“Goodbye” to an almost perfect Maine summer and “hello” to one of a lot of people’s favorite season’s: fall. I think one of the highlights of the past summer was no drought. Yes, we still irrigated almost daily in July but there was no real concern about the pond getting too low and needing to conserve water.

New Hedgerow

This week we installed a 100-foot hedgerow to attract beneficial insects and birds. Our grant money was stretched a bit due to autumn 25% off sales of plant material. The hedgerow was installed mostly by our volunteers, including a visit from two Big Brother and Big Sisters. There are 12 different flowering shrubs and perennials in the row, mostly plants that are considered natives. They will need consistent watering to get established but should be all settled in by our frost date.

Report on Robin’s Koginut squash

Okay, this is the last time I will talk about the “special squash” we tried this year: Robin’s Koginut from Row 7 seed company. We roasted one with no seasoning and did a taste test at the farm. All agreed that the texture was smooth and creamy. It did have a nice sweetness to it. I tried it later with butter, salt, and pepper on it and it was really good! What isn’t better with butter, salt, and pepper? Will we grow that variety again? Probably not, just because for our purposes they were not very prolific. However, they are a great choice for a home garden!
We had a visit from 13 Bowdoin college students, participating in their Common Good Day. They spent three hours on Saturday doing various projects led by John. This has become an annual visit that gives us a much-appreciated push this time of year.

13 varieties of veggies went to 18 different locations

This week, 13 types of vegetables went out at three separate gleanings to 18 different locations. The beets are especially nice with lots of fresh beet greens to enjoy. A total of 1,437.5 pounds. We are about to celebrate 10,000 pounds. That’s 5 tons!!!!

 

Looking forward to another week of harvesting, goat antics, and welcoming a couple of new volunteers.
Theda