Farm Report 7/11/23 – Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder
This photo may not look beautiful to you (the beholder), but for us at the farm it is pure gold.
It was donated by our resident goat friends and will be applied to the rhubarb beds. This is part of the reason those plants are so glorious and bountiful in the Spring. Thanks, John, for hauling it over to left field. That could not have been too pleasant in this sudden appearance of Summer with temps near 90 and lots of humidity.
Speaking of smelly things, our master brewer, Riley, is stirring up a witches’ brew from Greta’s sugar kelp harvest. Riley has four beds of beans up in left field. She is treating each bed differently with applications of sugar kelp compost, sugar kelp tea, liquid kelp we purchased, and a bed that is the control without any kelp additions. The beans had to be covered to keep the crows from stealing the newly sprouted bean seeds. When we did take the row cover off, there was no visible difference in the beds. We are hoping that, come harvest time, the bean harvest will be noticeable among the different applications. Riley took a soil test before all this started and will do another at the end of the season.
A another group of campers from Apogee Adventures came on Monday to help us plant zucchini and mulch pathways down in lower field. We have quite a few Apogee groups scheduled to come this summer, and we are grateful to have so much help from these resilient, outdoor-savvy youth.
Rebecca came on Wednesday with a team from the Merrymeeting Gleaners. They helped us start to finish up the peas and added chard, scapes, and scallions to the boxes. I have been told on numerous occasions that the peas are a real treat for our recipients.
Friday harvest included more peas, greens, herbs, scallions, and the first of our pumpkin leaves. Did you know you can dehydrate pumpkin leaves and add the powder to almost anything? Soups, stews, smoothies, and eggs, to name a few. The leaves are very high in vitamins and promote bone, skin, and hair health. Pumpkin leaves are best eaten raw or lightly cooked to preserve these nutrients. We were talking about learning to eat foods unfamiliar to us and out of our comfort zone. Are there plants in your home gardens or landscapes you hadn’t considered eating?
Friday was brutally hot and humid. John and Burnham started putting up insect barriers in our cucumber tunnel before the cucumber beetles started attacking our crop.
Diana brought her daughter from Maryland to volunteer, and I put them on assembling our new Jang seeder, donated by Johnny’s Seeds. This one is very different from our other seeder, so we will have to consult some YouTube videos on operating it properly.
Hats on, and with plenty of sunblock, Carol, Arlene, and Barbara worked on weeding our carrots. Thanks, ladies–a big job accomplished in such heat!
We did rally a bit when our little red headed friends came to share our Friday potluck. Homemade ice cream cake was on the menu, and that lifted all our spirits!
The cloud cover came back on Saturday and with it cooler temperatures. We have now added bug control to our morning to-do list. Mary and Amy were a big help with this task. Handing them a couple of long handled tweezers (a Cathy McDonald idea and donation) helped with easing the catch and capture into soapy water.
Last year we saw very few cucumber beetles. I am thinking the plants are stressing due to all this moisture and drawing them in. Japanese beetles and Colorado potato beetles have joined the fray. UGH 🙁 The squash plants are looking very healthy and productive at this point. We just have to keep on top of the insect issue.
We are sprucing up the Rimol entrance. We planted scarlet runner beans in pots with a couple of makeshift trellises. I knew they would outgrow those supports really quickly, and I had a vision of them arching over the doorway. I had the vision, but no concrete way to attach them. Fixers to the rescue! “What about a couple of willowy saplings?” A quick text to John Newlin, and the saplings were delivered. The hardest part was convincing Genevieve that it could be done. Sometimes I think she might think I am a bit crazy in what I ask her to do. Stepping back and seeing how sculptural it looks, she too was happy with the results. She and Dylan helped me transplant some tangerine marigolds to add to the display of pots, and we think it’s going to look spectacular.
It was a good week and at times a very hard week. Thanks to all of you who came to volunteer in all kinds of weather.
Thank you, BJ, for donating a pair of your favorite tools. They have already been put to good use.
Thank you to our Bowdoin interns who have made a HUGE difference in what we are accomplishing on the farm and to Carrie, Genevieve, Carol, and Dylan (our farm crew) who keep it all going. It’s a pleasure to work alongside all of you.
And thanks to Mike who helps us get the farm report out to all of you.
We have complained a lot about the rain and are grateful that is all we have to complain about!
Always (not weather dependent) grateful,
Theda