New and returning volunteers joined us for June's CWD as we spent the morning caring for and cleaning out the oldest native plant plot on the farm. 

June flew by here at the farm, and the weather often waylaid plans as we dealt with heat, smoke, and hail on more than one occasion. Staff as well as volunteers have donned masks, hats, and lots of sunscreen in order to stay safe while out in the fields as everyone pitches in to help care for our growing plants. 

As one of the key areas where assistance is needed most, weeding has now become the top way for volunteers to be involved along with native plant care and harvest help. Special projects tackled by volunteers included painting new spaces, gleanings, and a few Fridays focused on pruning flowers and creating bouquets. June saw a total of 230 hours of volunteer help in all of these activities and more.

We are so thankful for everyone who visited and volunteered their time with us, and made the start of the summer season a success!

See you at the farm,
Cynthia
HHF Food Donation + Volunteer Coordinator

- Walt Whitman

Our next Community Work Day will take place on Saturday, July 29th from 9am - 12pm as we tackle our annual Onion harvest! A great activity for all ages and abilities, join us this morning as we harvest the largest onion crop yet: over 16,000 bulbs!

June's

Community

Work

Day

June is a great time to reassess the state of plants and where they are growing. Our first Natives-focused CWD of the year was on June 10^th, where volunteers joined us in perfect weather as we cared for the oldest native plant plot on the farm, the Founder's Plot. 

Volunteers first cut and removed landscape fabric and fully weeded around each plant, so that each bed had a rectangular soil patch in which the plants could more easily self-seed and spread, and ultimately increase in number. 

One bucketful at a time, mulch was spread around the plant and over the newly exposed soil.

The mulch will help to keep the plant a bit cooler during the summer heat and keep the soil from drying out as quickly, along with suppressing weed growth.

Last but not least, volunteers helped dig up several beds of native plants that weren't thriving in their location and were designated for a new spot. The roped-off area here is where a bird was guarding her nest and eggs; volunteers worked quietly and quickly here so as not to scare her off, and the last of the digging was postponed until the chicks are grown. 

Weeds, or plants that grow where they are not wanted, can be troublesome competition for tiny seedlings.

A bed of young carrots was overrun by weeds, and volunteers joined our farmers as they hunted for the tiny shoots that were the vegetables they wanted to save. At this stage, weeding is a slow but steady project and can be best appreciated by taking a step back, and looking at the progress you made.

Once vegetables are a bit bigger and more established, it's easy to use a tool to weed the larger area around a plant. Here, Volunteer S. helps weed around our new rhubarb bed using a hoe. 

Fridays mean it's tractor time, and it's always exciting to see the farm's new Tillmore tractor in the field at the same time as the older John Deer model.

The winter weeding project along the fence line never stopped, and with the recent rains the weeds have shot up once more. The fence is once again under threat from this greenery, and is losing electrical power as a result.

Regular volunteer groups on Tuesday and Thursday have been making a big effort to help with this weeding project on a regular basis.

The battle to reclaim the fence, for good, is up against a few tough opponents: mugwort, multiflora rose, and bindweed.

When we aren't weeding, we are harvesting!
A group of interns from County Executive Latimer's office joined us on a harvest day as volunteers, where they focused their efforts on harvesting three varieties of peas for the farm stand. 

Peas are a time consuming, difficult harvest, and often there isn't enough time in the day for our farmers to collect them all so any extra hands are so appreciated. 

Harvest volunteers walk away with a new appreciation for all of the effort it takes just so vegetables can end up on a plate.

Speaking of harvest, we couldn't get any of our vegetables to plates and tables without a pit stop in the wash + pack!

W+P  is the first stop for bins of dusty, sun-warmed produce from the fields a few hundred yards down the hill; veggies are cleaned and sanitized, and placed in new bins inside the cooler as quickly as possible. 

As exciting as it is to enter the peak growing season, the weather conditions have made outdoor tasks challenging. 

Here, the familiar skyline is almost non-existent while dealing with two atmospheric alerts: air quality, and lightning.  

Some cleared beds in the Founder's Plot were the new home for S. bicolor seedlings, which volunteers helped to care for and to settle into their new spaces.

All credit for this plot's progress is due to our amazing natives staff members and dedicated natives volunteers! 

The Natives Interns had their last day at the farm during odd conditions, but it made for an unforgettable photo!

Native flowers will be in bloom throughout the next few months, feeding and hosting a multitude of insects. As as reminder, we ask visitors to please not touch or remove any native flowers. The photo of native Iris, left, is a great example of how a (pollinated) flower becomes a seed pod.

Gardens throughout the community were filled with new plantings all June, and the farm continued to donate hundreds of vegetable and native plant seedlings that were put to good use in these spaces. An abundance of pac choi, radish, and lettuce meant the first of the year's gleanings and a chance to give even more food to our pantry partners. 

Native plant seedlings found new spaces to call home at Valhalla's Compost Ed space, above, and at the Rye Nature Center, right.

Spring crops like radishes and pac choi tend to wind down in the warmer summer months, even as they have one last burst of growth. 

Extra crops, in general and at the end of their season, are gleaned by volunteers so that as much as possible avoids the compost and instead goes to feed our communities. 

Gleaning opportunities are announced in our weekly volunteer email: keep your eyes out for the next shift!

Red-tailed hawks are common in the wild areas around the farm, and often watch us in case a tasty snack is unearthed as we work. There's some competition between hawks and smaller birds as they vie for territory. Here, a hawk sat patiently and didn't budge from supervising our work even as a smaller crow tried to intimidate him, going so far as to pluck a few feathers.

- Robert Baden-Powell