I can’t believe that I am already writing about dismantling some of our tomato plants. These plants are tired and have stopped producing, so out they go to make room for one final lettuce planting. (Wasn’t I just writing about harvesting so much lettuce?) We had interplanted leeks with the rows of tomatoes, so now they have less competition and can continue to grow for another month.

Wendi planted spinach on Tuesday in upper tunnel 3 which is now known as the Wendi tunnel. In honor of all the work she has been part of the last two weeks flipping that plot, she has taken ownership. I wonder if she realizes with ownership comes lots of responsibility? Weeding, watering, mulching, did I mention weeding? Thank you, Wendi, for your commitment and sense of farm humor. Does anyone else want a tunnel named after them?

Even though we are starting to plant our cover crops and have our crop plan in place for next year, there is still so much to harvest. Leeks and carrots are now in the mix helping to bring our Monday total to 483.59. There are 16 different vegetables now filling the boxes that are being sent out. Genevieve runs the board and organizes her distribution system under the roof of the tool shed. She surrounds herself with a fortress of food. Don’t even think about crossing that line while she is behind those walls. You can see BJ wondering if she can make a mad dash into the tool closet!

We lucked out on Wednesday, and the morning rain showers stopped as we arrived at the farm. Our gleaning partners harvested 600.09, with leeks and now carrots being pulled from the dirt. Everyone loves to harvest carrots. It’s like a treasure hunt. Abigail and the boys enjoyed hunting for the largest ones, with Jacob finding a couple of interesting variations. Thanks to our summer interns for reseeding these carrots THREE times and weeding them more times than I want to think about.

After everyone had left on their deliveries, I noticed a large bird sitting near the goat yard. I realized it was hurt or sick, so I called Carrie over (she is the bravest of the 3 of us). She put on a pair of gloves and picked up a young seagull. Carrie called Terri, one of our gleaners, who also volunteers for Avian Haven. Terri drove over to pick up the injured bird and was asked to pick up an injured hawk in Brunswick as well. Thank you, Terri, for helping us, the seagull, and the hawk–sounds like the beginning of a children’s story!

Carrie and Genevieve were on their own on Thursday with a big to-do list. First on the list was to harvest zucchini. Everyday usually starts with harvesting zucchini, so we don’t grow too many baseball bats. Then on to a project that we have been waiting to tackle with the arrival of fall–a wildflower meadow. We (Doug and Judy, that is) have to mow too much. So, to cut back on mowing, we are planting a meadow. First the area has to be tarped to kill off the grass. Next step will be to top with compost, then seeds will be scattered on top of the compost, but not raked in. We will have to try to scatter the seeds on an afternoon before it rains, otherwise the crows and turkeys will have a buffet. It was exciting to get this project started because we are now an “official” Monarch Way Station. This should add a great boost to feeding and attracting all the creatures who feed on nectar and flower seeds. If anyone has an abandoned butterfly net in the corner of their garage, Carrie plans a Monarch tagging day with the Waldorf kids, and we could use the extra nets.

Friday was crazy busy as usual–we do like it that way. We had 16 volunteers! My friend Felicia brought 3 friends to help Christine make bouquets.

The fabulous fixers were fixing, repairing all the damage on tunnel 6 from when it was bucking in last Spring’s winds. They are half way to completing the tunnel door overhaul. What’s next for the fixers? Oh, we have new ideas, so we have new lists! Carrie and I do ask for their advice before we move forward with these projects. I am grateful they all seem to be on board and somewhat excited to be moving the greenhouse and reading building plans. The Friday gleaners helped us harvest 497.26 pounds. We are now over 10,000 for the year! Vera was my official taste tester for carrots and cucumbers.

Silvo and Sorrel were trying to help me calculate how tall this sunflower really is–2 ½ Sorrels or 3 Silvos? Burnham solved the mystery by bringing out the tape measure. Now I would never have thought of that! That’s why Burnham is on the Fix-It Team, and I am not. 🙂 It is 11 feet tall, in case you were wondering.

We still have elderberries ripening and ready for picking. Luckily, we have met Becky, who is a local community herbalist. She has been coming to harvest elderberries and other flowers for tea. She gifted Carrie and me both a bottle of her delicious elderberry syrup. Thank you, Becky, for the immune boosting syrup and for supporting G2G by buying our organic berries.

A few years ago our neighbor Lisa was up on squash hill gleaning and tripping over so much zucchini.The squash plants were taller than Lisa. Instead of where’s Waldo, it was where’s Lisa? When she came over to help in the Rimol greenhouse on Saturday, it reminded me of that day when we almost lost her.

Amanda and Caleb came to help also on Saturday, and I somewhat reluctantly asked if they would mind mowing. To my surprise they said an enthusiastic YES! By the luck of the draw, Caleb got the rider and Amanda the push mower. They accomplished so much mowing and luckily just before 2 days of rain. Caleb asked if we had a weed wacker. Of course we do and away he went. Genevieve and I had to laugh because the weed wacker is so addictive for all of us–it’s that immediate gratification.

It’s seed saving season. We had this big beautiful Ox Heart tomato all wrapped up to save for seeds, and somebody beat us to it! Darn. I just joined the Seed Savers Exchange to learn more about what we can harvest and how. This is the first step in saving some of our San Marzano paste tomato seeds. Seed Savers has tons of info–check it out.

Back to work last Tuesday, I was asked what I did on my days off. I, believe it or not, did some gardening at home. I went into great detail (imagine me going into great detail) describing all the work it took trying to dig out an old flower bed (a ten foot bed took me about four hours), digging out an old rhododendron, tree roots, and old landscape fabric. UGH! Where was my team? Where were my volunteers when I needed them?

Luckily, they are all at the farm, and we are all grateful for that.

Thanks everyone for helping us reach 10,000 pounds, and we still have so much more to harvest.

Theda