The heat was brutal this week. We had 3 days of excessive heat and 3 days of students volunteering from the Maine Coast High School. Lots of water and breaks under our shade awning kept everyone going throughout the day. Even in those 90 degree temps lots was accomplished. Beds weeded and pumpkins and carrots planted. Our flower garden, for picking your own bouquet, was mulched. Smother tarps were moved and sandbags put in place. Our WWOOFERS and newly arrived Bowdoin College interns ran the show and were great in instructing and motivating the students. A big thank you to all, for such a boost in tackling our to- do-list, in such hot humid weather.
Over 500 pounds of produce was donated this week. The gleaners harvested mostly lettuce with salad turnips, rhubarb and radishes added to the mix. Here is Carolyn with handfuls of radishes that she is finding interplanted with the Swiss chard.
The interplanting of alyssum and cabbage seems to be working well. I have seen very few cabbage moths. We have always had to keep row cover on until harvest to keep those worms from damaging our crop. This year I have seen no sign of damage. The cabbage would not have been happy under row cover with those extreme temperatures we just endured.
Our cucumbers are not as fortunate. The striped cucumber beetle showed up in full force in just one day! I have heard from volunteers that they have totally destroyed some of their seedlings. Yellow sticky traps and hand “squishing” are our methods of dealing with them. We have planted marigolds in the tunnel along with the cucumbers, apparently not enough of them. A screen liner may have to be in our future.
Zucchini squash will hopefully be in our donation boxes soon. Tons of blossoms on our newly uncovered plants with some baby squash already appearing. We are trying Daniel May’s method this year of two plants per hole.
I am very excited to report that Paul, Grace and Tucker (our Bowdoin interns) joined our team this week. They will be with us for most of the summer working on the farm as well as working on their chosen projects. It is an honor to have all these young people at the farm helping us with our mission. Our lunch conversations are interesting and amusing. Friday’s are now ‘potluck Fridays’. If you volunteer on Fridays around lunch time feel free to join us. If you happen to be working with one of our interns or WWOOFERS, ask them lots of questions. It’s fun to hear their perspectives on life. They are all interesting, highly motivated, creative people. I feel privileged to interact with and learn from such a great group.
Thanks to everyone who came this week. Especially to all of you on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday!
~ Theda