Farm Report 9/11/23 – Community support comes from many directions

This week a call went out from Dave, Merrymeeting Gleaners coordinator from MCHPP. He was with us on Wednesday when we harvested almost 600 pounds of vegetables. Looking ahead to Friday, he saw what was coming and asked for some extra help. Wow! I was amazed at the turnout. Everyone commented that they saw the call for help and wanted to do what they could. We had a two day total of over 1,400 pounds.

Look at this amazing photo of volunteers we had on Friday. Eighteen in this photo plus we hosted Jill Fox and her Waldorf 5th graders, plus Mary and Christine making bouquets.

This gives me a segue into our upcoming FarmYard Jam, this Saturday, September 16th from 3:30-7:30. 

Yes, it is a really fun, family-friendly event with food vendors, games for kids (and adults!), great live music, and smiles all around. The Spin the Wheel of Fortune game has some exciting prizes this year, including home crafted gifts and Amy’s Garden Jam! Amy sources local fruits for her delicious jams, and the grape variety came from her own grape vines!

The FarmYard Jam is also our biggest fundraiser to support our mission–feeding our neighbors in need. Please consider volunteering for the event (patty@growingtogive.farm) or maybe at the farm (growingtogive.farm) to help us continue to do what we do. Thank you ahead of time, and I hope to see you this Saturday at the Jam.

On to what happened to us the rest of this week…

ROAD TRIP! 

We were invited to Johnny’s Selected Seeds for a tour of their research farm.

Sophia was our guide and kept smiling even as she walked us around, answering all our questions in the 92 degree heat. She snapped off a couple of sunflowers for each of us that stayed fresh for so long with little to no pollen. We want to be sure to order some of these seeds!

I can’t believe what I saw in their pepper tunnel. Peppers of all colors, 8-10 inches long, amazing.  We will probably never see those seeds for sale, remember it is a research farm, and there can be too much of a good thing!

We have the good fortune to add Melanie Collins to our staff at the 11th hour. Carrie is “trying“ to go on maternity leave, and we needed some help with the school groups that we want to continue to welcome to the farm. Carrie will mentor Melanie as long as our newest volunteer allows her to. He is due to arrive October 1st, and we are all so excited to meet him!

Welcome, Melanie! Your smile and enthusiasm are a welcome addition to G2G.

The harvest was so much fun this week!

Peg and Randy harvested bushels and bushels of green beans with help from the 5th graders.

Dylan was picking watermelons–12.2 lb was our biggest so far.

Dave dug carrots, and Monique and Carolyn washed them.

Of course there was plenty of zucchini, eggplant, and peppers. Carrie and Melanie were packing up the crates while we loaded Peg and Randy’s pickup truck. Randy joked it looked like we were headed to the farmer’s market. Everyone had a sense of excitement with the amount of food we were sending out last Friday!

Because there are so many vegetables in need of harvesting right now, all the volunteers coming to the farm during the week spend their time doing just that–harvesting. This is fantastic, but I feel we are falling behind on some of our other seasonal tasks. So on Saturday, we got a few of those off my to do list:

  • Save the Long Pie pumpkins from the crows! We had to cover them with row cover to stop the crows from pecking them apart. How do I know it’s crow damage? Well, when you see them fly by with a big bite of a pumpkin in their beak, there is no question!
  • Weed the clover so it has plenty of opportunity to reach its potential and smother out any weed seeds.
  • Sow more winter rye and rake it in.
  • Harvest the Lodi squash and put it in the seedling greenhouse to cure.
  • Eat watermelon on a HOT and HUMID September afternoon.

The Fixers were busy on Friday building and finishing our seedling tables. We will have seven tables to start out with next Spring. Thank you, Fixers, and welcome back, John Hayes.

I want to end this week’s report with another form of support–beneficial insects. This photo showcases parasitic wasp eggs, which were laid on a tomato hornworm. Needless to say, the host hornworm does not survive. Thank you to the wasp for being a supportive member of our community!

Always grateful, wasps included.

Theda