curry Printing has always been so supportive and generous to G2G. Thanks for the help with all our printing needs and for coming to volunteer on one of your vacation days, Cindy and Alyson.
We also had Jackie, Lauren, and Jen, colleagues from Akamai Technologies, who came to do some team building. We put them in the tunnel with the “Theda peas”. Whew! Now all the evidence has been destroyed, and I’ll only have to take some ribbing about the carrots. They gave us a really nice compliment as they were leaving. They commented that they had never felt more welcomed at a volunteer site, and they appreciated that everyone was so helpful and nice. Thanks, ladies! We love what we are doing and appreciate all the help we can get. Come back anytime. 🙂
Our interns are an amazing group of bright, strong, young women. I was just thinking the other day how we only have to show or explain something to them once. They can be left alone to work alongside volunteers, to guide them and answer questions. I never have to go around and pick up after any of them. They are proactive with chores that need to be done, never complain, and all have easy smiles. How lucky are we? Genevieve, Claire, Annie, and Sophia, I know I thank you everyday when you leave, but you are all helping us to make a difference this summer. Carrie and I really appreciate all your hard work! Here is Annie working on the gleaning board grid and Zoey keeping a watchful eye. Claire and Sophia took up the task of doing some synchronized mowing before the Saturday concert! They’re always positive and eager to help no matter the task.
We had a perfect summer evening for the Rise Up Singing benefit concert. Everyone seemed to enjoy the music, the beauty of the farm, and, of course, the goats! We made some new friends, saw old friends and neighbors, and generally were just glad to get to be around each other without a mask! Thanks to everyone who helped to make this happen. It was a lovely event.
Now we are on to our next event/fundraiser, The Fabulous FarmYard Jam! Live music, food trucks, farm tours, art auction, and Patty Carton’s imagination run wild with her own WHEEL of FORTUNE!
Seriously, it’s a really great family event on Saturday, August 6th. We do need help with this one. If you can help, please email Patty–patty@growingtogive.farm She will let you know how and when. If you can bring a friend or a group of friends even better. Your admission will be free and a coupon for Gelato Fiasco as a bonus.
I am almost never at the farm in the evening. Saturday I took a minute to walk around and enjoy the soft evening light. I wanted to share.
Thank you.
Theda