Well, we sure have not kept up with the blog post updates this summer. Last you heard from us here, the garlic was just starting to poke their green shoots out of the ground. Today we’ll put some of that same garlic into the ground to be harvested next summer, as the ever-present garlic cycle of life goes on and on. We’ve had an incredibly nourishing season, filled with vegetables, neighbors, challenges and joys. I’ll let these photos (all are taken by Gen except the last two, taken by Holly Cloutier) share more of the story before signing off with a few more words below…
Strawberries bursting with flavor, garlic scapes pungently poking out. We opened the farmstand (for the first time!) that we built with strawberries and scapes, shouting “SPRING!” from the treetops.
We prepped many new beds this season mostly by hand, with the help of friends and neighbors, broadforking to loosen the soil compaction, adding wheelbarrows of compost and woodchips to create permanent pathways. With 3 new areas in production this season, we created about 35 additional beds for growing.
The tomatoes climbed and climbed and climbed inside the hoophouse, buddying up with aromatic basil at their feet. By the time we pulled the tomatoes out, they had reached the top of the hoophouse and started growing over to the other side, creating an arbor of greens and colorful ripening bursts of flavor.
The allium harvest is always an exciting time; we pulled the garlic that was nestled into the soil a whole 8 months prior and braiding beautiful shallots to hang and cure for a longer shelf-life. The sunflowers grew sky-high and, come autumn, the tomato harvest overlapped with the sweet pepper harvest overlapped with the pumpkin and squash harvest… an absurdly generous time to be immersed in.
Steps were taken to erect hoophouse number two which will house more tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers in future growing years.
We distributed vegetables via the farmstand and participated in ACORN’s Farmacy Program. We were one of four growers that grew a weekly allotment of vegetables for the 100 recipients of the Farmacy CSA which is available at no cost to individuals and families who are a part of the program.
Lastly, we hosted a “Community Farm Feast” with our farmer pals at Fat Loon Farm (based in Hinesburg). We sourced the wide array of foods from our two farms plus a smattering of other local farms. Around 70 people showed up to dine at a long family-style table set-up in the field— many of whom were neighbors we had never met before. Some folks came early to help set-up and prepare food, others brought extra tables and vases for flowers to pull off the final decorations, and others still stayed to help clean up, tend the fire and wrap up a beautiful evening. The event was offered at no charge, a gathering rooted in the spirit of care and mutual sustenance. What a huge privilege to be a part of it all.
Thank you for your support and interest in the farm throughout our first growing season here. We look forward to regularly welcoming more volunteers, increasing our educational opportunities, and hosting more gatherings next year. Please be in touch with any and all thoughts!