November Notes from the Field

The farm has been buzzing with activity the last several Saturdays. The driveway has been full of farmstand customers, who often walk up to pick flowers and herbs from the farm.  We have had a crew of dedicated volunteers working with Justin Rulo-Sabe, our artist in residence, to construct our new garden shed.  Our Octoberites, apprentices who are continuing to work an extra month, lend a hand running the farmstand, leading crews of volunteers, and driving the tractor.

garlicThis past Saturday our alumna Colleen ran the farmstand while Matt built sides onto our trailer to move mulch and I mowed the leaves to be fine enough to mulch the garlic.  At 10 we were joined by three girl scouts working toward their Silver Award.  They are coming twice a month and have become proficient transplanters, Alumnae Sara Fitzpatrick and Brie Cella led them in planting dill and cilantro in the high tunnel and beets in the shadehouse. LaTia led a tour of the farm for 30 volunteers out from Saint Louis University for Make a Difference Day. And what a difference they made!  By the end of the day they had mulched 750 feet of garlic, pulled 300 feet of tomato trellises, harvested 150 pounds of green tomatoes, moved over 1000 pounds of sweet potatoes from their curing space in the high tunnel into the basement, hula hoed 400 feet of fall salad mix, and painted our shipping container and the north side of the greenhouse.

make a diff day

At the end of the day, we took a walk around the farm. One of the joys for me of working with big volunteer groups is the sheer amount of work that can happen in such a short amount of time. On a family farm this size, we might have 2 farmers working, and it would take us over a week to do all this work.  At the end of it, our bodies would be sore and tired, and we would have said all there was to say. But with a group, everything happened in 4 hours, and we got to enjoy the day meeting new people we wouldn’t otherwise meet, sharing jokes and laughs and the satisfaction of moving the last 60 pound sack of potatoes.  And that, I think, is often the most important harvest yet.